NationStates Jolt Archive

Only a few weeks after Cold Light's independence, the nation faces its first major catastrophe. An unknown virus with unknown origins is spreading through the country and approximately 10% of the population has died of this virus with another 30% affected.

As a safety measure all borders have been closed and all flights leaving and entering Cold Light have been canceled. No one is to leave the country to avoid a global epidemic and this includes citizens of other nations who are here on business or pleasure.

President Mathers didn't know how to deal with this unknown crisis. One minute the fledgling nation had been celebrating its independence, the next death was sweeping across the nation. The President was now on television broadcasting around the world.

"I, President Nathan Mathers of Cold Light, now declare a State of Emergency in the Republic. All matters of transportation are banned from leaving the country to avoid a global epidemic, while our scientists look for a cure. I send a plea to the world to help in anyway possible to find a cure for this virus. Symptons include a small toothache which leads to earaches. After this phase a fever becomes present and noses start to bleed uncontrollably. After this the body shuts down into a coma like state which then leads to the dath of sufferer. Already 10% of the population has succumbed to it and that rate increases every hour. Please help us."

OOC-

Advice - thermo nuclear warheads will solve all your problems. Deploy them in infected zones and boom. No more virus.

"Oh dear. This time, a threat that none of us can solve by using military might."

A lone airship drifted in the skies above Cold Light, the early morning dawn giving them no warmth. At 4000m altitude, the small Tradewind-class craft at only 160m in length had no space for bulky insulation in the control gondola, the heating system being too puny to provide much warmth. Behind the small 5-man crew of the airship, a much-more important cargo was being carried. A large red star was painted on the side of the rear gondola, signifying it to be a medical aid vehicle. Inside, a large mobile laboratory lay secured and packed, the 15 scientists within a small bunk area sleeping fitfully as the engines outside changed pitch with the wind. One man was still fearful of this form of airship travel: this craft being a hybrid airship, all they need was for the engines to fail for it to just drop from the sky. It was the vectored thrust from those engines that allowed it to stay up there.

The tone changed as the airship came down towards the nation as the light of dawn broke. Inside, the crew and now-awakened scientists suited up in NBC Warfare suits, white plastic clothing covering their entire bodies save for the gas-masked faces. The engines finally shut down as the landing gear deployed, allowing the craft to touch down at this airport they had landed at. It was strangely quiet: losing 10% of your population meant that you had little to spare to make noise. And fear as well...

The mobile laboratory began its set-up as the crew attended to things on the ground: for the next however-long period of time, they would be stuck here. In these sweaty suits, that clung to their exposed skin, yet were the only barrier between their life and death when in this nation.

Soon, an 8-man team were ready: fully kitted, and carrying large chests of supplies, they loaded them onto a small 4X4 pickup emblazoned with the red star and "Doctor" in Fegosian pictograms and English. There was a roar as it drove from the back of the airship cargo gondola, before disappearing off down the tarmac. They needed to get some samples, whilst observing the symptoms first hand.

Official Diplomatic Communique

To President Nathan Mathers,

The closure of your borders are very bad for business, and as such, we have decided to help you with your situation. We request permission to send in a military team to set up an area to A, quarantine any and all Beatusian citizens in your nation, and B, study this new disease, virus, or bacteria, and determine how it is spread, and if a treatment or cure exists. Due to the necessity of time, the planes are already inbound to your nation, but will not enter your airspace until confirmation from you accepting our support is received, and you give us a place to land, preferable somewhere that is clean, where the infection has not spread.

Signed,
Gen. Hannibal Smith (RET.)
President
The Theocratic Republic of the Beatus

OOC-

Advice - thermo nuclear warheads will solve all your problems. Deploy them in infected zones and boom. No more virus.

OOC: Excellent short term answer, very bad long term answer :p

"Oh dear. This time, a threat that none of us can solve by using military might."

A lone airship drifted in the skies above Cold Light, the early morning dawn giving them no warmth. At 4000m altitude, the small Tradewind-class craft at only 160m in length had no space for bulky insulation in the control gondola, the heating system being too puny to provide much warmth. Behind the small 5-man crew of the airship, a much-more important cargo was being carried. A large red star was painted on the side of the rear gondola, signifying it to be a medical aid vehicle. Inside, a large mobile laboratory lay secured and packed, the 15 scientists within a small bunk area sleeping fitfully as the engines outside changed pitch with the wind. One man was still fearful of this form of airship travel: this craft being a hybrid airship, all they need was for the engines to fail for it to just drop from the sky. It was the vectored thrust from those engines that allowed it to stay up there.

The tone changed as the airship came down towards the nation as the light of dawn broke. Inside, the crew and now-awakened scientists suited up in NBC Warfare suits, white plastic clothing covering their entire bodies save for the gas-masked faces. The engines finally shut down as the landing gear deployed, allowing the craft to touch down at this airport they had landed at. It was strangely quiet: losing 10% of your population meant that you had little to spare to make noise. And fear as well...

The mobile laboratory began its set-up as the crew attended to things on the ground: for the next however-long period of time, they would be stuck here. In these sweaty suits, that clung to their exposed skin, yet were the only barrier between their life and death when in this nation.

Soon, an 8-man team were ready: fully kitted, and carrying large chests of supplies, they loaded them onto a small 4X4 pickup emblazoned with the red star and "Doctor" in Fegosian pictograms and English. There was a roar as it drove from the back of the airship cargo gondola, before disappearing off down the tarmac. They needed to get some samples, whilst observing the symptoms first hand.

The airship had landed in one of the most infected areas of the region. If this team needed a sample they wouldn't need to wait for long. As soon as the native population saw the 4x4 with Doctor on it, they went mad. People started shouting, screaming, clambering over each other. They had heard their was no cure, but that didn't stop them hoping.

"SAVE ME!"

"MY BABY IS SICK!"

"THE PAIN. THE PAIN."


These were the screams this team would hear in the area. People were going mad, all traces of humanity slowly leaving them as the instinct to survive took over. This was the kind of scene all the teams were seeing around the nation.

Official Diplomatic Communique

To President Nathan Mathers,

The closure of your borders are very bad for business, and as such, we have decided to help you with your situation. We request permission to send in a military team to set up an area to A, quarantine any and all Beatusian citizens in your nation, and B, study this new disease, virus, or bacteria, and determine how it is spread, and if a treatment or cure exists. Due to the necessity of time, the planes are already inbound to your nation, but will not enter your airspace until confirmation from you accepting our support is received, and you give us a place to land, preferable somewhere that is clean, where the infection has not spread.

Signed,
Gen. Hannibal Smith (RET.)
President
The Theocratic Republic of the Beatus

To Gen. Hannibal Smith

Your planes have permission to enter Cold Light and to help in any way possible.

Signed
President Nathan Mathers
The Republic of Cold Light.

Radio Transmission

"Attention Cold Light Air Traffic Control, this is Beatusian Medical Aide, flight 911. Aircraft is type McDonnell-Douglas C-17 Globemaster III, we request direction to a proper landing site for 4 aircraft of same type."

The NBC-suited men showed no emotion as the stopped amidst a mob of people. One opened the sunroof and stood out of it.
"We can only take 3 people for now."
He pointed at three lucky people, including a child, helping them onto the back of the vehicle before the car drove off rapidly from the area, leaving the mob behind.

