A terrified mother, Llenno D., recounted her encounter with the disease: “The first time I saw my boy, Revlio, infected by this noxious epidemic, I stood in the bathroom listening to his agony, distressed and broken, debating the wisdom of calling the hospital, for we all knew there was no cure.” Bacterium Z, as it had been called, plagued the Rio de Janeiro region. Not since the bubonic plague had such a terminal, transmissible disease been seen. Three of the scientists, Jeff, Oliver, and Cathy, worked around the clock to find a cure for this disease. Time was not on their side with people dying exponentially, and Rio received little help from the rest of the world from fears of spreading Bacterium Z. The quarantine turned the area into a hot box for the disease, an aerie where no one was safe.
The toxicity of the bacteria could not be explained. Analysis of its structure showed nothing that could justify its harm to the people, making fixing it nearly impossible. As one of the scientists said, “I remember sensing the frustration in our group, knowing that time was of the essence, everyone relying on us, our city withering as the hours passed.”
Losing hope, the team decided to visit the only place where they thought grace and kindness could be found: the statue of Christ the Redeemer. Along with the young, weak boy, they visited the statue to pray. Trying to collect their thoughts for a moment of clarity, there still seemed to be no answer.
Suddenly, rain appeared around the base of the statue. Looking closely, the statue of Christ the Redeemer was crying. One of the tears hit the sickly child and within minutes he was cured! It was truly a miracle. The cure could not have come sooner and with brisk thinking the scientists quickly bottled some of this mysterious liquid.
At the lab, spectral analysis was performed and the structure of the cure determined. The scientists called it the Ohira-Bestmann reagent. With this reagent, within a matter of days the area of Rio de Janiero was alleviated from the disease and life could commence once again.
