TSW 17: The Clean Room

[17:44]	=-=	IcePickLobotomy has changed the topic to “July 10th, 1988. Gilbratar.”
[17:45]	IcePickLobotomy	Location: Layer 12, Clean Room A.
[17:47]	IcePickLobotomy	The clean room, as the name indicates, is a sterile white-tiled set of rooms with harsh florescent lights buzzing overhead. The main living area is separated by a cutrain, the girl's side and the boy's. A pair of shared bathrooms and showers lay in the middle. Several books, magazines, a radio and old TV are your sole means of entertainment.
[17:47]	IcePickLobotomy	Artyom is resting his eyes on a bed, while Walker listlessly flips through one of the books.
[17:48]	=-=	WE1RD is now known as JohnH
[17:48]	IcePickLobotomy	Verbeck has found some notepaper and is busy muttering to himself and writing in it.
[17:49]	RobinE	Lana is lying on the floor, arms covering her face.
[17:50]	=-=	Pale_Wolf is now known as Arina
[17:52]	Arina	is sitting quietly on a bed, reading one of the books.
[17:56]	Kasra	"Hey, John? I know there's not really room to jog, but do you want to do pushups or something? Bench the bedframe, maybe?"
[17:57]	JohnH	"If you want to feel bad about not being able to do as many pushups as me before we die, then sure"
[17:59]	Arina	's grip on her book twitches slightly.
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[18:01]	Kasra	"I just think it might help you to try doing something."
[18:02]	JohnH1	"Let's do it"
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[18:02]	=-=	JohnH1 is now known as JohnH
[18:03]	Kasra	"What? Benching the bed,  or pushups?"
[18:03]	JohnH	"Lets start light." John gets on the ground and starts doing pushups
[18:07]	Kasra	attempts to keep up. "Do we have a goal, or just until endurance?"
[18:08]	Arina	idly glances at them as they work.
[18:08]	JohnH	"I dunno" John says between breaths "Do you have preference."
[18:10]	Kasra	"I'll just try to keep up."
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[18:39]	=-=	NapScya is now known as Mary
[18:39]	RobinE	Every once and a while, Lana mumbles something into her arms.
[18:40]	JohnH	stretches his arms out "I'm gonna take a nap"
[18:42]	Arina	nods slightly. "... night."
[18:45]	Mary	shiver and sits  on the bed, her legs dangling down like the those of someone hanging from a rope while her eyes are  lifeless with even her tears finally having stopped  as she presses Meagan against herself
[18:55]	Kasra	After looking over John getting into bed, Kasra moves past Lana attempting to hear what she's saying on his way to Mary.
[19:00]	Mary	does not react to him moving while meagan seems to be awake.
[19:19]	IcePickLobotomy	Walker tosses her book off the bed and flops back onto the bed with a angry sigh
[19:20]	Mary	Meagan starts to give of baby noises to get attention
[19:20]	Arina	looks up. "... Just have to hope now."
[19:24]	Mary	"What for?"
[19:24]	IcePickLobotomy	Walker gets up and takes a seat next to Mary.
[19:25]	Kasra	"Sorry you and Meagan got caught in this."
[19:27]	Arina	"We don't know we're infected. This is... just to be sure."
[19:28]	IcePickLobotomy	Walker pokes Meagan. "At least someone is taking this in stride at least. . . And she can't even walk yet."
[19:29]	Mary	"Jst because she is to innocent..."
[19:29]	Mary	sounds dead and hollow.
[19:30]	Kasra	"Yeah! And it's not about the infection, I really think we're okay. It's still stressful."
[19:31]	IcePickLobotomy	Artyom half sits up. "You are all taking this better than most would."
[19:32]	Mary	does not feel like that
[19:34]	Arina	sighs. "... Screaming about it isn't going to improve our odds of not being infected."
[19:37]	Mary	"But , it helps with the blame.."