Back at the airship, the three lucky survivors were taken off, and over to three beds. They were the lucky ones: they were able to feel the sweet oblivion of a morphine injection to knock them out as doctors closed in, to take blood, saliva and flesh samples, whilst examining the victim. Transferring the samples onto bacterial colony plates, they put them into an incubator before turning back to the now-unconscious casualties. That had been the problem of the TCV-09 virus: they couldn't help them all, and could only choose randomly who to cure and who to leave to the ravages of the disease. For now, the patients had also been given an anti-viral drug cocktail similar to that they used for treating Ebola, to see if the potent drugs would annihilate the disease in their system. As nurses tended to them, wiping away the infected blood, they prayed for a cure to come.

Around the airship, the crew members sat atop another 4x4, emblazoned with the medical insignia. However, they were armed: with TASER stunguns and tear gas: if there was a stampede in the area, they couldn't risk the safety of the doctors. And if they did have problems, they would be ready to go within 30 seconds. They hoped it wouldn't come to that.

5 hours away, an aircraft took off from Neo'Los international aerodrome. It was a heavy air transport, loaded up with crate after crate of morphine, anti-viral drugs and extra equipment: they would try at least to try and do whatever they could for the men and women.

Executive Order #2321:
Make research for cure of the Cold Light virus top priority in the Holy Paradisian Center for Disease Control
Noting that the people of Cold Light are suffering from a violent disease in which the following symptoms are take place in the following order:

1. A small but noticable feeling of discomfort in the teeth.
2. Ear infections causing moderate discomfort.
3. A high-grade fever with temperatures about 6 to 8 degrees above normal.
4. Hemophiliac-like bleeding from the nose.
5. Coma-like state.
6. Death.

and noting that this disease is very contagious and could become a world-wide catastrophe if not stopped, I, President John Holtz, order the Holy Paradisian Center for Disease Control to make research for the cure of the Cold Light Virus top priority.

Possible related extremely contagious viruses and what they have in common with this virus:
Ebola: Fever, generalized pain, bleeding, death
Malaria: Fever, coma, death.
Tuberculosis: Fever, bleeding, death (However, this bleeding comes from the lungs when coughed up in TB)
Spanish Influenza: Fever, pain, bleeding from the nose, death.
Smallpox: Fever, pain, bleeding, death.

Good luck in your work, ladies and gentlemen.

From: President John Holtz of the Conservative United States of Holy Paradise
To: President Nathan Matters of the Republic of Cold Light
Subj: Virus
My nation's researchers require a viral culture for experimentation. Congress and I have appointed our nation's top doctor/researcher to head the research of the cure: Dr. James McHale.

Dr. McHale, the other researchers, the government of the Conservative United States of Holy Paradise, and myself promise to God above that we shall not let you down.

Dr. McHale sat with his fellow researchers in a meeting room at St. Michael the Archangel's Hospital and Disease Research Center in Holy Paradise City. Every single one of the men and women in the room were the best of the best in their field.

Dr. James McHale, the leader of the group and head of St. Michael's, was a 55 year old man, who had been practicing medicine for 30 years. He graduated at the head of his class at Westington University in Holy Paradise City (The top medical school in the nation and one of the best in the world) at the young age of 25 (Usually, graduates are between the ages 27 and 30.) Incredibly brilliant, Dr. McHale had saved countless lives from numerous diseases, both known and unknown. He had helped discover 23 diseases and disorders, one of which became known as McHale's disease.

Dr. Steve Trenton was a 47 year old man, who had also graduated from Westington University. He had been practicing medicine for 20 years, specializing in infectious diseases. He, like Dr. McHale, has helped save many lives and has helped discover 10 diseases and disorders. Dr. Trenton is James' best friend.

Dr. Craig Mansfield was a 29 year old man, who had graduated from Plainsfield University only 2 years earlier. Although young, Dr. Mansfield was one of Dr. McHale's most important colleagues in fighting the dreaded RBT-18 Virus, which caused deterioration in lungs, brain, and heart and had a 99% mortality rate before it was discovered by Dr. McHale and Dr. Mansfield, who then found a cure and eliminated the disease from the face of the planet. Dr. Mansfield specializes in deteriorating and hemorrhagic diseases such as Ebola and leprosy.

Medical student Tiffany Jordan, a 26 year old young woman studying at Westington University. Although she is still learning to be a doctor, she has proven herself to be the best student in Westington, and has been assigned to this job under the direction of the Holy Paradisian Center for Disease Control. She specializes in diseases that concern the head, such as brain diseases.

Dr. Valerie Eaton, a 58 year old woman and head of St. Michael's infectious diseases department. She graduated with Dr. McHale at the age of 28. She has proven herself to be one of the best in her field, in fact, she is probably second only to McHale.

This small team consists of some of the most brilliant minds in medicine. It will take all their effort to cure and eradicate the Cold Light Virus.

Transmission From The Office of Foreign Relations
"We are deeply troubled by the news of the sudden spread of this deadly virus. Our government wishes it could play a larger role in the search for the cure however we have just come out of a long and expensive civil war and do not have the necessary tools to help. However I have been given permission to transfer 10 million kleins to the nation of Cold Light for use in research and to help contain the virus. We apoligize for not being of much help to your problem."
Robert Hayle; Minister of Foreign Relations

The group of researchers sat down at large, rectangular wooden table. The walls around them were a bland off-white, and 2 rectangular fluorescent lights were the only source of light in the room. However, this suited the researchers perfectly.

Outside, two guards holding M-16 assualt rifles stood to the sides of the door to the room like sentinels, their eyes staring straight forward. These were no ordinary guards: They were members of the Holy Paradisian Elite Army, the best of the best, men and women that know how to kill a person in "over a thousand ways", as the urban legend goes. Actually, they only know how to kill people in 253 ways.

The researchers each opened up their packet of information. Each one had a buzzer that would summon an assistant who could get them whatever they needed to keep them going. Beds were provided, they would be lead to bathrooms and showers by Elite Army soldiers. President Holtz did not want to take any risks, what with the number of insane people in the world today. He had heard reports of people saying that the disease was good, that the human population must be put under control. Some even said that they felt someone should stop the researchers (Thank goodness there are only blessedly few of such insane people.)

After reading for about 3 hours, everyone closed their packets. Dr. McHale sighed and said, "This is going to be no cake walk."

After a brief silence, McHale continued, "We know that diseases mentioned in the executive order do not completely match the symptoms, and from the information we've gotten, it is apparent that there is no known disease that exactly matches the Cold Light Virus."

"Until we receive a viral culture from Cold Light, I'm afraid we cannot do any actual testing. However, this will give us time to compare this disease to other known diseases and see what might work to stop this menace."

"From what I read, the disease is most like Ebola and the Spanish Flu. I think its interesting that the Spanish Flu symptom of nosebleeds exactly matches that of the Cold Light Virus, so when we receive the culture, make sure to test the virus for a form of influenza. Influenza, as we all know, is highly contagious, yet the rate of demise in a variant like the Spanish Flu is slow enough that it can spread."

"With the Ebola virus, unfortunately, there is no effective human vaccine as of yet. If the Cold Light Virus belongs to the viral family Filoviridae, like Ebola, it might be very difficult to cure at the present time. Ebola, like influenza, is highly contagious, but its rate of demise is extremely fast, so keep that in mind."

