by Ken Ward
“To ensure longer-term global sustainability, we have to provide continuing support for the world's health systems to better anticipate, detect, and respond to IGNA-3 outbreaks. Supporting these efforts improves health security for everyone.”
Through its Health Emergencies program, financial support for WHO’s response to the IGNA-3 virus's discovery and outbreak in Bermuda has been provided by the WHO Contingency Fund for Emergencies (CFE).
The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, as well as the Bermuda Health System, the Institute Pasteur, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), UNICEF, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Santé publique France, the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) and other partners are actively asking all global citizens to be on the look-out for the following IGNA-3 symptoms: runny nose, sore throat, body aches, chills, sinus congestion, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, blurred vision, headache, swollen lymphs, wet cough, excessive sneezing, lethargy, difficulty breathing.
Due to IGNA-3's symptoms being similar to that of common influenza strains it is encouraged that those who have traveled to vulnerable regions and who have noticed they suffer with flu-like symptoms that they self-quarantine and report their condition at the link provided at the bottom of this page. The incubation period for IGNA-3 has been observed to be as long as 21 days with risk of infection lasting as long. All who have contracted IGNA-3, including WHO and CDC officials and front line health care practitioners have perished from the disease. Please exercise extreme caution.”
If the World Health Organization was trying to freak me out, it was working. How had I not heard about this IGNA-3 virus before now? Finishing that article, I felt like all of my symptoms had been heightened and you could add my loudly growling stomach to the list as fear gripped me and butterflies were doing somersaults inside. 21 day incubation period? I remember wondering at what point I'd caught the virus? I ran back through the previous three weeks in my head. Where had I been in the same place as a person who'd been in Bermuda? Then I realized, it could've happened anywhere, especially given this IGNA-3 can be transmitted through the air. I could've been sitting in a movie theater or a restaurant with someone who'd been to Bermuda. Or someone who'd been to England and breathed the same air as someone else who'd been to Bermuda or with someone who'd been to Canada who breathed the same air as someone who'd been to London who breathed the same air as someone who'd been to Boston who breathed the same air as… The possibilities were endless and after having read that article I was deeply scared.
“Did you see this?” Jeremy held up his phone which had a New York Times article on its screen. He was looking at Maura as though I wasn't even there.
“I'm reading it right now,” Maura said.
“You reading about that virus?” Said the nosy man in front of me, looking at Jeremy.
“Yeah, scary as hell.”
I could see on Jeremy's screen, 'IGNA-3' printed in large letters in the headline. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, this new and deadly virus was becoming big news. At the same time I was becoming even more self-conscious.
CHAPTER 7
Sitting there, in between Maura and Jeremy, my head throbbed to the point where I felt like it might detach from my body and fall onto the floor in front of me. Or maybe that was wishful thinking on my part. A nice quick death to relieve me of the unrelenting agony. Certainly, I remember running over and over in my mind, Clackzi had it wrong. But wait. Can this app be wrong? After all it's scanning the internet, monitoring everyone's communications. The longer I thought about it the more I began to wonder. Who approved the idea of this app in the first place? As a society we were, to a person, wholeheartedly accepting of this machine, this form of artificial intelligence. My brain began to swirl with wild notions of a technocratic future. Maybe we were already there.
Maura turned toward my direction, though I doubted she was going to speak to me, nor did I want her to. She looked at Jeremy holding her phone out in front of her. “If this virus is as bad as they say it is, why are we only hearing about this now?” She said.
Jeremy shrugged and pushed his fake glasses back onto the bridge of his nose. “Interesting question,” he said. His face bugged me. He looked at Maura and spoke in a tone that I couldn't quite nail down but that came across as wholly disingenuous. I didn't doubt for a second that he was probably misogynistic in nature and probably had the hots for Maura, but it was me of the two men sitting in this row that was painted the Neanderthal brush in Maura's mind. I suppose I shouldn't have let that bother me as much as it did, but I'd been convinced my entire life that I was a good and moral person, that I didn't have a chauvinistic bone in my body. Maura had me back on my heels from our very first interaction. The scary part was I worried that maybe she was right.