[19:37]	Mary	whsipers as she leans against Walker
[19:41]	IcePickLobotomy	"I don't think there's much use in blaming anyone here."
[19:44]	Mary	"Without them  Meagan would not be here and save!
[19:44]	Mary	gets louds.
[19:46]	IcePickLobotomy	Mary: you find Walker's hand on your shoulder.
[19:48]	Arina	grits her teeth slightly, turning back to her book.
[19:50]	Mary	shivers "And... And.."
[19:51]	Arina	"... it's not as though you're wrong. I apologize."
[19:57]	Mary	"We should not have done that.."
[20:00]	Arina	"'Should' hasn't been a particularly relevant word for a while now."
[20:01]	Arina	looks over the rim of her book at Walker.
[20:06]	Mary	strains against the hand
[20:11]	IcePickLobotomy	Walker gently squeezes Mary's shoulder.
[20:13]	Arina	turns her page. "If you want to hit something, feel free. I don't really have justification to protest."
[20:13]	Arina	"Torso please, though. METI wants my face in working order."
[20:15]	Kasra	"Arina, I'm not sure of your intent, but please, Mary is under a lot of stress right now."
[20:15]	IcePickLobotomy	"I don't think that really improves the situation for any of you either." Walker adds
[20:16]	Mary	slowly tries to stand up
[20:23]	Mary	tries to softly deliver Meagan to walkers hands
[20:25]	IcePickLobotomy	Walker takes the baby "Mary, what are you doing?"
[20:28]	Arina	sticks a bookmark in and lowers her book.
[20:28]	IcePickLobotomy	Artyom has sat up in full, watching the two of you carefully
[20:29]	JohnH	has propped himself up slightly, awakened by the noise
[20:29]	Mary	"Dont know yet " She says as she , bereft of the baby, makes a step  foreward
[20:29]	Mary	movement is somewhat slugish and slured, not at her height, not that she is the greatest of all possible athlets
[20:30]	Arina	remains seated calmly, putting her book aside.
[20:34]	Kasra	"Mary, now's the time for calm. If you uh, lose your head, Meagan will be upset."
[20:36]	Mary	"She can'" she whispers as she makes another step foreward
[20:36]	IcePickLobotomy	". . ." Walker looks down at Meagan and realizes she's been played. "Artyom?" "Nyet."
[20:37]	Kasra	places his hand on her shoulder. "Mary, this isn't going to help, and we're all stuck here for a while."
[20:37]	Arina	shakes her head. "I don't mind."
[20:37]	Arina	"She's not wrong. We'd have never been out there if I hadn't mentioned it."
[20:38]	Mary	shakes her shoulder, and tries to push him off before she lets loose a keening wail of despair and runs and tries to bodycheck arina.
[20:39]	Arina	doesn't defend herself.
[20:39]	RobinE	Lana sits up quickly, startled by the wail.
[20:40]	JohnH	's eyes widen, to better capture the moment, but otherwise doesn't move
[20:49]	Mary	then tries to shouldertakle Arina  off the bed, halfway stumbling over and against it.
[20:50]	Arina	grunts under the impact, falling onto the bed.
[20:50]	IcePickLobotomy	"Artyom! Do something!" Meagan stirs in Walker's lap uneasly
[20:50]	IcePickLobotomy	"No, let them sort this out between themselves."
[20:51]	IcePickLobotomy	"5 Dollars on the Russian." Vernbeck adds
[20:51]	JohnH	"Kick her ass, Arina!"
[20:51]	IcePickLobotomy	"I can't bellive you two." Walker hisses
[20:52]	Kasra	attempts to pull the two apart. "JOHN! There is no worse time for this behavior, help me!"
[20:54]	Mary	tries to hit her and tries to uses he bigger mass to press her down going for her throat with one lower arm
[20:55]	RobinE	Lana gets up and goes to Walker, "Want me to hold Meagan?"
[20:55]	Arina	coughs under the first few hits, and wraps her arms around Mary in a soft hug. "... I'm sorry."