"The next closest disease is smallpox, which I feared it might be when I first heard about it, before I knew about all of the symptoms. Smallpox, of course, is very contagious and has a low rate of demise, but the Cold Light Virus does not produce macules like smallpox, so I doubt its related, as the appearance of a rash, or pox, is necessary for the virus to be a part of the Poxviridae, so we can rule out any relation to smallpox, for now."

"What about the toothaches?" Dr. Mansfield asked.

"Infection of the dental pulp known as pulpitis." Dr. McHale replied.

"Doesn't pulpitis occasionally cause death?" Tiffany asked.

"Yes, but remember, pulpitis only is that bad if there is a bacterial infection." Dr. Trenton answered.

"But, this is a new type of disease, so couldn't it still be pulpitis, only its a viral infection?" Dr. Eaton proposed.

"Could the virus be in the water or the food the people are consuming?" Tiffany asked.

Dr. McHale paused for a second. "I think you might be right. What diseases are caused by infected food and water?"

"What if its airborne but infecting the teeth? What about the Avian Flu? Its many variants match the symptoms: Fever, pain, coma, bleeding. It makes a lot of sense." Dr. Trenton put forward.

"You might be right. Good God, the Avian Flu." Dr. McHale said.

Diplomatic Communique

Joint Sub-Directorate on InterNat'l Health
Foreign Affairs Directorate
Commonwealth of Aentiochus

President Mathers,

First, please accept the congratulations of this Commonwealth regarding Cold Light's newfound independence. May your nation ever prosper in peace.

Unfortunately there are grimmer matters that must be addressed. As a similarly young nation, this Commonwealth lacks the resources to contribute a significant effort either in terms of money or materiel. However, given the critical nature of this epidemic, it has been determined by this directorate that in the interests of both world health and the safety of our two peoples, this Commonwealth is prepared to offer what aid it can.

To that end this directorate has authorized the allocation of seven (7) percent of national pharmaceutical and medical production for the purpose of combating this disease, with a budget of $26,770,900.15 International Standard, (102,498,898.14 Commonwealth Florins). Similarly, this directorate has authorized the assignment of two (2) senior fellows of the Aentiochus Applied Medical Sciences Directorate and sundry support staff to the Cold Light Health Ministry to act as both liaison between our two governments and in their capacity as scientists. This task force shall operate at the complete discretion of the Cold Light Health Ministry, and will only penetrate Cold Light National borders at the express invitation of your government. Curriculum Vitae to follow.

Senior Research Fellow Blake Malthus
Ph.D.: Commonwealth Medical and Scientific College
M.D.: University of St. James
Specialty: Epidemiology, Demography, Public Health
Thesis: Reverse-Engineering Epidemics: Identification of Effective Treatments of Pandemic and Epidemic Diseases Through the Demographics of Infection

Senior Research Fellow Andrea Wilkes
Chairwoman, Commonwealth Hematological Conference
M.D.: Commonwealth Medical and Scientific College
Specialty: Hematology, Blood Pathology

This Directorate extends this offer of friendship and solidarity between our two nations, in the hope that this desperate situation may be alleviated, to the benefit of all humanity.

We await your response.

God be with you.

An alarm began sounding, and two of the doctors ran over to one of the subjects. The EEG had just recorded a collapse in brain activity - the subject had fallen into a coma. There was no chance for them now. A doctor took out a syringe, and filled it with an overdose of morphine. He left the man to fall into an endless sleep, shutting down attached machines.

Another doctor took the incubated virus from the incubator, and put it under neath the Scanning-tunnel electron microscope that took up a large area of the sealed lab. An image flashed up on the screen, of devastated cells: from the multi-culture sample, it seemed the virus had attacked throat tissues, nerve tissues and brain tissues, with minor attacks on connective tissue. Soon, they found one of the infected cells. Adding some die via the internal arms of the microscope, it showed up hundreds of pink chain-like objects inside the swelling cell.
"Protein marker shows that outer shell of the virus is related to H1N1 influenza. But casing shape seems to suggest that the virus is related to Japanese Encephalitis. I think we might have a problem here."
The problem he was referring to was that the virus had been engineered as a biological weapon. The proof would be when they took apart the genome, as they were doing now under a conventional microscope. This would take days, possibly weeks, but for now they only had one way to make a cure - antiserum.

A vial of virus in a cell culture was sealed, then put into a sealed metal cask. This in turn was locked in a large, padded case, which was then welded together. When the plane with supplies landed, it would be loaded up to send back to Alfegos, to a hazardous disease laboratory.

The newly formed Presidential Doctors Council was in a very high priority meeting with the President.

"Other research teams are suggesting this virus is an engineered virus, something that was introduced to kill the population. If that is the case then either our military accidentally leaked something or we are entering a state of war, with an unknown enemy. What else we know is that the illness is close in relation to Spanish flu and Ebola but also Avian flu. What we can tell from early tests is that this virus keeps evolving everytime we try and tackle a weakness. As the Head of this Council, I have sent a sample of the current strain to every team currently working on a cure including the teams from Alfegos and Holy Paradise. Maybe they can find something.", said Chief of Medicine, Harold King.

President Mathers had very little sleep over the last week since the outbreak.

"Who would war with us? We cannot afford a war from whoever, if any one sent this. As far as I know, our military was not working on anything like this virus so we can rule out a military leak. We also received aid from Ninjastan and so I will thank them when I have time. Right now we need to find a damn cure."

(An International Airport in Cold Light)

The planes touched down at the airport, and moved to an empty corner of the airport, and began unloading. Colonel Haggarty was in charge of this operation, and the second he was off the plane he began barking orders. He held up the most recent satellite photos of the area around the airport, and found a large, empty field nearby. "First of all, I want to see everyone in chem suits before they get off this plane. There's an empty field about a mile east of here, I want C Platoon to get out there, and stake out a perimeter. As soon as you get the generators off the plane, you get them down there and set up, then get the electric fence set up around the perimeter. Also, if anyone tries to interfere with this operation, warning shots, warning shots, unless you feel that your life is directly threatened, or if they attempt to enter the perimeter. After the fence is up, I want the engineers working on getting a dirt runway cleared. Now get to work, we've only got a few hours till sun down, and we need the generators up by then so we can get some lights up, and finish the compound."

After the many hours of deliberation, the team of researchers were led to a secret former Holy Paradisian biological research and development base, code named, "Nature's Fury". Originally used to produce biological weapons, the Holy Paradisian government shut down its biological weapon research and development program after much deliberation and urging by President Holtz to stop the production of biological weapons, saying they were "As bad if not worse than nuclear weapons in the amount of suffering they cause."

Although the lab no longer produced such weapons, it still was in use for development of conventional weapons and housed biological research that could be dangerous in the wrong hands. To keep the lab's location a secret, the researchers were blindfolded and told to stay silent. When they arrived after about 2 hours of driving, the researchers were placed in a semi-dark room. Their blindfolds were removed, and the light in the room slowly began to brighten. Once accustomed to the light, each member was sent to separate shower/bathrooms, so as to remove any sources of contamination. They were then dried off by a special air-blower and dressed in special haz-mat suits. Finally, they were led to the base's main laboratory. Throughout the room were the highest-quality tools: centrifuges, microscopes, etc.

