Netcast: Zero Read Online Free PDF Page A

identified the method of transmission. Airborne, bodily fluids, even vector transmission; all had been tested each time the virus had appeared, but never had the results been the same. The method of transmission seemed to change at random, which made positive identification and outbreak control very challenging tasks.
    Hanna called up a map. The world map filled her visual space. It was covered with small red dots appearing at various cities around the world. She checked the legend on the map, which read ‘Locations of reported cases of Twister Virus.’ She remembered that she had last used the map to display the locations at which the Twister virus had struck, in preparation for her last interview with Professor Dantmore.
    Using her mind, she commanded the map to display the locations of all the reported outbreaks of the Klaria virus. The dots shifted to their new locations a split second later. However, many of them did not. She checked the legend again, noting that it read ‘Locations of Confirmed Outbreaks of the Klaria Virus.’ She commanded the map to return to the display of the Twister virus locations, watching as the dots shifted back to their original locations. Again she commanded the map to display the locations of the Klaria virus outbreaks, however, this time, she commanded it to include all suspected Klaria outbreaks as well. Even fewer of the dots shifted this time. She then commanded the map to overlay the locations of the Twister virus using green dots. The result was a world map covered with dots. Some red, some green, and some, where both the Twister and the Klaria viruses had appeared, were yellow. What surprised her most was that more than half of the dots were yellow.
    Message; Arielle: Hey, look at this, she commanded, assembling a quick animation of the merging of the two maps and sending it to her friend. Message: Could this be something? Hanna watched her friend’s face as she studied the changing maps in her own visual space.
    Reply: Yes. It’s called a coincidence.
    Message: That’s got to be at least sixty percent, if not seventy, Hanna argued. That’s one hell of a coincidence.
    Reply: Perhaps, but it’s still just a coincidence.
    Another version of the same world map appeared in Hanna’s visual space, sent to her by Arielle. In addition to the green, red, and yellow dots already on the map, dots in blue, orange, lavender, and magenta also appeared, one by one, making the map nearly unreadable.
    From; Arielle: Outbreaks of biological viruses in the last twelve months. The Larken virus; the Pellar virus; and two different varieties of Occella. Maybe Twister caused them as well?
    Message: Maybe. Hanna replied. Maybe there is something there? Maybe they’re all connected.
    Reply: Hanna, that’s ridiculous.
    Message: I’m not so sure. What about our implants? They’re connected to our brain, right? Could there be some kind of side-effect?
    Reply: Don’t you think they would’ve thought of that, Hanna? Besides, implants have been in use for centuries now, and never with any side-effects.
    Message: What about all the fatigue cases? The separation and differentiation problems?
    Reply: Not the same thing, and a far cry from a virus.
    Message: What about our health nanites? Hanna asked, refusing to give up on the idea. Our implants control those now as well, don’t they? Could they be causing the Klaria virus?
    Arielle cast a disapproving glance at Hanna from across the small waiting area.
    Reply: The health nanites repair tissue, Hanna. They don’t create diseases. You’re reaching, looking for a sensational headline. Stop it.
    Hanna cast a stubborn expression back at her friend. Message: But what if I’m right?
    Reply: If you’re right, then we’d all be sick. You, me, and the other eighty percent of the Earth’s population that have implants and health nanites. Hell, Hanna, the entire sector uses health nanites, even the fringe worlds. If your theory were correct, it would have