Quaranteam - Team Tim Ch. 01-06

"Probably as much or more than you," quipped Tim. "Dr. Siobhan O'Sullivan and myself, Dr. Tim Fletcher, have been collating available information on the DuoHalo virus as part of a Cambridge University initiative since the start of the pandemic."

Hillary picked up a lever arch folder from the table and pointed to the authors shown on some of the papers contained. "Silly question Reg, they've written half the bloody book on the virus."

"Ah, OK. Well then. Onto the vaccine. Have you been informed about the American vaccine?"

"We've read a bit about it during our work, but my understanding is that there are quite a few unusual aspects to it and that the UK has been waiting for a version without them. I've also read some rather unbelievable stuff posted on LinkedIn, although the bits I've been able to verify have mostly been true. Also, I had a chat with Professor Mackay last night and he gave me a bit of a heads-up, although without much detail. He sends his best to you both, by the way."

"Oh David, Professor Mackay, probably knows a lot more than he told you. I've known him since we were at the same college at Oxford together so when I got handed this job, he was the first person I called to get more information on the virus and he hasn't let me down.

"Anyway. Where to start. From all the information we've received from the Americans, the serum was being developed as a reflex enhancer for military pilots at a joint Boeing / USAF facility in Northern California close to San Francisco. More recently, it has been found to make an otherwise unpromising candidate vaccine for DuoHalo into something that works, but not in the conventional manner for a vaccine.

"Early on, the Americans were very confident that they could produce a version of the vaccine plus serum without the peculiarities, but as I understand it, that work has now stopped or at least slowed considerably, and they are pressing ahead with what they currently have, warts and all.

"Anyway, the USAF is currently leading on the rollout in the US, which is partly why the RAF has been tasked with leading the trial rollout here in the UK, the rest being secrecy as we don't yet have the means to vaccinate the population. Negotiations are still ongoing to secure sufficient to roll it out on a wider basis and until this is in place, we need to keep it as inconspicuous as possible.

"As you'll know, the death toll amongst men is much higher than for women, which is leading to a large disparity in the surviving population that will only get bigger. This is why the fact that the vaccine can't be given to men is a bit of a problem."

"What? Then what am I doing here?" asked Tim. Inwardly, though, he ticked one of the 'facts' he'd read on LinkedIn, wondering if the rest could also be true.

"Well, you can gain protection from the vaccine, but not in the conventional manner. If you were to be vaccinated, you'd suffer a short and painful death."

"Then how?" queried Tim.

"Well. Err. You need to ..."

"Sex." Interjected Dr. Grainger. "You need to have sex with a vaccinated woman. It transpires that immunity to the virus can be passed by a woman to a man in a similar manner to an STI." Tim added another mental tick.

"So let me get this straight, I need to be vaccinated and then have sex with Tim and then we're both protected?" interjected Siobhan.

"Well yes and no."

"Which is it? Yes or no."

"Let's step back a bit. Without being vaccinated, a woman has somewhere between a 66 and 75% chance of surviving a DuoHalo infection. Currently, over 95% of men will die if they become infected. Also, surviving DuoHalo once doesn't appear to provide any lasting protection against reinfection."

"Those are the rates we calculated based on the deaths recorded in some of this country's largest prisons, although that was the original strain of the virus. The later variants appear to have slightly different rates, with higher survival rates for women and higher death rates for men," observed Tim.

"Ah OK. Well, once vaccinated, a woman would have over 99% protection. The Americans have told us that a man having sex with a single vaccinated woman reduces the male death rate to around 66% or, to put it another way, gives him about a one in three chance of surviving infection. For a man to gain as much protection as a vaccinated woman, he needs to have unprotected sex, full sharing of fluids, with at least seven different vaccinated women."

"So what you're saying is that Tim has to have sex with seven different vaccinated women and he's then protected?"

"I wish it was that simple. The protection Tim would receive from each of the women wears off over time. Tim will need to be having regular sex with each of the seven women to remain protected."