A man in a haz-mat suit followed by 3 men in haz-mat suits carrying assault rifles walked in. The man placed a box on a counter near the researchers. On it, a label read:

==========WARNING!==========
THIS BOX CONTAINS A HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS, EXTREMELY DEADLY UNKNOWN VIRUS. IF NOT PROPERLY HANDLED, YOU COULD RELEASE THIS VIRUS INTO THE AIR, WHICH WOULD INFECT YOU AND ALL THOSE AROUND YOU AND WOULD LIKELY CAUSE DEATH IN THE NEAR FUTURE. TO REMOVE, SLOWLY OPEN THE CONTAINER AND REMOVE THE PETRI DISH. THE PETRI DISH IS VERY TOUGH TO BREAK, BUT IT IS STILL VULNERABLE TO DAMAGE. THIS PETRI DISH SHOULD ONLY BE HANDLED BY DOCTORS/RESEARCHERS.


After the men had left, Dr. McHale slowly opened the container. He then carefully removed the petri dish from the container. "Alright, everyone. We have here a sample of the monstrosity that is causing all this. We will separate the sample into 4 different parts. I'm sorry, Tiffany, but you are not yet a doctor, so you are not allowed to handle the virus. Instead, you will be working with Dr. Mansfield. Speaking of which, Dr. Mansfield, you'll be examining the virus for any relations to Ebola."

"Dr. Eaton, you will be examining the virus for any relations to influenza, particularly the Spanish and Avian Flu."

"Dr. Trenton, you will be examining the virus for any relations to tuberculosis."

"As for myself, I will be examining the virus for any relations to malaria. Alright, people, let's identify this little bastard, find a cure for it, and eradicate it from existance. We will have a break in about 5 hours."

2 hours into the research, Dr. Eaton called out, "Dr. McHale! Come here!"

Dr. McHale slowly put his sample into a special container. He then briskly walked over to Dr. Eaton. "What have you found, Doctor?" he asked.

"After examining the virus using various samples of human cells, I have noticed the following things about the virus:

1. The virus seemed to attack throat tissues and nervous system tissues, including the brain. Connective tissues are also attacked.

2. The virus has an outer shell related to the H1N1 subtype of Influenza A, so it is related to the Spanish Flu and Avian Flu, as we feared.

3. The virus' casing shape is much like that of Japanese Encephalitis, though.

This leads me to one conclusion: This is no naturally-produced virus, I'm afraid. This is a biologically-engineered virus, a weapon." She explained.

"Damnit!" Dr. McHale yelled.

"That's not all, doctor. The virus keeps evolving. I'm lucky to have even found out its a bio-weapon." Dr. Eaton continued. Dr. McHale sighed. This was going to be even tougher than the RBT-18 Virus.

Another hour testing passed, but there had been no more progress. The researchers were growing tired, but they kept on working, knowing that somewhere, people were dying from this disease.

Then, Dr. McHale thought of something. He slapped himself for not thinking of it earlier.

"Dr. Eaton, didn't you say that the virus had a casing shape like Japanese Encephalitis?

"Yes," Dr. Eaton responded.

"Wild birds are a reservoir of Japanese Encephalitis. Wild birds are also a reservoir of the Avian Flu. That's where the virus is mixing, or being mixed, if its a bio-weapon."

Tiffany overheard the conversation and walked over. "You say this virus has some characteristics of Japanese Encephalitis?" She asked.

"Yes." Dr. Eaton replied.

"When humans are infected by Japanese Encephalitis, the infection occurs in the ear. That's where the people suffering the Cold Light Virus are getting the earaches from," she explained.

"Japanese Encephalitis cannot be transferred between humans by itself. Therefore, the genome of the virus must contain both JE and influenza genes. The virus needs the influenza genes to be able to be airborne. That's why this virus has the outer shell of the influenza virus. That's why the virus mutates so much. That's why people complain of an earache. The combination of JE and the flu explains the fever, coma, pain, and bleeding. That leaves only one symptom: The toothache," she then finished with an air of confidence.

Everyone thought about it for a little while. It all made sense. But why the toothache? They were so close in such a short time, but the toothache stopped them in their tracks.

An aircraft cruised in to land at the empty airport. It taxied to near the airship, before releasing the large ramp at the back. Unloading crew shoved crates down the rails inside the C-130 cargo plane, leaving them to drop out on the concrete, where they were wheeled away. The 8 men leaving in biochem warfare suits and a pair of pickup trucks had similar emblazonment to those with the laboratory, but now had a different aim: to try and see if they could find survivors of the disease. If they could, then at least a temporary cure could be found for this rapidly-mutating virus.
The viral samples were loaded onto the aircraft in their sealed casks, before it taxied away for takeoff again.

_________________________________________

At the Alfegan Infectious Disease Institute, situated 50 miles offshore on and old gas platform, a debate was taking place in the Epidemic Control Centre.
"No it was not us. Strain A-09 has never been put into warheads: it only can be found in the Level 5 vault." The head of the Biological Warfare programme was not happy: when he found out it could be a biological weapon, he had been worried. And when they had said that preliminary indicators were that it was an A - designated biological weapon, he had been furious.

"For the benefit of the civilians amongst us, please explain about this weapon." The head of Epidemic Control had spoken, a women in her 40s.

"The biological warfare programme, when stockpiling pathogens, divided them up into 5 categories: E being mild agricides and D being dangerous agricides. C covers small-scale stable diseases designed to incapacitate, B the more deadly ones and A the most lethal epidemic strains. Anything with an 0 designation as its first number is a chimera, and 1 as the first number being 'enhanced' diseases. Now whilst we had a vaccine for A - 09, which is a hybrid between H1N1 Influenza and Japanese Encephalitis and Langley's Syndrome, we only were able to use it if we caught the infection in time. The mutation rate of the virus is staggering, but after the first 3 days of infection the virus settles down. The vaccine would only work within the first 6 hours."

The panel looked uneasy, before the woman spoke up again.
"I've heard of the first two, but remind me what Langley's Syndrome is?"

A younger immunologist sat up and began speaking.
"Langley's disease infects the nervous system. It's an ancient disease, really rare in countries apart from Alfegos, where due to the..."
"Yes, I think all of us know about the First Civil War. Carry on."
"Well, the virus is a slow-progressing disease which enters the body through the bloodstream. It's special in that it only affects the nervous system. There are three stages to the disease: the first is that the subject feels excruciating pain throughout their entire body, as the nervous system is attacked. This can take days to weeks. After that period, the subject loses all sense of touch. Now, the disease under proper treatment will often stop here, since this is when the virus is at its weakest. However, it can progress onto a third stage where it flares up again, and attacks the motor neurons. That ends with the subject paralysed, and finally dead from asphyxia or fibrillation."

Silence over the board.

"Well, we have a sample of the virus arriving soon. Since it should have stabilised by the time they collected it, we might be able to see what we've got. Manufacture a vaccine."

An aircraft cruised in to land at the empty airport. It taxied to near the airship, before releasing the large ramp at the back. Unloading crew shoved crates down the rails inside the C-130 cargo plane, leaving them to drop out on the concrete, where they were wheeled away. The 8 men leaving in biochem warfare suits and a pair of pickup trucks had similar emblazonment to those with the laboratory, but now had a different aim: to try and see if they could find survivors of the disease. If they could, then at least a temporary cure could be found for this rapidly-mutating virus.
The viral samples were loaded onto the aircraft in their sealed casks, before it taxied away for takeoff again.

