Lockdown On Planet Sem

Sem Lockdown, Day 17

Kain wasn't feeling the same as usual, his head spun and he felt a bit weak.

He hadn't slept very well at all the night before, experiencing vivid dream after vivid dream. They were all snapshots of Pasqual festivities gone by, exactly as he remembered except from two small details: he was invisible and his mum kept complaining that he was too busy being a soldier to care about being there with them.

In one dream, he'd been at a family Pasqual dinner from when he was aged eight. He remembered it vividly, his mum had cooked a delicious traditional dinner full of vegetables his aunt had donated from her garden and everyone had been really pleased with how it turned out. They nearly hadn't had a food fight that year, it was that delicious. However, when the rest of his family had tucked into their meals, he'd attempted to pick up his spork (a common utensil on Sem and just a modified version of the ones used on Earth - the bowls of the spoons were deeper and the prongs of the forks were slightly longer) and his hand had just gone straight through it. Then, instead of his mum saying "Thank you for being here today, everyone, it's a pleasure to share this meal with you all", she also added, "It's a shame Kain is too pre-occupied with his 'important duties' to join us".

When Kain had woken up, he had been a bit dazed by it all. He understood exactly why he hadn't been able to join his family for Pasqual this year and he wasn't guilty that he hadn't either. He wasn't supposed to have been there and he was feeling a great sense of purpose working on the daily broadcasts with his team, so why had his subconscious been torturing him? It was ridiculous. Of course he missed home, but that didn't mean he should be guilty or stop his work.

His muscles were a bit sore and he didn't quite feel right, but he chose to have a drink of water and go for an early morning run before breakfast, believing that would help him get back on track. Running in the snowstorm outside wasn't ideal though, his lungs hurt from gulping in the cold air. When he got back, the breakfast Miles had made had gone cold and heaps of news notifications from the military's officers had popped up on his screen, so he grabbed a space food snack bag from the kitchen cupboard, focussed on his script and slammed his remaining energy into it.

He'd been a bit quieter and slightly pale looking during the call that day, but he told his team he was fine. None of what he was experiencing was a symptom of crāpulavirus, he was just a bit out of sorts.

It was probably nothing, right?

******

"Good evening, fellow citizens. I hope you are all doing well.

We have a lot to get through tonight, so I'll pass you straight onto Kain," Tristan says, but Kain doesn't take over. "Kain?"

He tries again a few times, but to no avail. He and Akira look at each other in alarm and she gets up to check on him.

"I apologise, it seems that something has gone wrong. I suppose we'll just have to go to Miles instead, what are the current medical updates?"

******

"Oh, right, okay. Thanks, Tristan, and hello to you all. Hopefully everything with Kain is okay.

There's not too much for me to report this evening, as our analysts are still looking over the data. They haven't released any information yet, but they say that they should have an idea of what the global spread looks like very shortly. I know some of you were really hoping for news on the data collected from the home test kits today, but it will come soon and the number of new cases per day continues to drop.

Keep it up, everyone. You're doing great and we'll be on the other side of this soon.

Should I go back to you now, Captain?"

******

"Yes, thank you Miles.

Akira is helping Kain, she says he's had a bit of a mishap but he should hopefully be well and back online tomorrow evening. In the meantime, I'm covering both Kain and Akira's segments for them.

Right, so, instead of the sheer level of news Kain had in store for you this evening, let me just summarise it for you:

Firstly, due to the current snowstorm affecting Secat and Simul Santu, the roads between the two countries have been shut and a warning has been put up against all travel in areas affected by snow. Please be especially careful when going outside and try to do your daily exercise indoors if you can over the next few days.

In addition to this, Secat's farmers have said that people should expect a delay in new food stocks over the next few days due to the current snowstorm's effects on an already tight situation. Some farms are fortunate enough to have indoor plantations but others are just working to protect their crops as best they can at the moment. Some fishers and small farms in Piscanturia say they will work extra hours in the hope that they can be of service, while shops ask customers to shop responsibly and only take as much as they need to allow sufficient supplies for everyone. We are confident enough that stocks will be back to normal shortly so there is no need to worry.

Lastly, Sergeant Stewart has released a public apology for her mistake the other day. Kain and I are in agreement here that she shouldn't have compelled to do so, everybody does silly things sometimes. We hope she gets better soon.

The weather will be horrendous in the North Pole, Secat and the North of Simul Santu tomorrow with improvements in temperature yet to be seen. The rest of Simul Santu will also experience the poor temperatures of the North but the weather will be dry. Piscanturia will be warm and dry as it has been. Good weather for the farmers and fishers, all the best to you and thanks for stepping up. The precipitation in the West Pole was hail as predicted and will continue tomorrow, but the South Pole will remain cold and dry.

Apologies for the slight difference in today's broadcast, but we should hopefully be back to normal tomorrow. Thank you for your attention and for sticking with us this evening. To play us out tonight, here's a song from Akira.

Goodnight, fellow citizens."