This is a Test

Ch. 16

With the little issue of the outside interloper resolved, it was time to deal with the one on the inside. A message was sent to Lia, but no response was forthcoming, so Cashe volunteered to retrieve her. He headed to the Kitchen and had to brush away two bees before he got there. They were supposed to stay near the heat of the hydroponics sun lamps, but the drones were becoming more adventurous and not focused on their jobs of pollinating and honey-producing. They had obviously been hanging around the others too much, except for Lia and himself. They were probably following him to remind themselves of what a work ethic looked like.

He was disliking the ascents and descents to the new server room, but there was the slight worry that something may have happened to her with no response, and he wanted to know what she had found, if anything. The music continued from the server room as he approached, and when he entered, he found her engrossed in what she was looking at to where she hadn't noticed him. She sat at her desk, eyes locked on her screens, tears streaming her cheeks as she looked at her monitors.

She was smiling.

It was the oddest thing, but before he had time to process, she saw him and jumped with a start and a little yelp. Lia stood and rushed over to him.

"Anoptica is gone. The world is dying," she said as she hugged him, burying her face in his chest.

Cashe was never good at hugs, and her reaction was not something that was expected, so he was quite unsure of what to do. He gave her two pats on the back as she squeezed tighter. "Okay..."

She pulled back, laughing, saying something, but her tablet was on the desk. She hustled back over and beckoned him to come closer. "But my village is safe. My family is alive and well, thanks to our great leadership. Look."

Cashe was curious, more so about her belief that Anoptica was no longer watching, but wanted to see what produced such elation. On her screen was a map of some sort, covered in Chinese symbols, probably representing cities or towns, and large blocks of Chinese text. Cashe couldn't make heads or tails of where any place was, but he did notice large swaths of red everywhere. She pointed to somewhere that was near the heart of a larger blob of red.

"You see, my village is right here. They are safe."

Cashe didn't know much about viruses, but everything he saw seemed to indicate that those places were plague centers. "Doesn't that mean they are in the middle of an infection zone?"

She looked between him and the screen. "No. The areas are red. That means the party has taken control. Look." She pointed to the large block of characters and ran her finger across them as she read. "The virus was spread by those wishing to disrupt the good of the national party, but through the efforts and sacrifices of our loyal people, we have been able to contain the outbreak to where designated zones are safe for travel and commerce. Do not listen to false reports..." She continued on, reading the propaganda, but Cashe watched her, ebullient from the obvious lies. He forgot that other countries had different standards. Red party, red flag. Red was good in her culture. He disliked making assumptions based on his limited perspective, and he promised himself to do better. She glowed as she finished reading the words.

"All right," he said, slowly and carefully in case she turned into a nutter and flew off the handle. "How about the rest of the world?"

"The infection is spread throughout." She clicked her mouse to other government websites with maps. "They do not have good controls on their populace like we do. People were told by their governments to follow their commands, but they ignored the decrees and their populations are now suffering for it."

The maps were in English, showing time-lapsed of areas of viral growth. Things looked bad, but especially for China, as the red was covering the country at a rapid pace. Meanwhile, Lia was scrolling through her search history, and after a few windows opened and closed quickly, she stopped on one video of an older couple trying to both be seen by the camera of a home computer, Cashe surmised. "My parents," Lia said as she turned up the volume of the translator, and the words the couple spoke excitedly.