NOLF 1 Practically Predicted Social Distancing and Has Some Surprising Pandemic Similarities

[CoLdOwN]

In Rendezvous in Hamburg Scene 1, the club Das Einsame Valkyrie has a bouncer that claims the club is full despite hardly any people being in it, usually 1 or 2 per room other than Cate (who went in despite it being full). But what adds to this and is more eyebrow raising is that there's an intelligence item that claims the club has a fire hazard limit of 2 persons per 20 square feet. Now the NOLF wiki suggests that this is an excuse for or poking fun at the game's old and limited engine. But coincidentally it's like an early form of social distancing. 20 square feet is about 4.5 feet horizontally and vertically. Surprisingly, that's exactly in the middle of the 3 feet minimum recommended by the World Health Organization and the more cautious 6 feet recommendation from some countries. While that limit would allow 2 people to be closer than 4.5 feet, a 3rd person would have to be farther than that from at least one of them.

The plot of NOLF 1 has some surprising pandemic similarities, even with the Covid-19 pandemic. It involves finding an "antidote" to stop people from being "infected" so they don't die (explode) and kill others near them. As Dr. Schenker described, the infection is undetectable (at least at first), feeds on organic material and spreads more in densely populated areas. Sound familiar? Ironically Cate gets infected when she's in the club, and she doesn't show symptoms of being infected (burping) until nearly 10 days later. 10 days is also how long it can take for people to show symptoms of Covid-19 or test positive for it (even up to 14 days). Of course the difference with NOLF 1 is that it's a bio-weapon used to infect people in a selective, controlled manner to cause an explosion, and it's the explosion that spreads on its own. But still, there are quite a few surprising parallels if you think about it.

Edited April 8, 2021 by CoLdOwN