The influenza part of ANSD makes it contagious, makes it spread. The prions change the brain, create rage, aggression. No higher cortical input.
But what about the hunger? What makes it hungry? We thought initially that a primitive brain was hungry by definition. But what if ANSD humanoids are hungry because something makes them hungry? Makes their brains hungry. Some infectious agent makes them hungry?
So, two separate pathogens in the same host? Or something new? Something with distinct and adaptive properties. Something that hijacks the host. Something that changes us.
I was trying to think, but it hurt. Everything hurt. My ears rang from the sound of Pittman’s gun. My head feels like it might explode.
I was still standing on the steel table, but there was no reason for this now. I stepped down carefully, tried not to look at Pittman or Blanca, and I slid into a chair.
5:36 AM
I woke because of silence.
All I could hear were crabs and insects.
No moaning.
The last subject!
There ought to be one left, still in the holding area. It would have heard all this. If it were still animate, I could study it—try to repeat Blanca’s work. Even if it had stopped moving, had died, I could still dissect it, could at least try to confirm what little sense I could make of Blanca’s work.
I moved as quickly as I could to the holding area, stumbling, the ground seeming to move with the waves of the ocean, the humidity like a wall, the flickering lights of the lab directing me like beacons.
The gate to the facility was open. Pittman must have been here. There was a transport pole around the last subject’s head, the pole leaning against the wall, the power in the pole empty. It had been jimmied, surgical tape wrapped around the handle and holding the button down. One long, continuous shock. The subject was deanimated, its brain burned, smoking. There was a smell. I looked at the body. Devoured, crabs feasting. There was no point to dissection. Nothing left.
23 November 2012
(DATE ADDED BY UN ANNOTATION TEAM BASED ON FORENSIC ESTIMATIONS)
4:35 PM
woke suddenly. Head crushing. My head. So much pain.
pH meter cracked. No reading.
Sweating.
Hungry.
I haven’t felt hungry in weeks, maybe never really felt hungry. Not hungry like this. I can smell the crabs. Smell the bugs.
Laughing again, blood dripping from my nose, my mouth, everywhere. All over these pages.
I read back, read I wrote. Remembered. Sheep. Blanca. both dead.
I’m changing. Hungry.
I can’t walk, can’t hold the pen. I am legible?
sheep drawn in blood
notes. where
Laughing again. Why?
Who is this for? who is So hungry so strong.
To the infirmary. Thought I was walking. Saw my reflection in water.
Not walking.
I feel strong. Feel invincible. Just need food. Feed. To feed.
The infirmary.
I’m changing.
Changed.
The infirmary
needles. someone
need needles.
needless this end.
blood blood on needles
I’m alive.
Have to eat
Digital imagery from the excavation team did not locate any of Gutierrez’s writing. The drawing that Blum describes on the wall is gone, though there are bloodstains where Blum appears to have been looking. These images will be available at tomorrow’s meeting.
We view the content of this journal as immensely important and only the beginning of a new line of inquiry. If there is indeed an additional pathogen that has somehow become part of the ANSD infection, then we can alter our vaccines to create a more focused antibody response. Mononuclear cells such as those Gutierrez isolated are not recruited to fight either influenza or prions. This seems to add credence to the possibility that unaccounted-for infective agents are present.
But this means further investigations will have to involve infected individuals who have not yet reached Stage IV. The emotional and ethical ramifications of this reality are daunting but cannot be ignored. The future of our species depends on reading this material carefully and dispassionately.
Please know that we have already dispatched investigatory teams to remaining areas of intact infrastructure throughout the globe. If the creators of this plague are alive, we will find them. If they have perished, we will find what is left of them.
One-third of humanity lives. One-third of humanity insists that we not lose hope. But all of humanity is probably infected. There isn’t much time.
Drs. Blum, Gutierrez, and Pittman will be recognized tomorrow in accordance with their respective families’ traditions. Please be prepared to observe these ceremonies before we begin scientific discussion.
Thank you for your time and for your hope.
APPENDIX I
Glossary of Terms
ANSD: Ataxic Neurodegenerative Satiety Deficiency Syndrome. This is the ICD-10 (international classification of disease) term given to the virus that causes zombiism.
• Stage I—Onset of extreme hunger with coexisting fever and upper respiratory symptoms.
• Stage II—Worsening fever with measured temperatures up to 106°F. Cough worsens and cognitive decline begins. Hunger intensifies, with a preference for large, living moving organisms. Balance begins to suffer, with a wide-based, staggered gait. Arms are often held in front to maintain posture. Stage II lasts from one to twenty-four hours.
• Stage III—Significant cognitive and neurological decline. Frequent falls and increased aggressive behavior. Significant malabsorption of food. Stage III lasts no more than four hours.
• Stage IV—Complete loss of human characteristics. Officially categorized as “No Longer Human”—“NLH”—by the UN and the WHO. “Ethically Dead,” and subjects are now “humanoids.” As death has already philosophically occurred, the cessation of oxidative function among those with Stage IV infection is referred to as “deanimation” and happens after multiple days in the absence of feeding or with the destruction of the brain stem.
