Infected

Uneasy

Mark wanders into the kitchen to grab some drinks. You and the others are in the basement warming up for the video. Sean walks in behind him.

"Nervous?" Sean asks.

Mark looks at him, then answers, "No, I film all the time. I only get nervous performing live."

Sean laughs a little, and rolls his eyes. "That's not what I meant," he says. "That virus thing is making you uneasy isn't it?"

"If I said it was, would that be stupid?" Mark asks.

Sean shakes his head. "No. The thing that worries me is that I don't know where Anti is."

Mark turns around and leans against the counter. He urges his friend to continue. "Anti showed up once last month," Sean says. "And that was in October. His month."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Mark sighs. "I haven't seen Dark...in a while."

Sean looks at him quickly. Mark won't make eye contact. Sean opens his mouth to speak again, but stops when you enter the room.

"Hey, can I steal some water?" You ask.

"Yeah, sure." Mark tosses you a water bottle.

As you drink it, you realize that Mark is looking uncomfortably at Sean. Sean, on the other hand, looks like he's trying to decide what to say. You can feel the tension in the air, as you all stand in a rather awkward silence. After a minute, Sean turns to you.

"How're you feeling lately?" He asks.

You shrug. "I'm fine, I think."

"Nothing from Void?" Mark questions. He seems happy to be talking about something else.

"No, nothing." You shake your head. "But, then, Void wasn't technically a virus, remember?"

"Yeah, we talked about this already," Sean says.

"I know, it's just--" you shift between feet. "I don't know. They've left us alone for a year and a half. Void died. How could any of them just pop up again?"

There is a thoughtful silence. Then Mark speaks, "There is a chance that the virus isn't Dark, or Anti, or any of them."

"Do you really think that's possible though?" You ask.

"I really hope that's what it is," Sean says. "But I don't know that it's going to happen. I'm worried that maybe they've been laying low on purpose."

"That's a possibility." You turn to the doorway and see Matt. "They might be staying away and infecting other computers as a way to gain power. Or they might be trying to mess with you guys by showing up once, then leaving before you get the chance to investigate."

"Good point," You say. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Maybe a minute," Matt smirks. "Do you have any Diet Coke?"

As Mark turns to the fridge, you continue the conversation, now including Matt.

"Any other theories about this worldwide virus?" You ask.

Matt laughs a little, but his smile fades quickly. "Actually, I have a bit of an issue." Mark hands him his Coke. The three of you watch him carefully as you wait for him to keep going.

"Right before I left the house, my computer stopped working."

Your eyes widen. A familiar, nervous feeling settles in your stomach.

"What?" Sean asks.

"Stopped working--how?" Mark questions in a very concerned voice.

Matt shrugs as he sipped his drink. "It just--died." He says. "I don't know, it seemed like it was working fine, then all the sudden the screen went blue-" you all shudder "-and then it just shut down. I couldn't get it to start up again. But there was also a high-pitched ringing noise for about five minutes after it stopped."

You exchange glances with the other guys. "Um.." you start.

"Matt..." Mark says, unsure.

"What?" Matt asks slowly. He seems concerned about why you guys were staring at him.

Sean finishes what you and Mark were trying to say. "You've been infected."