Post by Gabriel Constant on Sept 11, 2013 14:58:41 GMT -5
As always, Gabriel found himself at the center of helplessness and disaster. Unusually, this time, that place was New York City. He was accustomed to having to use his expertise in development and infrastructure in developing countries, but the States seldom had troubles as serious as this one. Not in terms of transmittable diseases, at least. Any contingencies the government had created back in the days when such events were not uncommon were now well buried. Gabriel were sure there were good people looking for them, but until then, he would go ahead and work on a more immediate solution.
Across the continent, Christian was leading a team of their best scientists and biomedical experts in trying to develop a more permanent cure or, failing that, a more efficient treatment. The idea had been Christian's; he had requested permission to visit a few of the Los Angeles hospitals to examine the hospitals' reports as well as look over the patients themselves, to study their symptoms. Christian had additionally expressed that he wanted to do so quietly, without including the media or attracting any attention to their work as yet. Gabriel approved both requests.
Lucius was in New York, but he was looking after his fiancée, as Gabriel had known he would the moment Gabriel saw that Dakari would fall ill. Gabriel had also been aware that Lucius was in love with Dakari, but to see it firsthand, for him to put everything aside for her… it was exactly what Gabriel would have done. As long as the world wasn't taking his wife and children along as it aborted itself, Gabriel could really not care less what happened to it if one of his loved ones was in danger.
All of his loved ones were safe, though, so Gabriel did take a moment to give a fuck. He was in Manhattan, which appeared to be the center of things, where whatever had caused this particular strain of cholera had started. Gabriel almost found that a good thing; not that being the catalyst for illness and death was a good thing, but New York was, as far as he had ever seen, populated by a remarkably resilient people, one that was either prepared for anything or could be at a moment's notice. The city had done everything in its power to mitigate the damage the disease had done, and Gabriel was fairly sure - based in large part on his visions - that they actually had kept the outbreak from being worse than it was.
He was touring various water treatment facilities around the area to test the water there - towers, pipelines, everything in between. He was hoping to find the place that had started it, if there was such a thing, but his hopes were low on that; instead, he was focusing on clearing the bacteria from the water supply.
He had a band of volunteers with him. Constant Design & Development still consisted of exactly one employee, and that one employee was aware that he could not do all the work that needed to be done by himself. The volunteers came from various organizations, and there were even some high school and college students with him, who did most of the simple work. He had former colleagues helping him not only in New York, but also in other parts of the country. He hoped he could at least lower the rate of infection within the week, or two weeks. He was not as confident on how long it would take to get rid of it completely, but he knew that with the combined efforts of all the groups across the country, it could and would be done.
Just not without a distressing number of casualties.
Amaia Ramirez, his former personal assistant but frequent collaborator, was in charge of organizing the younger, less experienced recruits, while the more familiar ones worked directly with Gabriel. "Let's have you three take this testing equipment to the east wing and do exactly what you just saw Gabriel do, okay? I'll be there to check on you in a second." She turned to another handful of volunteers. "You all will head over with Jason and look over the west wing. The rest of you will wait for the first two groups' results and start analyzing them. Ready? Let's go for it."
The volunteers splintered off to do their work, and, looking at them, Gabriel sighed internally. His visions didn't always show him everything. And perhaps something completely innocent had started this mess. But he was sure he could have stopped the whole thing if he had only been able to foresee its cause, rather than just its effects.
Across the continent, Christian was leading a team of their best scientists and biomedical experts in trying to develop a more permanent cure or, failing that, a more efficient treatment. The idea had been Christian's; he had requested permission to visit a few of the Los Angeles hospitals to examine the hospitals' reports as well as look over the patients themselves, to study their symptoms. Christian had additionally expressed that he wanted to do so quietly, without including the media or attracting any attention to their work as yet. Gabriel approved both requests.
Lucius was in New York, but he was looking after his fiancée, as Gabriel had known he would the moment Gabriel saw that Dakari would fall ill. Gabriel had also been aware that Lucius was in love with Dakari, but to see it firsthand, for him to put everything aside for her… it was exactly what Gabriel would have done. As long as the world wasn't taking his wife and children along as it aborted itself, Gabriel could really not care less what happened to it if one of his loved ones was in danger.
All of his loved ones were safe, though, so Gabriel did take a moment to give a fuck. He was in Manhattan, which appeared to be the center of things, where whatever had caused this particular strain of cholera had started. Gabriel almost found that a good thing; not that being the catalyst for illness and death was a good thing, but New York was, as far as he had ever seen, populated by a remarkably resilient people, one that was either prepared for anything or could be at a moment's notice. The city had done everything in its power to mitigate the damage the disease had done, and Gabriel was fairly sure - based in large part on his visions - that they actually had kept the outbreak from being worse than it was.
He was touring various water treatment facilities around the area to test the water there - towers, pipelines, everything in between. He was hoping to find the place that had started it, if there was such a thing, but his hopes were low on that; instead, he was focusing on clearing the bacteria from the water supply.
He had a band of volunteers with him. Constant Design & Development still consisted of exactly one employee, and that one employee was aware that he could not do all the work that needed to be done by himself. The volunteers came from various organizations, and there were even some high school and college students with him, who did most of the simple work. He had former colleagues helping him not only in New York, but also in other parts of the country. He hoped he could at least lower the rate of infection within the week, or two weeks. He was not as confident on how long it would take to get rid of it completely, but he knew that with the combined efforts of all the groups across the country, it could and would be done.
Just not without a distressing number of casualties.
Amaia Ramirez, his former personal assistant but frequent collaborator, was in charge of organizing the younger, less experienced recruits, while the more familiar ones worked directly with Gabriel. "Let's have you three take this testing equipment to the east wing and do exactly what you just saw Gabriel do, okay? I'll be there to check on you in a second." She turned to another handful of volunteers. "You all will head over with Jason and look over the west wing. The rest of you will wait for the first two groups' results and start analyzing them. Ready? Let's go for it."
The volunteers splintered off to do their work, and, looking at them, Gabriel sighed internally. His visions didn't always show him everything. And perhaps something completely innocent had started this mess. But he was sure he could have stopped the whole thing if he had only been able to foresee its cause, rather than just its effects.
