Chapter 24: Pity the Flu

[Émilie LaFramboise]

Émilie sighed heavily, rubbing her tired eyes. It'd been very busy since she'd return to France. She was the first to receive the notice about the flu being Vivien's secretary. Countess Cola wasn't get hit near as hard as other companies, but they weren't unaffected. She'd suggested to Vivien flu control masks to help slow the spread and so had supervised the handing out of the masks.

Those who were sick but came to work were quarantined to doing boxing or any job that didn't directly handle the cola. Putting sick people to work wasn't something she took pleasure in, but there weren't many other options. At least the jobs they were temporarily transferred to were relatively easy.

The spider bite on her leg was healing much slower than usual. Thankfully, the poison had passed within a few hours so the injury gave her little trouble. Vivien had been absolutely furious when she'd gotten home. After Émilie's explanation about a man she was a bit more understanding. How was Kasper doing, she wondered? She sincerely hoped he was recovering from this flu quicker than a lot of the workers.

Phoning the Moderator or other companies had been discussed and the final decision with Vivien had been to simply wait. With other companies getting hit harder than them, they were sure to see the Moderator themselves or attempt to come up with a solution. At that point in time or when more of their workers were missing work they'd contact other companies.

[Dinari Dollar]

Dinari isn't sure how to react to the fact that Calithin and Keitoleinen were messing with his desk. He just shrugs and leads everyone to the teleportation booth outside of his office. It is useful to have one so close.

Once he has teleported, he waits for everyone else, then heads up to the Moderator's office. When he arrives, he finds the Moderator is talking to Max Alexander.

"Hey guys. Just thought we would stop by to find out more information about this sickness that is going around."

[Salome Weil]

"I'm feeling really sick. At this point, I think I'll try the red leaf." I say as some people pile out of the van to deal with the fallen tree in the road. "I've never tried it before..."

I look at the bag and pour some of the contents into my hand. It looks ordinary enough...like a dried up birch leaf in autumn. Although it is dried, it maintains a bright red color.

I've read that it can be taken as a tea, cooked into food, smoked, or chewed. Since we lack hot water or matches, I take a few leaves and start chewing them.

[Ariel Tal Shachar]

Ariel was about to answer Max Alexander, when Dinari Dollar showed up with a crew. Ariel quickly turned off the television behind him, since he didn't know if he should share with them that the Speaker had been kidnapped. He sat back in his desk and contemplated the best course of action.
"Hello everyone. I imagine you are here to discuss the flu epidemic. Well Max and I were just discussing that. I am waiting for more information from Genetech at the moment. Until then, M TV has been broadcasting public service announcements about avoiding the flu. I've also tried to contact companies with spare androids and robots that could be used in a labor shortage." Ariel explains to the others to get them up to speed.

"But, I am open to any suggestions of how best to handle this situation."

[Lucio De Saldanha]

Lucio arrives in Cuba. He hops off of the boat and starts looking around. Everything is very different from the last time that he visited. For one, there are many more hotels and casinos than when he left. There is also a lot more tourists. He even notices a large Allmart. He shudders at the sight of the warehouse sized building.
But, there is also something very exciting about the environment. There is a strange sense of freedom that Europe doesn't seem to have. This is his home! He's finally back.

To celebrate he decides to take a walk along the beachwalk.

[Kasper Schultz]

Kasper gets out of the van and decides to help Bonifaz. He is also uncomfortable with using Red Leaf, but less so than Armin. He helps to heave the tree off the road. It is dark now and the road is covered with some mist. Kasper can hear the chirping of frogs and crickets and is excited. "Wow, it sure is good to be out in the wilderness. Maybe we could camp here and have our meeting right here and now. It must be safe enough." Kasper suggests. He pauses to enjoy the chorus of frogs. "I think I heard a spring peeper!" He adds.

[Peter "Levitas" Barak]

Peter watched in stunned amazement as the collection of powerful business owners suddenly trashed the office and left to seek out the Moderator. It was pretty close to the last thing he had been expecting. Resolving to leave most of the mess to the cleaning staff (assuming any of them where still functional), he picked up the important papers from the floor and filed them away before leaving the office to chase after the others.

He had what he needed: a collection of names. Now he needed to find the people linked with those names so that he could do a proper frame up for what he had in mind. Shouldn't be too difficult. He didn't want to underestimate the rebels, of course. The fact that they weren't dead meant they either had some power or enough intellengence to avoid some measure of authoritation responce.

But all that could wait until this matter was attended to. Allmart's continued function did depend on crystals, as did the rest of the world.

[Bambi Engel]

Bambi arrives outside the Moderator's office door just as he begins to explain about the flu. The last person to enter had left the door open, causing her to fidget indecisively. She just had to drop the file off, but he was a busy man... waiting until he was done with the current group of people seemed like the thing to do. There was no harm waiting near the door, right?

