I wish I could say this story was a happy story. I wish there was a good guy and a bad guy. And in the end, the bad guy loses and the good guy wins, saving the day, the girl, and the world. But I cannot say such things for this story hasn’t a single one of those elements. The only similarity from that story and the one I am about to tell is the bad guy. However, in this story, there isn’t just one bad guy. There are many: a group formerly named; Sanctity. Their predecessors called themselves the Sanctified, meaning “holy ones” or “the ones being made holy.” Before I get too ahead of myself here, I must begin this story the way it naturally begins. This tragic tale begins with a war. A world war. The third world war to be exact. Only Sanctity knew WWIII had begun… The rest of the world only knew it had started after it had already finished. The first and second World Wars mainly involved nuclear warfare. WWIII began with biological warfare.
The world was in complete and utter disarray. Murder, terrorism, and abduction were common, every-day events. Buildings would stand one day, and the next they would be in smoke with hundreds of bodies moated around the ashy grave. A family would be on their way to church, listening to the radio and then would hear of multiple accounts of bombings and shootings happen just a few days prior. There were tales of endless tales of sexual harassment, corruption, and unrest. Death, tragedy, and horror consumed the world and the hearts of its inhabitants.
Now you may think I am talking about the past few months and the events that have taken place, WWIII, the destruction of Sanctity, and the death of millions every day. I’m not. These events took place long before I was alive. They began when we did. Humans bring an unparalleled evil that disrupts the peaceful serenity of nature. We destroy. I used to think otherwise, and you may too. However, I am confident when you are finished reading my account of the end, you will agree with me.
I am a journalist. When I first began my career rumours of a group of individuals determined to change the state of humanity began to circulate. A corrupt leader would surface; wreak havoc upon their country, dragging others into a fight no one wanted. And then, suddenly, that individual would be assassinated or they would disappear. The first noticeable hit was a famed man named Osama Bin Laden. I was too young to dig deep into his assassination. However, my mentor did. He told me that there was much more to the story than what the press and movies portrayed. Of course, myself being skeptical dismissed this as old-man conspiracy. Years later, however, another hit was widely celebrated; the end of the radical Muslim sect, known at the time as ISIS. The world gloried in their halt and all facts of the situation seemed to be drowned in the joy of the result. I, however, being enthusiastic and wanting to make a name for myself in the reporting world; dug. And I found a string that led back to multiple instances of the same manner. Time Square, in the famous American city of New York exploded many years ago. Thousands died and the world was shaken. The word that surfaced, or rather, the name that was brought to light, was Sanctity. Nothing was thought of it at the time, but the same name appeared on a deleted mission report draft of a Navy Seal involved in the Bin Laden assassination. This draft only surfaced when I dug into the ISIS denouement. The same Seal, over a decade later mentioned the name again. It wasn’t anything that my editor would believe, however. An example of concrete evidence would be a phrase such as; ‘our informant represented a group referred to as Sanctity.’ Or ‘a group of individuals masquerading under the title; “the Sanctified” has claimed responsibility of hundreds of bombings and assassinations within the past twenty years.’ However, no such phrase arose. The word ‘sanctity’ was only mentioned off-handedly. But any journalist would know that repetition is important. To see a common thread between stories and events is the necessary beginning to see the full picture.
To break this down simply, over the past few decades the word ‘Sanctity’ has popped up on reports or in statements regarding terrorist attacks and global catastrophes.
Years ago, the Federal Bureau of Investigation released a public statement that the terrorist group known as “Sanctity” had been stopped. Teamed with a United Nations task force against Terror, the FBI stormed the Headquarters of the group and arrested the members. All of whom were executed months later on the basis of global terrorism and threats against the human race.
The official report stated this all happened. However, public reports don’t often shed truthful light regarding an investigation, much less an inter-organizational raid. The rumours that came from different individuals and global organizations, circled the Internet. Pictures, statements, memos and many other sources showed that perhaps it wasn’t as cut and dry as the FBI made it seem. Agents and associating members on both sides never surfaced after the raid. They are presumed dead and perhaps if their deaths went unannounced, the escape of some of the members of Sanctity could be as well. This is all circumstantial, but ask yourself; “If Sanctity really was stopped, why did the name appear on reports regarding missions that occurred after their supposed capture?” Coincidence? It is highly unlikely.
The most recent pop-up of this fabled name was actually on a WHO intern’s blog regarding Disease X. Kylee Briggs was an avid blogger throughout college and daily recorded her experience with the WHO. She supposedly had worked with a man who had been mysteriously pulled away from his vaccination clinic in Qatar. Weeks after his disappearance, Disease X surfaced. Briggs, when given the orders to flee, dug through her colleague’s papers to see if she could salvage anything for him. She found a memo that she posted on her blogsite. It was filled with jargon, but one phrase stuck out to those with keen eyes: ‘it is time to sanctify.’ This phrase was mingled in with other words in the sentence so it didn’t allude to anything suspicious. But when my algorithm picked up on the word, I knew what it meant: something was coming.
But nothing could have prepared us for Disease X. The world thought that, after COVID-19, we were ready for any kind of biological disaster. But this almost supernatural plague was beyond anything anyone was prepared for. That is, everyone except Sanctity.