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== Jericho V: Aftermath ==
''Originally Published on February 2nd, 2492<br>''

With most of humanity having passed through the Jericho V Debris field, Genetectic is leading the way in the search and rescue efforts at impact sites, having offered generous contracts for assistance.

We reached out to Genetectic and spoke with Doctor Alice Winters, Director of Hospitals, and host of the talk show Asking Alice to answer questions about rumors that have been circulating around Jericho V and the dangers of the impact sites.

==== ONN Interview ====

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| ONN: “Dr. Winters. Thank you for joining us. Can you tell us a bit about how the rescue efforts are going?

Dr. Alice Winters: “My pleasure. We believe, for the most part, that we have reached the majority of likely survivors within 88% of the impact sites, and we will be scaling back the search efforts, though we do not intend to stop them. As we progress through the rubble we will automate the excavation as much as possible, both to ensure the safety of our personnel, and to ensure that the efforts continue full time. And we will work alongside contractors who are repairing the damage, to ensure that their working environment is as safe as possible. This has been a horrible loss to humanity as a whole. And I have no doubt we are ready to mourn our losses, and start putting our lives back together.”

ONN: “Some accounts on the Shadownet disagree. What do you have to say about that?”

AW: “The impacts are largely over with. The Debris field continues out into the asteroid belt, we continue on our orbital trajectories. Course corrections for diverted stations have already been completed. And hundreds of volunteers have shown up to help us set this a bit closer to upright. And I truly do express my gratitude to those volunteers. It's hard to imagine that any of us have come through this unscathed. But we have come through this. And I have seen some humanity rise up, push up their sleeves and show up. Thank you, for your help in getting us this far. We'd be delighted to work with you again. Rest for now. We can handle the rest of the burden. And help us get things back in motion so that we can share our grief in peace.”

ONN: “So the rumors on the shadownet?”

AW: “I'm hesitant to address them because I am nervous about feeding into fears. I'm also hesitant to discredit and dismiss what's been expressed. I do feel like things have been experienced that merit caution, and that need to be explored. Not to see if they happened. But to understand what happened, why, and what we need to do about it. Genetectic is equipped to do this, and we will share substantive data and analysis once we have had the opportunity to complete them. That process takes time. And it's taking a little longer because of the issues with the Net that NSI is working on resolving as we speak. But it is in process.”

ONN: “Are there really space zombies, Dr. Winters? Is it possible?”

AW: ‘A completely honest answer? All of the pieces to fit the narrative are there; however, they simply do not fit together, as if they come from different puzzles. And when you're talking about seven million once-living souls? There's a lot of differentiating factors that make the math staggering to construct. Basically, it's a convenient term for an event that absolutely defies succint explanation. And that efficiency can be really dangerous.”

ONN: “How so?”

AW: “The word itself creates an image in our minds. And that image can become an overlay for when we see someone who may be hurt, or have overdosed, or be in some kind of distress. But people see someone who looks like they should be dead, not acting like they should be dead, and decide that since they are already dead, it's acceptable to kill them a second time. The truth is a lot more blurry. Just like death itself has gotten pretty blurry. Someone who seems dead, may not be. And that's not a good excuse to make them dead when they could have been helped. Someone who is dead? May be able to be brought back. Please, don't let fear rob people of their opportunity to live.”

ONN: ‘So what are we supposed to do?”

AW: ‘Stay away from the impact sites. Samples have started coming in, and I will not hide this. There have been some concerning initial observations. Analysis is already in progress, and we anticipate results within the next week at worst, and a fully developed abstract of the environmental hazards found will be released to New Geneva, and to Mars. Again. This is not a political issue, this is a human one.”

ONN: “What exactly is an Abstract, Doctor?”

AW: “An Abstract is a summary of the findings of a particular hazard that has not been documented before. It includes descriptions of the properties, composition and behaviors of an environmental hazard, as well as modeling projections for infection and mutation rates and outlining suggested guidelines for containing and eliminating the threat. We use these in outbreak situations to distribute information to our laboratories, and to offer guidance on public policy. Like not going near impact sites.”

ONN: “And then what happens?”

AW: “Ideally? People don't go to impact sites. The laboratories analyze the data and samples, and work on counteragents, such as vaccines, medications, even ICE cyber defenses, like we saw with Black Tenet last year.”

ONN: “Didn't the cure for that come from Mars?”

AW: “The initial counteragent did. We needed to make some additions to make it safe for everyone, so it was a sort of collaboration of necessity. But they shared their development with us. I think we are capable of being gracious and returning the favor in this case, and sharing our developments as they are corroborated and confirmed.”

ONN: “Thank you Doctor. You heard it here. Genetectic is working with security companies to secure the impact sites from the general public as they investigate rumors of space zombies and study strange samples. This has been Selene Meyer. Back to you, Grant.”
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