Dear Diary,

Never thought I'd relate to Doctor Fauci, but here we fuckin' are.

George let out an awful cough, and after a moment of stunned silence, I leapt into action. "Nobody leave the tent, on pain of pain. I'll be right back." I dropped Isnomi in Saffron's general direction, stepped to the Ladies' infirmary, grabbed Grandma and Sister Siobhan by the arm, said, "you're needed elsewhere, stat," and stepped to the Men's Infirmary. I let go of Grandma, said, "keep an eye on Lancaster," grabbed Doc DeLeon's arm, said, "no time," and stepped back to the negotiation pavilion to find General Lancaster standing by the tent flap with sword drawn, Ophelia shouting at the top of her lungs about needing to leave the 'plague ridden tent', being held back from charging at General Lancaster by the simple expedient of Mr. Driver holding on to one of her arms. No matter how she clawed at that she wasn't getting away.

I let go of Sister Siobhan and Doc DeLeon, stepped forward, and slapped her hard enough to shut her up for a moment. What, I didn't backhand her or anything; shut her up more out of surprise that someone would actually strike her than anything else. "Ophelia Orange, you are presently in the safest fucking place to be if this is a fucking plague, now shut up and let us do something about it."

She pointed at George and shrieked, "Burn..." I lifted my hand to actually backhand her and she shut the hell up.

"Don't make me tell you again, and stay shut up unless you have something productive to add." I nodded at Mr. Driver, then at General Lancaster. "Thanks, guys." I turned to our two healers. "Can you check Mr. Papadopoulos to see if he's got the same disease as Cadet Lancaster?"

Both of them nodded and went through the motions of Assess Health. I had no doubt they both had enough skill to not need the hand motions, but maybe using them saved Mana or something. Not like I knew or cared about Mana savings most of the time. While they did that, I thought to Saffron. That really fuckin' hurt, bringing the two of them all the way here.

I'll take care of getting them home, if it comes to that, Goof.

"First things first, while they're checking George's health, you four need to sign that damn treaty."

"Why the hell would I do that now?" shrieked Ophelia.

My gaze snapped to catch hers, and I growled out, "because if he's got the same thing Lancaster does, you're already infected, and the only people who know how to treat and more importantly combat the plague? Are from Phileo. Who doesn't owe you shit until that treaty's signed."

A bit of sanity returned to her eyes, and she tried to pull away from Mr. Driver. Since she pulled towards the table, I nodded, and Mr. Driver let her go. She stumbled a bit before catching herself. I said, "Sign it at the very bottom of the page." She looked venom at me, but moved her hand and signed her name kinda huge, with all sorts of flourishes. When she stepped away, dropping the pen on the table like it was infected, I nodded to General Lancaster. "General, if you could sign directly above her, please?"

"Certainly." He walked over, picked up the discarded pen, and signed his own name right above Ophelia's flamboyant signature. While his was significantly less ornate, he included what I think was his full set of titles, 'Guild Master, Councilman, General, and High Priest Leonard Leroy Lancaster'. That took up more space than Ophelia's over-decorated mess.

I nodded to the Drivers. "Mrs. Driver? If you would sign right above the General's signature?"

"Absolutely, dear." She stepped up and signed her own name in half of the space left between the bottom of the document and the end of the treaty. Constitution. Bill of laws? Whatever it was, she signed it and left a fair spot for George to do the same.

Before I said anything, he looked at me and said, "I sign, and you cure me?"

I shook my head and said, "wait just one moment, please." I turned to the healers and said, "it's the same disease?"

Sister Siobhan said, "Yes," just as Doc DeLeon shook his head.

Shrugging apology to Sister Siobhan, he explained, "it's very close kin to the one Cadet Lancaster had. Same symptoms. Possibly slightly different survivability or incubation. Some diseases are like that; they change themselves in order to escape detection. Luckily, in this case any healer worthy of the name could at least detect that the victim is diseased."

"Shit. It's mutating fast, then." While I left Doc DeLeon mouthing the word 'mutate', I stepped around the table, popped a Mana Ward over the two of us and said, "you might want to look away, this might be a little bright." Then I poured enough Mana into a Cure Disease to wipe it out no matter how hard it tried to hide. After I'd finished, I dropped the Ward and said, "I don't want someone down the line saying you were blackmailed into signing. I stepped over to Ophelia, who had opened her mouth to bitch. She closed it, fast, and I threw a Mana Ward around the two of us and repeated the Cure Disease. When I'd finished, I looked at the healers and said, "Can you two check everyone else in the tent, please?"

While George carefully added his signature to the treaty, they did just that. Doc DeLeon reported, "General Lancaster and the Drivers are all infected."

I looked at Sister Siobhan and asked, "could you use your Cure Disease on Mrs. Driver, please?"

"Of course." She stepped over and, with way less fanfare than me, Cured Mrs. Driver.

"Doctor, could you Assess her, please?"

He nodded, went through the motions, and then nodded again. "She's cured."

