Sem Lockdown, Day 7

"You look a bit tired, are you alright?" Akira asked Miles, as he prepared scrambled eggs in the kitchen.

"I've hardly slept, the population have missed daily health updates from me for the past two nights. They must be desperate to have an ordinary schedule back, so I stayed up to make sure my script was as clear, honest and presentable as possible," he replied, his stare fixed on the eggs in the pan.

"And how long did you stay up doing that?"

"Until the return of the first moon, and I'm still not sure I have all the information the people will want me to provide."

"Right. Let me take over the cooking and go back to bed."

"What? No, I'm fine."

"You look like you're about to fall asleep on that pan. Come on."

"No no, really, I'm fine."

"It's not an offer."

"You can't give me orders, Akiyama!"

"Watch me. And watch those eggs, they're about to overheat."

He reluctantly passed her the cooking utensils and headed back off to bed.

"You know," Akira shouted over her shoulder, "You could always ask what the people wanted to know on the website!"

A lightbulb lit up in Miles Schäfer's head.

******

"Good evening, fellow citizens and welcome back to a normal broadcast.

I'm afraid to say that the cheese situation hasn't improved any. While we are currently unsure as to why, some of the Sterculian airships have dropped their stocks off at our delivery ports and left while others have continued to stay docked in our airspace as they were. I'm not quite sure how this happened, I thought our picture message was very clear.

Our own strategist, Miles, has taken up learning Sterculian in the event that he may be of use to the translator team or aid the negotiations. I wish him all the best and respect his endeavours to take up an extra role, if needs must. As a Captain, I would urge you all to offer something extra, if you can, in order to help others through these difficult times.

However, that is enough from me. I shall pass over to Kain with the latest news updates."

******

"Good evening, people of Sem. One day, no see. I hope you all coped well enough with the stench yesterday. I had to wear a scarf just to block out the smell. 

Anyway, as you've just heard from Tristan, the Sterculian cheese story continues to develop. There isn't much else to say there, but I assure you that we will have the situation, and the smell, sorted in due course. I know that's what we've been saying for the past few days, but just hold tight a little bit longer.

As it has been a much neglected topic as of late, congratulations to everyone for making it through a week of lockdown! There should hopefully just be another three weeks of this left to go now.

You may have missed that, at the weekend, some individuals chose to have late night parties and were ignorant of the military officials telling them to stop. As a result, we are working on a new preventative system and putting further restrictions in place. Seriously, bouncing fits plus higher infectivity caused by late night partying, in addition to the vomiting and diarrhoea symptoms, just doesn't make it fun for anyone. If you try to do that again, you will be stopped by force.

For all who haven't been doing this and have just been listening to their music quietly, I am really sorry. I hope this doesn't affect you too much in these stressful times.

One thing which may help you though, is meditating. I am aware that there is an increasing poularity for it in Secat and many appear to be saying that it has become helpful to them in recent times.

I myself amn't used with the practice but here, let's sit in silence together for a moment before I pass over to Miles.

...

Well, I can't say it worked too well for me, but I hope some of you enjoyed the pause. Here's Miles with the latest crāpulavirus health updates."

******

"Good evening and apologies for not being able to communicate with you recently. However, I am back now with all the facts and data you asked from me on our website this afternoon.

Firstly, according to the recent statistics pulled from our website, around ten percent of our population have now had and recovered from crāpulavirus and about three percent are currently experiencing it. Very few have been hospitalised and even less have died, thanks to our advanced medical care in relation to dehydration. Do remember, if you have the virus, to drink as much fluid as you can. Avoid water as it has no electrolytes, as well as de-caffinated aloofplant tea.

Secondly, the cause for higher crāpulavirus infectivity in relation to late night parties is just hormones. The infectiously happy mood of a carrier can cause the virus to spread more easily. It is an evolved means of transmission and the only thing we can currently do to reduce the risk is ban late night parties. However, this does not mean you should not smile or enjoy yourselves during the day. You are at less risk of infecting anyone then. For a more scientific explanation, please check our website.

Lastly, the new GPS swabs are due to come out soon but I am not currently aware of the exact date. I am afraid none of us can be fortune tellers when it comes to this sort of thing. I will let you know the date when I am made aware of it.

Now, I shall leave you on the reminder that you should wash your hands regularly and only leave the house occassionally for essential purposes.

It is great to be back and I hope tonight's information has been sufficient enough for you all in my return. My thanks goes to Akira for the suggestion of asking you yourselves what you'd like to know. I shall pass over to her now for the weather."

******

"No problem, Miles.

I've been looking at the weather around the globe and I see it's been a nice day weather-wise for most of you. I hope it's been a nice day on other terms too.

Tonight is the night we begin to see a change in the weather due to the positioning of Moon Greg. Secat will now enter a short rainy season which will slightly affect Simul Santu and Piscanturia will be a little bit drier over the next few weeks. The West and South Poles will experience little to no difference in sunlight but the North Pole should be a little bit colder in the coming weeks.

Now, how will the weather look tomorrow? Well, the wet weather will begin in Secat and the temperature will drop slightly to 11 degrees centigrade. Some areas of Simul Santu will experience a few showers and the temperature there will be 12 degrees centigrade. Piscanturia will enjoy some nice, warm weather and a slightly higher temperature of 18 degrees centigrade. Weather at all three Poles should be rather dry, but there is a chance of precipitation in the North.

That's all from me, although I have swapped places with Kain tonight to pick a song for those living in Secat. Back to you, Tristan."

******

"Thank you, Akira.

I hope you have all enjoyed having the normal broadcasts back and we shall be back with more of the same tomorrow evening.

Here is Akira's song to play us out. Goodnight, fellow citizens and thank you for your continued attention and support through these difficult days."

https://youtu.be/PXatLOWjr-k