"What? I've got to let Tim have regular sex with six other women? Will I be required to have sex with other men?"

"No, that's not possible. One of the properties of the serum is that it raises a woman's libido and she will need to have sex with a man soon after being vaccinated. After this, she will become bonded with him at a chemical, biological and psychological level. If she were to have sex with a different man, she would suffer a horrible death. Even his semen touching her skin would cause a nasty burn. Currently, this bonding is permanent, but the Americans have told us that they are looking at ways to reverse this effect."

"But they promised us a vaccine without all the drawbacks by now," interjected the Squadron Leader, "so I'd not hold your breath on that." Dr. Grainger gave the Squadron Leader a sideways look.

"OK, so what you're saying is that Tim will need a harem of vaccinated women to protect him, and he will need to have sex regularly with all of them?" enquired Siobhan.

"Yes, although we're calling it a Team. And they would also need to have regular sex with him or they would get something similar to withdrawal symptoms."

"So how often?"

"Approximately every seven to ten days, although it seems to vary from woman to woman." Dr. Grainger looked directly at Siobhan. "Do you want to keep Tim safe from this virus?"

"Of course I do. I feel really close to him. Jaysus, if it wasn't for this virus, we'd be a couple already." Siobhan gave Tim's hand a squeeze.

Tim looked at Siobhan and nodded his head, giving her hand a squeeze in return. "I know we'd be together by now, too."

"To be protected, Tim will need other women. Also, though, with the current death rates, those women will need Tim in order to receive the vaccine.

"You'll be Tim's First. This is an important position within a Team. I'm the Second in Reginald's Team, his wife being his First. I've been friends with Reg and Joyce for many years and was really happy to be invited to join them and I know that it was Joyce who persuaded Reg to ask. We currently share him with three other women and we're all like sisters now, although it's not been long. It may seem strange at first to get your head around it, but it just seems to work."

Tim watched as Siobhan sat thinking for a long time. "How are you feeling Siobhan, it's a lot to take in." She squeezed his hand again and kept holding on.

Siobhan turned to face Tim. "It is. Truthfully, I'm struggling. I want to be with you and keep you safe, Tim, so if I need to share you then I'd better get used to it. It's a huge paradigm shift in our basic understanding of the male-female relationship, though."

Squadron Leader Fortescue spoke for the first time in a while. "We want you both to work for us, not just be vaccinated and sent away. We want you to study the vaccine and note everything about how it works, such as what may influence the variation in a woman's need to be with her Principal; that's what we're calling the man at the centre of each Team, by the way. Also, we'd like you to record any unusual effects or changes that you notice, either with yourselves or others in your Team. The Americans have mentioned a few unusual occurrences, but those have mostly been positive so we're not expecting anything untoward but you never know. We will, of course, supply you with copies of everything that we've received so far from the Americans, although at present this is rather limited with some redaction, and of course you'll still have access to all the documents on the Cambridge University system." As an afterthought, he added, "Oh, and your salaries will be the same."

Looking at Tim, Siobhan gripped his hand more tightly and asked "What do you think, Tim?"

"Everything is so fucked up at present, so why shouldn't the vaccine be the same? It feels as if the DuoHalo virus and this American vaccine fit together, one mirroring the other. But I want to live and to be able to look forward, so I'm willing do anything I can to achieve this. And this vaccine looks as if it may provide us not only with protection from the virus but also a new avenue of research, something important that will help our society survive."

"Let's break for lunch," offered Reg. "I know it's a lot to take in, but you need to make your mind up one way or another."

"Oh, I'm going to have the vaccine and help protect Tim. I'm going to help build the best Team for him and ensure that Tim stays as safe as he can be. I just hope that we get compatible women to join."

Just then, the orderly returned, pushing a trolley with sandwiches and other snack items, together with hot water for tea or coffee and a selection of cold drinks.

