On March 20, 1995, a crumpled up newspaper was spotted lying on the floor of a Tokyo, Japan train car. In Japan, the subways are always immaculately clean, so this newspaper stood out like a sore thumb. As commuters stared at the trash, wondering who would be so inconsiderate to litter, a wet spot began to form at the center of the newspaper, like it was sitting on top of a liquid that was now starting to seep through. As soon as this began to happen, everyone in the train car started to cough. The cough was mild at first, but within minutes it progressed into a violent cough making it hard for people to catch their breath. By the time the train pulled into the Government Center station, the commuters on board the train were clawing at the doors of the car to get off...
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SPOILERS BELOW THIS POINT:
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Main Sources:
1. The non-fiction book called "Underground" by Haruki Murakami, published in 2003. The wiki for the book is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_(Murakami_book)
2. A Case Study on the Aum Shinrikyo cult -- https://irp.fas.org/congress/1995_rpt/aum/part04.htm
3. This day in history, a general overview of the events -- https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/tokyo-subways-are-attacked-with-sarin-gas
4. Brittanica coverage -- https://www.britannica.com/event/Tokyo-subway-attack-of-1995
5. Wikipedia page for attack -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_subway_sarin_attack
6. Schematics for cult's headquarters -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_subway_sarin_attack#/media/File:Layout_of_Aum_Shinrikyo_biological_weapons_facility.png
7. Article about execution of Shoko Asahara -- https://www.npr.org/2018/07/06/626434965/japan-executes-cult-leader-responsible-for-1995-sarin-gas-attack-on-tokyo-subway
8. Timeline of events -- https://www.nippon.com/en/features/h00243/
9. A 2nd timeline of events -- https://www.nonproliferation.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/aum_chrn.pdf
10. Schematics of the 3 subway lines in Tokyo -- http://www.allaboutjapantrains.com/tokyo-metro-chiyoda-line.html
11. Atlantic, what does Sarin do to people? -- https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/05/what-does-sarin-do-to-people/275577/
12. List of perpetrators and their professions -- https://irp.fas.org/congress/1995_rpt/aum/part04.htm
13. Description of Mt. Fuji cult compound -- https://apnews.com/article/ec6204ef1c7091c0a2b54facaa98b30b
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