[20:55]	JohnH	quickly sits up in bed, ready to jump in, but does not do so
[20:56]	Kasra	looks like he's looking at roadkill, but stalks away.
[20:58]	Mary	tries to hurt, her, but well tries is the good word here as she starts to scream something hoars and incomprehensible at her sharking her and trying to punch her
[20:59]	Arina	just maintains the hug. "Go... ahead and vent."
[21:00]	IcePickLobotomy	RobinE: Walker shakes her head "I think Artyom had the right idea here. . ."
[21:01]	RobinE	"alright" Lana goes back to sitting on the floor and watching.
[21:02]	Mary	cries pulls at her hair as she tries to hit Arinas head against the bed.
[21:02]	JohnH	says to Kasra "That's why we have to cut our hair short, you know."
[21:03]	Arina	gets her head smashed into fluffy softness and doesn't particularly mind. "Feeling... a little better...?"
[21:06]	Mary	then finally starts to slow down, as she tires herself out, and then comes to rest , pushing her down turning into lying on her exhausted and shaking from the crying.
[21:06]	Arina	coughs slightly to catch her breath, patting Mary's back.
[21:07]	IcePickLobotomy	Walker gets up and sits down next to Mary and Arina, putting one arm around the two girls, holding Meagan in the other.
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[21:08]	Mary	just lays there, spent.
[21:11]	Arina	"... I'm sorry."
[21:12]	Mary	says something that is lost in tears snodder and arinas shoulders
[21:14]	Arina	sighs, patting her back. "... How things should be and how they are are... pretty far apart." Her eyes meet Walker's directly, over Mary's shoulder.
[21:16]	RobinE	"yup," Lana sighs as she goes back to her spot to lay down again.
[21:16]	Mary	"Hate....helples..."
[21:17]	Arina	pats her back, humming quietly and soothingly. "... we all are."
[21:17]	IcePickLobotomy	Arina: You see Walker slump her shoulders and her gaze drift down to the floor.
[21:17]	Arina	's eyes still don't waver from Walker's.
[21:19]	Mary	"not again.."
[21:21]	Arina	"We... don't seem to have a lot of choice about that."
[21:22]	RobinE	"We don't have any choice," Lana says as she covers her face with her arms again, "just gotta sit and wait."
[21:25]	Mary	cries and hugs arina.
[21:26]	Arina	winces slightly, shifting to get the pressure off where her bruises are probably forming, and just quietly hums.
[21:29]	Arina	's eyes narrow in thought.
[21:31]	Mary	is like pudding , not the most active person at the moment exept for a desire for human warmth.
[21:33]	Arina	sighs. "Yeah... just rest for now."
[21:35]	Mary	"I..."
[21:52]	Mary	------Later------
[21:53]	Arina	is sitting up again, lightly fingering her hair and sides to make sure everything's still in reasonable order.
[21:53]	Mary	looks around between the others, and sits down next to Lana, shyly looking away from Arina.
[21:54]	RobinE	Lana has rolled over on her chest, but her face is still buried in her arms.
[22:00]	Mary	pokes Lanas shoulder
[22:02]	RobinE	"hmm?" Lana lifts her head and scans, "Oh, hi Mary."
[22:03]	Arina	finishes her inspection and picks up her book again, turning to where she was previously and resuming reading.
[22:05]	Mary	"So.. I vented, but...what about you?"
[22:06]	RobinE	"What about me," she shifts a bit, "am I next?"
[22:08]	IcePickLobotomy	Walker sets Meagan in her crib and pulls her book back out, reading quietly
[22:08]	Mary	"No I.. you, well one can see that you are also troubled and .uh..."
[22:09]	RobinE	"Look, Mary," she rolls over on her back and props herself up with her arms, "We are all upset. Some of us handle it differently than others."
[22:11]	RobinE	"I have decided to consider us plagued until we know more. That way I won't be disappointed if we are, but it takes a bit of wind out of your sails."
