Your humble author grew up reading science fiction; it was my first passion and continues to be an enduring comfort. I was also born within the ranks of Generation X, so I came along at the right time for the cyberpunk wave in science fiction. I do write for a living now (oh… you noticed?), but as a teen I tried scribbling some sci-fi stories of my own. That turned out to be a bad idea, but you have to find these things out the hard way.  And let me tell you: Had I come up with the ridiculous plot which I am about to lay out here, I would have ripped the paper out of the typewriter (we still used those then), crumpled it up and dunked it in the trashcan, and taken the rest of the day off in self-discipline, because clearly I would have needed a rest. Had I read the plot of the COVID-19 virus in any novel at the time, said novel would be digesting in the guts of the nearest trashcan before long.  If I may borrow a turn of phrase from the late Kurt Vonnegut: this story is a crock…