_________________________________________

At the Alfegan Infectious Disease Institute, situated 50 miles offshore on and old gas platform, a debate was taking place in the Epidemic Control Centre.
"No it was not us. Strain A-09 has never been put into warheads: it only can be found in the Level 5 vault." The head of the Biological Warfare programme was not happy: when he found out it could be a biological weapon, he had been worried. And when they had said that preliminary indicators were that it was an A - designated biological weapon, he had been furious.

"For the benefit of the civilians amongst us, please explain about this weapon." The head of Epidemic Control had spoken, a women in her 40s.

"The biological warfare programme, when stockpiling pathogens, divided them up into 5 categories: E being mild agricides and D being dangerous agricides. C covers small-scale stable diseases designed to incapacitate, B the more deadly ones and A the most lethal epidemic strains. Anything with an 0 designation as its first number is a chimera, and 1 as the first number being 'enhanced' diseases. Now whilst we had a vaccine for A - 09, which is a hybrid between H1N1 Influenza and Japanese Encephalitis and Langley's Syndrome, we only were able to use it if we caught the infection in time. The mutation rate of the virus is staggering, but after the first 3 days of infection the virus settles down. The vaccine would only work within the first 6 hours."

The panel looked uneasy, before the woman spoke up again.
"I've heard of the first two, but remind me what Langley's Syndrome is?"

A younger immunologist sat up and began speaking.
"Langley's disease infects the nervous system. It's an ancient disease, really rare in countries apart from Alfegos, where due to the..."
"Yes, I think all of us know about the First Civil War. Carry on."
"Well, the virus is a slow-progressing disease which enters the body through the bloodstream. It's special in that it only affects the nervous system. There are three stages to the disease: the first is that the subject feels excruciating pain throughout their entire body, as the nervous system is attacked. This can take days to weeks. After that period, the subject loses all sense of touch. Now, the disease under proper treatment will often stop here, since this is when the virus is at its weakest. However, it can progress onto a third stage where it flares up again, and attacks the motor neurons. That ends with the subject paralysed, and finally dead from asphyxia or fibrillation."

Silence over the board.

"Well, we have a sample of the virus arriving soon. Since it should have stabilised by the time they collected it, we might be able to see what we've got. Manufacture a vaccine."

To: Researchers at Alfegos
From: Dr. McHale of Holy Paradise
Subj: Research
We have heard that you have figured out much more than we have. I would like to request the information you have about the disease unless its classified. If you know anything about who manufactured the virus or such, I'm not the man to contact. Either contact President John Holtz or Holy Paradisian Intelligence Agency head "Gold Talon" (His actual name is classified for his safety.

I apologize for the numerous problems with secrecy and such. These are dangerous times, however. Also, only government officials are closely watched. Civilians are only watched if we have reasonable suspicion.

What we do know about the disease is this:

1. It is a hybrid of 3 diseases: The Spanish Flu virus "H1N1", the Japanese Encephalitis virus, and an unknown disease. We assume you know that disease's identification.

2. The Cold Light Virus attacks mainly throat tissues and the nervous system. Connective tissues are also attacked, but not as much.

3. The outer shell of the virus is that of the H1N1 virus.

4. The casing shape is that of the Japanese Encephalitis (JE) virus.

5. The presence of the H1N1 virus in the genome is why the virus is airborne and mutates rapidly.

6. The presence of the JE virus in the genome is why the ear is infected early on and why the nervous system is also attacked.

7. The virus has been mixed in wild birds, which are natural reservoirs for H1N1 and JE.

8. The earache, fever, hemorrhaging, and coma can be explained by the presence of H1N1 and JE in the genome.

9. The toothache can only be explained by the presence of that unknown virus in the genome.

10. The Cold Light Virus is a bio-weapon.

===========================================

Meanwhile, President Holtz addressed the nation:


"Good afternoon, my fellow Holy Paradisians."

"As most of you have seen in the news, the nation of Cold Light has been suffering from an outbreak that is one of the worst ever seen in world history. I know many of you have seen the pictures of the rows and rows of body bags. It is an event that pains me to see."

"I know that some of you have family or friends in Cold Light. I ask my fellow Holy Paradisians to join me in prayer, if you wish, for those in Cold Light, be they Holy Paradisian, Cold Lightians, or any other nationality, so that they might remain safe, and, if it is unfortunately too late to save them, pray that God keeps them safe and welcomes them into His arms."

"I also would like to ask you one more favor. If you are in quarrel with family or friends, or you're mad at your co-workers, bosses, or teachers, remember what the people in Cold Light are going through. Your problems are trivial compared to theirs. So, when you get home tonight, tell your spouse you love them. Tell your children you love them. Tell your parents you love them. Tell anyone you care about that you love them. Spend time with one another. Take no one for granted."

"Right now, 5 noble men and women are working tiredlessly to identify, cure, and eradicate the monstrosity that is the Cold Light Virus. I ask you to pray that they are successful and are safe as they work with the virus."

"Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the Conservative United States of Holy Paradise."

ENCRYPTION KEY - 00A4C12E74830BB2
TYPE - QUANTUM ENCRYPTION
LEVEL - ALPHA 02

>>>Scanning for taps...Complete
>>>Scanning for recorders...Complete
>>>Scanning for anomalies...Complete
>>>Encryption...Complete
>>>Sending Key...Complete
>>>Transmitting Message...

Good Evening, Dr McHale. This message has been sent at high encryption level for your own safety. Do not touch anything while this is being played, otherwise security may be breached.

You wish to know about the virus: you call it the Cold Light Virus, we here call it strain A-09. It is a chimera virus, originally made from a mix of H1N1 Influenza, Japanese Encephalitis and weakened Langley's Syndrome. The latter you may not have heard of: this disease is very rare and only found in those of Fegosian descent, where a natural vulnerability to this disease can be found. Even then, it is almost non-existent in those without autoimmune diseases or compromised immune systems. Due to radiation levels in Alfegos, this is why the only place to find these outbreaks is on our mainland.

Anyhow, we analysed the genome of the virus back at our labs, comparing key protein markers with the original strain. There's good news and bad news: due to the instability caused by purposeful modifications, it has mutated. However, there is a burnout protein we embedded in the original virus to stop it from mutating out of hand, that cuts in after so many mutations. You've managed to arrive at a time where the virus is stabilising: the mutations you've seen in your samples are nothing compared to the original mutations.
The bad news is that it must've picked up something with the mutations, as it appears to be resistant to all current anti-viral treatments.

So, you need some new samples from the population. Once that's done, you'll have yourself the virus you need to make a batch of vaccine to stop the spread of the disease. We currently have a team collecting antibodies from whatever survivors we can find from the current phase of the disease, so we can prepare an anti-serum to possibly treat this outbreak.

Do not let on to anyone you would not trust with your life that this is an Alfegan Biological weapon: we are currently trying to work out the method it was deployed, and where the hell they got it from. But as I said, if anyone in the Alfegan Ministry of Secrets is undercover in your government and knows about this, they'll kill all who know to try and stop this getting out. Invest in a stab-proof vest, and don't eat any food you haven't seen continually from collection to consumption.

Anyway, I'll have to go now. They know I've sent about the virus, but not about it being an Alfegan Bioweapon, and if they find out... goodbye.

>>>Securing transmission...Complete
>>>Relaying data...Complete
>>>Erasing data...Complete
>>>Sending erase protocol to recipient...Complete

END TRANSMISSION

"This is the strangest virus I have seen in all my career as a doctor. It doesn't make sense and it, however deadly, is remarkable. One thing you can tell is that its not natural. Definitely introduced into the system to kill off the population. It could take us months to find any viable cure.", commented King.