[22:12]	|<--	Reagan has left irc.systemnet.info (Quit: ChatZilla 0.9.92 [Firefox 47.0/20160604131506])
[22:13]	Mary	nolds "Like I.."
[22:13]	Arina	's fingers tighten on her book. "We mustn't be."
[22:14]	RobinE	Lana looks over to Arina, "mustn't be what?"
[22:15]	Arina	turns her page. "Plagued. Doomed."
[22:16]	Arina	"The survival of the entire human race is dependent on us. We don't have the right to die."
[22:16]	RobinE	"And we /could/ not be. But until I learn otherwise, I will assume the worst."
[22:17]	Mary	nods
[22:17]	JohnH	"I'm sure if we all died, someone could take our palce"
[22:18]	RobinE	"There must be more potential pilots."
[22:19]	Arina	snorts. "METI's catalogue isn't that long. It takes time to find pilots, time which has thus far yielded nothing outside a very limited pool."
[22:19]	JohnH	"My sister is probably qualified. I bet she's just too young."
[22:20]	Arina	makes no comment.
[22:20]	RobinE	"Look, Arina. No one is hoping we die, but they can't just plan on us living."
[22:22]	Arina	shakes her head. "There's no reserve. We aren't the entirety of the pool but it's quite shallow and hasn't expanded in the slightest since the last of us was recruited."
[22:22]	Arina	turns her page. "And the next pilot after us is twelve years old."
[22:23]	RobinE	"That doesn't change the fact that we don't get to choose how this turns out."
[22:24]	Arina	"We don't get to choose much of anything, no."
[22:24]	Arina	"But we still don't have the right to die."
[22:24]	RobinE	"I certainly admire your will to live."
[22:26]	Arina	"Perhaps this scare will at least light a fire under some buttocks and speed up that pilot search and recruitment process."
[22:27]	RobinE	"One can only hope," Lana says as she lays down.
[22:28]	Mary	"Yes.. the world is still big enough.."
[22:38]	Mary	"i am sory you two.."
[22:40]	RobinE	"Don't be," Lana lays her head back and looks at the ceiling, "Red death is a scary topic. Always will be."
[22:43]	Arina	shakes her head. "I did invite you to vent, after all."
[22:44]	Mary	"And i as the oldest should have stopped you two"
[22:47]	RobinE	"What, in the tunnels?"
[22:48]	Mary	"Yes"
[22:50]	Arina	"You did try," she notes, turning the page.
[22:50]	RobinE	"Age doesn't give authority, no offense. That song was too sad to ignore."
[22:54]	Mary	"And with that argument as the base I should have stopped you, what if it had been a Intruder? Instead of just something that might be  a reaction to level 13
[22:54]	Arina	"The alarms would have been going off for... quite a while, if it were."
[22:55]	RobinE	"And I... knew it somehow. it was familiar."
[22:55]	Arina	cocks her head. "Oh?"
[22:56]	RobinE	"Didn't I say?"
[22:56]	Arina	"Not really coherently, no."
[22:57]	RobinE	"Oh."
[22:59]	Arina	"Well, we'll talk about it later."
[22:59]	Arina	indicates Vernbeck with her eyes.
[23:00]	RobinE	"Sure," she closes her eyes and starts humming music.
[23:00]	Arina	closes her eyes and listens.
[23:01]	Mary	blinks and then offers Lana a hug
[23:02]	IcePickLobotomy	RobinE: You're not sure how, but it comes unbidden. That same melody. It bubbles up and out.
[23:02]	IcePickLobotomy	Arina, Mary: There's something vaguely familiar about the melody, but you can't quite place it anywhere.
[23:03]	Arina	's brows furrow slightly as she tries to place it.
[23:04]	RobinE	Lana continues humming, the song relaxing to hear.
[23:07]	Mary	hugs her and then she blinks.
[23:07]	Mary	eyes widen.
[23:08]	RobinE	Lana's humming gets interrupted and jostled a bit when she is brought into Mary's hug.
