Conniveo

Chapter XVI: Anticipation

I sat up in bed and looked at the screen, but it had been turned off as there were no nurses physically present in the room. They were attending an emergency meeting with the specialists regarding the treatment of any admissions which had been in contact with the 'otherworldly invaders'. I was growing sick of that term. Otherworld. They made it sound like it wasn't the same world as ours. Sure, the people looked different - another thing I wondered about - and spoke a little differently, but they were from the time before the Messiah and the Biblos so there was nothing else to expect. I had taken some time to consider why my illness had not affected Eugene or Greg. The specialists had said that the pathogen existed in the past, but it had been wiped out due to our activity. So the people of the past must have been capable of fighting these things within their bodies, with their immune systems. Which made me wonder...were their immune systems stronger than ours?

Tari came into the unit and smiled at me. I wondered if the meeting was over. She went into the room beside my quarantine unit and changed into the biosafety suit before coming in to see me.

"Am I to receive another dose?" I was surprised. I thought she had told me that I would be getting only one per day.

"No. I just came to have a conversation. The others will be returning in a few minutes."

"That is rather unusual of you."

"Well, we share a secret, unlike the others."

I smiled. Even though my secret was likely to be common news now, as I had received the General's visit and many were sure to deduce what the discussion had been about. The General's had left me feeling flustered at the end, with his dismissal. Eugene and Greg had returned. And the General had ordered for their arrest. I wondered if he had been successful. I hoped not.

"We would be able to discharge you from our care today," Tari said suddenly.

"Why?"

"Your current medication has a half-life of about fifteen hours, you have only two more doses left and you have showed clinical signs of improvement, so the specialists suggested that you were better off continuing your treatment at home. Besides that, there were considerations about your brother who requested that you be released in time to watch his attendance at the Silas Qualifiers."

"That seems rather generous of them." I smiled.

"True. But I think the main thing influencing the decision for your early release was the reappearance of the otherworld invaders. We anticipate another set of patients requiring treatment and the real intention behind your discharge might be to have this quarantine unit ready."

"Oh."

That made more sense. It wasn't about me, after all. It was more of a situation of 'out with the old, in with the new'. I then realized the implications of that course of action. It meant that Eugene and Greg had been in contact with others outside.

"Did you see anything regarding...the otherworld invaders on the Network Reports?"

"No, but I was told there was a report earlier today from one of my friends via radiolink. Around the time the General and his men were with you. I have not seen the actual report, and the emergency meeting was scheduled shortly afterwards so I doubt any of the others have seen it either."

"Can you req the report as soon as you leave here?"

"You're really concerned about these men, aren't you? Even though they might be dangerous."

"They are not dangerous."

"They are the reason you're here. They're the reason we are facing a possible epidemic."