Transfer Point

A near-future science-fiction tale portrays the sudden emergence of an inert atmospheric element, agnoton, to which humanity is fatally allergic, causing spasms and collapse of civilization. Three people shelter in a sealed retreat maintained by an aging scientist whose air-conditioning excludes inert gases; one resident records both a factual chronicle and an epic-style poem of the catastrophe while tensions and small domestic gambits persist. Outside, communications and transport fail; broadcasts show society unraveling. Then inexplicable narrow yellow bands appear on screens and in reality, ensnaring and killing people, introducing a further, unknowable menace to the survivors' isolation.