Welcome to the Omicron Protocol Story Blog, where we’ll periodically reveal and post new stories about the world and its character through a series of blog posts. Through this blog, you’ll get to know the precarious situation that our heroes (and villains) are in, and what they need to do to survive and get out of San Lazaro. You’ll also get background stories that help you understand why your favorite (and most hated) characters are who they are today.
Professor Malcolm Biederman had been monitoring the news all week. First the reporters talked about the avian flu: how San Lazaro had been unusually badly affected; how various vaccines were failing to contain the spread. Then it was all about how the airports were shutting down and the military was taking control of the city.
Long day. Thirteen clients at the salon. Some good tips but Mrs. Romero doesn’t like her highlights. Mrs. Romero is never happy with anything. Denise still can’t decide on her wedding dress – Brian told her he’s sick of hearing about it. I am too, to be honest. Hot dog for lunch, lots of mustard. I need to eat more salad. Bus gets stuck in traffic on the way home. Boring. But at least my phone update from Shui-Guo comes through – version six or something. Doesn’t look all that different to version five. Back home, I’m too tired to skate, even though it’s a nice evening out.
A lot can change in a month. San Lazaro was a modern, attractive city, popular for its West Coast location and diverse population of 1 million. It was also the epicenter of a cybernetic tech revolution that had impacted virtually everyone on the planet. The winter of 2050 seemed like any other in recent times, when another strain of avian flu emerged in Europe and Asia, starting yet another pandemic. Within a couple of weeks, the virus had reached the coastal cities of the United States. When the first cases emerged, state and local governments immediately enacted quarantine and isolation rules to contain the virus and, having practiced this many times by then, local residents stocked up and hunkered down for the eventual vaccine or cure. Elite teams of scientists around the country and world were already hard at work modifying a vaccine from the pandemic a few years earlier, promising a new one within months.
