𝐒𝐚𝐧 𝐃𝐢𝐞𝐠𝐨, 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐚

𝟏𝟗𝟔𝟖

  Phoebe looked at her 2-year-old daughter, Kiara, and smiled when she noticed that she was finally asleep. She slowly walked out of her room, closing the door behind her. "Only took me thirty minutes and three bedtime stories," she muttered to herself.

  She let out a yawn before heading downstairs to join her husband, who was currently watching TV, in the living room. "What are you watching ?" She asked, sitting next to him on the couch.

"What looks like scientists trying to scare us," Jake answered. "You know, the classic story that, one day, we'll face a new pandemic that will kill us all."

"I see," Phoebe simply said. "It's hard to believe that a lot of people still believe that kind of crap."

  She brought her attention to the TV just as one of the guests of the show — named Dr. Neuman — started talking about how the prospect of an epidemic doesn't keep him up at night.

"Mankind has been at war with a virus from the start. Sometimes, millions of people die, as in an actual war, but in the end, we always win," he simply explained.

"Uh, but you — uh, just to be clear, you — you do think microorganisms pose a threat ?" The host of the show — named Murray — asked, slightly confused by his answer.

"Oh, in the most dire terms," Dr. Neuman simply said.

"Bacteria," the host said, trying to guess what he meant.

"No."

"You like saying 'no'," Murray joked, getting the audience to laugh.

"Yes," Neuman joked back, the audience laughing as well.

"Not bacteria, not viruses, so...?" Murray asked.

"Fungus," Neuman said before hearing the crowd whispering in disbelief. Jake and Phoebe looked at each other with a frown, confused by his answer. 

  As if he read their minds, Dr. Neuman said, "Yes, that's the usual response. Fungi seem harmless enough. Many species know otherwise, because there are some fungi who seek not to kill, but to control. Let me ask you: where do we get LSD from ?"

"Where do you get it from ?" Murray asked back, trying to lighten the mood.

"It comes from ergot, a fungus. Psilocybin? Also a fungus. Viruses can make us ill, but fungi can alter our very minds. There's a fungus that infects insects — gets inside an ant, for example, travels through its circulatory system to the ant's brain and then floods it with hallucinogens, thus bending the ant's mind to its will. The fungus starts to direct the ant's behavior, telling it where to go, what to do, like a... puppeteer with a marionette. And it gets worse. The fungus needs food to live, so it begins to devour its host from within, replacing the ant's flesh with its own. But it doesn't let its victim die, no. It... it keeps its puppet alive by preventing decomposition. How? Where do we get penicillin from ?"

  Jake looked at his wife, in disbelief. "Well, that's new," he commented.

"Yeah," Phoebe scoffed. "As if a fucking mushroom could turn us into what ? Zombies ?" She said, not believing a single word Dr. Neuman was saying.

"Fungus," Murray immediately guessed, getting the married couple to look back at the TV.

"Dr. Schoenheiss, you're in distress —," Murray noticed.

"Well, fungal infection of this kind is real, but not in humans," He said, looking at Dr. Neuman.

"How much do we bet he's gonna go on another long explanation about a possible fungal infection ?" Jake asked, looking at his wife who simply laughed.

"True, fungi cannot survive if its host's internal temperature is over 94 degrees, and currently, there are no reasons for fungi to evolve to be able to withstand higher temperatures. But what if that were to change ? What if, for instance, the world were to get slightly warmer ? Well, now there is reason to evolve. One gene mutates — an ascomycete, uh, Candida, ergot, Cordyceps, Aspergillus, any one of them could become capable of burrowing into our brains and taking control, not of millions of us, but billions of us. Billions of puppets with poisoned minds, permanently fixed on one unifying goal : to spread the infection to every last human alive by any means necessary. And there are no treatments for this. No preventatives, no cures, they don't exist, it's not even possible to make them !"

"So, if that happens... ?" 

"We lose," Dr. Neuman answered, not wanting to sugarcoat things.

  Jake and Phoebe looked at each other, completely silent, not knowing what to say. Phoebe grabbed the TV remote to turn it off, while Jake said, "That doctor truly lost his mind. We all know it's impossible for a fungus to evolve that fast to infect us. It'll take thousands, if not millions, of years before this could happen."

"Glad to know we won't be here to witness it."

A/N : the prologue is (finally) here ! Sorry it took me like two months to post it, my job has been kicking my ass and still does ! Tbh, I have mixed feelings about this prologue ! I like it but I hate it at the same time 😅 and I have to make a confession : for the entire discussion between Dr. Neuman and Murray, I have to use the first episode's transcript bc I literally SUCK when it comes to speak about science in English 😅 I hope you like it and I hope I can get chapter 1 soon but since I have like two guided tours to study for this month, can't make any promise but I'll try 😅 love you, take care 😘