Read Netcast: Zero for Free Online

announced. “Synch tones in three……two……one……”
    Three tones sounded, with the last one lasting longer than the other two.
    Hanna waited several seconds, her eyes fixed on the small orb floating just behind and left of Doctor Benarro’s head. “I’m Hanna Bohl, and I’m in the office of Doctor Gabriel Benarro, a leading epidemiologist, former chairman of the Global Disease Control Organization, and current head of the Boston Center for the study of communicable diseases. The good doctor has agreed to tell us something about the Klaria virus that has been appearing in various places around the world over the last year.” Hanna shifted her eyes from the camera to the doctor. “Doctor Benarro, thank you for taking the time to speak with us today.”
    “It my pleasure, Miss Bohl,” Doctor Benarro replied.
    “For those who might not have heard much about Klaria, please, give us a bit of background on the virus?”
    “Of course,” the doctor began. “The virus first appeared more than thirteen months ago, in the village of Klaria. Since then, there have been at least three hundred outbreaks at varying locations around the world, resulting in more than twelve thousand deaths. In addition, there are at least fifty additional outbreaks, and eleven hundred deaths, in which the diagnosis of Klaria was unconfirmed.”
    A list of questions, all provided by the client, appeared in Hanna’s personal visual space, fed to her by Arielle.
    “What is it about the Klaria virus that is most troubling?” Hanna asked, selecting the first question in the order suggested.
    “The biggest problems with the Klaria virus are its mortality rate, and the fact that we have been unable to understand how it is transmitted.”
    “How high is the mortality rate?”
    “About ninety percent, thus far, although that number could increase if the survivors of the unconfirmed cases are proven to not be the Klaria virus.”
    “Originally, Klaria was thought to be blood borne, was it not?”
    “Originally, yes. This was based on the fact that during the original outbreak, several people who were accidentally exposed to the blood of patients infected with the Klaria virus also became infected. However, later outbreaks disproved this assumption, as cases that had not been exposed to the blood of infected patients themselves still became infected. In that case, it was determined that the most likely cause was the droplets of moisture spread into the air when we cough. In other words, Klaria was then thought to be airborne.”
    Hanna nodded. “I see, but that too turned out to be inaccurate?”
    “Yes, it did,” Doctor Benarro confirmed. “To date, we have had solid evidence that the Klaria virus was transmitted by air, bodily fluids, and even by mosquitoes at one point. However, the transmission method is rarely the same. If fact, in a few of the outbreaks, they were unable to discover the mode of transmission. This led us to believe that Klaria was capable of surprisingly rapid mutation, more rapid than any pathogen ever encountered, even more so than the Trans-Hatari virus back in the twenty-second century.”
    “Correct me if I’m wrong, Doctor Benarro, but if the virus is mutating, then the differences would be obvious, wouldn’t they?”
    “Correct. Normally, when a virus mutates, it leaves a sort of trail, a series of indicators that help us determine how the virus is likely to mutate in the future. Unfortunately, the Klaria virus mutations appear to occur randomly, sometimes even mutating back to one of its previous states.”
    “Really?” Hanna seemed genuinely surprised.
    Doctor Benarro pressed a button on the remote on his desk, causing the wallpaper pattern on the viewer behind him to fade away to black. “These images of the virus clearly demonstrate the mutation patterns…” Doctor Benarro stopped mid sentence as he glanced over his shoulder and noticed that the images had not appeared on the viewer. He pressed