The man seated in front of me turned around in his seat and I could see a sliver of his face as he looked at Maura. “This IGNA-3 thing,” he said, “it's been in the news about a week or so now. It's just the major outlets have picked it up.”
“Oh,” Maura said. “No one I know has even mentioned it.”
“I imagine that will change after today,” the man said.
“Why today?” Jeremy asked.
“Saw on TV back in the terminal,” the man said, “just before we boarded. First confirmed case outside Bermuda. A man on a flight to Heathrow.”
Maura gasped. I sat in silence while my insides were in full revolt.
“That's nuts,” Jeremy said.
The other two men seated in the row in front of us were also sitting there with heads turned, taking in the alarming conversation. “Worst part is,” the man in front of me said, “now everyone on that flight is likely infected.”
“Crazy.”
“Yep. Sad state of affairs,” the man said. He turned back around in his seat.
Jeremy looked over at Maura. “Where's the first place you'd go, if that disease hit the U.S., close to where you live?”
“I don't know,” Maura said, “I don't even want to think about it.”
Jeremy nudged me with his elbow. “What about you, Champ?”
I remember thinking, god, why did I have to get seated between these two? I shrugged at Jeremy's question. “No idea,” I said. “My girlfriend's family has property in Canada. Maybe I'd go up there.”
“There it is again,” Maura said. “Girlfriend.”
Damn it. I didn't even notice I'd said the word. “Sorry,” I said, “it slipped out.”
“Yeah, sure.”
As much as my throat was hurting, I had to get this situation resolved. “What is your big problem with me anyway?” I said. “You've been nothing but rude to me since the start of this flight.” I sneezed into my elbow, causing Maura to make a face.
“You treat women like their your personal property,” Maura said.
“Because I use the word girlfriend?”
“Yup.” She rolled her eyes and went back to looking at her phone.
“You don't know anything about me.”
“Oh, I know enough,” she said, not bothering to look up from her screen.
How do you argue with someone like this? I guess I shouldn't have even bothered, but I felt like an innocent person being accused of a crime they didn't commit. It was frustrating. “Is there something else about me?” I said, pushing her to engage in conversation. “Something about the way I look that has you bothered?”
“Bothered?” She said, glaring at me.
“Just let it go,” Jeremy said. “There's no point in arguing.”
“Exactly,” Maura said.
I fumed as I pushed my back hard into my seat. I was so angry I didn't know what to do with myself. I picked up my phone and opened my internet browser. I went to a news site only because I needed to occupy my brain with something long enough that I could calm down. If only airplanes had balconies. In that moment I needed to get outside and clear my head. Thinking of jumping out of the plane to put
myself out of my misery caused me a moment's relief as I chuckled at the idea. Sure enough, the news site I'd clicked on had IGNA-3 coverage all over it. That was the last thing I wanted to read about and really I was so preoccupied with my interactions with Maura I'd almost forgotten that Clackzi seemed convinced that I had the deadliest virus in the history of the world. Needing to vent I went to Twitter. Probably not the smartest idea I'd ever had.
@mattgravenhurst91bos: Tips for dealing with terrible seat partners on a flight? These two are the worst. Can't land in Miami soon enough. #annoyingpeople
A minute later my phone beeped with notifications that people had replied.
@boxer73minneapolismn: jus ignorr em bro
@feveristiccatlady4evrrr: u thnik mayB they feel same bout u?
@youdontknowanythingreally: matt, whats in miami?
I always hated it when people I didn't know referred to me by my first name on social media. That's what I get for putting my real name as my handle. More replies came in.
@dotfancydesseraugh555: what's the problem?
@washlacrossefan2016: make fists with your toes
Doing all I could to forget how terrible I felt and trying to purge that last exchange I'd had with Maura, I decided to jump down the Twitter rabbit hole and reply.
