St. Jordi
Marcus wakes up tired and with a dry mouth. He gets dressed and prepares his breakfast carefully. It has been an awful night. He woke up three or four times because of disturbing dreams which he cannot now recall. It's always like that the night before he has to go to the City.
Since the Federation Government tightened its isolation measures more than seventy-five years ago, visits to the metropolises from the "bidang" have become scarce. Nowadays, interactions with other people are minimal, and a trip to the City, even a short one, involves many more than usual with all the risks involved.
At the end of the last century, the work of Madison & Young showed that absolute loneliness is the only effective measure against the spread of the Syndrome. Since then, no one abandons their "gelembung" except due to force majeure such as a serious accident, an unsolvable connection problem or a "kematian". This time, however, Marcus must comply with the obligatory protocols that the Government imposes on individuals of fertile age. He has just turned thirty-six.
DNA extraction for reproduction is quick and painless. However, everything involved in the operation in the City worries Marcus. Luckily, sex was eradicated a couple of decades ago and, with it, other previous and even later complications that the ancients called "love".
With a light finger pressure on the sleeve of his Kevlar jacket, Marcus brings up the bright numbers that indicate the time: 8:06. The driverless transport from the Department of Health and Reproduction is a few minutes late. Nervously, he adjusts the respiratory mask covering his entire face.
Below the hour, the date –11 February 2170– flashes in a bright electric blue which indicates an important ephemeris: today, exactly 150 years, ago the original Syndrome was diagnosed for the first time. The successive mutations of it eliminated 85% of the world's population in just a few years and led to the current situation of individual isolation.
There is still no consensus among historians as to whether the origin of the Syndrome was natural or man-made, and only one name from the oldest archives has been clearly found: "COVID19".