Memory transcription subject: Kreiv, Venlil septic waste worker
Date [Standardized human time]: August 4th, 2148
[3 days before outbreak]
Another long paw of managing a city’s worth of shit. Not a day goes by I’m not glad not to be among the new generation of genetically fixed venlil. I can’t imagine having a nose on the job doing any favors. I sealed off an intake valve and stepped off the main treatment plant’s floor, satisfied with a hard paw’s work and ready to finally go home.
While slipping off my boots and rubber suit in the locker rooms, I fantasized about being the factory manager. I’d spent cycles working my way through lower-level positions to get to where I am, and I intended on shooting for the stars!
I stepped through the locker room into the venlil cleanup room. Human workers required different washing accommodations, as their sensitive skin could be damaged by our bleach showers. I tugged on the faucet and let the cool, refreshing bleach work its way through my fur and sterilize anything nasty that may have slipped into my worksuit.
Once I finished rinsing off, I blow-dried my fur and stepped out into the parking lot, ready to head home. I placed a paw against my car’s door handle and it unlocked without issue, then I told it to go ‘home’ and it obliged autonomously, giving me some much-appreciated time to catch up on my reading, a trashy romance novel I’d found on the human internet about a ‘forbidden love’ between a zurulian and arxur.
~~~
Just at the cusp of the story’s climax, the engine hum slowly died down as the vehicle pulled into a well-lit parking garage adjacent to my housing complex. I hopped out and locked the car, then strode out of the garage and onto the sidewalk. I gave a warm tail flick to a Yotul couple, then another to a young venlil pup with an unusually red fur color. I finally arrived at the housing complex’s doorway, let inside by another scan of my paw.
I stepped into an elevator and selected the third floor where my apartment was. The building was unique for being mostly human architecture, with blocky rooms and sharp corners rarely found elsewhere on Skalga. It made my exchange partner, Eric, feel right at home.
My door opened with a click and I stepped inside to find the lights were all off. The couch was covered in used tissues, but my friend was nowhere to be seen.
“Eric?” I called out sheepishly. A groan echoed from his bedroom and I rushed in to find him pressing ice against his forehead and mumbling.
“Oh stars! What happened?” I ran to his side, concerned he might be dying.
“I’m ‘right,” he muttered. “Just a cold.” His voice was nasally, and the peppy tone I’d grown accustomed to was lost. I had never seen him like this before.
He suddenly convulsed forward, coughing directly in my face.
“Eugh!” I spat, “C’mon! You got it in my mouth!” He cracked a smile that washed all urgency out of me.
“Sorry, Kreiv,” he coughed again, this time into the crook of his elbow. “I’m just a bit sick, I’ll be right as rain tomorrow!”
“Well, is there anything I can do to help? Some more tissues, a blanket?” I asked.
“Chicken noodle soup?” He grinned.
I sighed, “That’s illegal and you know it. Best I can do is imitation.”
“Best you can do would be a- ah-” he sneezed, coating his shirt and bedding in mucus, “-a godsend.”
I shook my head, my disdain for handling meat substitutes overshadowed my desire to help my friend through his ailment.
I gave him a departing tail flick, knowing full well he had no idea what it meant, and then made my way to the kitchen to start prepping his soup. I poured some vegetable broth into a pot and let it simmer while I desperately searched the fridge for whatever passed as ‘chicken’, finally finding some imitation meat that I prayed wasn’t expired. Once the broth was at a low boil, I added in the noodles and chicken, then chopped up some fresh local herbs for good taste.
I’ll admit the soup did look tasty. I’d only tried imitation meat once, and it nearly got Eric kicked from the exchange program. I chuckled at the memory of him fighting his case with ‘It’s made of the same stuff as a salad!’ and somehow winning. I stepped back into his bedroom, his face lit up seeing me.
“Careful, it’s hot,” I said as he burned his tongue on the broth.
“Fuh!” he cried.
“I told you!”
He blew on a spoonful and took a bite, savoring the soup and nodding his thanks. I wasn’t sure how the soup was supposed to help his sickness, but whatever makes him happy is fine. He finished the soup quickly and handed me the bowl and spoon.
“Thanks for the soup, it was really good. Almost like the real deal!” He broke into a coughing fit again, this time I shielded myself and backed away. He reached a hand out and patted my head, then rolled over. Within seconds he was snoring. I guess the soup really does work, huh?
I flicked off his bedroom light and shut the door as softly as possible, careful not to wake him. In the kitchen I put the bowl and spoon in the sink, I’ll wash them later, and yawned heavily. It’s been a long paw, and I was about ready for bed.
I slipped into my own room and coddled myself in the blankets, closing my eyes to drift off.
My sleep was abruptly interrupted by another coughing fit, but this time it wasn’t Eric. I coughed into my elbow a few times before retching and spitting up bile.
