The human supply chain was, like, totally rooned. The hurricanes, the Venezuelan 'Tactical Intervention' along with 'Raythoo terrorist activity' in Alaska and Washington State had effectively reduced the flow of gas to a trickle.
As you would expect the humans had stampeded to their gas stations, drained them dry, and then gone on to clear the shelves of consumables, 'just in case'.
Just when it looked as if things couldn't get worse for the humans, Zanesville got its first cases of 'Indian Rat Flu', detected amongst refugees fleeing from the Cleveland citadel complex. In a move guaranteed to reassure everyone, the Home-Sec checkpoint guards immediately started wearing full body haz-mat suits and a precautionary quarantine was put in place. Fortunately Hill-16 was within the perimeter, but even so get too and from our encampment was increasingly difficult.
Over the past couple of years the Government had become increasingly twitchy about new diseases that seemed to spring up, prove to be utterly lethal and then vanish overnight. Quarantines had become so commonplace that they were no longer newsworthy except as a light hearted end-of-news item about some poor community who's lockdown had been started because some schoolboys had invented a pretend rash to get out of school.
My contempt for their precautions lasted two days, after that the deaths started and suddenly it wasn't funny at all.
On a brighter note my caste progression training was going well. Every couple of days Phylarch Massasauga would turn up like visiting royalty, perform that weird thing where his hands stroked me without touching, always ending with his right hand hovering just above my abdomen. Once he'd finished that, I'd be asked to perform a visualization exercise or he'd show me some new magari or other.
Unlike Ash who's magari usually needed a physical focus, Phylarch Massasauga's tended to be vocally based. I could now see why he'd targeted the choristers, with their voice training; they'd become adept when they were older.
I added 'singers' to the list of ‘seduce on sight’ targets.
Four days after the first Rat Flu deaths in town, the plague came to visit the Tuaththua
---
The Ten Councilhara sat waiting cross-legged around the edge of our Nayati, one hara to represent each nominal inception batch of six. As Tribal Leader and Heinama, I was last to arrive and would be the one initiating the council's meditation.
As things had become more complex it had made sense that everyhara's views were heard. It seemed that by incepting in a standard sized batch and housing them in a cabin together we'd created miniature clans within the Tuaththu tribe.
Each set of six tended to support each other. As a result it had seemed 'obvious' that the best way to form a council was to just get each batch to choose a spokeshar. I couldn't quite decide if I'd reinvented democracy or created the basis of future feudalism.
Jasem The Lawmaker was busy re-writing his draft constitution to reflect what had evolved whilst he was writing it.
"How are they?" asked Brook who was representing our original group
"Lets get to somewhere more pleasant and I'll brief you all" I replied, sitting down and visualizing a round table surrounded by cushions so that we could lounge comfortably whilst we meditated. For the background I visualized a tropical beach with azure seas and a cloudless green sky.
Satisfied with the look of the space, I tugged them into the etheric realm, taking especial care with the last three wide-eyed representatives, who were still coming to terms with their abilities and the fact that they’d been selected to represent their peers.
I visualized drinks for everyhara. For the old hands I created drinks that I knew they enjoyed, for the newer ones I imagined ice cold Coca-Cola in reassuringly normal cans...amending the taste so that it matched what they remembered it tasting like as a human, rather than what the poisonous stuff actually tasted of to a har.
I've checked the symptoms. All six of our latest unhar intake have the Rat Flu rash...as do I.
That got their attention.
Brook radiated intense fear for me, as did several others, but I brushed it away.
They were sneezing yesterday and they are head to toe in the rash today...according to the web, they'll be dead in a further 36 to 48 hours
And what about you? Asked Flamepetal, the ex-streetscum who's visualized form still included the etheric flower I'd created for him.
Flamepetal and his 'brother' Icefrond were not exactly my favorite hara. A lot of their streetscum attitude had stuck with them. A week ago I'd had to apologize to The Phylarch Massasauga, because Flamepetal's clique had picked on Slide Har Coluraste and lil'Kenny s'Har Coluraste when they'd visited.
As a result Massasauga had claimed he needed to meditate for a few days to calm himself and disappeared back into the woodwork. In effect he was on strike, punishing me for my hara's actions. Slippery Rooner!
Across the table, Blue, one of the ex-cops, glared daggers at Flamepetal. The two had 'history' from their previous incarnations.
