Kinetic COVID Cloud

ATMOSPHERIC ALERT BULLETIN

KINETIC COVID CLOUD™

Listening for the Next Signal

It is Monday and everyone was back. Which is to say, the Boomers who have camped out in the 6th Floor transient suite were down for fresh warm bagels, fruit cups and sausage rolls in the conference room. Dierdre had some mystery going in the Galley that she claimed would turn Saint Patrick’s Day lunch into something green and delicious.
We have several members of the Building support staff who have become integrated into the fabric of the kids who arc through Creative Section in our arrangement with the George Mason University Communications Department. They were curious about the little yellow box that sat next to Miles at his chair at the north end of the table. They looked at it as an artifact from an ancient time, which was just one of the truths flinging about in wartime.

“It’s a CONELRAD radio,” said Miles with a mug of Flat Yank coffee halfway to his lips. “Control of Electromagnetic Radiation was the full term, and the technology was intended to allow communications while denying inbound Soviet bombers the ability to zero in on the transmitters.”

Our Zoomers get a nod for extra credit by sitting through a few Production Meetings to open up their already tech-savvy ways. And sharing their concerns to see if they can get any of the old folks to wake up and get interested.

Which was the topic this morning.

The Booms, Zooms and Tweens all have specific concerns with whatever the hell is going on. There is some definite combat abroad in the land. Or lands, in this case. The veterans have now had experience in at least three wars. And sometimes some other troubles on islands in the stream down south.

Their stories occasionally hold attention for the two other groups that marvel they are still pottering around. The biggest conflict in their lives was the Covid pandemic, which may have been a change in society akin to what happened in Europe in the times of the Black Death.

We did it a lot cleaner, of course, and some still view it as a particularly bad cold season.

But there was more.

Vic claims the vaccine we were ordered to take to board airplanes or stay employed or continue to serve in the military had consequences. His claim is that the circulatory failure that nearly cost him his legs might have been a little unready for mass dosages. According to his belief, tens of millions of people were put at risk for a cure to a debilitating cold.

Miles was concerned and had asked HR to see if anyone was available to talk about how we should prepare for a landscape that seems peaceful here at home and yet could suddenly be transformed into something startling and violent.

The shooting down at Old Dominion was an item of interest, since the Salts had a moment of agitation with the reports that a student in the ROTC class had risen against the gunman and bludgeoned him to death with his bare hands.

“It’s like standing six feet apart and wearing masks,” said Amy, the Building Nurse who had been dragooned into attendance.
“Except now the distance isn’t about germs. It’s about people.”

“Our guidelines are a little unclear on how to handle the psychological implications of a once-powerful nation that has been militarily disarmed and now is relying on acts of mostly individual terrorism to do messaging that they are still a nation-threat.”

Splash laughed and reached for a sausage roll.

“We are warning some people to stay inside and other people to go to big gatherings. Some places folks in their living rooms can dial up someone on their smart phones and call in air-strikes on other people down the street. It is a landscape littered with cluster bombs.”

“Yeah,” said Rocket.
“Sounds like a Kinetic Covid Cloud.”

There were a couple frowns and some slightly offset laughter.

Miles reached for the ancient headset and held it somewhere near his face, saying:

“Mr. Watson – come here – I want to see you.”

The kids just looked on, mouths agape.