I wiped my mouth and flicked on the light. It was suddenly a lot colder, even with my fluff, and more coughs escaped my throat. Weird, I thought, It’s nowhere near zesui season… I guess somehow I’d gotten sick. I didn’t even remotely consider Eric was the cause, everyone knows full well that human microbes can’t infect us. I chalked it up to the obvious, a case of zesui, our equivalent to the ‘common cold’, and decided to just clean my blanket and go back to sleep.
~~~
Memory transcription subject: Daniel Stat, human virologist
Date [Standardized human time]: August 6th,2148
[1 day before outbreak]
I clicked the microscope to a higher magnification, and the small blurry orbs in the petri dish slowly came into focus. This completely unremarkable specimen was rhinovirus, the common cold. The little spherical viruses bobbed and trundled about the slide. I zoomed a bit closer, examining the spikes adorning an individual germ. I suddenly felt a paw on my shoulder and jumped up from the lens.
I spun to see Silvon, my coworker and girlfriend, giggling at my jumpiness.
“Jesus- Don’t do that!” I reprimanded her in vain.
“I didn’t expect you to scare so easily,” she shook her head and smiled, “I would’ve done more than a light tap on the shoulder if I knew!”
I jabbed a thumb toward a big ‘lab safety’ poster on the wall, “Be professional, Silvon,” I mocked with a nasally lisp.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Anyway, what’d you need me for?” I asked in my ordinary voice.
“Oh! Right!” she handed me a sheet of paper, “This is the information on that virus you’re observing, what’d you say it was? Rhinovirus?”
I took the sheet and flipped it, “Yeah, nothing out of the-” I stopped dead scanning the page.
“Danny?” Silvon’s voice called. I stared at her and wordlessly flipped around the paper.
Date: 8/5/148
Patient: Kreiv
Diagnosis: Viral infection of unknown origin
Report: A sick venlil visited my office on the 5th, SHT, and inquired about treatment for an off-season case of zesui. The venlil had a bad cough and unusually high temperature. After running a series of tests, I have discovered that the virus in question is neither zesui nor any other known pathogen. I have administered antibiotics and oral medicine and advised the venlil to quarantine until further notice. Samples of the specimen were provided.
Signed: Dr. Nauva, MD-PhD
“By the stars…” Silvon gasped.
“This is an earthborn virus… It’s physically impossible for it to infect anything other than us,” I put a hand on my chest, my heartbeat felt erratic. “There has to be a better explanation!”
Silvon idly tugged at the fluff on her neck, staring at the paper trying to rationalize some sense where none could be found. “We need to contact Dr. Nauva. This has to be a mistake! Maybe Kreiv has a sick exchange partner? Just happenstance that they’re also under the weather?” she suggested.
“It’s got to be something like that. Here, hand me the paper.” she obliged and I searched the margins. On the bottom of the page was printed a website, vpw.ransucityclinic.org. “I’m gonna schedule a meeting and get more information. How’s Ransu City this time of cycle?” I asked, trying to raise my mood.
“Rainy. Very rainy. Please stay safe, we don’t know what we’re up against,” Silvon pleaded.
“I’m absolutely sure it’ll be fine. Don’t you worry your fluffy little head,” I said, hearing the distance in my voice. “We’ll get this sorted out, realize it’s a mistake or a coincidence, and everything will be okay.”
I flipped on my holopad and navigated to the web browser, punching in the website. I scrolled through a page or so of accomplishments and prestige, evidence this clinic doesn’t make mistakes like this, and then finally found Dr. Nauva’s email at the bottom. I copied it into a note and put away the holopad again.
“Once our shift ends, I’m gonna shoot Nauva an email and see where to go from here.”
“Okay,” Silvon mumbled.
I patted her on the head, her ears perked up and she gave me an adorable grin.
“Let’s get back to work, everything will be okay,” I reassured her, then turned back to my microscope.
“See you tonight, Danny,” she said, departing from the lab.
Once again I was alone with the microbes. Now, more than ever, I had a reason to be interested in the most basic virus in the whole lab. What secrets are you hiding from me? I wondered, watching two drift into each other, then bouncing apart in slow motion.
~~~
I strode out of the laboratory into an expansive parking lot. Just a short walk from the dome-shaped building’s pristine glass double doors was my 2120s shit box. Silvon was already sitting inside and waved when she noticed my approach.
I unlocked the door and slid inside. She gave me a peck on the cheek while I directed the car to take us home.
“Happy to see you too, Silvvy,” I said.
The engine hummed lightly as we drifted down the busy street, I always enjoyed Skalga’s scenery, it was so unlike Earth in every possible way.
“So, how was work today?” I asked.
“Aside from the obvious, pretty tame. Had to run out a couple of accident sheets, we had a situation with acid down in the chemistry labs.”