I stopped woolgathering and focused my attention on the present I had a rash on my hand yesterday, its almost entirely gone now. To be honest I didn't think anything of it until I saw the state our poor unhara are in.
You are certain its the same? asked Jondil of batch two
The 'Y' shaped lesions are distinctive. There's no doubt I replied. I'm no doctor, but Rat Flu symptoms were very distinctive.
So we may be immune? asked Harp of Batch five, sounding relieved.
We only have Sixteen as an example. How do we know it won't still be lethal to the rest of us?
And what do we do about the unhara?
Actually I think I have answers to all of those questions. Said Jasem steepling his fingers.
Go ahead I nodded
We know that our DNA is different from that of humans.
The others nodded in cautious agreement
...Viruses have difficulty crossing species boundaries. What kills humans might not have access to the same gene-receptors in Wraeththu. said Jasem projecting a visualization of a human DNA strand and then a Wraeththu triple helix gene with a virus bouncing off.
Right now the unhara are dead men walking. I suggest that we incept them immediately. If they're lucky the mutation process will kill the virus and make them immune to it.
In the worst case at least they'd die under Daananan's protection replied Blue thoughtfully.
There's more added Jasem We should look on this as an opportunity
Huh? I said Ok I can see how not dying is beneficial but how is it a rooning opportunity?
Rat Flu has a 88% mortality rate. Humans have major issues with being dead. They are going to be desperate for a cure, any cure.
Won't that blow our cover? They'll know who and what we are.
Not if we target the right humans he replied altering his visualization so that an ambulance was projected onto the table in fine 3D detail. On the side of the ambulance were the words
Anton and Brad Gay Doctors for Gay guys
To be honest I'm surprised we haven't targeted the rainbow minority already. They're already tribal, and pretty much excluded from mainstream human society by the Religionist factions. explained Jasem
Actually that’s why we didn't. They're a close-knit group I replied. If we'd taken a few the rest would notice quickly
True. But we may have the right enticement to get all of Zanesville's gay tribe in one shot... voluntarily explained Jasem intently If I'm right about the species boundary, inception will cure all the AIDS variants as well as Rat Flu... all we need do is convince and of course incept Doctors Anton and Brad.
I liked it, for once we had something to offer, other than extreme sexual gratification to offer the humans.
You've clearly thought this through. How do we convince them that we have a cure? For either disease? I asked
Well that's the tricky bit. The only way I can see is to show them the unhara before and after. Fortunately Rat Flu has obvious symptoms so there will be no doubt that it works...if it works
Risky replied the ever cautious Blue
Go for it. If they don't bite I can always slit their throats replied Flamepetal resting a pair of chrome capped boots on the table. (How I wished I could un-incept him)
Blue glared at him and then focused on his boots visualizing them with fluffy pink fur and rabbit ears.
Flamepetal glared back whilst the rest of us either maintained an inscrutable mask, or in the case of the newer hara broad grins and smirks.
Enough of that. You can play later I warned. Ok lets put this to the vote.
I drew the symbol that summoned Daananan and waited for him to appear. Based upon my understanding of what a Dehar was, Jasem had designed a uniquely harish system of secret ballot voting. Each of us visualized the Dehar and imbued him with our own opinion. When he materialized, Daananan's view on the matter would reflect that of the tribe's majority.
In theory, because entire opinions were sent, there was no chance of tactical voting or deception; furthermore, Daananan would be able to express accurately what we thought we agreed upon as a tribe.
Soon the visualization was complete and Daananan appeared, lying full length upon the beach's blindingly white sand as if sunbathing, a flagon of what might be ale in the sand next to him.
In fever's wake, Doctors you shall take said Daananan cryptically rising up on one elbow to sip from his drink before returning his attention to the sun and sky.
It could have been a bit more straightforward, but at least we had an answer.
That’s settled then. Blue, Jasem, bring them here
The two hara nodded and we moved on to the next order of business...the provision of proper plumbing up at Hill-16. The slit trench latrines were causing comment amongst those hara of a more delicate disposition.
---
Four hours after the council broke up, Blue's patrol car arrived back at our Villa followed by the now familiar Anton n' Brad meatwagon.
I'd been taking a timeout and was sharing breath with Brook at the time; the slam of the ambulance door distracting me.
"Mr Sexten?" asked the first Doctor
"Please, just call me Sixteen. You were probably expecting someone older looking"
"I have to admit, Sir, I was expecting someone just a tad umm 'more mature' in charge of a place this size"
"Is my apparent age going to be a problem? I was under the impression that you existed to serve The Minority..Doctor?.." I rebuked leaving the question of identity hanging unspoken.
