26: star cross'd

pec·cant
1. sinning; guilty of a moral offense.
2. violating a rule, principle, or established practice; faulty; wrong.

The rebellion failed. The conspirators were charged. There were too many to punish, so they were set free, but with a penalty: a viral infection, kept dormant, until contact was made with another like it. If any two of the leaders came within ten feet of one another, both would die. If any found themselves in the same enclosed space, they would die. The virus was not without a sense of justice; it was practical and expeditious. The idea was safe. It was poignant. It was effective.

Mariana and Josef wrote letters, at first, on plastic cards that they would each wipe down with bleach, while wearing gloves and masks. One day, so adorned, Mariana bought a bottle of her perfume, and sprayed the letter once it had been sterilized. Josef, who had rented an apartment across the street and did little other than drink and stare through his telescope into her windows, knew immediately upon opening the envelope what she had done. He wept for hours. When she heard that he had shot himself, she pushed past the police and ran up the stairs to his apartment, knowing full well that the sight of his beautiful corpse would kill her.