“Uh oh,” I responded. “Everyone okay?”
“Oh yeah, yeah, everyone’s fine. Emiv is going to be missing some fur on his arm for a while though,” Silvon giggled.
I chuckled, serves him right! Emiv was the poster boy for safety violations, if he didn’t get such good results with his research, he’d have gotten the boot cycles ago. I shook my head, the car pulled into our driveway.
“What’s for dinner, Danny?” Silvon asked as I fumbled for my house keys.
“I’m thinkin’ gojid, with a little bit of tilfish blood for taste, oh! And some purely decorative herbs,” she rammed a fist into my shoulder.
“I should have you locked up for even thinking that!” She was laughing.
God, I love her. “I think we have some ramen in the pantry. Can you get the broth going while I send that email?”
“Ooh! Sure thing,” she got to work prepping the stovetop while I opened up my holopad and punched in the email address I copied earlier.
Dr. Nuava, my name is Dr. Daniel Stat. I am a virologist at Teiza Labs. I’m contacting you in regards to that sample of rhinovirus you sent. At your leisure, I’d like to request further information on the patient involved and maybe ask a few questions about this strain.
Now we wait. I wandered back into the kitchen and pulled some noodles out of the pantry.
“Damn, that smells good!”
Silvon made an exaggerated attempt at breathing through a nose she didn’t have, “Wow! You’re right! I can practically taste it.”
I wrapped an arm around her waist and we cooked the ramen together.
~~~
Daniel Stat, I appreciate you reaching out. I’ve attached to this email as much information I can provide, patient confidentiality is a big priority here. I hope this’s sufficient to answer your questions but feel free to ask if you need anything clarified.
~~~
Memory transcription subject: Daniel Stat, human virologist
Date [Standardized human time]: August 7th, 2148
[Day 0]
My holopad buzzed, the ‘time’ was 3 am, though the Skalgan sun was no different than it was when I went to bed. I turned over to see Silvon gently snoring next to me. I gave her a light kiss on the forehead and pulled up my emails.
Attached to Dr. Nuava’s response was a handful of documents. Some of the information was blotted out, but I got the gist that the sick venlil had an exchange partner who came down with the common cold. At some point, they were directly exposed to the strain, and within a couple of hours began showing symptoms, very uncommon for rhinovirus.
I yawned and turned off the holopad again, I’d figure things out better in the morning.
I snuggled back up next to Silvon and dozed off.
~~~
I woke up to the inviting smell of some sauteed local veggies. I strutted out of the bedroom, the connected kitchen and living room were buzzing with the noise of the television and the sizzle of Silvon’s incredible cooking.
“Hey look who’s up!” She called cheerily.
“Oh, who?” I asked sarcastically, helping myself to a chopped-up Mur root left unattended on the counter.
Silvon swatted at my hand with her paw, “You are going to ruin your breakfast!”
I set down the purplish tuber and leaned in for a kiss.
“Whatchu watchin', hon?”
“Just the news. Same old stuff, exterminator guild a few towns over is in trouble for incinerating another cat.”
“That’s awful,” I shook my head solemnly. One thing I suppose will never change is exterminators. Even though humans long ago rallied for their abolishment, they’re so engrained in former federation species’ cultures that they’re impossible to remove. Nowadays they’re relegated to nothing more than police work, with the occasional controversial incineration.
“Food’s just about done. Can you grab us some plates?” Silvon asked.
“Sure thing,” I said, reaching into the cabinet. She plopped down two steaming globs of sauteed veggies in a homemade sauce. I dug through the medicine cabinet to retrieve my daily vitamin supplements, crushed them up, and mixed them into my food. It made no difference to the taste.
We sat down on the couch and watched the news. A venlil reporter was standing in front of a weather map displaying this cycle’s seasonal storm patterns. After the weather, the channel moved on to sports. The Olympics were being held on Leirn this year, cool!
Next, the TV jumped to the usual Coalition segment. The UN was providing an update on a new uplift species, I didn’t pay too much attention, focusing more on Silvon’s cooking than whatever the old human on TV was spouting.
The UN’s segment was followed up quickly by breaking news. More info was given on the exterminator guild’s latest mishap, then the news anchor shifted on to the next story.
"This just in: a venlil found dead in his home in Ransu City tonight. 19-year-old Kreiv was found deceased in bed just hours ago,"
I dropped my utensil, which loudly clattered onto the plate. We stared in disbelief at the TV, then at each other. Neither of us had an appetite anymore.
“Wasn’t he only sick for a few days?” I asked, breaking our stunned silence. “If it- if it killed him this quickly-” I felt my stomach churn.
“It could clear the city in no time,” Silvon’s voice was shaky, the severity of the situation growing ever higher.
“I need to talk to Dr. Nuava.”