After everyone had filled their plates and grabbed a drink, the Squadron Leader commented "As part of the agreement with the Americans, you will both have to complete their Oracle questionnaire, which is used to match women to Principals and Teams. It helps to ensure that only compatible partners are selected to join a Team. I'm sorry about some of the questions, but they are what the Americans have set and they sometimes change them. We're looking at developing our own version to make things easier, you know, British spellings and that plus a bit of extra explanation for some of the terms they use, you'll soon see what I mean when you start to fill it in. For the trial rollout, though, we're just using the American system as is.

"As I mentioned when I first met you, we need to ensure that you two remain together as we already recognise that you work well as a ..., well, as a team. Now, we know that the Oracle database respects existing relationships, so we would like you both to indicate that you're engaged to one another when you complete the questionnaire. We even have some rings here so that you can select one."

Dr. Grainger produced a tray of engagement rings in various styles and sizes. "Is there anything that you like, Siobhan? If not, we may be able to have others brought here."

Siobhan scanned the rings which all looked to be from a high-end jeweller rather than the local H. Samuel. She picked up a few to look at in more detail, before trying on an elegant solitaire with a stylish platinum band, which fitted her finger perfectly. "Oh how I'm going to enjoy wearing this ring." Looking at Tim, she added, her voice dropping slightly "and maybe it will be needed in the future for its proper purpose."

Tim looked back at Siobhan, his heart beating hard in his chest and feeling the effect of her hand in his. "That would be my wish, too. I'm not sure the institution of marriage will survive in its current form with the advent of Teams, though. I mean, how could I promise to forsake all others when I'm to be in a polyamorous relationship? Just how is that going to work?" Looking at Dr. Grainger, he continued "What are your thoughts, Hillary?"

"Under the current laws, a man can only be married to one woman. If every man is in a relationship with multiple women, though, then the law will necessarily need to change to reflect the new normal. We'll need to wait and see when and how, but it's not likely to be high on anyone's agenda at present. When a few of our politicians and senior civil servants are in Teams of their own, though, this may focus their attention on the issue."

"We'll need to reach a position where it's safe to at least partially lift the current lockdown before anyone could even consider holding a wedding," added the Squadron Leader. "By then, it's probable that many, if not most of the surviving men will be Team Principals. The more women that can be vaccinated, the sooner we'll push DuoHalo out of this country. That's part of the reason we'll be encouraging men to partner with lots of women."

"Amen to that," exclaimed Dr. Grainger. "It's probable that the earliest Teams will have more women than later ones. We're supposed to be receiving at least two more women in the next week to bring us up to seven, but that will seriously challenge the available space where we're currently living. We have people specifically looking at where we can establish a Team, but finding suitable premises to accommodate a large group can be problematic, as many of the buildings will require serious modifications to make them suitable and, as you can probably understand, finding the necessary trades people is becoming ever more difficult. It was difficult enough to get hold of a plumber before this pandemic, it's almost impossible now."

"I don't know about plumbers," offered Tim, "but my dad and brother are both electricians. Also, I know that they're doing all they can to keep themselves safe now, along with the rest of my immediate family, and are currently on furlough as there isn't enough work for them."

Neither the Squadron Leader or Hillary commented on this, but Tim observed that Hillary made a note.

----oOo----

They continued to talk for a while longer as they finished their lunch, after which Squadron Leader Fortescue and Dr. Grainger, aka Reginald and Hillary, led Siobhan and Tim to a room with two computers. Showing them into the room, Reginald motioned to the computers. "These provide direct access to the Oracle questionnaire. The Americans haven't told us that vaccine candidates need to complete it independently, so we have no qualms about letting you talk together while you complete it. There's no time limit but it shouldn't take you longer than 45 minutes to finish. Feel free to use your phones to look things up on the internet, the password for the WiFi is on the laminated sheet next to the computer, which also gives some basic guidance. You will need to enter your individual idents into the system, which will auto-populate some of the answers for you. Come and find us back in the room we were just in when you've finished."

