Sem Lockdown, Day 20

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Miles breathed heavily, doing sit-ups on the floor of his room as part of his exercise routine.

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He kept going until he reached 30 before finishing up and going for a cold shower. His daily exercise felt like it had taken longer than usual. His spirit waned and his strength felt like it was wearing thin, but the feeling of the water on his back refreshed and rejuvenated him. He stepped out feeling very alive.

Learning from the events that took place during the Sterculian invasion when he completely wore himself out, he got dressed, slung his towel round his shoulders and went to take a snack from the kitchen. He bumped into Akira on the way and gave her a smile.

"How's it going?"

"I'm fine, thanks," she replied, "Looks like you've been productive as always."

"Yeah, just grabbing something to eat before I get back to work."

"Ah, good good. I'm glad you're not working on an empty stomach anymore."

He laughed, "Certainly wasn't one of my better decisions."

When he got back to his room, he immediately noticed a giant notification on his screen. Pausing to read it, he saw that Kain had forwarded him the deciphered message from the leader of Angst! Liberty! Freedom! *and booze!

"Well, that's the most infantile message I have ever read in my life," he thought aloud.

There was also a complaint from a senior military official which he shook his head at it and passed on for Tristan to cover before turning to his script.

******

"Good evening, fellow citizens. I hope that everything is well with you all.

Listen, I know people are getting a bit restless now we have the news that some parts of the world could be released sooner than the end of the month, but we need to keep going with the current regulations for now. We can't run the risk of returning everything to mormal just to have everyone off work at the same time. That means, no late night parties or music of any kind unless told otherwise. Sorry, I do hate to be harsh, but please, just comply with the current measures for now. That way we can all get back to our lives sooner rather than later. Thank you, and thank you to everyone who has been following the rules.

Here's Kain with today's news updates."

******

"Thank you, Captain, and good evening to you all.

In farming news, farmers in Secat say they have been communicating with farmers and fishers in Piscanturia and various military officials with regard to food supply in the coming days to ensure that there is enough food for everybody. Secat's farmers reckon they will be safe to return to the schedules in place during the earlier part of the lockdown, but that it could be a good idea to have a back-up strategy just in case all doesn't go as thought. A decision is to be made tomorrow.

The young team started work on the Sterculian cheese today. They have decided to start by feeding it to some small rodents and say the results will be available as of tomorrow. They sound very joyful about their efforts.

Lastly, the message from our neighbours at Angst! Liberty! Freedom! *and booze! has been translated and basically says that they are sorry for spreading this slightly more severe strain of the virus to us and that they are mostly cleared of it now, which should give us a bit of hope."

He looks down at the real message which says the following:

we're sorry we spread the virus to you :( … but we're all better now and you're still puking! nah nah nee nah nah! XD

Apparently the original copy hadn't even been spelt correctly.

"Anyway, that's all from me this evening. Here's Miles with the latest medical updates."

******

"Thanks, Kain. A truly useful message from our neighbours' leader there.

There isn't much for me to say this evening, but I unfortunately feel I need to follow up on what Tristan said earlier.

Now, the message I received today was about an increase in late night parties yesterday and the possible link to the recent news about the possibility of early release for some people. While Tristan decided to take this really seriously, in the desire that we wouldn't need to put up a warning again, I wanted to give you a reminder of why I was allowed to share that titbit of news with you in the first place: hope.

Hope has been such an important concept through all this. We've had to spend a festive period apart  from all our loved ones apart. Remembering that we'd be able to see everyone we care about again soon enough was what kept us going. No one right now wants to think about these measures lasting any longer than they need to, and that includes people higher up in Sem's military than us here in Alpha Radio Station 1.

These updates that I give you are all intended to be clear, concise and taken as medical advice. When I told you all that news, it was accompanied with the advice that you should still remain vigilant. One of the key factors in the negotiations is an ongoing or steady decline in the number of cases recorded. The only way that we can ensure this happens is if we all continue to follow through. 

That said, today's hopeful message for you all is this: Be kind to each other by being as isolated and compliant as you possibly can be and we can all earn the earliest possible release together.

Thank you. Here's Akira with the weather report."

******

"Good evening, Sem.

Tomorrow, as mentioned yesterday, Secat will still be experiencing snowy, cold weather which will wear off over the next 36 hours or so. To all the uncertain farmers out there, having seen the weather maps, I can assure you that it will get better soon.

Simul Santu will be dry and a bit warmer than it was yesterday, with a temperature of 8 degrees centigrade. Piscanturia, on the other hand, will be warmer and drier still, with a temperature of 22 degrees centigrade.

Storm François continues to brew at the West Pole, while the North and South remain cold and dry.

Back to you, Captain/"

******

"Thank you, Akira.

With the third week of lockdown approaching tomorrow, I hope you all stay safe and well and take care of yourselves and your loved ones. Thanks for your attention and co-operation. To play us out tonight, here's a song from Miles.

Goodnight, fellow citizens."

https://youtu.be/SJUhlRoBL8M