The morning of the fourth day has come.
Infected in the past 24 hours: 51
Dead in the past 24 hours: 59
Missing in the past 24 hours: 29
Number of dead: 236
Number of infected: 50
The anxiety of the Powers is growing. Less than nine days remain.
VERSUS
Bachelor: Is it all right that I set up a whole laboratory up there? I understand if it would irritate you.
Eve: That's nothing. I don't really care. All the same, if I were you I would not stay here for long...
Bachelor: What do you mean?
Eve: Do you know why our Cathedral is empty?
Bachelor: Why?
Eve: Actually, it's not a Cathedral at all. It should have become one, but for some reason it did not. Sometimes it makes me sad.
Bachelor: You are sad because of a building?
Eve: I would rather live in a place where the mystery is created every day...
Bachelor: You should get yourself out of your depression. You better get enough sleep.
"Seems like a letter from the capital arrived while I was sleeping. How do they get them here anyway? I haven't seen any telegraphy poles leading up to the town. But with such a reliance on the railway maybe they are working it out in some other way. Or is there someone in this town who is acting as an agent of the capital?"
Letter from the Authorities, day three posted:
Since you are playing the role of our warrior, and at the same time our scientist since we need to comprehend this enemy to defeat it, we will here state the conditions required for your victory.
This disease is nothing more than an annoying accident. We hope you see that as obvious. We are counting on you to take that fact into account in all your research. Since there has been no outside influence on the town we can rule out any malicious intent in it's outbreak, and victory will turn out to be comparatively easy.
Do not let the victims pile up. Do not feel restricted to traditional solutions. You may have to rely on some risky means to defeat it, but we are confident in your success.
"I decided to start the day by visiting Young Vlad. He should be able to tell me how successful our quarantine has proven so far."
[houses.]
VERSUS
Bachelor: Yes. How is the distribution of medicines going? Why are there so few medical products available in town?
Young Vlad: The medicines we have stocked appears to be outdated. Many of them may be old and now unhealthy to use. Today we shall check all the stocks. The types of medicines that proves effective will be put to use immediately.
Bachelor: How will you test that?
Young Vlad: I have found some condemned men... They are already deep in despair and will try out the medicine to see which ones are working. I have charged some of the well known women, Julia Lurichev, Anna Angel and Lara Ravel, to track the experiments. By the evening they will have some results for us.
Bachelor: Condemned men? Who would they be?
Young Vlad: Volunteers. You understand, this matter is urgent. To test the immunity medicines, it is required that you put yourself at risk of infection. Testing antibiotics certainly requires someone who is already infected. The volunteers will get exposed to the disease either way, and consider themselves condemned men because they know there is no remedy for the Sand Plague.
Bachelor: Are you mad?
Young Vlad: Not at all! They know what they are doing. It may seem awful but they asked for it. They also required that we compensate their families with money. For the poor workers this is a way to make sure their families survive.
Bachelor: And why don't you want to supervise this experiment?
Young Vlad: The three women I mentioned offered me the help. I have decided that this work isn't as dangerous as most others. It's not like they intend to test the medicines themselves!
Bachelor: And if they actually want to? I think some of them are desperate enough to do just that.
Young Vlad: Hmm, it is probably not too late to dissuade them. But Bachelor, if they would go so far as to test the medicines themselves, at least we can be totally sure we have a successful experiment.
Bachelor: Why would you say something like that?
Young Vlad: I cannot trust the volunteers totally. I have reports that they have been talking among themselves and may be playing a double game. If they end up missing it's likely that they'd just fled with the pills.
Bachelor: Then why was something that important given to them?
Young Vlad: You shouldn't worry. Rely on the women and on my preparations. If something goes wrong we'll just lose a few hours until we can get more medicines from the store.
Bachelor: Each hour is precious.
