001 ❅ home sick?

[scowlish]

[At first, there is only a blur of sensation - dappled sunlight filtered through tree branches on soft grass, the feeling of a cat's warm belly under the hand, the scent of petrichor and fresh-baked bread, the vague taste of blueberries at the back of the throat, a soft female voice saying 'love you' in such a cheerful tone.

The tonal shift is abrupt and jarring, all that pleasantness drowned out by fear and loss and pain and aching loneliness. Just for a few moments.

And then a voice coalesces from the combination of sensations and emotions, and it sounds exhausted beyond reason, a little husky, breathy.]

This is very important. Please pay attention.

[A pause, and the feeling of fear is back, the sharpness of immediate anxiety overlaid on the background thrum of existential dread.]

Has anyone come down with a rash that wasn't there before? It'll be itchy and sore. Might be combined with vomiting and spells of fever.

If anyone is out there and has symptoms like that, isolate yourself immediately and please call me.

[A pause, and a little 'hmph' noise.]

I'm Onni Hotakainen.

Comments

[sorte]

Such a shame.

[ that he isn't a doctor or about his home's disease is surprisingly not easy to figure out, like the sympathy is there, but it's stuck in mud. ]

Does that mean your home has found a way to control it if there's a "New World"?

[scowlish]

I suppose.

[He can feel that slightly "stuck" sympathy, and isn't sure what to make of it.]

No. We're still looking for a cure, but more and more people are born Immune as the time passes. As for now, most of us live in walled cities or guarded settlements.

[sorte]

You're immune, then?

[scowlish]

No.

[sorte]

[ some cricket noises in the murmur here. ]

... So you want to be called if someone has symptoms of this disease... why, again, exactly?

1/2

[scowlish]

...so I can avoid those people, obviously.

2/2

[scowlish]

[A deep, deep, deep deep deep internal sigh.]

And so I can guide their spirits to the afterlife after I put them out of their misery.

[sorte]

[ usually deadpan seriousness like this should not be hilarious, but he's just finding the most intriguing people here and what with having expected this person to be a good samartian with an overzealous death wish, it's also extremely tension relieving.

he laughs. ]

Oh?! I see I misjudged you, my friend.

How does it spread back where you are from?

[scowlish]

Oh? What did you think I was like?

[That's kind of flat, but after a moment, he sighs again. Onni sounds so weary, it's like the exhaustion is in his bones.]

Droplets, generally, like most colds. That can come from an infected human even before symptoms show up. Once they're Trolls, it generally takes a bite, except for a few rare ones who can transmit it by breathing. Some of them spit, though. You have to watch out for that.

[sorte]

You know, a self-sacrificing do-gooder that gets themselves into danger every chance they get while hoping to help others.

[ hums thoughtfully. ]

I've seen several mutated creatures but nothing humanoid, yet.