@mattgravenhurst91bos: @boxer73minneapolismn … wish I could, one of them so judgmental, thinks I'm something I'm not
@mattgravenhurst91bos: @feveristiccatlady4evrrr … already know that, but they're wrong about me
@mattgravenhurst91bos: @youdontknowanythingreally … a conference i have to go to, looking forward to better weather
@mattgravenhurst91bos: @dotfancydesseraugh555 … woman beside me thinks im misogynist because i referred to my girlfriend as my girlfriend
@mattgravenhurst91bos: @washlacrossefan2016 … lol, i get that reference, i'll try it
Then came the replies to my replies.
@boxer73minneapolismn: fuk em
@feveristiccatlady4evrrr: wut do they think u R?
@youdontknowanythingreally: you from BOS?
@dotfancydesseraugh555: ouch, well you did use “my” twice, maybe she has a point?
@washlacrossefan2016: yippie ki-yay lol
I probably should've ended these interactions there, but hindsight is twenty-twenty. Of course, I replied to some of them.
@mattgravenhurst91bos: @feveristiccatlady4evrrr … a chauvinist, but it's not true, she doesn't even know me
@mattgravenhurst91bos: @youdontknowanythingreally … yep
@mattgravenhurst91bos: @dotfancydesseraugh555 … i don't think I own my gf, it's so stupid that she thinks that
To which I'd received these replies.
@feveristiccatlady4evrrr: most men R tho
@dotfancydesseraugh555: so anyone who disagrees with you is stupid?
@mattgravenhurst91bos: @feveristiccatlady4evrrr … most men? that's painting with a fairly broad brush, no?
@mattgravenhurst91bos: @dotfancydesseraugh555 … i didn't say that, but this person has decided i'm a certain way without even getting to know me
@feveristiccatlady4evrrr: men do it evryday but thats ok tho?
@dotfancydesseraugh555: it's up to her to 'get to know you'? a stranger on a flight? get over yourself. Maybe stop judging her.
As per usual, interactions on the internet devolved as they often do. I should've stopped, but I didn't. Pride is a killer.
@mattgravenhurst91bos: @feveristiccatlady4evrrr … that doesn't make any sense
@mattgravenhurst91bos: @dotfancydesseraugh555 … i'm not judging her, she made a false assumption about me. Is it wrong to want to correct that?
@feveristiccatlady4evrrr: Y? Bcuz im female? all of us R stupid 2 U?
@dotfancydesseraugh555: oh, boo hoo, grow up. Not everyone in this world is going to like you.
@mattgravenhurst91bos: @feveristiccatlady4evrrr … so you're saying you can't be stupid if you're female?
@mattgravenhurst91bos: @dotfancydesseraugh555 … maybe you could tone down on your snark? I get that not everyone will like everyone I just think it's wrong to judge.
I was treading down a path that I probably should've known better than to venture. I wasn't even sure I was in the right anymore with either exchange. But I was defensive and stubborn. Both people replied.
@feveristiccatlady4evrrr: unBlivable
@dotfancydesseraugh555: oh so now you're tone policing? I'm thinking this person might be right about you. Have a seat misogynist. #weseeyou
@mattgravenhurst91bos: @feveristiccatlady4evrrr … maybe learn how to spell and I can take anything you say more seriously
@mattgravenhurst91bos: @dotfancydesseraugh555 … you don't know anything about me. You do know what snark is right?
Anger, defensiveness and adrenaline had taken over, combined with my latent fear that I had this IGNA-3 virus. I was taken aback by both conversations.
@feveristiccatlady4evrrr: u evr think english not my first lang? u R rude goodbue
@dotfancydesseraugh555: Do I know what it is? Why don't you explain it to me, MAN?