[23:11]	Arina	opens her eyes, chuckling slightly.
[23:12]	Mary	holds her
[23:13]	RobinE	Lana eventually returns the hug.
[23:14]	Arina	"... This is going to be a long few days."
[23:15]	RobinE	"I'm sure I'll be better tomorrow," Lana sighs.
[23:16]	Mary	"Well, if you want to sing, or hum maybe something that we all know, Music, is what helps us be human after all as every other work of art..
[23:19]	RobinE	"I don't know how to sing very well. As for humming, I really only know a few songs that well."
[23:21]	Arina	"Nothing wrong with sharing them. And bad singing is perfectly fine." She smiles. "It's how we get good singing."
[23:22]	Mary	"Well, then we might start doing so, and at least it would give us something to do "
[23:23]	Mary	nods at arina the other singer .
[23:27]	Mary	"Arina, do you have a idea for a easy one, or how about someone else?"
[23:29]	Arina	humhums. "Might be easier to start with the tunes she knows? We can probably catch up with her more quickly."
[23:31]	RobinE	"Well, That song I was humming doesn't have words, I /think/. It was my mother's lullaby."
[23:32]	Arina	taps her cheek. "Well, if you show us the tune we can probably catch up before too long, if you'd like."
[23:32]	Mary	Maybe something a bit less personal, that would also easier for everyone to join in.
[23:33]	Mary	looks at JohnH  and the others
[23:34]	RobinE	"Forgive me, but today has been long. I don't feel like teaching or learning," Lana lays down on the floor again.
[23:36]	Arina	nods. "Fair enough. It's going to be a lot longer yet."
[23:36]	JohnH	"What's the use in learning if we're all going to be dead?"
[23:37]	RobinE	Lana points in the direction of John's voice while looking at the ceiling, "true."
[23:37]	Arina	"That had best not be the case."
[23:40]	Mary	"There is still hope, else you would act differently as you are about to die."
[23:40]	RobinE	"I mean, if we are infected it is still possible to live, right?" Lana suggests.
[23:41]	JohnH	"Well as soon as my blood starts bubbling out of my skin, I will go ahead and act differently"
[23:41]	IcePickLobotomy	"Your blood starts to leek out and they'll pass us all the black vials." Artyom speaks up
[23:43]	Arina	"... Suicide serum?"
[23:43]	JohnH	"War paint so we look cool when we die?"
[23:44]	IcePickLobotomy	He nods. "Morphine, 3 times the lethal dose."
[23:44]	IcePickLobotomy	"Or something close enough to it."
[23:45]	RobinE	"I guess not," Lana answers for herself.
[23:47]	Mary	shivers.
[23:47]	Arina	"... Let's hope that knowledge proves moot."
[23:47]	IcePickLobotomy	"There are far worse ways to die." Artyom shifts back onto his bed
[23:48]	Mary	"I , I have to say a bit of me would still argue against taking it, With the Sucide taboo..."
[23:48]	IcePickLobotomy	"Your choice, but take my advice Mary. If it comes to that you should. There are worse deaths than by the plague but. . . not many."
[23:51]	Mary	"And if you are damed anyway...hmhm, what a oportune moment to think about believe."
[23:53]	IcePickLobotomy	"Bah, you are all too glum." Vernbeck says "As I said, the chance of us actually having the plague is low, perhaps, uhh 15% at most."
[23:53]	IcePickLobotomy	"Unless you ingested."
[23:54]	Arina	purses her lips. "... so that... pool... is the source?"
[23:55]	IcePickLobotomy	"It's the source of the original strain, the Red Death proper was a different one, someone bio-engineered it into a weapon which got loose. /That/ strain mutated into a less virulent form, which is why the plague stopped, well that and better containment measures and it started to burn itself out."
[23:56]	Arina	"Mm... so what is the original strain?"
[23:56]	JohnH	"And why is it in a pool in some forgotten underground tunnel, instead of having been burned or contained?"