"We've brought in some more people infected and they are all in quarantined areas. They have been tested, however this virus still has a 100% kill rate. Those people in the quarantine zones will die just like the rest of them until we find something that combats it. The mutations are not allowing us to work with a stable, fixed viral cell so until it stops mutating it will be hard to pin down a weakness."

Beatusian Medical Compound in Cold Light

The Compound was set up, and a message was sent out to all Beatusian citizens in the nation to seek refuge there. The original operational personnel were up from 500, to 4,000, and an area was set up, outside the compound, to assist in treating the local population. No infected personnel were allowed within the newly constructed compound, and all Beatusian military personnel were require to wear chem suits outside of the compound. They began studying the disease, the symptoms, by looking at the people who they were treating. They're close proximity to a large cross section of the infected gave them more information than they could ever get studying the disease. They asked questions, and interviewed those that they treated. So far, everyone who had shown symptoms of the disease had died.

Encrypted Message to the Holy Paradise Cold Light Virus Research Team

We know that you are currently researching the Cold Light Virus, and we wish to share research with each other. We have equipment on site in at our treatment center, to facilitate video conferencing. If you can have similar equipment at your research facility, or could get it, it would be usefully in facilitation communications between our teams, we have some very interesting information to share with you, and wish to know all you know about the virus. The more we both know, the better able to fight this virus we will be. The information you will require for the video conferencing is enclosed. We shall await your reply.

Signed,
Colonel Haggarty,
Commander,
Beatusian Medical Compound, Cold Light

ENCRYPTION KEY - 00A4C12E74830BB2
TYPE - QUANTUM ENCRYPTION
LEVEL - ALPHA 02

>>>Scanning for taps...Complete
>>>Scanning for recorders...Complete
>>>Scanning for anomalies...Complete
>>>Encryption...Complete
>>>Sending Key...Complete
>>>Transmitting Message...

Good Evening, Dr McHale. This message has been sent at high encryption level for your own safety. Do not touch anything while this is being played, otherwise security may be breached.

You wish to know about the virus: you call it the Cold Light Virus, we here call it strain A-09. It is a chimera virus, originally made from a mix of H1N1 Influenza, Japanese Encephalitis and weakened Langley's Syndrome. The latter you may not have heard of: this disease is very rare and only found in those of Fegosian descent, where a natural vulnerability to this disease can be found. Even then, it is almost non-existent in those without autoimmune diseases or compromised immune systems. Due to radiation levels in Alfegos, this is why the only place to find these outbreaks is on our mainland.

Anyhow, we analysed the genome of the virus back at our labs, comparing key protein markers with the original strain. There's good news and bad news: due to the instability caused by purposeful modifications, it has mutated. However, there is a burnout protein we embedded in the original virus to stop it from mutating out of hand, that cuts in after so many mutations. You've managed to arrive at a time where the virus is stabilising: the mutations you've seen in your samples are nothing compared to the original mutations.
The bad news is that it must've picked up something with the mutations, as it appears to be resistant to all current anti-viral treatments.

So, you need some new samples from the population. Once that's done, you'll have yourself the virus you need to make a batch of vaccine to stop the spread of the disease. We currently have a team collecting antibodies from whatever survivors we can find from the current phase of the disease, so we can prepare an anti-serum to possibly treat this outbreak.

Do not let on to anyone you would not trust with your life that this is an Alfegan Biological weapon: we are currently trying to work out the method it was deployed, and where the hell they got it from. But as I said, if anyone in the Alfegan Ministry of Secrets is undercover in your government and knows about this, they'll kill all who know to try and stop this getting out. Invest in a stab-proof vest, and don't eat any food you haven't seen continually from collection to consumption.

Anyway, I'll have to go now. They know I've sent about the virus, but not about it being an Alfegan Bioweapon, and if they find out... goodbye.

>>>Securing transmission...Complete
>>>Relaying data...Complete
>>>Erasing data...Complete
>>>Sending erase protocol to recipient...Complete

END TRANSMISSION

Dr. McHale sat quietly after the tape ended. "Why did they send it to me? I gave specific instructions: Any information about it being a bio-weapon should be sent to the President or the head of the Holy Paradisian Intelligence Agency." he thought.

"Now, my life is at risk. I have to tell someone it's a bio-weapon, but first, we have to find the cure." He left the communications room and walked towards the main laboratory. The others were there waiting. "Alright, everyone. I found out what the 3rd component is." Dr. McHale announced.

"Ebola?"

"Another form of encephalitis?"

"Quiet! Let me speak!" McHale snapped. "This is no disease that any of us have ever encountered. It's called 'Langely's Syndrome'. It is a very rare disease, extremely rare, in fact. It's also very old."

"The good news is that Alfegos has found a protein embedded in the virus that stops the mutation point. They said they are damn lucky to have found it. Whoever made the virus must have been afraid that it would mutate out of control and cause the end of the world as we know it. The current form of the virus is probably very close to its final form, which will greatly help us stop it."

"Did they say who made the bio-weapon?" Dr. Trenton asked.

Dr. McHale put on his best poker face he could muster and said, "They said they had no idea who made this."

"What if they're lying?" Dr. Trenton continued.

"I don't know, they might have been. All I know is that either way we are not going to find out the origin of this virus from them." Dr. McHale replied.

"Fair enough. So how are we going to cure this disease?" Dr. Trenton said.

"The Alfegosians said that we need to get samples from the population to make a vaccine. The Alfegosians are going to find the cure by finding survivors. They are ahead of the game on this one, so I say we follow their plan. Dr. Trenton, you and I are going to have to go to Cold Light. I know it's dangerous but its all we can do. Dr. Mansfield, Dr. Eaton, Dr. Jordan..." McHale responded.

"But, I'm not a doctor, Dr. McHale." Tiffany interrupted.

"Your work so far has been that of a doctor's, I'm going to treat you like one based on that." Dr. McHale answered. "As I was saying, Dr. Mansfield, Dr. Eaton, Dr. Jordan, you are going to stay behind and work with the current sample. If it mutates, don't panic. We want it to get to its final form."

"Although it seems a vaccine is within reach, I'm not sure about a cure. The Alfegosians said that none of the anti-viral treatments that would most likely work have worked. If you stumble upon a cure, don't notify me, notify them."

"Good luck everyone. Dr. Trenton, I believe we must go and arrange a flight to Cold Light."

And with that, Dr. McHale left, followed by Dr. Trenton.

Beatusian Medical Compound in Cold Light

The Compound was set up, and a message was sent out to all Beatusian citizens in the nation to seek refuge there. The original operational personnel were up from 500, to 4,000, and an area was set up, outside the compound, to assist in treating the local population. No infected personnel were allowed within the newly constructed compound, and all Beatusian military personnel were require to wear chem suits outside of the compound. They began studying the disease, the symptoms, by looking at the people who they were treating. They're close proximity to a large cross section of the infected gave them more information than they could ever get studying the disease. They asked questions, and interviewed those that they treated. So far, everyone who had shown symptoms of the disease had died.