ANSD Shock Syndrome: The general descriptive term for the psychological numbing and emotional constriction that many have experienced in the setting of such dire and significant changes to our species and our planet. The condition resembles a dissociative psychological state and is characterized especially by the loss of respect and appreciation for living and viable organisms in the setting of the current crisis.
Gutierrez protocol: The process suggested by Spanish microbiologist Blanca Gutierrez. Gutierrez found that creating a metabolic alkalosis (raising the body’s pH) by infusing bicarbonate and administering oral Lasix (a diuretic that causes urination) could prevent the prion-like aspect of the ANSD virus from bending and leading to the neurological changes responsible for the behavior of Stage IV–infected humanoids. However, people with artificially raised pHs often feel quite ill. They cannot think clearly, and almost always die if they do not correct their acid–base balance. Conversely, allowing the pH to correct creates the environment that allows the prions to become infective.
Humanoid: The official WHO-sanctioned term for humans infected with the ANSD virus and showing the neurobiological changes characteristic of Stage IV disease.
NLH: No Longer Human. A specific classification stemming from the Treaty of Atlanta. “NLH” signifies the loss of human status to those manifesting the full ANSD syndrome and is a compromise term for those not comfortable defining infected individuals as no longer alive.
Prions: Infective proteins that have been implicated in the brain changes causing much of the aggressive behavioral changes seen in Stage III and Stage IV ANSD infection. Prions are technically not alive—they lack DNA or RNA—though they behave in many ways like infective organisms and target brain tissue. The epidemic of mad cow disease in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centu
ries was caused by prions, as are diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and Kuru. Scientists believe that prions become infective and toxic when they fold onto themselves. The reasons for this change in their shape leading to increased virulence are still not understood, but it is known that prions are more likely to change to their virulent forms in low-pH (more acidic) environments. This is what led to the Gutierrez protocol.
RAH: Reptilian Aggressive Hunger Syndrome. An early name for ANSD, based on the observation that infected humans behave much like reptiles when starved, utilizing regions of their brain that make up the reptilian nervous system in the absence of any higher cortical function. The WHO eventually changed the name to ANSD in order to better characterize the ataxia (poor balance) and constant hunger (satiety deficiency) also characteristic of infected humans.
SCE: Spontaneous Cephalopod Cranial Explosions. Cephalopods—invertebrates such as octopi, squid, and cuttlefish—all have relatively advanced brains in the absence of protective skulls. Perhaps because of their advanced central nervous systems, these animals are also vulnerable to some aspects of the ANSD pathogens but cannot tolerate the increased intracranial pressure that the condition creates. As cranial pressure increases, many suffer seemingly spontaneous explosions of brain material. The phenomenon was first observed by divers in the Great Barrier Reef of pre-plague Australia, and later throughout the world as previously unrecognized carcasses began washing ashore.
Sony Implant Peritoneal pH Meter and Bicarb Infusion Unit: A device developed by the Sony Corporation to emulate implantable insulin pumps by measuring body pH and allowing the infusion of bicarbonate to maintain the alkalotic state necessary to stop prion virulence. All devices have meters that designate safe, low-risk, high-risk, and pathologic pH readings from the perspective of what acidic environment is necessary for prion activity. They also are equipped with leads to attach to electrocardiogram (EKG) machines. Workers at the Crypt were all outfitted with this device, as are many in UN bunkers.
The Treaty of Atlanta and the Protocols of the Atlanta Treaty (see appendix III): The documents produced by an international meeting of scientists, ethicists, religious leaders, and policy makers that took place in Atlanta in July 2011 at the CDC before Atlanta was overrun by ANSD. The meeting was convened to arrive at a world consensus of how best to characterize infected humans. If people with ANSD were considered human, then ethicists felt strongly that killing ANSD-infected individuals constituted murder. Because the infected were not using any higher cognitive function in their attacks, and because they could relatively easily be outrun and avoided given their cognitive and neurological difficulties, ethicists stressed that one could not reasonably argue self-defense when taking the life of someone infected with ANSD. Similarly, there are no precedents for mass self-defense other than war, and “war” is not an appropriate term without a formal declaration from the enemy. Additionally, if ANSD victims are human, then they are subject to the same caveats that protect all living organisms, especially humans, on which experiments are performed. These issues go to the core of how we define “human” and led world ecumenical leaders to decide from ethical, spiritual, and policy points of view that those infected with late-stage ANSD had, as a result of the infection, lost the fundamental aspects of humanity (the capacity to connect at any kind of human level).
The rapid rate at which ANSD was spreading made it necessary for a quick and cooperative world consensus regarding these issues. The protocols of the treaty dictate that those with the full syndrome of Stage IV ANSD are no longer technically alive, and are referred to as humanoids or, alternatively, as NLH (No Longer Human). Religious leaders approved rituals observing the cessation of life (funerals and so forth) for those infected, and ANSD humanoids are thus considered dead among ecumenical and ethical scholars (though disagreement lingers among this working group).
