Sem Lockdown, Day 9

Since his jog during the call the night previous had bothered his teammates so much, Kain opted to go out on a run for his daily exercise.

The radio station was located in an industrial zone to the North-West of Simul Santu, close to the border with Secat. This meant that, despite all the factories and office buildings, there was a bit of greenery around and he was lucky enough to be able to run along the coastline. There wasn't a better place to be isolated really, if Kain was honest.

There were a few brief showers as he ran, an old pair of indestructible wireless earphones in his ears and the hood of his own grey hoodie up over his head. He didn't really need it up, but it made his body work harder. He figured these were traits he'd picked up from being army-raised for so long. If you found something that was practical, durable and long-lasting, you stuck with it like it was a loyal friend. If you could make something that little bit harder for yourself, you knew that the sense of achievement would be greater afterwards. He believed that his military-perspective was what kept him going sometimes, and he hoped he wouldn't have been a complete hot-head otherwise.

He turned up past a small deserted office block for a vegetable farm onto the walkway by the beach. The sand, usually pearly white, had been turned a sort of beige colour by the rain but, the sea still sparkled slightly, with the sun just slightly poking out from under the cloud cover. Moon Greg was visible in the sky, his magnitude sending the waves crashing against the shore. Kain hoped this was only the calm before the storm in one sense, not liking the thought of giving the public any more bad news.

A song he hadn't heard yet shuffled its way into his ears, a calm tone which was different from everything else he normally listened to, and he turned off from the coastline to find the shop where he could get supplies for his teammates back at the radio station.

The army had set up separate supply stores for military affiliates. They weren't necessarily better than ordinary shops, they just had different items which were more catered to particular job roles. Though, as a person who had never been a huge fan of anything which seemed to put one group of people on a pedestal, Kain wasn't very proud to be headed to a shack to be served by a colleague instead of going to a local corner shop.

Due to the functionality of this particular part of Simul Santu the place was more or less deserted so, there weren't too many military affiliates staying there besides the RSB. Kain was the only person in line for the shack. He tried to remember what everyone had asked him for on top of weekly rations. Akira - some Piscanturian fish, various different types of juice, some top-ups for the first aid kit and a copy of the military's latest shipping forecast. Miles - aloofplant tea, and as much of it as he could get. Tristan - nothing at all. The bored, young lad behind the counter fetched everything and put it all in a knapsack for Kain to carry back to the radio station.

The four jars of aloofplant tea that the boy had given him, presumably because no one else wanted it, weighed him down so much on his way back to the station that he had to just take as large and purposeful strides as he could instead of running.

"Oh Miles," he muttered, "Why did you have to ask for so much of this revolting tea?"

******

"Good evening, fellow citizens. I hope you've all had a great day.

I don't have too much to update you on personally this evening, but it may please you all to know that our experts believe that the lockdown appears to be helping the crāpulavirus situation. Hang tight, things are sure to get a bit harder as more people contract the virus, but it will get better. 

I shall now pass over to Kain, who has plenty of news for you this evening."

******

"I most certainly do, people of Sem.

We have made polite verbal contact with the Sterculian airships in our atmosphere. Trouble is, they now want us to pay for the cheese that some of their fleet dropped off. This has caused a bit of disturbance among military officials as they are in disagreement over whether this is reasonable or  not. On one hand, we didn't want the cheese in the first place so, it makes sense we shouldn't have to pay. On the other, they did misinterpret our message so we can't exactly say that our communication has been much better than theirs. It could be rather rich of us not to pay them for their lost resources in that instance.

However, we have told them that, if we choose to pay them, it will be after the crāpulavirus crisis is over since we can't afford to waste time and resources on trivial matters at the moment. The Sterculians seem to have agreed with this and they say they will leave after we make our decision. This is not ideal as it has pushed us to make a decision before we really would have liked but apparently the Sterculians have been denied payment before and prefer to wait so we don't get the opportunity to forget about it. It would seem they are pushing us towards paying for the cheese. Don't waste time worrying about it, but these negotiations could prove to be a bit more difficult than previously thought.

As you are all aware, Miles has been working hard at learning Sterculian and will be taking on the additional role of translating some messages in collaboration with others from tomorrow onwards. Props to him on that. 

I was actually speaking to him earlier today about it and it turns out they use a lot of poetic language. You kind of have to wonder if that has something to do with their main source of income being selling the Universe's Smelliest Cheese, don't you? It really doesn't seem to be the easiest job, I digress.

In other news, many of you who have the virus reported that the video from Jeannie Velázquez yesterday really helped you and I have to say, I'm glad of that. Excessive bouncing fits can be really dangerous, please do take care.

With more updates on the crāpulavirus outbreak, here's Miles."

******

"Thanks, Kain, I appreciate your support. Good evening to you all.

I'm really thankful that experts are saying that the lockdown measures are proving helpful in stopping the spread of the virus and I'm sure you will feel the same. Please continue to stay indoors as much as you possibly can, even if the weather tempts you to go outside this weekend. I promise you that staying in is helping.

I also want to say that, despite my extra role, I will not flounder in giving you the latest and most factual information I possibly can. If there's any more questions you want the answer to, please keep sending them in on the website. If I can answer you, I most certainly will.

I shall now pass you onto Akira with the weather."

******

"Good evening, Sem.

I'm sorry to say that, while Miles makes a good point, it's quite unlikely that the weather is going to be nice enough to tempt you out this weekend. Unless you live in South Piscanturia.

A storm is building and it has been called Eleanor. She is due to hit Secat and North Simul Santu first tomorrow before making her way South towards Piscanturia and is likely to run out of steam before reaching Salora, the last region before the South Pole. I suggest, if you live in an area which will be affected, you ensure you wear waterproof and reflective clothing should you need to go out at any point.

Naturally, Secat will be quite wet and windy tomorrow with a lower temperature of 8 degrees centigrade. Simul Santu will be mostly the same with a slightly higher temperature of 9 degrees centigrade. Piscanturia, on the other hand, will be a lot drier with a temperature of 18 degrees centigrade. The North Pole will experience a snowstorm, the West Pole will be hit by Storm Eleanor and the South Pole will remain dry.

Back to you, Captain."

******

"Thanks, Akira.

That's all from us tonight. To play us out, here is a song from Miles.

Thank you for your attention and for keeping inside, fellow citizens, you are doing a world of good."

https://youtu.be/ye5BuYf8q4o