Encrypted Message to the Holy Paradise Cold Light Virus Research Team

We know that you are currently researching the Cold Light Virus, and we wish to share research with each other. We have equipment on site in at our treatment center, to facilitate video conferencing. If you can have similar equipment at your research facility, or could get it, it would be usefully in facilitation communications between our teams, we have some very interesting information to share with you, and wish to know all you know about the virus. The more we both know, the better able to fight this virus we will be. The information you will require for the video conferencing is enclosed. We shall await your reply.

Signed,
Colonel Haggarty,
Commander,
Beatusian Medical Compound, Cold Light

Dr. Eaton noticed that there was a message from Beatus in the communication room. "I'll be right back," she said to Dr. Mansfield and Dr. Jordan.

When she arrived she quickly read the message. She quickly typed in a reply.

Encrypted message
To: Colonel Haggarty, Commander of the Beatusian Medical Compound in Cold Light
From: Doctor Valerie Eaton of the Holy Paradisan Research Team.
Subj: RE: Cold Light Virus
The leader of our group, Dr. James McHale, and Dr. Steve Trenton are on their way to Cold Light right now. I'll notify them that you wish to share information about the virus.

So far, we know the following:

1. It is a hybrid of 3 diseases: The Spanish Flu virus "H1N1", the Japanese Encephalitis virus, and an extremely rare disease called "Langely's Syndrome".

2. The Cold Light Virus attacks mainly throat tissues and the nervous system. Connective tissues are also attacked, but not as much.

3. The outer shell of the virus is that of the H1N1 virus.

4. The casing shape is that of the Japanese Encephalitis (JE) virus.

5. The presence of the H1N1 virus in the genome is why the virus is airborne and mutates rapidly.

6. The presence of the JE virus in the genome is why the ear is infected early on and why the nervous system is also attacked.

7. The virus has been mixed in wild birds, which are natural reservoirs for H1N1 and JE.

8. The Cold Light Virus is a bio-weapon.
===============================

She sent the message and walked back to the laboratory.

Encrypted message
To: Colonel Haggarty, Commander of the Beatusian Medical Compound in Cold Light
From: Doctor Valerie Eaton of the Holy Paradisan Research Team.
Subj: RE: Cold Light Virus
The leader of our group, Dr. James McHale, and Dr. Steve Trenton are on their way to Cold Light right now. I'll notify them that you wish to share information about the virus.

So far, we know the following:

1. It is a hybrid of 3 diseases: The Spanish Flu virus "H1N1", the Japanese Encephalitis virus, and an extremely rare disease called "Langely's Syndrome".

2. The Cold Light Virus attacks mainly throat tissues and the nervous system. Connective tissues are also attacked, but not as much.

3. The outer shell of the virus is that of the H1N1 virus.

4. The casing shape is that of the Japanese Encephalitis (JE) virus.

5. The presence of the H1N1 virus in the genome is why the virus is airborne and mutates rapidly.

6. The presence of the JE virus in the genome is why the ear is infected early on and why the nervous system is also attacked.

7. The virus has been mixed in wild birds, which are natural reservoirs for H1N1 and JE.

8. The Cold Light Virus is a bio-weapon.
===============================

She sent the message and walked back to the laboratory.

Encrypted Message

To Doctor Valerie Eaton,

We have an improvised landing strip up and operational at our medical facility. If they have chem suits, we have clean facilities, with top of the line air filtration systems, in our compound where we can meet, and discuss findings. Our facility is one mile east of (fill in blank) International Airport in Cold Light. The air outside is unsafe, as we operate a treatment center nearby, so the chem suits will be require outside of the facility. If they wish to come that is. We believe that we can work together on this.

Signed,
Colonel Haggarty,
Commander,
Beatusian Medical Compound, Cold Light

Encrypted Message

To Doctor Valerie Eaton,

We have an improvised landing strip up and operational at our medical facility. If they have chem suits, we have clean facilities, with top of the line air filtration systems, in our compound where we can meet, and discuss findings. Our facility is one mile east of (fill in blank) International Airport in Cold Light. The air outside is unsafe, as we operate a treatment center nearby, so the chem suits will be require outside of the facility. If they wish to come that is. We believe that we can work together on this.

Signed,
Colonel Haggarty,
Commander,
Beatusian Medical Compound, Cold Light

Returning to the communications room, Dr. Eaton replied with another message.

Encrypted message
To: Colonel Haggarty, Commander of the Beatusian Medical Compound in Cold Light
From: Doctor Valerie Eaton of the Holy Paradisan Research Team.
Subj: Affirmation of agreement
Indeed we can. The Holy Paradisian government has notified Dr. McHale and Dr. Trenton. They should land at your base soon.

Beatusian Medical Compound in Cold Light

Colonel Haggarty stood on the runway, in his chem suit, awaiting the arrival of the Doctors from Holy Paradise.

Beatusian Medical Compound in Cold Light

Colonel Haggarty stood on the runway, in his chem suit, awaiting the arrival of the Doctors from Holy Paradise.

OOC: I don't expect it to be in a short time. Most likely they will arrive RL tomorrow (I don't know where you live, so for me, in about 12 to 16 hours. I play American football for my high school and the team is running tomorrow at I think around 11:30 A.M. CST so that might be a problem. There will be an RP of arrival before 2:00 P.M. CST though.)

(OOC: okay, CST is good for me)

King and his team could see what made up the virus, the H1N1 virus, Japanese Encephalitis and an unknown 3rd virus. Whoever created this had created one of the most destructive weapons since the Nuclear Bomb. Right now the President was sending a message to all of the other medical teams working on the virus...




To All Medical Research Teams,

This is President Nathan Mathers of The Republic of Cold Light. After a meeting with the best doctors in my nation it has come to my attention this is no natural virus. In light of this I wish to call a meeting with the heads of the research teams from The Beatus, Alfegos and Holy Paradise to establish how and who introduced the virus into Cold Light's system and whether it was accidental or done with purpose. All Heads are required to enter the safe zone in the city of Dawn and meet me at the Presidential House.

God Save Us All,

President Nathan Mathers.

The convoy of three pickup trucks drove along through the street, the forward truck holding 2 men with guns to act as a deterrent to those trying to get near to the convoy. Behind them, the last pickup truck came to a halt as they began forcing people into an orderly queue, injecting each in turn with enough morphine to take away the pain: all they could do. Meanwhile, the other truck held one chem-suited man holding a large megaphone.
"This is for all your benefits! Please, if anyone knows of a survivor to this disease, tell us! We need to find them so that we may help you all and end this scourge!"
____________________________________

A small parcel arrived at the Cold Light Safe Zone, first to be passed through the safety devices to dis-infect the metal outer case. Inside, the case contained a small video 'hologram' link, a glass unit 50cm high, 20cm wide and 20cm deep. Surrounding its base was a network of metal units housing light generators, power converters and processors. Coming with it, instructions to set up and to turn on when the meeting began. And a small message.

"Due to the current busy nature of our teams with this virus, we are unable to send a representative. However, we are able to send this holographic rod. It comes fully set up, and all you need is for it to be plugged in. Once powered up, you should notice the loading signal. Note that the image produced is inside the glass rod itself, not projected, so all you need to do is stick it up somewhere in good sight, and to look at the rod itself. Resolution is 1024x1024x1024, so hopefully a good image will be produced. Our uplink to the nearest Stratellite, 17A, comes with an exclusive 50Gbps link, enough to sustain a good image, whilst the 64-core processing unit underneath the unit is enough to run the image. Please do not take it apart or drop it: either will result in loss of functionality. Since it has been completely air sealed at our end, you will find no trace of the virus inside the heat-proof case. We recommend heating with steam at 400 degrees Celsius for at least 10 minutes to make sure that the case is completely decontaminated."

