Markers

"Say nothing yet; stick to the script," Tamil whispered. "We're not sure of the angle here." Joyce nodded. When they began to ask questions about her symptoms, she shared mostly what lined up with the others and a couple of unusual things that kept her at the facility. "Fascinating," one of the visitors said. "Thanks for meeting with us." Joyce was grateful Tamil had started the group chat this morning before the interviews; she was feeling talkative today and would've said too much. Tamil's Long COVID had given him such advanced telepathy that he could work a kind of mental Zoom with all of them in the wing without leaving his room (or even his bed); it was as convenient as Jerry's invisibility or Maria Tina's second (third and fourth, etc.) sight. Joyce had observed that the visitors were working from a wing directory, selecting specific people to question. "Yeah, we're gonna have to shake that up," she said to herself. Once they'd gone, she'd rearrange the wing within time and space (her Long COVID late stage marker) and invalidate that map; it was time for Bart to have the corner "penthouse" suite anyway (the one that looked out on the lake).