video @frankenstein

[jolting]

[It's weird doing this in his pajamas but here it is. And he'd rather be broadcasting from his office, but he's in his bedroom]

My fever broke early this morning, and now I'm wondering if I ever had a fever at all. When I first contracted this virus I was exhibiting symptoms of disorientation and the sensation of intense heat on my skin, along with profuse sweating. But last night I had a very vivid dream and when I woke up, I didn't feel hot anymore.

The symptoms of conflicting sensory perception still persist. And this morning when I tried to eat breakfast, I couldn't taste anything. I'm not sure if this is a new symptom or part of the sensory perception now affecting my taste buds. I'm going to do some experimenting by wearing my glasses. I've also taken a blood sample that I'm hoping to do some work on.

Let's see... [He pauses to scratch his neck] What else? Oh, for those experiencing conflicting sensory perception, I've discovered that distraction works for me. So I read books out loud or draw things, listen to some music... Heavy metal works really well. [He scratches again, now at his elbow] I've walked around my room a few times without getting disoriented. And... um... [He scratches between his shoulder blades]

Uh, sorry. I'm really itchy all of a sudden. Feels a little like that time I got poison ivy. So that's new.

Comments

[11calls]

So it'd need to be a person who could do both, or two or more people working together?

[Yeah, this doesn't sound terrible or anything.]

Has there been any known deaths? I've just seen comas mentioned on the network.

[jolting]

More or less. The scientist doesn’t even really need to understand how the magic works or the depth of its power in order to use it.

No deaths, but we’ve had a Norse god getting sick, so that shows the power of this thing.

[11calls]

So it's not even being contained to a single species?

[That's... concerning.]

[jolting]

Doesn't look that way. And everyone responds to the virus differently. You could have it for days before you start showing symptoms, or you start showing them immediately.

[11calls]

Jesus that's scary. So there's literally no way to know if you've been infected or not before the symptoms start? Like I could be infected right now?

[jolting]

Yeah, and I can't even really tell you what symptoms to look out for. A lot of people do seem to be exhibiting cold or flu-like symptoms, but it could be different for you.

I think that's part of the magic-science combination. It sort of... follows its own rules.

[11calls]

What sort of rules?

[jolting]

Well, magic can't bring back the dead, which is why they wanted my skills in the first place. But science can't seamlessly reattach severed arms. So it has limits, too.

[11calls]

But magic can kill, right? Or do you think that people aren't dying so far specifically because of it?

[jolting]

Of course magic can kill. I'm not really sure why no one's died from this yet. Tell you what: I'll think on it in the shower and get back to you.

[He won't be getting back to her. Because he'll be in a coma]