Patients with cardiac problems filled the beds in the Hospital Dome 97. The direct result of living in a secluded world, with the fast-food industry giants gaining financial strength to prepare for the World Administration takeover. The daily media supplied pictures of appetising and succulent meals. And everyone had enough complimentary vouchers stored on the Entertainment & Shopping cards to continue loyal unhealthy eating whenever desired. At the Administration Centre Trudy 105781261, qualified as a nurse and after training got assigned to Hospital Dome 97.
During pre-training registration surnames could no longer be used and staff claimed it optimal for personnel records if everyone just used the identification number. But it was allowed to use forenames for oral communication. Trudy, otherwise known as 'True' to her brothers, obsessed with her profession; often stayed on after her own shift to help colleagues during busy periods. She always looked forward to the visits Thorn made during her free time at home. That Thorn watched over his sister she was aware as he always used the excuse he had work on, which took him towards her accommodation.
She wished that it was possible to spend time with her brother Leo too. But since his demotion from the rank of double chevron Administration Force soldier and citizenship ban she had not seen him.
True found it strange that during the last year, the amount of people entering hospital for allergies around the skin above the implanted wrist chips, did not reduce. And many returned several times due to the severe pain the open wounds inflicted. As the law forbid the removal of wrist chips, True and her colleagues tried to treat patients infected with the virus as best as possible with medication. For hygienic reasons, two wards served as quarantine and hospital staff wore protective clothing when in those areas. And because of the infectious threat this virus posed, the official visit from the W.A.F Commander had to be changed to the defence domes.
A part of the registration procedure in the Administration Centres was the compulsory implantation of wrist chips. The staff explained that the benefits of the implanted chips provided identification, monitoring and healing of most medical conditions. And that for personal protection it ensured that people without a chip implant could not enter the dome network without an alarm being sounded. The implantation procedure took ten minutes to complete after a dose of anaesthetic. And involved placing a flimsy film of circuit under the skin next to the middle veins and a few centimetres from the thumb joint. The other benefits did not apply to the individual, such as tracking and infliction of pain if the person strayed over ten metres away from an outside dome panel. Adjustments had to be made for those whose trade required working near the dome panels.
The symptoms of the virus had first shown when the victims had to have the chips scanned, for example when travelling to a holiday resort dome. Victims described that when the chip got scanned, it felt as if a small rake gauged through the skin. Within hours of being scanned, small craters appeared around the chip part of the wrists, which turned to a light pink colour. Within a day a purple fowl smelling fluid oozed from these enlarged open pores. Upon examination under various microscopes doctors found that the fluid was a live organism, that ate most materials. Even more strange was that the virus did not cause decay of the host's body, as if a survival instinct existed for the 'host' to be protected. For reasons unknown the fluid did not erode or penetrate glass items, which made it possible to store the fluid in test tubes.