Tim and Siobhan sat at the two computers, which were side-by-side. Siobhan quickly brought up the questionnaire before bringing up her ident on her phone and entering it. Tim was just behind her, using his notebook. They noted that a default 'GB-' was automatically inserted at the front of their idents. Once the codes were entered, the first page auto-populated their details, including photographs that had originally been taken for their department's 'who's who' board at Cambridge, even showing them as engaged to each other. Clicking on to the second page, they completed sections about their hobbies and pastimes, their likes and dislikes, finding the questionnaire not that dissimilar from a job application. It wasn't until the third page that the questionnaire started to become more sexual. They also found that some of the questions for a man and a woman were different, for example, both were asked about their sexual orientation, but only Siobhan had the option to choose bisexual. "That's probably because there'll only be one male per Team," suggested Tim.

The page went on to ask them the age range of partner they were attracted to. At 27, Tim usually thought that plus or minus five years would be reasonable. Thinking, though, of the possible ages of men and women involved, Tim left the lower end at the default setting of 18, while adjusting the upper age to 35 using the slider. The rest of his page was around what features he was attracted to in a woman, including height, weight, race, hair colour and many more. It took quite a few minutes for Tim to complete the rest of the page while Siobhan completed similar but slightly different questions.

The pages continued, each becoming more in-depth in probing their likes and dislikes. Individual questions required them to rate a particular sexual activity or kink from love it to hate it, with various levels in between.

"What's fellatio?" asked Siobhan.

"You know, like a blow job," replied Tim.

"Oh OK, do you like those?"

"Sometimes they can be good, but not always. Have you given many?"

"Only a few. What about cunnilingus?"

"I really love doing that."

"Yes, but what is it?"

"It's when you get eaten out, like the equivalent of a blow job for women, I suppose."

"You like doing that?"

"God yes. It's so good tasting a woman's sex and feeling them orgasm against your tongue. Don't you enjoy it?"

"I haven't really experienced it, the few men I dated were more interested in taking their own pleasure, not giving it."

"That doesn't sound like they were much good as a partner. Surely, the aim is to ensure that you both have the best experience possible."

"You would think so, wouldn't you. But the men I've been with so far were all pump and dump merchants. None of them lasted long, either in bed or as a partner."

They sat quietly filling in the rest of that page and turned to the next.

"Whoah, this is some serious shit," exclaimed Tim, looking quickly at the questions on the page. Some were written in simple words, although the activities they were describing were anything but. Others included long words that he had no idea what they meant.

Slowly, Tim and Siobhan worked through the questions, one or other of them looking up the unknown words using their phone, UrbanDictionary proving very useful for many of their searches. Most of the questions they answered negatively, but just occasionally they found something that they thought that they could be interested in but, as neither of them had any experience, they would rate those as possibly interested, no more. Eventually, they completed the page and the questionnaire, turning the page to see a box to confirm that their answers were truthful and then a button to post their form onto the system.

"Well, that was interesting," commented Siobhan.

"Yes, wasn't it. I think some people filling in the questionnaire are going to be disappointed."

"Why?"

"Well, if your kink is bukkake, you know like having multiple men cum on you, but you're going to have the vaccine and any man's cum other than your Team Principal's is going to burn your skin, then you're going to be out of luck, aren't you." Tim gave a laugh.

"Yes, I suppose so. I can't imagine being with more than one man, though. How do you feel about being with more than one woman?"

"Separately or at the same time?"

"Well, you're going to be with more than one woman separately anyway. So how about at the same time?"

"If everyone is comfortable being together, then I don't see a problem. How do you feel?"

"It's odd, but if we're all your partners, then I think I'll enjoy that."

Just then, each of the computers gave a bleep, a message informing them that their questionnaires had been processed and that their compatibility profiles had been produced.

Tim and Siobhan made their way back to Reg and Hillary, who were enjoying a soft kiss when they entered, with possible signs that more had taken place while they were completing the questionnaire.

"We're done," offered Tim. "I believe our compatibility profiles should now be available."

Dr. Grainger picked up a tablet and quickly navigated through to the information she needed. "Yes, here we are. Your profiles show that you have very high compatibility, higher than 95%." She gave a little laugh. "The system has auto-paired you already as you're now engaged."