"I'm Anton...this is Brad" he replied introducing his partner. "And yes we do our best for our boys, although you are definitely non-scene honey. I'd have remembered If I'd ever had the pleasure."
"Its safe to say me and my boys have kept to ourselves. There's a reason for that, but we'll get to that later." I replied with a friendly smile "You'll need the full haz-mat gear later, but for now gloves and facemask should suffice...If you'll follow me"
I led them to the lounge and sat in what had been David Murray's leather recliner.
"Gentlemen. There's no easy way to say this. I believe I have discovered a cure to Rat Flu"
The two gay doctors looked at each other clearly not believing a word of it. In their eyes I was just a crazy kid.
"I and my colleagues have access to a genetic enhancement serum developed by Citadel Corporation. It was designed to make faster, stronger and younger looking humans with umm...improved sexual performance" I explained, allowing them to conclude that I might be older than I was "We believe that as a side effect of altering our genetic makeup, they have made us incompatible with most viruses and specifically the Rat Flu."
"That’s...um.. quite far fetched"
"Obviously" I replied smiling. "Which is why you are here. I need someone credible to see the proof. I want you to witness what we are doing and then we can maybe talk about a small vaccination trial for your boys."
"Unlicensed gene therapy drugs, sourced from a corporation known mainly for dubious military research? Sorry, but this sounds like a bad movie plot" asked Dr Brad beginning to get up from his chair.
"Totally unlicensed. But then is the Rat Flu outbreak going to wait for a license? Even assuming Citadel would release the serum to non-employees"
"You have a point" replied Anton thoughtfully
"If you wouldn't mind suiting up in your haz-mats. I'd like to show you what we have here." I suggested, as Suriv and one of the fifth batch (who's name I'd forgotten) entered holding the plastic suits that they'd taken from the ambulance.
"This isn't a bio-lab Anton. They can't possibly have a cure here" hissed Brad quietly in Anton's ear
"You're right. We don't have a bio-lab. What we do have is six infected patients and the serum" I replied
The mention of Rat Flu infected patients had the desired effect and both Doctors were fully suited up in as little time as they could manage.
"Aren't you going to suit up?" Anton asked as I led them upstairs.
"I'm either immune or dead" I replied taking care to sound confident.
I opened the door on the master bedroom so that they could look at the six unhara, who were lying about looking depressed and thoroughly ill.
The 'Y' shaped lesions and red rash were instantly recognizable. To their credit the two Doctors were instantly in action examining each unhara in turn.
"You can confirm that they're infected with R7H1 also known as Indian Rat Flu?" I asked
"What? Yes of course. Definitely Rat Flu and already presenting stage two symptoms" replied Anton not looking up.
"Good. We will start with the inception treatment as soon as possible then." I replied, "If you gentlemen would like to decontaminate and then wait in the lounge. We have a short religious ceremony to perform and then we'll get started with the serum."
"But these boys need immediate injections of Anti-viral celu-veritas" objected Brad
"No. We can't mix treatments. They will get the serum only."
"But.."
"Has your Celu-veritas actually saved anyone...or did it just prolong the agony?" I demanded
"The kid has a point" said Anton
"Yes, but we should still try everything we can"
"And what if there's a synergistic reaction? You know better Brad. We don't mix treatments that might cancel each other out." He reminded his colleague.
Amnil, I'm sending the doctors down. Keep them busy until after the Harhune. Gyvon, monitor them, if they get uneasy, feed them some of that happy juice that Ash left us.
'kay
On it
---
After the ceremony I returned to the lounge, holding closed my Hienama wound. The Aghama had been unhappy that the unhar were in less than perfect health and had insisted on the more ritualized form of the ceremony. No way was I going to disrespect a Dehar’s wishes if he wanted ceremony he got it.
The sight of the wound caused an instinctive reaction in the doctors, each reaching for their surgical gloves the second they saw it.
Are you crazy Ladylord Sixteen? asked Amnil
This is another opportunity to impress I sent back
Brad hesitated as he was pulling on his gloves. "Did you hear that?"
"What?" asked Anton
"Like someone whispering"
Anton shrugged and moved to look at my arm, which, as usual, was already growing closed.
"Brad. Come and look at this!"
The other doctor joined him and they both watched in fascination, as my rapidly healing wound grew closed.
