The tunnel network between the domes got congested around midday. Citizens received ten entertainment and shopping units if they used the lift (capsule) transportation instead. The lift transportation ran through the tunnel network, with the capsules hooked up to a mono- rail parallel to the traffic lane. Over the years most of the tunnels had been expanded in width, but still the investment did not resolve the traffic problem. At least T.T.V's had authority to move through the top deck airspace, above other vehicles in the tunnels.
The T.T.V Commander asked “General, permission to contact hospital platform control for landing zone coordinates?”
“Not yet. You can make contact just before entering the hospital dome's radar zone.” Kern confirmed.
As the T.T.V approached the end of the tunnel leading to the hospital dome, the Commander adjusted the controls to prepare for the elevated flight into the dome traffic space. Once in the dome, traffic adhered to the dome driving code, which stated that vehicles were to follow the dome circle clockwise. Once the T.T.V entered the hospital dome, the Commander looked at Kern as if to repeat via telepathy the last order he had received. With the Commander waiting to make radio contact, necessary for permission, Kern gave a nod of his head in approval.
The Commander held the microphone, tuned in the radio to the hospital dome's frequency and said “Hello Hospital Dome Ninety Seven, here is Tee-Tee-Vee Zero One. Request landing permission - Over.”
One of the hospital dome control staff gave a prompt reply “Ah, Roger Tee-Tee-Vee Zero One, zone Two Alpha is vacant, acknowledge - Over.”
The Commander confirmed the landing zone booking as requested and continued to follow the course calculated by the navigation console. Soon, when they arrived at their destination, the hospital staff may think that the T.T.V was transporting a military casualty and so not expect the General to be on board. Kern wanted to surprise the hospital staff this time and for his other official visits in future.
In control room of Hospital Dome 97, the operator who took the arrival booking now switched on the landing lights for zone 2A. Even during daytime hours this was a routine procedure. Zone 2A now communicated direct with the T.T.V's navigation console and activated the auto-pilot. The T.T.V crew, including Kern, now prepared to disembark. The vehicle landed to perfection. Although a group of medics waited on the platform, the General and his escorts barged past them, and headed for the control room.
Kern shouted to a medic “You! Make sure the Hospital Director meets me in the control room – Now!”
As Kern entered the control room, first he found a mass of desks and monitors. But as he made a loud entry through the doors, the personnel on shift in the control room stood to acknowledge his presence, authority and rank. After he dumped his peaked hat and gloves on the nearest desk, Kern remained standing and as the Director did not appear; paced around with short steps.
He did not trust the reliability of the medic who he instructed to fetch the Hospital Director and so ordered one of the control room staff “You! Go and find the Director. Tell him I, General Kern, expects his immediate attendance.”
As the man ran through the doorway on his errand, he collided with the Director who ran in the opposite direction towards the control room.
“Sorry, sorry for the delay General Kern. We were not expecting you today as we understood the scheduled visit to be cancelled.” The Director explained.
Kern confirmed to the contrary “Well I am present, now in front of you. Take me to the quarantine ward and explain what happened, and why no report reached my office.”
The Director cursed in silence and wished that communication methods had failed. He took the group to the quarantine ward and begun with his explanation “Well General, a few days ago the first of many patients with the same symptoms arrived. They had their wrist chipped scanned, but not everyone by the same scanner or in the same location. Within a few hours after being scanned the skin above the chip developed a series of enlarged opened pores. Then within a day of these symptoms appearing, a purple fluid substance exited these pores.”
Kern nodded his head and gave the order “Continue.”
“We noticed that except for glass, the fluid drained the matter from material it came into contact with, which left the material in a grey hollow state. We placed the ward under quarantine and collected the purple fluid in glass containers.” The Director explained.
“So what else happened Director? Have the people recovered? Are others in immediate danger? And what of the substance? Do you have a medical solution?” Kern asked.
The Director gave his reply in a weak tone “According to the checks we ran, the fluid which erupted from the pores did not harm the victims themselves. We avoided direct contact with the fluid. So I am afraid we are not aware whether the virus is harmful to other people or contagious. Upon closer examination in our laboratory we found the fluid to be a living organism. It consumes material matter and grows in mass.”
As they arrived at the ward, the Director called a nurse over and asked for protective suits and masks to be supplied for the visitors. Once they were ready, they entered the ward. Kern went to a bed to inspect the wrist of a victim and saw that the pores had swollen; and were a few centimetres in height. Each pore was full of the purple fluid and looked as though they might erupt at any minute. The General, having a repute of not being a man of patience, called one of his escorts over and asked the man to show he wore protective gloves. As the soldier stretched his hand forward, Kern held the man's arm with one hand and with the other pulled off the glove. Before the soldier had a chance to back away, Kern pushed to soldier's finger onto one of the victim's open pores. As the finger tip became covered in purple fluid, both the victim and the soldier let out a scream.
