Submerged

VI. The careless whispers of a good friend.

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Paris, France. March 2035.

   "How is your family doing?" Nadine asked Antonia.

   It was Sunday, and it was pouring rain outside. Antonia was sitting on her bed in her pajamas, chatting with her mother. Nadine had emerged from the shower, put on her pajamas, and was drying her hair with a towel. On a small flat-screen TV, the news channel was on with the volume low as background noise. A reporter was interviewing a scientist:

   "We urge citizens not to panic; the illness is not contagious. I repeat: there is no risk of contagion," the scientist insisted, while images of entire populations wearing masks and gloves played beside her. "The anomaly seems to originate within individuals' bodies. It's more likely to develop in people with emotional, financial, mental health issues, or suicidal tendencies."

   "They're being so naive!" Antonia replied angrily, throwing her phone to the other end of the bed. "With everything that's going on, they insist it's not something that could affect them, so they decided to plan their vacation!"

   Nadine sat beside her, silently taking her hand and listening attentively.

   "People are dying, and they're booking flights in advance because they're half price!" Antonia sighed, then continued more calmly, "I begged them just for this summer not to go to our house on the coast, but they insist they need to relax and that they always work hard and blah blah blah..."

   Bad news circulated everywhere. Thousands of people sat in front of their televisions every morning to hear about the tragedies happening on the other side of the world. They commented with great sadness about the situation, about the poor families who had lost everything, going crazy. Then they would stand up, forget about the matter, and continue with their lives.

   The majority of the population considered such news exaggerated, overly politicized, or even conspiracies, using it as an excuse to do nothing about it.

   They sipped their morning coffee, tasting deforestation and water pollution with a hint of ecosystem imbalance. They drove their cars, listening to good music accompanied by the beat of pollution. They bought their lunch in beautiful single-use containers, walking through food stores with their carts filled with 5% food and 95% plastic. They relaxed in the comfort of their homes while the washing machine took care of leaving their clothes soft, thanks to the new fabric softener with a scent of polluting chemicals. Back in bed, they watched advertisements from big corporations, who absolved themselves of guilt by slapping an "eco" sticker on their products while behind closed doors, they ravaged resources as well as the future.

   Back in the university dorm room, sitting on the bed too close to each other, the girls continued their conversation about their respective families. Nadine turned off the television and tried to distract Antonia. They talked for hours about thousands of topics.
   They were interrupted by hunger, they had missed lunchtime. They put on their coats over their pajamas, slipped on their boots, and headed out onto the street. They ate at their favorite restaurant-bar and then returned to their dorm room, where they lay down to take a nap together.

   Nadine woke up first, Antonia slept inches from her face. It was already dark outside, and the temperature had dropped considerably. Slowly, she moved closer to her and wrapped her arms around her. Antonia began to wake up, drawing her body closer to Nadine's while placing both hands around her shoulders.

   "I bought tickets for March twenty-second, at Triangle Rose. That band you love so much is playing," Antonia said timidly, still with her eyes closed.