"How?"
"Genetic enhancement, as I explained earlier"
"No. How did it happen?"
"I deliberately cut myself in order to demonstrate another of the serum's benefits." I explained
"Self harm is never a good idea." replied Anton sounding like a disapproving parent "That said, the way your arm is healing is astounding."
"If you'll suit up, we can observe the patients for a short while. Our gene therapy is a pretty aggressive treatment. It has to replace all the unmodified human DNA without causing any organs to shut down."
I led them back upstairs to see the six new hara. As expected, all six were now semi-conscious, their veins bulging as the precious Wraeththu blood surged into every corner of their bodies.
The reaction of the virus was equally spectacular; the red rash was already breaking up around their inception wounds, looking like someone had dripped raw detergent on an oil patch.
Fortunately it was about 36 hours too soon for the althaia to give any, awkward to explain, genital improvements.
"It will take another 48 hours or so for the enhancements to stabilize. It would be best if we left them to get on with it." I explained, allowing them to examine the hara.
"Remarkable. Its almost as if this serum was designed specifically to target R7H1" said Anton
"Not even Citadel would be that cynical" replied his colleague
I knew better. Citadel were definitely that evil. But I couldn't see the profit in it so it probably wasn't them.
Once we were clear of the infected hara, I asked, "So what do you think?"
I probably sounded like an eager puppy.
"I want to see a fully recovered patient before I commit to anything" replied Brad "What bothers me is why this isn't being mass produced already... if it really is the miracle cure it looks like."
"As you mentioned earlier Citadel are military contractors. There's no profit in a supersoldier formula if every civilian has the same abilities. Its just one of a host of things I and Citadel disagree about" I explained
I bit my lip pensively. We'd discussed several scenarios on how to deal with the Doctors once they'd seen a real har. Flamepetal's idea was to simply incept them straight off and let their bodies do the convincing.
Option two was to keep them as houseguests; using some enchanted orange juice that would keep them docile until the hara had finished changing.
Option three was to let them go, so that they couldn't see anything compromising and keep them under close surveillance as best we could.
Option 3 I sent to my Hara.
Returning my attention to the doctors "Well you've seen all there is to see for now. If you would like to drop by on Tuesday, I'm pretty sure I can show you six healthy patients. If you want to take the vaccination yourselves at that time, I'd suggest that you minimize your food intake until then."
They both nodded, and made appropriate farewells. As I watched their ambulance depart I hoped that I'd done the right thing.
Gyvon? Are they buying it?
Difficult to say. They are definitely intrigued, but they're also highly suspicious of how unconventional the situation was
They'll be back sent Flamepetal smugly.
There was something about the taste of Flamepetal's sending that made me suspicious. What did you do??
Nothing much, just smeared some unhar puke on the steering wheel and door handles. In a day or so they'll have a real motivation for taking the treatment he replied
And what about all the people they'll infect in the meantime?
The world has too many humans anyway. This just evens the odds a bit.
There was a mental silence then as the ethers were flooded with a wash of shocked disapproval from pretty much everyhara in range.
Gyvon. send to Blue. Get that meatwagon stopped; arrest them if you have to. Get them back here, we're reverting to Option One I sent Someone bring me Flamepetal, I want him relatively intact
---
Finding the gay meatwagon took longer than I expected. Meanwhile rooning bloody Flamepetal was claiming his legal rights!
I glared at Jasem. I did this firstly because I was mad and secondly because I was battling an odd compulsion to break into tears. The tears thing had been happening a lot recently.
"Look, I know how you feel. But we have to abide by our own laws. This is our first case, if we don't do it by the book this time, then we're as bad as the savages up in Chicago."
"So what can I do? 'Legally'?"
"You can get him on 'Acting against the tribal consensus' but that’s about it. The problem is that endangering humans isn't a crime."
My mind whirled, there had to be a way....unless...
"Jasem, am I right? We wrote it so any har can bring any grievance before the tribe?" I asked
"Well yeah, but that was basically a 'catch all' and I don't see how....oh, OH!...sneaky har!"
"We'll delay the trial for...say..a day?" I said smiling
"As you say my "Ladylord Sixteen" he replied bowing graciously
"..and think up something other than 'LadyLord' its almost as daft as the masculine title." I grumbled
"As you wish My Ladylord" he replied
I stalked away looking regal, my braided hair blowing like a flag in the wind.