New Task: Testing medicines posted:
Young Vlad is examining the town's stock of medicines. He has charged some of the women with performing tests of the medicines to see which ones are still effective. However, they may have their own ideas of how to do this. Hasn't he thought of the chance that one of the girls will test them on herself? I better visit Julia, Anna and Lara.
Vlad Olgimskiy's report about sanitary measures posted:
Doctor, today we will appoint the location of the isolation ward, the emergency hospital and the morgue. I invite you to my home to discuss the details.
[houses]
Big Vlad: Greetings, my most excellent doctor. Our work is almost completed. Aren't you happy?
Bachelor: It depends on what you have accomplished.
Big Vlad: We have coped, but with great difficulty. We had to solve an important problem. We have assigned a warehouse that is the most convenient site for a morgue. We have transformed Ravelle's house into an isolation ward.
Bachelor: What? Lara Ravelle was going to turn her house into a refuge, and it still only holds a few tens of people.
Big Vlad: She has accepted this rather... extreme measure. See, the disease spreads fast. Many people search for a refuge.
Bachelor: She is agreeing with it?
Big Vlad: We have managed to convince her. Each person in this town has something that you can touch upon to make them... compliant.
Bachelor: So you are saying that you are intimidating her into it?
Big Vlad: If someone else would have said that, such impudence would cost you your life. My people all over the town and even some members of this household have been falling ill and are now dying.
Bachelor: You should use the public buildings instead.
Big Vlad: We have very limited choices, Bachelor. If you do not accept our arrangements, please do a better job yourself. I do not wish to listen to these reprimands instead of merited gratitude.
Bachelor: Fine. What about the hospital? Any objections from the people living in the house it will be located in?
Big Vlad: No, certainly not. We wouldn't go so far as to evict anyone from their homes, even in this extreme situation. Do not worry, doctor. There's no one living there anymore.
Bachelor: You almost make it sound like the hospital will be in one of the infected houses?
Big Vlad: Hmm... It is. But, believe me or not, there's not a single trace of the illness remaining in those houses. We've found this out indirectly, from the marauders. They are looting the place, without using any antibiotics or other medicine. Victor Kain wishes to talk to you about it.
Bachelor: He wants to talk about marauders? It's the task of Saburov to exterminate them. It seems he has mobilized most capable men in town for that purpose.
Big Vlad: While the guards would be very useful in sanitary works... I understand your reaction. No, he wanted to talk to you about the locked down districts. Victor had some noble plans about them, and he wishes to consult with you.
Bachelor: I shall talk with him. Don't go ahead and set up the hospital before I can examine the planned location of it. I need to make sure that it's safe.
Day Quest: Sanitary measures posted:
The first measure of the day is the defense against the plague. I need to examine the arrangements made by Olgimskiy. He's had enough time to gather the equipment needed. I shall begin with the planned isolation ward for those who are already infected. Vlad hasn't managed anything better than to use the house of Lara Ravelle for this purpose.
"I left for Lara Ravelle's home immediately. On the way I could clearly see the newly infected houses. It's definitely not safe for her to live so close, and I can't imagine why you'd want to put an isolation ward here!"
[courier!]
On my walk I was stopped by a messenger, who had a letter from the Kains.
Victor Kain's invitation posted:
I was told that this day will be devoted to the preparation of the town, in response to the impeding catastrophe. Though solving this is the responsibility of the Olgimskiy family, we wish to make a contribution too. I expect you aren't exactly happy with Vlad's activities. If you can find the time to discuss an idea with me, please visit me.
Victor Kain.
Seems like the three ruling families are still not trusting each other more one bit more than they did before the outbreak. Still, Victor may have some useful information for me so I will try to visit him later.
[houses]
Lara Ravelle: It's good that nothing bad happened to you yesterday...
Bachelor: Tell me, were you going to test the antibiotics yourself?
Lara: No, I was not.
Bachelor: Young Vlad says he charged you with checking some doubtful medicines.
