duskofthegods | video } from Images May Disturb You, the Blog of Georgia Mason, Entry #1

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video } from Images May Disturb You, the Blog of Georgia Mason, Entry #1

[Georgia sits on her throne, cutting an imposing figure in her black and white clothes, dark sunglasses hiding most of her face. She doesn't smile. She so rarely does.]

Greetings. I'm Georgia Mason, Editor-in-Chief of the After the End Times news organization and your current acting God of Communication and Technology.

[That she manages to say that without grimacing should qualify as an act of god itself. She still has some difficulty with the concept of gods being a thing at all, let alone her being one of them.]

[Shaun leans into camera range.]

And we'd love to ask you all to stop by and say hey, but we're both pretty sure that would be a terrible idea, so we locked the door from the inside.

[He offers a thumbs-up.]

[Georgia gestures to him because he's a moron who didn't introduce himself.] Shaun Mason. My dumbass brother.

[Then she straightens. Exposition time.]

Our world is overrun by a disease known as "Kellis-Amberlee." It's extremely contagious and, among other things, causes those who have it to come back from the dead hungry for human flesh.

And until we know we won't pass it along to everyone else and create a whole hell of a lot of really interesting havoc among people whose immune systems just give up and turn them into zombies, we figured it was best to keep to ourselves for a while.

George never lets me have any fun.

[She shoves his arm. Pretty hard.]

If anyone here has any experience with virology, we'd love to discuss solutions. Until then, we'll be contactable by text or email, and working on setting up a local news network. Thank you for your time.

Hopefully we'll see you around. If not, maybe we could get someone to start shoving food under the door or something. When food shows up.

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[By this time, Nikas has, if not condoned, at least accepted that people are going to go out and claim the thrones of the gods. It's why he's finally back checking the network: at least he can help somehow if they need it.

It's this broadcast that piques his curiosity. Extremely contagious? Hungry for human flesh? That sounds slightly familiar, doesn't it? And then the boy confirms it: zombies. And they're looking for someone with experience in virology. He doesn't think it's a trap; no one here could possibly know what he is.

He hasn't needed to eat brains since he arrived. As long as no one takes the throne of time, he posits, it could continue on this way for him.

But this pair needs help.]

I have worked extensively in the fields of virology - and have studied certain parasites that cause symptoms that you've mentioned.

[He doesn't outright say "zombies". He doesn't really like that word.]

Perhaps I could be of some help?

Ours is absolutely a virus, not a parasite, but we'll take any help we can get. Just be careful. We'd rather not infect you in the process of learning more.

[She tilts her head, eyeing him thoughtfully through her sunglasses.]

You've come across a zombie parasite?

[A pause follows that question - after which he manages to switch on a privacy filter. Surprisingly, Nikas doesn't like people knowing his business.]

It is very difficult for me to become ill, Miss Mason, for that exact reason. I have what you would call a 'zombie parasite', though I prefer to classify it as a symbiotic organism. It's a mutually beneficial - ah...

[That's not what she's here for. He smiles, gently, self-effacingly.]

In short, I am indeed a zombie, as one would classify it. I died, I consume brain matter to sustain myself, and that organism which uses me as its host returns the favor with longevity and health.

[A hand up here signals a plea for patience.]

While your disease is not a parasite, I did study virology for some time before medicine advanced enough for me to determine how my own illness was caused. I can help, if you'll allow.

[...well.

Her expression remains impassive, mostly due to long practice and her sunglasses, as she processes this. He's just outright admitted to being a zombie, though clearly not in the sense she's used to. Her instincts tell her to go for her gun. She ignores them. For one thing, they're currently in video chat, so even if she wanted to shoot him, she doubts she could. For another, he's clearly sentient, not to mention intelligent. If he actually wanted to eat her brains, he probably wouldn't have come clean about it right away. Which isn't to say she's about to go unarmed in his presence, but honesty gets you a lot of points in her book.]

One of the more pleasant side-effects of Kellis-Amberlee is that it destroys most other illnesses that try to take hold in my body. I don't want to learn whether my virus can take your parasite in a fight, at least not unless we can do it under strictly controlled laboratory settings. But if you're willing to try and help, we'll take it. Just be careful.

Edited (BEE CAREFUL) 2018-01-05 22:44 (UTC)