---
Having Anton and Brad returned to me in handcuffs wasn't at all what I'd wanted. In fairness I suppose I hadn't really specified for Blue to be polite. As a result, the effort I'd put into my robes and tribal artwork (I still can't call it makeup without feeling squicky), were somewhat wasted.
It really was a shame; my tie-died silk robes, multiple cloaks and 3-foot long dance-streamers really did show me off to my best advantage. Even Gyvon had commented upon how perfect I looked...perfect to a Wraeththu eye at least.
"Get the handcuffs off them" I ordered
The two doctors glared at me rubbing their wrists.
"I'm afraid we owe you an apology" I said "I know you probably think that this is me kidnapping you. But it isn't. Can I get you something to drink? The orange juice is particularly good." I said trying for my best manners.
Actually I probably sounded like Dr. Evil crossed with Cruella De'Ville.
"So if you aren't holding us hostage what the fuck is going on?" demanded Brad
"I'm saving your lives I hope." I replied taking a delicate sip from my wineglass of orange juice. "Its time I came clean. I left out a major part of the story earlier. If you have the patience to listen to the whole thing everything will become clear."
I started retelling my story; starting from the point where I'd been human, only to find that, actually, I’m crap at verbal storytelling. I'd gotten used to sendings and sharings. Wraeththu methods are so much better! When I got to the part about Ash's blood, Anton gasped, he'd finally figured out what we were and what we'd done to the unhara.
"Wraeththu! So the rumors are true!" he concluded.
I'd expected a fear reaction; instead I felt only waves of relief.
"You can scream and try to escape now...I gather its traditional" I said humorously
"You should have said what you were! Didn't it occur to you that the big city tribes would latch onto the gay scene? And that word would spread to the rest of us about how good the Wraeththu scene is? Hell, our boys have been pestering every transvestite they could find in the hope of finding one of you boys."
I relaxed, feeling vastly relieved.
"Well that’s a relief! You humans! Nothing but trouble!"
Me and my mouth! They'd heard good things of Wraeththu all right, but their ex-friends had had the sense not to mention the whole not being human bit. The only thing to do to rescue my faux pas was to jolly it along.
"Nope, not human. The Citadel researchers said I've now got treble helix DNA instead of double. There are a few other things but we have a rule about not mentioning them until after a person's agreed to become one of us." I explained "Which unfortunately brings us to the problem that you two have got"
"Which is what exactly?"
"We Wraeththu are a hunted species. As a result we get extremely paranoid about letting humans know about us. Pretty soon it’s going to be genocidal between our species. One of my brothers, acting on his own, decided to give you guys some extra incentive to join us...look at your hands."
The Rat Flu had already darkened their palms making it look like they'd dipped them in blood.
"Oh shit!"
"..and that’s why you were kidnapped. That git Flamepetal smeared infected material over the ambulance's door handles and steering wheel. Right now you're a pair of Typhoid Maries, there’s a high chance anyone you touched would’ve gotten sick."
"Fucking bastard!"
I moved to where they were seated, crouching so that I was at their eye level and ran a smooth delicate finger along their cheeks in a double caress.
"I'm really sorry that this happened. The original plan was to seduce you after I'd shown you the cured patients. As it stands, the sooner you become Wraeththu, the less painful it will be." I said “Or stay human and be dead in three days”
"Can we have a moment alone to discuss this?" Asked Anton.
"Sure. Just call when you are ready" I replied moving gracefully to the door.
I didn't need to eavesdrop, even though their whispered words were audible. Their mental auras were a better guide anyway. They longed to join, but felt fear and were angered by the lack of choice they'd been given.
When they reopened the door I already knew that they'd decided that they'd rather not die. Wrapping my arms around them I gave them a hug and a kiss each.
"Welcome to our tribe. We are The Tuaththua. You won't regret your choice"
"How?.."
"Telepathy, one of the fringe benefits" I explained, "I sensed that you'd decided; and now that you've agreed I can go into the details of what you can expect."
---
Two hours later, the two doctors were perspiring and beginning to hyperventilate as my blood started to work its magic in their veins.
"I know you two probably want to be left alone, but there's something you should consider. Flamepetal Har Tuaththua endangered your lives and many others. While you were human I had no way to punish him, hurting humans isn't illegal. The good news is that as far as our law is concerned, you started to exist five minutes ago."
"And now that...we exist... We can...sue the fucker?" gasped Brad
"If you want"
"Do it" he replied not wanting to engage in a long conversation, preferring to examine the swelling of his hand and arm with morbid fascination.