I let out a heartfelt sigh. "That means it doesn't take me overpowering the shit out of it to Cure somebody asymptomatic with it. Doctor, could you handle the Cures on the Mr. Driver and General Lancaster? Oh, Sister, could you check me and Saffron as well?"

She looked at me a little funny, but went through the motions of Assess Health. "Both of you are disease free."

I let out another huge sigh of relief. "That means that the two strains are close enough that immunity to one ought to convey immunity to the other." For the first time since I'd Cured him, I looked to George. "I'm sorry to be the one to bear bad news, Mr. Papadopoulos, but while you're cured of the disease, your body still has to get rid of all the snot and stuff, so you're probably gonna cough and puke a bit 'til it's all out of you."

He closed his eyes and said a silent prayer before looking back at me. "But I'll live?"

I shrugged. "This particular plague won't kill you, at any rate." I turned back to the General. "General Lancaster, we need to check each and every person in the army. Hell, everyone in both armies. Then we need to use them to quarantine everyone else in all four Cities, then check each and every person and Cure any of them who have this plague."

The General opened his mouth to say something, some kind of argument by his look, but Ophelia beat him to the shriek. "Everyone? Why not just quarantine the sick? Who will keep the Cities running while everyone is trapped in their houses?"

I Translocated across the room, getting right up into her face, and said, "because this thing mutates... changes fast enough that if we don't quarantine, if we don't check and Cure every single person, it'll mutate into something that Cured people have no defense against, at which point we're back to the starting point again. And if we don't stop this shit now, fast, it will kill off huge chunks of our population, and leave others so sick or maimed that the Cities will fall apart anyway. Do. You. Understand?"

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She flounced backwards, then sneered, "so the weak die off. It will leave us stronger."

Before I could respond, General Lancaster stepped forward and backhanded her hard enough to spin her around and leave her crumpling to the floor. When she pushed herself up enough he could look her in the eye, he said, "my son nearly died of this. Would have if not for High Priestess Diaz. Call my son weak again, and I will see you on the field of honor. Briefly."

I don't know if we finally got through to her or if having so many people manhandle her intimidated her into shutting the fuck up and soldiering, but she pushed herself to her feet, eyes on the floor, and said, "I apologize, General. I didn't know." She turned to the rest of the group. "I will of course support whatever the Inter-City Council decides."

"I vote we do what she says," said George with absolute conviction as he pointed at me.

"Are you sure we need to do all that?" Mrs. Driver asked me. I nodded, and she said, "then I also vote for doing what she said."

When she'd finished, Ophelia cut in. "While I stand by my word, and will support whatever this Council decides, I cannot countenance voting in support of so many wasted resources. I vote against her plan."

All three of the men in the tent looked like they wanted to end her on the spot, and Mrs. Driver actually took a step toward her. I cut in with, "if we don't let each member of the Council vote their conscience, there's no point in having a Council in the first place. That's two for and one against. General? Will you cast the deciding vote?"

He smiled wryly, then said, "Should I vote against it, your wife will break the tie by voting for it anyhow. While I sympathize with Lady Orange's worry about wasted resources, Odin only knows who or how many people this Plague will kill if we do not act against it swiftly and decisively. And as much as any other reason, I will not countenance the survival of someone or something that tried to kill my son as part of its murderous rampage. I vote for High Priestess Diaz' plan."

With the matter decided, the tension in the room drained away. Ophelia still looked a little put out about losing, and a lot put out by having a growing bruise on her cheek, but that could all be dealt with later. While I tried frantically to think of what we ought to do first, General Lancaster looked at me and asked, "so, how should we proceed?"

Saffron? I'm a little bit out of my depth, and I'm starting to sink.

She smiled at me and replied, I didn't want to steal your spotlight, Goof. I'll take it from here.

After rapping the table once to get everyone's attention, Saffron spoke. "First, since every Cadet beyond Freshman must be able to Assess Health, we need to Assess and if need be Cure all our Heroes and Cadets first. Once that is complete, Doctor DeLeon and Sister Siobhan will show our Heroes and Cadets how to tell if someone has this disease."

Sister Siobhan cut in, "surely that's not necessary?"

I answered for Saffron. "I can Assess Health, but I have no idea how to understand half of the stuff it tells me." At the Sister's wince, Saffron continued.

"As soon as that training is done, our Senior Cadets will leave immediately, at their best possible speed, with no delay, for Phileo City and Camden Yards to announce and enforce the quarantine. They will also Assess and," here she paused, looking at General Lancaster. "General, do any of the Senior Cadets know the Cure Disease Spell?"

He frowned, then said, "it's not a popular Spell for Cadets to learn, but it's not unheard of. My guess would be one in ten. Also, are you certain you want them travelling at night?"

Saffron sighed. "One in ten will have to do, and unless I miss my guess, time is of the essence. If someone as well trained and healthy as Laurence nearly died to this plague, I shudder to think what it might have done to someone like my Grandmother."

Speaking of, do you remember if she was Cured or not?

Me? I'm the goofy one, don't you remember? As soon as the plan is done making, I'll check up on her.

Thank you, beloved Goof.