[23:58]	IcePickLobotomy	"First, to John, so that we could study it. The original strain, as far as we can tell, has mostly identical symptoms to the Red Death, but doesn't spread via airborne viral particulates. The primary vector for Strain 0, as we call it, is from direct injection of bodily fluids, primarily blood."
[00:03]	Arina	taps her cheek. "... Study it. Hmph. So what was it?"
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[00:05]	IcePickLobotomy	"The plague? That's a rather broad question you understand."
[00:06]	Arina	"It seems a rather narrow question to me. The source of the so-very-tempting supervirus. What was it?"
[00:07]	IcePickLobotomy	"We don't know. A underground source perhaps? We're not sure nor have we been able to backtrace the waters that form the pool."
[00:08]	IcePickLobotomy	"Our current theory is that it's endemic to a underground lake that leaks through to that temple."
[00:08]	Arina	raises an eyebrow. "I suppose no one was desperately eager to get too close to that 'water', no. Especially not if those... mental effects... were common."
[00:09]	IcePickLobotomy	"That and unless we wanted to burrow through god knows how much rock, into a underground lake filled with a horrific plague. . Well you can understand why we felt it best to simply leave it as is."
[00:10]	Mary	"Which does not quite answer why it was not, well either guraded more strongly or at least had some archeologist there with propper safty measures."
[00:13]	IcePickLobotomy	"The proximity to Layer 13 meant that any sort of long term work would need significant rewards to make the long term psychological health effects worth while. Additionally METI is worried about samples leaving our control and being used as a Bioweapon. We felt that secrecy was our best defense. If no one knew it was there, or accessible, then they had no reason to start looking. But we...
[00:13]	IcePickLobotomy	...didn't want it sealed off permanently, you never know when you may need samples from the source after-all."
[00:17]	JohnH	"Samples for what, exactly?"
[00:17]	Mary	"Well, then the question is, how did it go from there elsewhere. I assume it was because that , hmhm Timelinewise most likely nato was looking at using it? After all the original strain must hace then come from here or do you argue for Paralel Evolution"?
[00:18]	Arina	"Secrecy? Didn't you say it was 0x1dalready0x1d being used as a bioweapon? The NATO authorities behind that would already know."
[00:24]	IcePickLobotomy	"If I said ti was a bioweapon for sure than I mispoke. My inital point on that regard was that there was, and is, a great deal of circumstantial evidence that points to it's lethality and virulence having been increased to such high levels, which is indicative of it being a bioweapon as nature rarely produces things like that on her own. But we cannot say for certain, NATO, the USSR, and...
[00:24]	IcePickLobotomy	...anyone else that matters have all denied, officially and unofficially, any sort of connection with the Red Death."
[00:25]	IcePickLobotomy	"Not to say they cannot have lied either, but it is possiable that whoever realesed it was the plagues first victims as well. Either way, we have no desire to see it becoming anymore available to anyone that it already is, and the Red Death has proven to be a rather temperamental virus to keep samples off."
[00:25]	Arina	hums, nodding. "... I see."
[00:26]	IcePickLobotomy	"Whereas Strain 0 is much easier to store, and rather adaptable."
[00:28]	IcePickLobotomy	"Doctor, are you sure you should be sharing all this?" Arytom speaks up again.
[00:28]	IcePickLobotomy	"Bah, what's the harm? The OUTRIDERs are at a higher level of classification than this anyways."
[00:29]	Mary	"Which still does not answer my question"
[00:30]	IcePickLobotomy	"We don't know. We have theories and ideas, but nothing concrete."
[00:31]	RobinE	"What happens to stored original strain that makes it temperamental?"
[00:33]	Arina	"I suppose they increase its infectiousness and can't quite control the difference between 'not infectious enough' and 'far too much so'?"
