"Oh my!"
The old woman leaned forward, her hands coming together above her lap.
"What is it? Please, tell me."
Up close, I could see the fine lines around her eyes. Her grey hair was tied loosely behind her head, with several strands falling against her cheeks. She brushed them aside without taking her attention away from me.
"It's been so long since my husband passed that… well, I almost gave up on hearing anything."
I looked at her for a moment before smiling.
"We're still investigating, so I can't say anything for certain."
"Of course."
"But there's a possibility that it behaves like a disease."
Her expression slowly changed.
"A disease?"
"Something caused by an anomaly. We think it might affect people without leaving anything for us to find outside their bodies."
"Oh my…"
Her hand pressed against her chest.
"Like a plague?"
"Possibly. But we don't know how it spreads, or if that's even the right way to describe it."
My voice came out rather calm.