"Once our Heroes and Cadets here have been cleared, we will send our Heroes to collect and clear the Heroes of Newark and New Amsterdam. While they are doing that, our Cadets will move all of the Phileo and Camden volunteers and all of New Amsterdam's levies to the east side of this field, then begin Assessing them. Anyone who isn't diseased will move to the west side of the field, anyone who is will be Cured before moving to the west side of the field, where they will set up an encampment."

Doctor DeLeon raised his hand, and when Saffron nodded to him, said, "are we certain our Cadets, or even our Heroes, might not know how to diagnose someone with Assess Health, even after our training, can we be sure they'll do it properly?"

Saffron sighed, closed her eyes a moment, then said, "every soldier will be Assessed by at least two different people, and any cases on which they disagree will come to one of you two for a decision. Unless you think we should just Cure them anyhow?"

Sister Siobhan shook her head. "No; a few extra Assessments, even a lot extra, are still less Mana intensive than even one extra Cure."

"Okay, then. Just to be sure, for the duration anyone showing any kind of symptoms will come to us for a Cure. Better safe than sorry. Once we have our Army and Officers clear, we'll set up two groups. One group consisting of Heroes from Newark and New Amsterdam, with all of the Levies and half of our Volunteers, to enforce the quarantine. The other group we'll break up into small groups of Heroes to go building to building, clearing everyone inside. Each group needs at least two who can Assess Health, as well as one who can Cure."

Siobhan raised her hand like Doc DeLeon had done. "Some who can Cure are limited. I can only do it once every few hours, at best." Now that she said it, she did look more than a little rumpled.

Saffron nodded. "We'll send the rest of the Volunteers evenly divided among the Heroes and Cadets. Any groups whose healer can't Cure any more at the moment will send Infected, escorted by one Volunteer, here to be Cured."

"I can only do two before needing to rest. Frankly, I would need a good night's sleep after that before I could do it again; the Sister can probably Cure more than me in a day."

"Both of you save your Mana. Tabitha and I will handle those sent here to be Cured, as well as Curing those Heroes and soldiers who need it."

The Doctor's jaw dropped a little before he blurted out, "how many can you Cure?"

Saffron smiled serenely. "As many as need be. The blessings of my Goddess are manifold."

At that point, George said, "what about food?"

Saffron looked at him, and he kind of shrugged, but Mrs. Driver followed up with, "I know plenty of people who don't keep food in the house; they get their meals from Drivers' on the way to and from work."

Saffron took another deep breath. While she did she thought, ideas?

Physical separation. Have food dropped off at every door. Might not be tasty, might not be much, but should keep everyone from starving.

"Okay, then," she said, "as we clear buildings, we find out if there's enough food to last everyone in the house for a week, and check if anyone in the house knows how to cook stuff that will last for a week. Anyone who does we'll draft into preparing food, everyone who doesn't and can carry will drop food off at every door in the city. No contact with the inhabitants. Just knock, leave the food, and go."

"Who'll pay for all that?" asked Ophelia. Because of course she did.

"If someone believes their livelihood has been put at risk by our deliveries, once the quarantine is over they can petition the Inter-City Council to recompense them. Which we will, but only if their business will fail if we don't." She turned to the Drivers. "If we confiscated all the food at Drivers', would that bankrupt you?"

Mama Driver just snorted. "Hardly. Oh, we might not be able to feed quite so many people on credit for a bit after that, but put us out of business? No."

Mister Driver spoke up after that. "If you can clear us and our staff, we could cover most of the Yards. We might need runners for delivery, though."

I pointed to him and looked around the room, "if someone volunteers something like that, we should bend the plan for them, because if people who know how to do shit are doing it, it gets fucked up way less often. But still, no contact between cleared people and un-cleared ones."

"What about the people doing the Assessing and Curing?" asked George.

Saffron facepalmed. "Good point. Those doing Assessments and Cures are the only ones to contact those not yet cleared. Runners sent back to here with those in need of Cures will be Assessed and, if need be, Cured here." She turned to me, a sour look so carefully hidden that I only recognized it because, y'know, I could tell what she was thinking. "High Priestess Diaz, can you do as I'll be doing, but in Phileo and Camden Yards?"

Fuck. Another crisis where we had to work separately. This sucked, mightily. I kept that just as carefully concealed as I said, "Absolutely."

"Good. Once everyone in all four Cities have been checked, the Cities themselves will remain quarantined from the countryside until such time as we have evidence that the disease hasn't spread outside the cities. No one enters a City without being Assessed and if need be Cured. If they need to be Cured, we need to find out where they're from and where they've been over the month prior; those places will need to be quarantined and cleared, just like we're doing with our Cities." She looked around the room. "Any Questions?"

General Lancaster looked around the room himself, then asked, quietly, "are we certain that we have to do this? Are we certain we can do this?"

I nodded as I cut in, "if we don't? Millions could die. Our Cities could die, along with every soul in them. As for being able to do it?" I sighed, my shoulder's slumping.

I have faith in you, Goof.

I smiled at that. "Together. One person at a time. Yes, we can."