[Author's Note: I'm taking a break from /r/WritingPrompts. Instead, I want to expand/combine a couple of the existing posts. This will continue from from where yesterday (Mo and the Bacteria, 2) left off.]
Mo had woken up half an hour before and had immediately checked the status of her antenna. It had been removed as had the other bar in her other ear. She and Erics had had their fun, but that was it for the moment. Her bucket was also new; not the old one cleaned, but a different bucket. She still did not know how that helped her. Now she was concentrating on learning more about the others in the hall with her.
The tall black guy, who remained the closest neighbor to Mo, stirred. He slowly sat up, shook his head, rubbed his eyes and scratched his scalp. Then he looked around. He ran his fingers over the copper mesh, picked the lid up off the bucket and frowned, gazed out at the rest of the hall. Mo recognized many of the same thoughts and reactions that she had had. "Over here!" She started waving.
The man looked her way. "Hello? Where am I?" He did not speak loudly and Mo had trouble hearing him.
"Wait," she said, not yelling but using her outdoor voice. "This place has bad echos. If you want to talk, I need you to raise your hand. I will acknowledge by raising both hands and will point to you when I'm done. If we don't do this, then we will waste time talking over each other." Mo pointed at him.
He nodded. "Makes sense. Do you know where we are?" He pointed at Mo.
"Thanks for understanding the protocol," Mo sat on her table facing him. "We are in Hall A of the Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver. My name is Mo and I've spent two nights in this place already. What is your name?" She pointed at him again.
"Darren. Why am I here?" Darren pointed back.
"Someone will probably tell you in a while, but I don't see a reason to make you wait. The people who have abducted us believe that we have been infected with a bacteria that can install a virus on our systems." Point to Darren
"That's crazy. There is no way that's possible." Point to Mo.
"It is and it is. I can personally confirm that I have both infections." Point to Darren.
"How did you do that?" Point to Mo.
"The virus started talking to me. Received any weird messages lately?" Point to Darren.
"Only the one asking for my help. The one that landed me here. Also, can we stop with the pointing until the others wake up?"
"Sure, I guess." Mo was disappointed. The pointing had seemed like such a good idea. She was planning on introducing some trick points later. Around the back, two hands, that kind of thing.
"Thank you." Darren lowered his hands to his side and started pacing his cage. "And so, we're what? Quarantined?"
"Yup."
"Why don't they just dose us with antibiotics, let us reboot our systems and be done with it?"
"I asked that, too. Apparently, this bacteria will kill us if we try and kill it. As for the virus, if the bacteria is still in us, it will reinfect our systems as soon as we've finished the wipe. Face it: we're here until they figure this out."
"Who is 'they'?"
"Another good question. 'They' don't seem to have a name. Currently, I'm working with Command Responsible for Eradication of Electrical Paramecium. I don't think they'll go for it though. What I've been told is that they are all from different government agencies: the CDC, FBI, NSA and the military. A real stew. Stew. I'll have to work on an acronym for that. Strategic something."
"You don't seem to be taking this very seriously."
"I suppose. Maybe it's that I've had more time to get used to it, but there doesn't seem to be anything that I can do to get out, so making fun of it makes me feel that I have just that much control over the situation. Strategic Team for Electro-biologic Warfare. STEW." She smiled. "Still pretty weak. 'Biologic' should have its own letter, but STEBW isn't even pronounceable."
"And there's no way to communicate with the outside world?"
"Nope. Not unless you can get an antenna through that mesh. I did for a while, but then they took my ear bars. Now I've got nothing. And you? Did they take your antennas?"
Darren stopped pacing and thought for a second. Then he turned his back on Mo and did something with his hands that she could not see. "No. I've still got mine. I'm not sure that they could have taken it out anyway."
"Can you? Will it fit through the copper screening?"
Darren turned back around to face Mo. "No, I really can't take it out and, where it's at, it isn't fitting through those small holes." Darren pointed at his crotch. Mo thought he blushed, but was too far away with too much copper between then to tell for sure.
Mo raised her eyebrows which made the wings of her Celtic butterfly look like they were about to flap. "Well, now. That's an interesting life choice." She thought for a second. "Eh. Who am I to judge? It's not like the facial circuitry are my only tattoos."
"It seemed like a good idea during my gap year," Darren said. "Now it's part of my system and the reception is pretty good."
Mo raised her hand to hold off Darren's next remark. Not only was she unsure that she wanted to hear whatever other excuses he had to offer, but some of the other inmates were starting to stir. Also, men in black military outfits were entering the hall with brown lunch sacks. "Looks like breakfast time," Mo said.
As her own personal sack was being pushed through the chain gap of her door, the PA system for the convention hall crackled and came to life.
"Attention. Attention," a male voice said. "Please remain calm. Those of you that are new to our facility, an orientation officer will be by shortly to brief you on your situation. In the mean time, please enjoy your meal. We ask that you please keep conversation to a minimum. Thank you for your cooperation."
Immediately, the other inmates, including Darren, started yelling at the black suits, asking questions and generally making it known that they were not going to tolerate this kind of treatment.
"That worked well," Mo said to herself.
"Agreed," said Erics in her inner ear. The virus's voice modulation had seen a marked upgrade and sounded much more natural. "I may have a solution, but I need to know the make and model of your sub-voc pickup module."
