{"product_id":"2940014094238","title":"PANDEMIC","description":"_Generally,\u003cbr\u003e          human beings don't do\u003cbr\u003e      totally useless things\u003cbr\u003e        consistently and widely.\u003cbr\u003e    So--maybe there is\u003cbr\u003e            something to it--_\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"We call it Thurston's Disease for two perfectly good reasons,\" Dr.\u003cbr\u003eWalter Kramer said. \"He discovered it--and he was the first to die of\u003cbr\u003eit.\" The doctor fumbled fruitlessly through the pockets of his lab coat.\u003cbr\u003e\"Now where the devil did I put those matches?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Are these what you're looking for?\" the trim blonde in the gray\u003cbr\u003eseersucker uniform asked. She picked a small box of wooden safety\u003cbr\u003ematches from the littered lab table beside her and handed them to him.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Ah,\" Kramer said. \"Thanks. Things have a habit of getting lost around\u003cbr\u003ehere.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I can believe that,\" she said as she eyed the frenzied disorder around\u003cbr\u003eher. Her boss wasn't much better than his laboratory, she decided as she\u003cbr\u003ewatched him strike a match against the side of the box and apply the\u003cbr\u003eflame to the charred bowl of his pipe. His long dark face became half\u003cbr\u003eobscured behind a cloud of bluish smoke as he puffed furiously. He\u003cbr\u003elooked like a lean untidy devil recently escaped from hell with his\u003cbr\u003ethick brows, green eyes and lank black hair highlighted intermittently\u003cbr\u003eby the leaping flame of the match. He certainly didn't look like a\u003cbr\u003epathologist. She wondered if she was going to like working with him, and\u003cbr\u003eshook her head imperceptibly. Possibly, but not probably. It might be\u003cbr\u003edifficult being cooped up here with him day after day. Well, she could\u003cbr\u003ealways quit if things got too tough. At least there was that\u003cbr\u003econsolation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe draped his lean body across a lab stool and leaned his elbows on\u003cbr\u003eits back. There was a faint smile on his face as he eyed her\u003cbr\u003equizzically. \"You're new,\" he said. \"Not just to this lab but to the\u003cbr\u003eInstitute.\"","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47073899577584,"sku":"2940014094238","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940014094238_p0.jpg?v=1763600513","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940014094238","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}