[00:35]	IcePickLobotomy	"Storing the Red Death is tricky, it tends to die off after about a year regardless of what you do. Our best luck has been with freezing infected bodies, but that tends to kill off most of the virus, and without a living host you are left with a very small amount of viruses compared to the total mass you've stored."
[00:35]	Mary	"Why did you not yet find something like a immunisation or a more effective treatment, or is the original strain highly changing like the cold?"
[00:36]	JohnH	"Why not just destroy it? I'm sure that humanity could engineer a devastating bio-weapon pretty easily on their own. I mean look at syphilis, that's been plaguing humanity for centuries."
[00:38]	Mary	"Because you need a safe source to try to get antibiotics, like with cowpox"
[00:40]	IcePickLobotomy	"Creating a vaccine isn't easy. It took them years to create one for Polio after all. We've not found a way to deactivate the virus without totally destroying it, we have no similar virus to it to try and make a attenuated one either. Sub-unit's had some promise but we've not made much progress there."
[00:41]	JohnH	"That's what I'm saying, though. Don't deactivate it. Just destroy it"
[00:43]	IcePickLobotomy	"Part of the problem is that the Red Death doesn't bind to just one type of protein receptor. It binds to /all/ of them, and we don't know /how/ " he sighs tiredly "It defies everything we know about how virus work. And then there's how it actually works, it's similar to a retro virus in that it hijacks the protein creation mechanisms of the cells to make more copies of itself, but that's...
[00:43]	IcePickLobotomy	...only some of the cells. The others it. . well it deactivates the tumor suppressing genes, causing a very aggressive cancer that it will then start to attack. This is what causes the growths followed by the necrosis."
[00:43]	IcePickLobotomy	"To make a very long story short, it is a vile nastyl little fucker of a virus that acts like /nothing/ else we've ever ran into and spits in the face of our understanding of virology."
[00:44]	Arina	's eyes are only a little swirly.
[00:48]	Mary	"And the problem is that every conventional treatment for it, is either atta cking only a part of it, which does not stop the onset of a fatal symptom, or if multi parting is just as deadly as the virus itself I assume?"
[00:49]	IcePickLobotomy	"Correct. It doesn't help that unlike most virus, which only attack a single type of cell, the Red Death can and does attack all the cells in the body. And that it goes after the genome of the patient, their DNA, means we don't /have/ a means of treating the cause. The best we can do is make them at peace until the end comes."
[00:51]	Mary	"Luckily I assume that Strain Zero is also not carried by animals if infected ? Else the city would already be dead from a single rat or some insects."
[00:52]	JohnH	"Rats probably don't have the brain power to fall to the charm of the fountain witch."
[00:52]	Arina	"More to the point, it was sealed off until the last battle."
[00:53]	IcePickLobotomy	"Yes, the Red Death only infects humans as far as we can tell. While there is some risk of infection via blood transfusion from mosquitoes that's a bit of a edge case."
[00:54]	Mary	"At least the idea of it being a stigmate was not something that took hold in the even fringe comunity as most of these that did so died out fast. The one that was more common was the one that it was Divine Punishment or the we where headed down the road to revelations."
[00:54]	Arina	"Mm... hopefully they've sealed it off again..."
[00:54]	Arina	"And hopefully that thing alive down there was just a hallucination."
[00:54]	IcePickLobotomy	"Those fools had a tendency to get themselves killed off quickly. Darwin in action."
[00:59]	Mary	"Well, most likely a reaction to the statue and the pool, and the whole sector 13 thing."
[01:00]	Arina	"Mm."
[01:00]	IcePickLobotomy	"Mmm."
[01:00]	Mary	eyes vernback critically
[01:01]	IcePickLobotomy	"For what it's worth I was down there once. There's something. . . off, about that place."
[01:02]	Arina	nods.
[01:03]	Mary	"Do you know anything about when and who build it?="
[01:04]	IcePickLobotomy	"No I don't."
[01:05]	|<--	JohnH has left irc.systemnet.info (Quit: JohnH)
[01:05]	Arina	"It definitely looked... old..."