Course Correction

A serial killer is roaming international and hence anarchic space looking for victims to kill with impunity. He finds his way to a self-sufficient spaceship owned by a scientist who allows him to dock and rest. The scientist explains that he is studying vampire humans who he has discovered and kidnapped. He is trying to figure out how they derive their powers and if he can genetically modify humans to have the benefits of vampirism without the downsides.

The serial killer is fascinated and decides to spare the scientist. He wakes up in his room to find he has been strapped down. The scientist aims to enhance him genetically using elements of the vampire DNA. The scientist performs a procedure on him. The scientist also removes genes associated with psychopathy from the serial killer.

When the scientist finishes the procedure, the serial killer is a superhuman without the urge to kill anymore. He feels terribly guilty over what he has done and explains to the scientist his past. The scientist suggests he be a force for good now, and the man agrees. With that he programs the ship’s navigation to burn up all the fuel and launch the ship on a trajectory away from humanity, so the scientist and the vampires can never bother mankind, while he himself takes an escape pod and pilots back towards civilization.

His pod is picked up by a large spaceship used by a touring rock star in this part of space. The ex-serial killer then becomes a roadie for the rock star to make money to pay for his education, studying science, biology and engineering so he can benefit humanity as much as possible for as long as possible. He does this as penance for the people he murdered.

The Zombie Horde and Frankenstein's Kingdom

There was the Zombie Horde. The Zombie Horde roamed the periphery of all all the kingdoms, perpetually attacking humans to eat their brains. The horde was ruled by non-zombie beings, a mix of humans, vampires, and others, who acted essentially as herders of the zombies. The Horde leaders would seek out humans who would willingly convert to zombie-hood because they were mortally ill and wished to continue on in some form of life. The horde leaders sold their services to various kingdoms, helping one, then helping another, in attacking populations who served as a ready source of brains for the zombies.

There was Frankenstein's Kingdom. This was a kingdom founded by one mad scientist, Victor von Frankenstein, a noble who turned his dead serfs through scientific experimentation into superhumanly powerful and intelligent beings designed to be useful to Frankenstein, with varying results. Earlier monsters were often unruly and rebelled and ran off, serving at times as powerful allies of other kingdoms or becoming powerful figures in their own right, as generals or capable lords or merchants. Later monsters were much more obedient and well-suited to their particular roles in Frankenstein’s kingdom, which, when he felt he had produced a sufficiently powerful monster army, declared himself sovereign over his land and fought off attempts by the Human Kingdom to bring him back into the fold.

MK's Nervous System: Concise Statement