The Quaranteam Universe is the creation of CorruptingPower, used with permission. Also a big shout out to the Writers Room, especially Percheron. Check out his branch of the story, Aotearoa, which just started publishing.
The song referenced here is "Valhallelujah" by Nanowar of Steel. If you haven't heard that song before and think you know where it's going, no you don't.
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Chapter 8: Telecommunications
15 August 2020
Silence is worse than even a negative response. Adam was hunched over his desk that Saturday morning, head in hands. Shannon and Callie had insisted on making breakfast and coffee. Probably also wanting to talk without him there, which was a bit of a challenge given the size of the apartment. Adam, therefore, found himself stuck. Neither of his remaining students scheduled for today. Neither of the ladies here. No word on his job, nor even if any of his coworkers were around to talk about it. Just a sense of impending doom, and the knowledge that only two of his students were even still showing up to be tutored.
Well, that, and a growing concern for his shrinking housemate.
Callie's appetite had never manifested. Her mild fever remained, as did her frequent bathroom trips. Frequent enough that she was complaining of pain in her back, right around her kidneys. She was visibly, if slightly, smaller than she had been a week prior. The floor didn't creak quite as much as when she arrived, and when they'd had her step on a scale to check it read nearly fifteen pounds less than what she said she'd been weighed at right before she got her Serum dose. Adam didn't have all THAT much in the way of a medical education, but that combined with thirty minutes of research led him to believe that this might be dangerous. It didn't matter how little time she had been with him, Adam did not want to see her waste away and die... and at the rate she was going, that point would come in a couple of months, tops.
That wasn't even all. Mosquitoes in Yelm had never been the biggest problem. Not compared to some of the horror stories from the Southeast that made Adam thankful he was born at the opposite of That. It seemed like every one of them in the State of Washington suddenly and simultaneously decided that Callie was uniquely delicious, though, and invaded in force. He heard another slapping sound as Callie discouraged one more from taking a drink. It had gotten bad enough that, when he'd placed an order for shelving a few days ago, he added in some citronella candles. Couldn't hurt.
There was also the fact that Shannon's boobs were still growing. This morning's measurements put her right at a G cup, a statement which had gotten him rock hard and required her to help him out. A need which she had no problems helping with, it should be noted.
Things were strange enough that he figured it was about time to call in for medical help again. From the sound of things in the kitchen he probably had at least ten minutes to try to contact the advice line. To their credit, it only took him two tries to get a human on the line. The problem, of course, was that as soon as he got halfway through the symptoms she accused him of wasting her time with obviously exaggerated descriptions and hung up on him.
The second human he caught said that much weight loss usually meant an amputation happened, and wondered how he missed that she was dying. Adam thought he preferred the first one, really.
"AJ! Breakfast!"
He stretched out, back popping. "Coming, Shannon!"
"If you were going to do THAT you should have asked for help!"
He grinned and got moving. No sense keeping the ladies waiting, after all. Or the coffee. Or, as it turned out, the slightly-burned-but-delicious omelette. Shannon had one, too, even if Callie was sticking to a banana, two pieces of bacon, and a mug of coffee made the exact opposite of Shannon's. It wasn't like the bimbo style, blonde and sweet. It was like the Death Star. Enormous, on the dark side, and powerful enough to blow up planets.
They joked and laughed as they ate, the tension slowly leaving Adam's shoulders. Really, the events of this morning might have been frustrating, but they weren't a shock, were they? The entire world had been thrown for a loop, and people were trying to make sense of what they could. Couldn't even blame a couple of them for disbelief, even in today's era. And so, the three at this table, on this cloudy morning, made the best of it they could.
And then his phone rang.
The jokes stopped instantly, silence fell. He didn't recognize the number, and that was not a good sign. He scrambled a bit, put it on speaker on the table, and answered it. "Hello?"
"Hey, Mr. Jeffries! How are you doing?" The voice was deep and very familiar. One more suited to the word "bro" than any other.
"Chad! Glad to hear from you, we're doing well here. How about you?" Adam and Shannon were grinning broadly as they got back to their food. Callie looked confused for a moment, shrugged, and figured it was just one of those things she hadn't gotten time to learn yet.
"Awesome. Hey, sorry I disappeared on you, but I got a job up in Seattle and Jessica tells me you're the one who recommended me. Had to call and say thanks, man!"
Adam's head tilted in thought, trying to remember what the heck Chad was talking about. Then he straightened up as two and two got together in his head. "Oh, the special assignment thing? I'm going to be honest, when I got asked for recommendations I didn't know what it was about. You were the only person I could think of remotely qualified for it."
"Oh, don't worry about that! This is really cool. Uh, not supposed to talk about part of it, but you're on a Team, right?"
"Yep. Shannon, Callie, this is Chad. Chad, these are my Teammates, Shannon and Callie."
"Hello," they chimed in chorus.
"Awesome, so I can talk about it. A company up here needed to make a Team out of themselves, no men to do it with, so I'm on their payroll. My job duties are to work out and have a lot of sex, and that's it. Living the dream." There were a couple of voices in the background of Chad's side of the conversation, but what they were saying couldn't quite be made out. It sounded direct, though, someone was giving orders. On, it must be repeated, a Saturday morning.
Callie's curiosity couldn't be contained. "Callie speaking. Which company did you say you were working for? I'm a lawyer and I don't think I've heard of anyone doing that kind of arrangement."
"Uh, Superior Economics and Expansion."
The look on the redhead's face was priceless in the split second before she bit her tongue and buried her head in her hands, shaking with barely-suppressed laughter. Adam's look of obvious curiosity was held at bay by a mouthed "later" from her.
Adam shrugged. "Sounds pretty cool. What do they have you doing?"
"Thought I just said that, bro. I work out and keep healthy, then whenever one of them wants or needs sex they come to me. Other than that, my time is mine. Guess I can't really leave, but no biggie."
Adam's eyebrows furrowed a bit, but his voice betrayed no piece of this. "And... how are your coworkers?"
"Oh, Jessica's awesome, she really likes taking time to work out with me and make sure I'm doing alright. Mary and Sandra are cool, too, but I guess they don't like each other much. They get really competitive when it's their turn or when we're gaming. The others don't talk to me much."
"You seem to be enjoying this?" Adam probably meant to say that as a statement, but his voice betrayed him. There was no hiding that questioning tone. The disbelief, like he wanted to ask "are you sure?"
"You bet!" Either Chad couldn't hear the unspoken question, or he was actually that sure.
"Alright then. Great talking to you, make sure to call back soon." He'd obviously decided that he wasn't going to be able to convince anyone of anything this call, so it was time to take what wins he could hang up with.
"You got it, Mr. Jeffries." The line went silent with a click..