Besides, if asked she could just say she had been sent in Annette's place (assuming it was some kind of meeting about the flu epidemic). Her curiosity trying to rationalize her actions didn't take into account she was a terrible liar.

She pokes her head into the room with the rest of her body following after. Dinari and Calithin! It was a relief to see two familiar faces. Why hadn't she realized they'd probably be here? They both owned their own companies. She recognized the Moderator from seeing him at a distance. Then there was Max, he owned M TV. As for Keitoleinen, she didn't have the faintest clue who he was.

Lastly, a man in a black suit. She couldn't see his face but his build certainly seemed familiar. With the most perfect timing as usual, she took a step forward and bumped into a vase with a gasp. The only odd thing about this time was her reflexes. She grabbed the vase with one hand, the other still holding the folder she was meant to deliver.

Actually catching the vase didn't change the fact she'd made enough noise to attract attention. "... Sorry, nasty habit of bumping into vases. From Global Bank, just here for Annette. Continue on! I'm afraid I don't have any suggestions at the moment!" Even if she did, her mind was working too fast to bother putting one forth. She hadn't technically lied. Realizing she still held the vase, she placed it carefully back from where it had fallen.

((To the Moderator and that happy little group.))

[Calithin Crest]

"Hey, clumsy McGee! How funny would it be if that were your real name? Or Pickles? What if your name was 'Pickles'!? Haha!"

I laugh to myself, because really, that would be very very funny... This is no time for silly hypotheticals though! We have an epidemic to fix! I immediately straighten up and get serious again to tackle the matter at hand.

"Mmkay, well... I think everyone is doing a good job so far. Maybe you should encourage places where large groups of people congregate to shut down temporarily. Like schools or malls or whatever. That would help contain the epidemic. Also... An investigation as to the origin of this flu is a must! I personally think it's the work of terrorists. And germs. A terrorist-slash-germ coalition!"

I fake a loud gasp to reiterate my point on this.

[Archer Aylmer]

I slowly get out of the car and make my way over to the fallen tree with a dejected look on my face.

"Well... Great..."

I glace over at Attis with a pompous smirk on my face.

"Hey! Maybe if you ask the tree really nicely it will move all on it's own... What do you think, my enlightened brother? You have a good relationship with trees, right? Isn't that what you're about?"

[Peter "Levitas" Barak]

He didn't turn when the door opened. He didn't turn when he heard the vase tumbled. His nose twitched and just before he heard the voice he knew who it was. Peter looked toward the door and saw Bambi standing with a vase in her hand, which was surprising really. It was probably more physicial coordination than he'd ever seen her display.

He smiled as Calithan noticed Bambi was well, though he was more than a little confused by the collective behavior of these men who owned significant sections of the world. To think, he had been assuming Dinari was a unique entity. Apparently he was just part of a big happy international family. Well, so much the better. However odd they might be acting the job was being seen to.

He chose not to say anything and simply smiled at Bambi, wide enough to show teeth.

[Ariel Tal Shachar]

The Moderator listens to the advice that Calithin has and thinks about it for a moment. "It could be terrorists. I don't want the public to know that or to become overly alarmed. My advice is to take the measures that you deem necessary within your spheres of influence. So, for instance Dinari could enact a quarantine in Allwhere, restricting travel out of or into Allwhere. To impose a policy that everyone must follow infringes on the freedoms of various businesses. However, I think most would volunteer to restrict travel and close public spaces. If not, their zones will be the most impacted by the flu." The moderator suggests.
"As for the terrorist link...it is something to look into. It would coincide with ....well....the kidnapping of the speaker..." He states with reluctance. "Maybe there is a connection."

[Peter "Levitas" Barak]

That demanded full attention, convenient prey in the form of an attractive banker or not. Peter's head snapped around to properly face the Moderator. That kind of thing wasn't supposed to happen. "Well who took her?"

[Linnea Korpela]

Linnea pauses, she is afraid the the stingrays that are really jelly fish, but then she remembers what she really is.
"Oh alright," she starts toward the water, at least she will feel like nobody can see her and she can feel more modest. "I know plenty about risks..."
She had been through a lot and seen even more, living a much longer life then anybody else tends to do that.

[Calithin Crest]

"Really?? Kidnapped? Wow. You guys are off your game if people can just be enacting bio-terrorism and kidnapping world leaders... I'm kind of disappointed."

Seriously. I scrunch my face up into a displeased sort of sneer and shake my head.

"I demand not to get sick or be kidnapped! Also I would like for everything in the world to smell nice, and for a master artist to paint a new scene in the sky every day."

I figure since I am listing things I want to just go all out...