It had been 13 days since I'd found a spreader, and I was starting to get worried.
The last time my sero levels had been this low, I'd gone down to the arrivals level of the international terminal at the airport. I mean, obviously there wouldn't be any spreaders there unless someone screwed up the pre-flight screening. But they say that low viral loads of unfamiliar strains could still boost you in a pinch, so I scanned the room for the most exotic-looking passengers I could find and tried to cozy up to them. Once, I managed to lick the handles of a few suitcases going around the carousel without too many people noticing.
Anyway, I guess what they say is true, because my sero bounced up. But I think I got lucky; there's no substitute for prolonged contact with someone who's gone full sympto.
I texted my doctor again.
ffs you're literally killing me here
He must have been bored because he replied immediately.
Only 2% chance. Don't bug me until you're sympto.
cmon man I know you have spreaders just get me in the room with one
You aged 20 years recently? Had any organ transplants I don't know about? Get your low-risk ass out of my DMs.
Easy for him to say. One perk of being front-line is that he got daily exposure to prime symptomatic specimens. His immuno response must be off the charts. No danger of him ever going sympto.
It wasn't even the symptoms I was trying to avoid. I'd been through those in '20 along with everyone else, and I could do it again. It was the indignity and disruption of being used as a human booster shot for the next month.
And, you know. That 2% chance of dying.
So, fuck civic duty, and fuck social rapprochement. I'd heard that in Sweden they tried to break through the herd immunity with state-funded orgies, and I guess maybe there I'd feel differently, but Canada was a bit more Canadian about it: free hockey games; sharing-is-caring ad campaigns with images of smiling strangers drinking from the same bottle; deliberately over-crowding public transit. But still, the curve was dead flat. Too few symptos to keep everyone boosted, but still just enough around to make losing your immunity a game of russian roulette. And good luck trying to self-isolate in the new sharey-carey economy.