Zero One

by Nicholas Nicolaides

Overview

In the early days, no one had fully appreciated just how infectious the virus was. People that fell sick were transmitting the disease long before the symptoms developed. The mortality rate for the infected was much higher than anyone had ever seen before. People went into hospital struggling to breathe and did not come back. Scientists said they believed the virus was a mutation from a non-human virus that had 'jumped' from another animal. They had yet to pinpoint the source or how it had been transmitted.

It was an airborne virus, capable of surviving in free air for half a day and up to a month on certain surfaces, depending on the temperature of the environment.

More and more people were dying, social distancing was encouraged and then enforced with a lockdown. People were instructed to remain in their homes. Anyone breaking the rules was punished with greater and greater severity. Those with a genuine need were required to obtain authorization online.

As front-line services deteriorated, it became harder and harder to enforce. Members of the public that were caught outside without permission were initially fined, repeat offenders imprisoned. But as services crumbled drones were commissioned to help implement the lockdown. The first drones were unarmed; their role was to identify and follow any perpetrators until the police or military arrived.

People booked slots to travel for essential business, their phone sending a signal to any drones in the surrounding area to give them safe passage. Anyone travelling without permission was detained, until the emergency services arrived, or shot trying to escape. The ambulances would take people for testing and isolation. They never came back.

Politicians said that it was an emergency protocol, a necessary inconvenience that would only last until a vaccine was found. The system appeared to be working, for the first time, the rate of new infections began to fall.

Then the power went out.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781838099909
Publisher:	Zeroonebooks
Publication date:	07/03/2020
Series:	Zero One
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.81(d)

About the Author

Nicholas Nicolaides was born in North London to an English-Irish mother and a Greek-Cypriot father. He attended primary school in England before moving to Cyprus where he attended an English school. After completing his national service he returned to England and worked on Tottenham Court Road for several years before studying Economics at Middlesex University. He joined Reuters and worked as a Project Manager for many years, first in the UK and then in the Netherlands before working around continental Europe. He returned to the UK but continued to work on overseas projects in Europe, the Middle East and Africa before he moving to Australia, where he lived for the next ten years. He returned to London a few years ago.
Nicholas Nicolaides wrote and illustrated 'Zero One' over three months during the 2020 coronavirus lockdown in London.

Table of Contents

0.1 COGITO, ERGO SUM / THE GAME / SAKUTEIKI

1.0 KIMIKO / SAKURA / TIMESTAMP

1.1 OTAKU 1 / ZATOICHI

2.0 CAMPERVAN / SICK / LOCKDOWN / SOLAR

2.1 DELIVERY SKIPPER / THE FUTURE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT / OTAKU 11 / N!NJA5?0 / BIOMETRIC SECURITY

3.0 MEHMET / LONG TIME / INFECTED / CAMEL CIGARETTES / 9 9 9 / SPECIALIST OPERATIONS / MISSION IMPOSSIBLE

3.1 OTAKU? / LEE SEUNG-SHIN / OTAKU 1.1 / STOCKHOLM / OTAKU 10

4.0 OKUMURA / ROADBLOCK / LEOPARDON / KIMIKO'S FRIEND / MARY

4.1 CHIAKI / OTAKU 110 / AFGHANISTAN / DET. SEO - HIEKO / N!NJA5?0'S MUM / OTAKU?.1

5.0 TROJAN / DEAL / THE DARK / KILL ZONE / KNOCK, KNOCK

5.1 OTAKU 10.1 / EMBARRASSMENT / ORAL / A SCANNER DARKLY / OTAKU 110.1

6.0 KNOCK, KNOCK 2.0 / METHOD ACTING WOODLAND WALK / KILLZONE 2.0 / BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB / RESERVOIR DOGS

6.1 OTAKU 11.10 / LA ROCHELLE / LADY VENGEANCE / MASAKUNI / RING

7.0 LEOPARDON RETURNS / LA HAINE / ABDOMINAL TRAUMA / EPIPHYSIS / HELP! / RONIN

7.1 KATANA / KAZUO KOJIMA / SPIT / YOJIMBO / MIDORI / STEEP PEAK

8.0 ANNO LOCKDOWN / THE GREAT WAVE OFF KANAGAWA / PLAN B

8.1 KABUFUDA / BORYOKUDAN / SHI / REFUGEE / THE PITCH / GO NO-GO

9.0 THE FIRST SUPPER / 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144 / PROVISIONS / WATER & RABBITS

9.1 RHODES ISLAND / HEAD / WASTED / INTERVIEW / KIDNAPPED / GLUE

10.0 WOUND / TRAP / STEAK & WINE / BUTCHER / YUMI / CUSTOMER CARE / PENTHOUSE

Editorial Reviews

Reedsy Discovery Must Read *****

'Zero One's wild, twisting plot allows Nicolaides many opportunities to demonstrate an impish wit, and at its best, when it guides readers through its leaps in perspective, the book moves with an off-kilter propulsiveness...The situations that Nicolaides crafts, and the solutions to problems that his characters arrive at, are inventive, exciting, and tied to our present moment.' - The Booklife Prize (2020)

'I found myself at the end of each chapter excited to see what would happen next and through which personality I would be experiencing the story. The writing for this novel is absolutely top notch and I loved every second of it.' - Rebecca Ross (Reedsy Discovery)

'Readers will be immersed in the setting as they follow a wide variety of characters...A fascinating, thought-provoking interplay of various industries and quasifuturistic technologies creates a multidimensional reading experience...Readers looking for a tour of a peculiar future will enjoy falling through Nicolaides's looking-glass. - Booklife

From the Publisher