UNSaSS: United Nations Sanctuary and Study Site. This is a cooperative operation of the UN and the WHO with input from organizations such as the CDC and its international counterparts. The UN/WHO/ANSD Working Group decided that there needed to be a single location where experiments and tests in the search for a vaccine and treatment for ANSD could take place. Given the quick spread of the virus, there were fewer options than first thought, as an uninhabited and disease-free island was needed. Additionally, the island needed to be close enough to land so that easy transport was possible, and a hot environment was necessary as warmer temperatures increase virulence and make the virus therefore easier to study. A coral atoll, Bassas da India, between Madagascar and mainland Africa was chosen. As it is partially submerged much of the time, no one had tried to escape from the virus there, and the world community funded a quick assembly on the ten-kilometer body of land, using stilts on top of which were placed laboratory equipment, solar power cells, bunkers that can sleep up to ten, a surgical suite, and holding facilities for infected individuals. Due to the virulence of the contagion, every worker sent to the island either contracts Stage IV disease or expires from the persistent metabolic alkalosis necessary to stop progression of the disease. This earned it the nickname “the Crypt” by UN staff. The average life span of humans on the island is about two weeks, and humanoids are no longer transported there; infected humans who are recruited to work at the UNSaSS and who succumb to the disease are instead used as experimental subjects.
APPENDIX II
ATAXIC NEURODEGENERATIVE SATIETY DEFICIENCY SYNDROME
NATURAL HISTORY AND EARLY THERAPEUTIC MANEUVERS*
Mary Anne Fassalini, PhD
Daniel Pittman, PhD, MD
Anita Gupta, MD, PhD
Saori Fujiwawna, MD (deceased humanoid)
Blanca Gutierrez, PhD
World Health Organization Outpost, South Pacific compound August 2012
INTRODUCTION
Outbreaks of Ataxic Neurodegenerative Satiety Deficiency—ANSD, or “zombiism”—have become increasingly prolific since the initial reports of this disease were first noted among the Aran Islands of west Ireland last year. The history of these initial infections has been well documented (1) but until recently little has been known about the pathophysiology of the syndrome. While a great deal remains to be understood, the investigatory endeavors are clearly limited by the increasing scope of the problem and the overarching public health concerns that have required incineration of infected regions. Given these limitations, despite the dire state of affairs the medical community already used a good deal of precious time to study ANSD at a neurobiological, molecular, and indeed political-psychological level.
With these concerns in mind, this paper represents the first attempt at suggesting a cohesive natural history for ANSD based on a comprehensive characterization of the pathophysiology of the syndrome. Much of the data here is based on laboratory work stemming directly from the hastily organized study sites that led to the initiation of the United Nations–designated Sanctuary and Study Site (UNSaSS) for more sophisticated investigations of individuals with ANSD (2). In keeping with the conventions adopted by the Treaty of Atlanta (3), we will not in this article refer to or consider these patients as human. Infected patients are considered “humanoid” once definitive ICD-10 criteria for Stage IV infection are met (4). Given our unique circumstances, we understand and are especially sympathetic with the ethical controversies surrounding this provocative change in definition, but in the interest of stemming the ongoing outbreaks, the reconceptualization of “human” is necessary so that scientific investigations can proceed with necessary inquiries in the absence of more stringent guidelines appropriately governing the use of human beings for experiments. We firmly believe that in addition to increasing the etiologic understanding of the disease and furthering the search for a global remedy, the investigations on Bassas da India will lead to the development of viable primate models for the infection and a therefore more balanced and humanitarian challenge to the somewhat draconian steps taken when the Treaty of Atlanta was drafted a month ago.
> The authors are grateful for the world’s recognition with the Nobel Peace Prize last month, but also firmly agree with the United Nations Emergency Declaration of early August 2011 stating that the current lack of medical knowledge regarding ANSD is “apocalyptic in scope” (5). The Nobel Prize will therefore be little more than a hollow honor in the absence of a better scientific, medical, philosophical, and environmental understanding of ANSD. The goals of this paper are intended to meet these urgent needs.
BACKGROUND
As noted, ANSD was first reported in the Aran Islands by the Irish Medical Society in 2011 (6). The tourist disaster of 8–15 May 2011 was widely covered by the media throughout the world, though it is now believed that the outbreak began sometime in late April but was hindered in discovery by mistranslated reports from the largely Gaelic-speaking population and the relative remoteness of the islands themselves. What is known with certainty is that the village of Doolan received a distress call on 9 May from a tourist ferry. Irish officials sent to investigate did not return from the rescue mission. The first photographs of the outbreak thus emerged on 10 May, images sent digitally to satellite media outlets. The individuals who took these photos did not survive, and the islands have since been incinerated, forcing medical historians to assume that the photographers were either consumed by patients with active ANSD, or were themselves infected and thus terminated in the incineration.
The Zombie Autopsies: Secret Notebooks from the Apocalypse Page 8