Stories From VO1.2

Celeste

The outbreak was splattered across every form of media. Print, digital, broadcast. Blink and you'd be sure to miss a new headline. 

Celeste attempted to keep up with the crazy amount of news on her commute to work. It was a  good way to avoid creeps' eyes on the subway. She'd pull out her cell before she even took her seat, never an offered seat because men would usually take the acceptance as an invitation to talk, and read away. A simple internet search - 'viral outbreak' - would result in thousands of results on hundreds of sites. There was no one news provider Celeste preferred, so she'd pull up the first three to five articles. Depending on the number of stops the train made that morning she'd manage to make her way through a solid four. 

From what she read Celeste understood that this was a respiratory infection. There was coughing, wheezing, and all that other junk that came along with it. The symptoms weren't anything doctors hadn't seen before. The problem was that doctors weren't familiar with the exact strain of the virus. Apparently it was 'new' and 'unfamiliar'.

Everyone everywhere agreed that this was more good news than bad. If the virus was new then it wasn't VO1. If it wasn't VO1 then things would end up okay down the line. If the virus had been VO1, then the world would have an even bigger problem on its hands. 

But for right now doctor's just had to provide supportive care until persons overcame their symptoms. The big problem was that when the symptoms hit, they hit hard. 

It was odd, reading about this absolute disaster happening right across the road while her life continued as usual. Discombobulating was the probably the most accurate word to describe the feeling. 

Celeste read about the quarantines, the overrun hospitals, and the scores of sick people. Yet every day she sat in front of a computer screen and insured that her company's website ran flawlessly. No missed orders, no site crashes, and no junked 'Contact Us' emails. Customer Services reported a spike in calls concerning the lack of response to customers' online queries. She was sure Jeph botched the code changing the font or something to keep in line with changes from the Branding Department but Celeste would have to review both his new code and the old code in order to decipher his changes. He could have fallen asleep at his computer and typed in extra code with his nose for all she knew.  

"Crazy isn't it?" she asked the guy seated across from her. "Libury's hospitals are overrun. And we're on the bus to work."

Libury was a day away by train. Sometimes Celeste went there to visit her favourite bookshop. Actually, she had made plans to stop by a friend and do the same two weeks ago but the friend had cancelled. A barely missed bullet. Celeste might have gotten caught in this entire thing if she had gone over that weekend.  

"You're a doctor, aren't you?" she asked the man again. "Are you worried?"

Never one to start a conversation with stranger herself Celeste didn't take offence when the man pulled his coat further over his wrinkled scrubs and turned away. He moved slowly and looked pale. Must have been a tough day.

Celeste let it go and returned to her phone. 

***

So Celeste took the train to work everyday. Reviewed Jeph's code until her eye vessels popped. Managed to catch the error, somehow in changing up the colour scheme he had accidentally messed with the code for the 'Submit' button and broke it. Ate udon at a little shack two minutes away from the entrance to the station every night. 

Celeste dreamed of becoming someone who purchased groceries in bulk and meal prepped over the weekend but it never happened. By the time the weekend rolled around she was so exhausted from her sixty plus hour work week that she just phoned in takeout from the comfort and safety of her bed. The delivery guy wasn't going to judge her when she accepted the food still wrapped in her quilt with bedhead.