Lara: I would have used the antibiotics myself, but they were not given to me. I have to test the painkillers. Young Vlad said that was my part. If I was to run the House of the Alive, I would have to use it often. To relieve the pain of the infected, and help them sleep.
Bachelor: How are you going to test the painkillers?
Lara: I know how they are supposed to work. I just have to find a person who is likely to be injured during their duties. I wanted to distribute them to the patrolmen, but I can give them to you... If you will test all the kinds for me, we can find out if they are still effective. Then Olgimskiy can start distributing them.
Bachelor: I will do it.
Lara: Do you know what I beg of you? You need to stop Julia and support Anna! Julia has her own motives but I am afraid she is already in despair. And poor Anna... She is too afraid to leave her house or even let visitors in. I am sure she won't give the medicines to the volunteers either.
Bachelor: What has happened to Anna?
Lara: She thinks that Olgimskiy has plotted all this to kill her. And she isn't too far from the truth.
Bachelor: What do you mean?
Lara: I don't think it's Big Vlad, but she's been threatened by someone in the Olgimskiy family. No doubt one of them will be the death of Anna.
Bachelor: All right. Let me take the painkillers from you. Oh, and there's another thing I want to talk to you about. Is it true that you're going to turn your house in an isolation ward? Do you understand what that means?
Lara: I had no other choice.
Bachelor: Why would you think that? Every bum in town will come here and stay here both day and night, bringing infections inside!
Lara: They won't have to stay for even a day and a night. If you are infected it will not take long until you can see the symptoms, so it's unlikely it will find it's way inside. And they say it kills quickly, as if you were set on fire.
Bachelor: It's not really that bad.
Lara: Well, all this is bad but it is necessary... Anyway, I'll cope. Not too many people will come here, and I know most of the people in this neighborhood. Our only problem is that we don't have any water! It will be necessary to organize regular deliveries from somewhere else. Young Vlad could arrange it, he knows all about the local water supply system.
Bachelor: Wait, you don't have running water here? How could that happen?
Lara: The water doesn't flow anymore. We are not exactly sure. The pipes are all empty. First it turned rust-colored and had dense lumps in it, then it just stopped.
Bachelor: And who can fix it?
Lara: Talk to Young Vlad and he will help arrange that. He's been interested for many years in the pipes and wells around this town. It's his personal interest. He chases water with such eagerness that you'd think it was liquid gold.
Bachelor: All right, I'll talk to him.
"Day Quest Update posted:
Lara said the water pipes stopped working this night. Young Vlad probably knows what actually happened. He has some knowledge about the water supply of the town.
"Lara gave me three different types of painkillers. I've already tried out the weakest version, and I can testify about it's effectiveness myself after several wounds from the robber's knives. The other bottles contain newer and more potent painkillers which I have seen used in the capital. They most likely work well too, as long as they have been stored properly."
Summary: Day four, and the infection is still spreading, although the slow rate at which it infects new houses and it's short life span means we can still hold it back from spreading over the whole town.
We will spend the day preparing some buildings for the treatment and quarantine of the infected. One will be the morgue, which is already arranged to be located in the warehouse district. One will be the isolation ward, which was assigned to the house of Lara Ravel for some reason. The last is the hospital, and we will need to talk to Victor Kain about it's location. Seems like Olgimskiy planned for it to be placed in a house previously infected by the plague. He claims it is now totally clean!
Sadly, we have already hit a snag and Lara's house doesn't have access to water anymore. Seems like something has gone wrong with the water pipes in town. We'll have to talk to Young Vlad again about that.
Young Vlad also wanted us to talk to Lara, Julia and Anna about a test they were assigned. Lots of the medical supplies are old and Vlad wanted to know which ones were still safe to use. But considering the desperation of those women, it's a bad idea. I will take it upon myself to prevent them from doing anything bad, and see to the proper testing of the medicine myself. We already have the cooperation of Lara on this.
All in all it looks like this day will have a LOT of running before we're done.
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