________________________________

A quick search from the virus stocks deep-frozen in the Alfegos Biological Warfare Centre on another offshore platform found no missing virus specimens. No permission had ever been given for production for warheads from any stock, so no problems there.

However, the Ministry of Secrets investigation soon found the missing virus: from the Pathogen Vault at the Alfegan Infectious Disease Centre, 5 micrograms of it had been found missing in its survey. Soon, investigations began on personnel with access to the Level 5 section: 8 in total. Interrogations began. Disappearances occurred. One man disappeared for a while, whilst others became silent on the matter. Those who knew it was Alfegan soon found themselves not recalling a thing about it, or disappearing again. Records were rewritten as the investigation went underway.

A second holographic rod appeared at the Safe Zone. This one was labelled with instructions, but another message as well.
"Top Secret. To be Viewed by highest officials only."

2:53 CST
Beatusian Center, Cold Light

A Bombadier (OOC: I hope I spelled that right) Learjet approached the Beatusian Medical Center's airfield. A golden sun with rays was emblazoned on the sides of the jet.

"Beatusian Center this is Bombadier Learjet Hotel-Papa-Two-Niner-Niner-Zero approaching Airstrip Five from a distance of Two-Zero Miles and an altitude of Five-Zero-Zero-Zero feet. Request landing." The radio at the Air Traffic Control Center said.

"Copy, Hotel-Papa-Two-Niner-Niner-Zero. You are cleared for landing."

"Copy, Beatusian Center. Hotel-Papa-Two-Niner-Niner-Zero over and out."

The jet extended its wheels and soon after landed. Dr. McHale and Dr. Trenton walked out with surgical masks and earplugs to protect them from the Virus.

Beatusian Medical Compound in Cold Light

Colonel Haggarty greeted the men, he also noted they're lack of proper protection, and ushered them into the nearby tent. "We just need to go through the decontamination process," the Colonel said, as they entered the decontamination process. Five minutes later, they were with in the command center. Large screens were on the walls of the tent, and Colonel Haggarty was out of his chem suit, and in his regular uniform. "I apologize for that, but we cannot be too safe. Now, I have some people for you to meet, Majors Newton, and Johanson, who are our top medical personnel on this operation. Two men, also in military uniform walked over.

"Nice to meet you, too, Colonel. No need to say sorry, though. It wa foolish of me not to think so before hand." Dr. McHale replied.

"Nice to meet you too, Majors. I hear we have been summoned by President Mathers in the city of Dawn. We should hurry there. I can explain what we know along the way."

"First, I want us to take a look at the treatment center we have setup outside the compound, so you can see what's what here on the ground, in the thick of things. Then we will take the Jeep to that meeting," Major Johanson said.

"I will not be coming with you, as I have duties to preform here, and infectious diseases are not my specialty," said Colonel Haggarty. "Ah, here are chem suits for you and your people," two soldiers walked up with NBC suits. "It's probebly for the best that you did not bring your own Hazmad Suits, as these NBC suits provide much more mobility along with strong protection, designed to be worn into combat, you better be able to move in the thing, right," the Colonel continued with a chuckle.

The two doctors got dressed quickly and followed the major to the treatment site.

Treatment Site Alpha

Major Johanson looked out on the many cots setup, under a tent outside the Electric Fencing of the compound. "Look at the," he said. "I'm sure that you may have noticed, as we did, these are not your average patients when you have an outbreak of an infectious disease. Since we have arrived here, and began treating these people, we have seen very few elderly people, and children. A majority of our patients have been in rather fine medical condition, other than the fact that they have the disease of course. It's not that the elderly, and the children were the first to go because of they're weak immune systems either. When people are brought here, we see they're children try to go with them, and they're grand parents holding them back. It doesn't make any sense, but they just don't seem sick. Can you make any sense out of this phenomenon doctors?"

Treatment Site Alpha

Major Johanson looked out on the many cots setup, under a tent outside the Electric Fencing of the compound. "Look at the," he said. "I'm sure that you may have noticed, as we did, these are not your average patients when you have an outbreak of an infectious disease. Since we have arrived here, and began treating these people, we have seen very few elderly people, and children. A majority of our patients have been in rather fine medical condition, other than the fact that they have the disease of course. It's not that the elderly, and the children were the first to go because of they're weak immune systems either. When people are brought here, we see they're children try to go with them, and they're grand parents holding them back. It doesn't make any sense, but they just don't seem sick. Can you make any sense out of this phenomenon doctors?"

OOC: For future reference, you should spell "they're" as "their" where I have bolded text. "They're" is a shortened form of "they are". "Their" is possessive.
I don't mean to criticize, but it makes an RP better if grammer is used correctly.

IC: "So I see, Major. I do have an answer to your question." Dr. McHale said.

"The virus, as I'm sure you have been informed, contains part of the "H1N1" virus' genome. H1N1 is the virus for Influenza type A, of which the Spanish flu is a particular strain of. When the Spanish Flu hit in the late 1910s, doctors were baffled by the average victim type: 20 to 40-year-olds. You are seeing the same problem here. In fact, this observation only helps us better confirm the indentification of the virus. Do not let your guard down, though. It could still jump to infecting mainly the elderly and children."

"Ah, I completely forgot that. It's been a long time since I've studied the Spanish Flu," Major Johanson said. Then Major Newton arrived with they're jeep which would take the four of them to the meeting in Dawn. "Get in," said Major Johanson to the two Holy Paradise doctors, as he got in the from seat, and grabbed the M14 rifle that was on the seat. Another soldier climbed on the back and manned the 50 cal. machine gun mounted there. "The people out there can get a little over agressive with medical personnel, we've found. They want our chem suits, ever though they are already infected. If you don't have some protection, they'll take the thing right off your back," Major Johanson continued, patting his M14 rifle.

"Ah, I completely forgot that. It's been a long time since I've studied the Spanish Flu," Major Johanson said. Then Major Newton arrived with they're jeep which would take the four of them to the meeting in Dawn. "Get in," said Major Johanson to the two Holy Paradise doctors, as he got in the from seat, and grabbed the M14 rifle that was on the seat. Another soldier climbed on the back and manned the 50 cal. machine gun mounted there. "The people out there can get a little over agressive with medical personnel, we've found. They want our chem suits, ever though they are already infected. If you don't have some protection, they'll take the thing right off your back," Major Johanson continued, patting his M14 rifle.

"Of course." Dr. McHale said. The two doctors got in.

The country had fallen apart. No one was working except the emergency services and the military. Everyone else had seemed to have resigned themselves to the virus, waiting for death to knock on their door. Riots had consumed cities and you could see pillars of smoke rising in the distance as the cities burned.

President Mathers had put up the emergency level to DEFCON 2. It hadn't been an easy decision but if the majority were to survive it would have to be the few that destroyed the country from within that would have to be sacrificed. He had given the order to the army that to protect themselves from the infected mob at any cost.

The car arrived at the Presidential House. Immediately the men jumped out and ran inside.

Majors Johanson and Newton followed them into the Presidents house. The soldier remained in the jeep, guarding it with the M2 Machine gun mounted on the back, until they returned.

OOC: Cold Light, we need a reply.

bump