Infected

17: ☣Pandora☣

THE announcement was broadcast live from the World Health Organization all over the planet.

People from Indian residential apartments tuned in to their TV screens; same with residents in South Africa; those living at the Favelas in Brazil; pedestrians bustling through the crosswalks who stopped to look up at the jumbotrons set at the highrise buildings at Times Square, New York; same in London; Tokyo; all the way to Kenya, where Tamana, Derek and Jim were all seated behind one of the monitors, watching the event.

"Another variant?" exclaimed Jim through a mouthful of doughnuts, apparently not noticing the revolting look that Tamana was giving him. "I thought we had enough vaccines for that. They even gave us these things that contain bombs in them!"

Derek's eyes drifted from Jim's bejeweled wrist to that of Tamana, recalling something he had noticed earlier when they had been at the tech store.

Tamana's bracelet had a rather unique design that Derek had only ever seen once.

"May I?" Derek asked, motioning Tamana to stretch out her left hand.

"What are you doing?"

"Your bracelet. Where did you get it?" Derek asked as Tamana stretched out her hand.

"I got it after being vaccinated. Same as everyone else."

"Are you sure?" Derek pressed, still scrutinizing Tamana's bracelet.

"What?"

That was when Derek saw it. The little cleft just next to the bracelet's serial number that was exactly like the one on his own bracelet.

"Take it off, " Derek demanded gently.

"What? Why?" Tamana asked, perplexed.

"Dude, what's up with you?" Jim said, wolfing down his last doughnut.

"I wanna try it on."

"You want to what ?"

"Bruh!"

"I know what I'm doing!" Derek insisted.

"But you'll blow up-"

"Trust me!"

Both Tamana and Jim exchanged glances, wondering if Derek had lost his mind but then Tamana looked back at him, studying his determined expression which she recognized from the time they'd first met; he had had that same look when he had helped her escape from the assassin.

"What's wrong with you two?" Jim cried after Tamana took off her bracelet and handed it to Derek.

Without hesitation, Derek slipped the bracelet around his right arm and the device attached itself together with a click, followed by an LED glowing on red, indicating that Jim was not the rightful owner but close to ten seconds later, the light turned green.

It was both relief and shock to Tamana and Jim as they had expected for Derek's insides to be blown apart but all of his body parts were still intact.

"How's that possible?" asked Jim.

"I don't understand," Tamana frowned, closely eyeing Derek.

Derek was about to elaborate before he was cut off by the news coming from the monitor. The Director of the WHO had just walked up to the platform and was already delivering the announcement of the new variant to the world.

". . .the war against COVID is still far from over as by now I am sure most of you--if not all--have already heard about this new variant of the coronavirus. The WHO and the CDC headquarters in the United States discovered this biological anomaly early this week, amid the ongoing investigation regarding the death of one of our own officials."