"Done!" I replied with satisfaction
---
The Trial of Flamepetal Har Tuathua took precisely 47minutes and most of that was just record keeping. Despite having consulted with Jasem throughout his lawmaking, I had still had the image in my mind of a human court case taking years to come to judgment.
We didn't need advocates, or prosecutors, or plea bargaining defense attorneys. All the unnecessary flummery was whittled down and eliminated. All we needed was a judge to pass sentence and twelve hara good and true to experience the truth of the case.
Sharing of breath, That was the core concept of Jasem's legal code. There can be no lies in a sharing of breath on either side, therefore no need for anyhara to accuse or defend the prisoner.
Jasem tells me that this is closer to the French Inquisitorial justice system rather than the USA's adversarial one...personally I couldn't give a roon as long as it worked in practice.
Each juror in turn shared breath with Flamepetal, feeling the truth of his actions and motives as if they had lived them themselves.
By the time two thirds of the jurors had shared with him Flamepetal was sobbing uncontrollably. He'd felt their disapproval as if it had been his own and knew full well that the other four jurors could not now sway the verdict the other way.
Despite being largely responsible for bringing it to trial I couldn't help but feel deep compassion for my wayward tribeshar's condition. I really couldn't stand it, he looked so tragic and broken.
"What should we do with you? What punishment fits your crime?" I asked, usurping Jasem's role as judge.
Flamepetal glanced up at me, surprised by my question. Like me, he was stuck with images of federal prisons and cellmates with names like Knuckles. I'm sure it hadn't occurred to him that we didn't have the facilities to give him twenty years in solitary.
"Seriously. Tell us the punishment that you think you deserve."
He bowed his head and then addressed the court "I..endangered the lives of both hara and potential hara. I did so out of mischief, hatred and a misguided zeal to protect the tribe. I...I can't think of a punishment harsh enough right now. If the court will allow me a few days I will think of something appropriate."
I glanced at the jurors, the eight who'd shared breath with him were nodding, their eyes showing signs of tears, whilst the four who'd not shared breath with him looked somewhat relieved that they'd not been exposed to the evidence.
Seems reasonable I sent to Jasem
Jasem 'dinged' the small musical triangle that we'd used as a stand-in for a judge's gavel. (We actually did have a gavel but it had been decided that the brutish thumping of a hammer was far too human and masculine).
"This court is adjourned for one week while the accused considers his crime. The accused will confine himself to his room until he is summoned before the tribe, his accusers and the Dehar." pronounced Jasem sounding appropriately severe.
I used some of Massasauga's mental tricks to keep my emotions in check until Flamepetal and the jurors had left the visualized courtroom before letting out a long sigh. The whole thing had left me feeling slightly nauseous. Then again.. these days every rooning thing seemed to make me nauseous.
---
The next day I was faced with a 34 strong inception group instead of six. Several of my hara had decided to bring in brothers and cousins who'd either contracted Rat Flu or had heard we had a vaccine.
Once they'd been told what to expect two of them decided to back out. The two hara responsible looked extremely embarrassed as their relatives walked away.
Fortunately I didn't need to give orders, my Tuaththua were well briefed about this possibility. Petreon and his fellow guards quietly headed them off. They'd get a separate inception ceremony, but rejoin the group once they were no longer in a condition to care.
The mess didn't end there; three of the new volunteers had been sisters of hara who hadn't paid attention when the facts of life were explained. There were yet more tears when two infected little brothers had to be handed over to the Colurastes.
The enigmatic Massasauga decided that the gift of two new s'Hara was sufficient to get him out of his sulk and announce that he was ready to resume my caste training.
With our facilities rapidly filling, I was forced to order a clamp down. I feared that the next day we'd get 100 random applicants with any number of new loose ends leading their relatives back to us.
Three of the infected unhar died that evening. As far as I could tell it was due to ordinary inception complications rather than the virus. I comforted myself with the knowledge that a nine out of ten survival rate was still way better than the average that Ash had described.
On the streets Zanesville was beginning to look empty, with a lot less traffic and not many shops open at all. To my retrained senses the fear of death was like a fog permeating every block of the city.
I tried to cheer myself up by anticipating the time roughly two-days hence when my two Doctors would arise and begin the next phase of my plan to save Zanesville. Silently I sent reassurances in their direction urging their bodies to change faster.