Cryptic Orchid

Imagine a perfect world, communal, congenial, resource-rich, and perpetually peaceful. That is the vision of Jasmina Kovacevic and her small, like-minded cohort. The path to that ideal is simple: sterilize as many men on the planet as possible. In their view, the male ego and alpha posturing is the cause of most of the world's problems. After ten years of covert effort, they have perfected the ultimate bioweapon, code-named Cryptic Orchid, a custom-tailored virus that causes testicular necropathy leading to male infertility. Just as their plan is being put into action, enter Hermann Miller, iconoclastic polymath, Tourette sufferer, and ultimate cyber master. After the initial shock of a male penetrating their deepest covert operations, Einstein is stunned and relieved to learn that Hermann does not disagree with their hypothesis. In fact, he is interested in helping, especially upon discovery that his pre-puberty cryptorchidism, aka undescended testicles, precludes him from being susceptible to the virus. However, Four-Star General Ulysses Willowbrook does not take kindly to the quick-witted, intentionally crass, and completely unintimidatable Hermann whom he considers to be a "Pugsley", the label reserved for super genius geeks who are recruited by the General to facilitate delicate, often unsanctioned military operations. Thus, after an initial tacit agreement to help the General in his quest to seek and destroy an ersatz global terrorist plot set up by Einstein as a red herring, Hermann's allegiances shift from the General to Einstein and her crew. As millions of sterile men wrestle with their loss of the traditional cornerstone of "manhood" the human population undergoes an unprecedented socio-cultural transition, but is it for better, or for worse?