Day twenty-eight dawned gray and humid, the kind of Lagos morning where the sky pressed low and the city felt restless even from forty-three floors up. The compound’s internal network pinged an urgent alert at 7:14 a.m.—a government broadcast overriding every screen in the penthouse.
UPDATE: VARIANT X-17 CONTAINMENT PROGRESS
Effective 00:01 tomorrow, mandatory quarantine for NexusTech critical staff will be lifted ahead of schedule.
All personnel may depart premises upon confirmation of negative PCR test (administered on-site by 18:00 today).
Return to standard hybrid work protocols commences immediately thereafter.
The words scrolled in cold white text across the kitchen island display, the lounge TVs, the bedroom mirrors—everywhere.
Vicky stood frozen in the doorway, mug of coffee