Reading those responses snapped me back to reality. Guilt overtook me. My shoulders sank and I looked at the floor. I recognized in that moment I was being a jerk. How easily these online interactions had caused me to slip into a persona I truly didn't like was alarming. I didn't know what to do. Do I apologize to complete strangers I'd likely never meet nor speak to ever again? I opted to close Twitter and didn't bother responding to both of those people's replies. What had begun as an exercise in trying to forget the ugliness of my exchanges with the person beside me on the plane, had instead turned into an excuse to wallow in self-loathing. Not to mention the overwhelming 'woe is me' feeling I'd already had due to my crippling sickness. But just when you think things can't possibly get any worse. They always do.
CHAPTER 8
A couple more notification beeps sounded from my pocket where I'd tucked my phone away. Between that stupid device, the people seated around me and the virus from hell, Flight 318 had proven at that point to be the worst I'd ever experienced. I didn't even bother trying to sleep anymore, as I knew it was a fruitless exercise. Instead I sat with my head against my headrest, watery itchy eyes forward toward the front of the plane, coughing into my RepublicAir blanket and continuously blowing my nose. Maura and Jeremy leaned in their seats as far from me as they possibly could. Each of them had their heads down using their phones. As I looked around the cabin of the plane I saw pretty much everyone else doing the same and I admit I judged all of them in that moment thinking, 'what did we humans do before smart phones and the internet'? Somehow in that moment the fact that I'd put my phone away made me believe I was momentarily superior to everyone else. Never mind the other fact I was conveniently ignoring, that I'd put my phone away out of self-shaming. It didn't matter. My better-than-everyone glow did not last long when I noticed an older man standing in the aisle quite a ways up in the cabin from where I was seated. He was standing next to a flight attendant and pointing what looked to be right in my direction. His pointing caused a nervous flicker in me, but then I thought, he's so far up there, he could be pointing at someone or something else. Maybe the washroom back here was malfunctioning or he had some other issue. Then I saw two other passengers stand from their seats and they appeared to be looking back in my direction. My heart started beating fast. What was going on?
The passengers and the flight attendant were far enough up the cabin from me, that I couldn't hear any of their exchange over the roar of the engines. No one else around them seemed all that disturbed. It could have been something as innocuous as what kind of snack they'd like to have with their complimentary beverage. The attendant appeared to be negotiating with the standing passengers. She made a calming gesture with her arms and the people reluctantly took their seats, throwing one last look toward the back of the plane where I was seated. Then that attendant marched down the aisle, she was looking right at me. I wanted to melt into the walls at that po
int. Without averting her eyes, she walked right up to the row where I was seated, but then kept marching right past to the back area. Strange.
About a minute later she returned with another attendant beside her. They didn't stand in the aisle directly beside Maura, but instead stood next to the row ahead of us where the nosy men were seated. Pretty much everyone in the back third of the plane had turned their attention to the two flight attendants as both were wearing face masks and surgical gloves. Leaning slightly over the seat-back of the seat directly in front of Maura, one of the attendants reached an arm toward me. “Sir,” she said, “may we see your boarding pass?”
I could feel dozens of eyeballs on me. My face felt flush and hot. I coughed slightly and pulled out my boarding pass and handed it to the attendants. The woman who'd spoken to me showed the other attendant. He inspected the pass and looked at me without saying anything. The seriousness in his eyes caused alarm in me. The man passed the document back to me. Both attendants then walked away to the back of the plane.
People kept staring at me. I did my best to not lock eyes with anyone in particular. Maura looked at me. “What was that about?”
I had a pretty strong suspicion Clackzi was involved, but I feigned ignorance. “I don't know,” I said, “maybe they wanted to check and see that I belonged on this flight?”
“But why the masks and gloves?”
“Maybe they're germophobes.”
“Nah,” Jeremy said, “there's something going on.”
“You think?” Maura said.
“Of course,” Jeremy said. “They're wearing that after we'd just got done talking about IGNA-3 and that guy on the flight to London? You think that's a coincidence?”
“But why are they checking his boarding pass?”
So far it seemed as though my seat partners hadn't made the connection between my obvious flu-like symptoms and the possibility that I was a carrier of this deadly new virus. I wasn't going to help them along. “Actually,” I said, “I think they're checking everyone's.”