The Hospital Director, demanding an answer asked “Why did you do that? This is mad and barbaric!” as he tried to calm the victim.
Still holding the soldier's arm, Kern shouted out an order “Arrest the Director!” to which the other escorts reacted and placed the Director in hand-cuffs.
Within seconds Kern took control and continued with giving an order to a nurse “You, sedate the patient and confirm once done.”
The nurse, without words attended to the victim, who whimpered because of the inflicted pain. She went over and took a syringe, needle and small bottle of serum from the ward's supply cupboard. Within seconds the nurse fitted the needle to the syringe and transferred serum from the bottle. The victim fell asleep once sedated, and the nurse looked up at the General; nodding her head in confirmation.
The general, and now the other escorts, continued to watch the soldier's finger. The fluid on the finger formed a drop shape, but did not soak into the skin. As if able to navigate itself, the purple fluid made a sudden move towards the sleeve of the soldier's suit. Kern let go of the soldier's arm, just in time before the fluid reached the suit material. Within seconds the fluid has saturated the soldier's clothes. As the liquid virus soaked through the material, the clothes lost their substance and the colour. By now the soldier was paralysed due to pure shock. With the fluid nourished it grew in mass and covered him. The soldier met his death by suffocation, under the transparent shell of clothing mummified by the purple layer.
Kern had another instruction for the nurse “Now I want you to take a scalpel and remove the chip from the patient's wrist. Then place the chip into a container and hand it to my Adjutant for deactivation.”
The nurse questioned Kern “But General, can't this wait? I have just sedated the patient.”
“I said Now!” Kern confirmed in a loud tone.
The nurse then made a small slice through the top layers of skin on the victim's wrist. As the chip was not deep under the skin, the nurse could locate the chip and extract it with a pair of surgical pincers. She placed the chip into a small plastic white medical box and handed it the Adjutant. The Adjutant opened the container and used a hand- scanner to deactivate the chip.
Kern instructed an escort to hand the Director over to the hospital security. He then told his men to board the T.T.V. Once on board, Kern gave another order “Seal the door.”
After the vehicle was in the air, the T.T.V Commander asked “Which destination General?”
Kern said “Yes Commander, take the same route we came in on and park once we are in the tunnel. Radio back to headquarters – I want manned Tee-Tee-Vee's at every tunnel leading to this hospital dome. Tell me once the vehicles are in position.”
Once they had reached the tunnel, the Commander obeyed, landed the T.T.V and blocked the traffic going into the dome. Afterwards, the other T.T.V Commanders had called in via radio and confirmed their arrival at the other dome tunnel exits.
As requested, the Commander notified Kern, who gave the order “Every dome exit is to be sealed and under no circumstances is any citizen to be allowed to leave!”
The T.T.V Commander relayed the General's order over the radio to the other T.T.V Commanders and had each of them acknowledge that they received and understood the message. Each dome exit had a giant steel emergency door, which could stop a fire spreading into or from any tunnel. But after being welded shut was to stay closed forever. Kern arranged for the power supply to the dome to be cut. Everyone involved in this task received a debriefing afterwards, which explained that a deadly virus has spread throughout the dome; with no survivors. That everyone else was safe because of the quick reaction of the W.A.F.
Kern gave further orders for the tunnels leading to the sealed dome, to have traffic signs removed and to be used just for storage. Lift capsule mono-rails were to be cut to separate them from the rest of the network. One order went to the Head of Media to produce a news video, showing the hospital platform being under attack from a virus within the dome. To show scenes of parts of the platform and hospital wards eroded, infected people dying and W.A.F soldiers helping non- infected people board the T.T.V's; and the tunnels being sealed. The video was to be the news broadcast main topic.
As soon as Kern arrived back at the W.A.F headquarters platform, upon being handed the small box containing the chip, he had his Adjutant contact the wrist chip vendor. The supply was top secret and was even above the security level the Adjutant had. The vendor company had a representative office on the W.A.F headquarters platform, which was a sign of how important the business relationship was for the World Administration elite.
Kern, remembering the communication codex both he and the vendor had to adhere to, told the Adjutant “Make sure you speak to the vendor himself. Tell him I invite him to join me at my quarters for dinner at seven this evening. He will understand the short notice.”
The Adjutant, being invert, a coward and nervous by nature; could not express his own thoughts and gave the General the assurance he intended to carry out the order in a prompt manner. Even though he fumed because he could not attend due to his lower security level.
Once the Adjutant had left the General's office, Kern took a small pair of pincers and magnifying glass from his laboratory case; which he otherwise used for analysing insects – a secret hobby he allowed himself. With the pincers he took the chip out from the small plastic box and held the magnifying glass over it. What he saw at the hospital did worry him. The chip had eroded from within and was no longer recognisable as it was when in the original condition upon implantation. It was the erosion which caused the symptoms in the victims, but how the purple fluid, a living organism; came into existence puzzled him – but he had a suspect in mind.