-Spoken Plague-

Many people are reeling from the latest flu virus. I felt perfectly fine until I called my mother and discovered that she had contracted it. Less then three hours later my throat had cobwebs in it.

Hypochondriac? No, this is the same guy who disdained to be given the meningitis vaccine because he didn't trust any trend that herded people like so much sheep.

It's similar to the Andromeda Strain, where the sickness couldn't kill the guy who knew he'd caught it, because it made him nervous, and scared. That particular bug didn't do its dirty work when the heart rate elevated and the adrenaline pumped faster, so too does this flu only catch hold in me when my major projects have ended.

Or when I'm chatting on the phone about the plague itself.