Never Human Again E-Book

Mehran Salehpour

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 351

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

Three decades of continual polypandemic more or less eradicated the weak and the elderly, and finally, through vaccination, the world population achieved viral immunity. The society changed significantly over this period. The last pandemic, caused by the AGIS-CoV-1 virus (Acute Gastrointestinal Syndrome Corona Virus-1), initially seemed similar to the previous ones, a mutation of the original, attacking specific combination of organs. This particular strain affected the intestinal tract, radically changing the gut microbiota. The symptoms, however, seemed mild, and the virus was deemed as unthreatening at the time. Even though the virus was not deadly, the aftermath altered society completely. The human microbiota was depleted severely as a result of the virus attack. Most gut bacteria types were destroyed, except some with specific mutations. Depending on the host microflora composition after the infection, several classes of behavioral responses were observed, leaving the human host dominated by only a few types of bacterial- rather than hundreds previously. The drastically altered human gut microbiota transformed the host's neurotranmsmitter biochemistry in the brain, leaving personal traits identified with the bacteria type. Six major groups in society coexisted. The groups differed not only in the gut bacterial composition but also by significant differences in behavior, leading to a society differentiated into subclasses. The impact effected the political system and led to the formation of a new religion Dr. Jonas Frost, a cell biologist, belonged to the Hyper-class, known for their typical hyperactivity and intensity. He was on the verge of making an extraordinary discovery. The bacteria had established access to the Homosapien brain and were modifying, not only the human behavior but also the genome for a new human species: The Homo U-Enteroensis.

Leseprobe

About the author

Mehran Salehpour is an Associate Professor in physics from Uppsala University, Sweden. He has worked for many years within the interdisciplinary field of biomedical physics and was one of the pioneers in the then-new field of protein mass spectrometry. He received a Ph.D. in Nuclear/Ion Physics from Uppsala university at the age of 25 and has worked as a researcher in both the USA and Sweden. He has published over 80 peer-reviewed papers in international scientific journals, including the highest-ranked ones such as Nature, Science, and Cell. He has also been awarded a prize from the European Physical Society for outstanding research.

He was born in Tehran, Iran in 1960. A Persian father and a German mother facilitated insight into the arbitrariness of cultures and ways of life. He moved to England when he was fourteen to do O-Levels and A-Levels, which were later complemented with a B.Sc. in physics from the University of Sussex. After a doctorate and a few years of research in the USA, he left the academic life for eighteen years and worked in the industry for over fifteen years as among others, Managing Director, before going back to research.

He has also been known for very long lunches and taking a couple of years of vacation at a time. All his occupations so far seemed rather serious, and he is currently trying to find something less somber to do.

He is married, has four children, and lives in Sweden.

Contents

January 2057

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

February 2058

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

April 2058

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

September 2058

Chapter 12

March 2059

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

August 2064

Chapter 16

July 2066

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Glossary

January 2057

Chapter 1

Jonas Frost was late.

Again.

But this time, he really didn’t want to be late. Sara, his ex-wife, was already very irritated with him, to say the least. And arriving late always got her going. His two children didn’t care and thought it was a bit charming, him being a professor. But with mom present, they didn’t find that amusing at all as she would probably end up picking on him for the rest of the evening, and he would respond. So, Jonas would be arriving at his ex-wife’s house with the odds against him: three to one. He had better think of a good excuse.

He parked his bicycle, took out his bag from the basket, and rang the doorbell. Sara opened the door with one of her irritated looks. “The mother of my children, how lovely you look tonight!” he said, a little too cheerfully.

What he got in return was, “You are late. Again.”

He then exclaimed comically, “My offsprings, my joys of life!” and cuddled them. He then gave a wine bottle to Karl and a soda with a cartoon character label to Anna. “In six years, you can help us with the wine, tiny one,” he then went on, “Sorry, I am late. I forgot the time,” he decided to be honest. He got another look darted at him from Sara.

He asked Sara how things were going at work, to which she replied,

“Same, same. Samples in and results out. Not very challenging intellectually. But the demands are sky-high. We are running at full capacity. Mostly blood and excrement samples; always something to look forward to.”

Jonas sat on the sofa, holding Anna’s hand and stretching his long legs. “Well, tell me, how are things with the world of medicine?” he asked Karl.

“It was a lot of fun until we started with the anatomy course. It is dead boring. Hundreds of names of various parts that I didn’t even know existed,” said Karl with a sigh.

“Well, look at it as your future vocabulary so that you can communicate. Imagine talking to your professor and saying, the patient has an inflammation of the thingy-bob behind the giggly looking thing at the back of the mouth. That would not be very clear, would it now,” and they all laughed.

“You are right, dad. I just have to get through it,” admitted Karl.

Sara served some wine for the grown-ups and the soda for Anna.

“And my favorite twelve-year-old princess, how are things in school?” asked Jonas.

Anna took a sip of her soda and looked at her mom and then said, “It is OK, except that now and then it gets quite noisy and hectic with some kids. It is difficult to concentrate on what the teachers are saying.”

“You mean with the H-types, darling?” asked Jonas.

Anna again looked at her mom and whispered a “Yes.”

Jonas moved closer to her and put his arm around her and almost whispered, “Sweetheart, you don’t need to feel bad about saying that. H-enterotypes are H-enterotypes; they are Hyper per definition, that is the way they are- you are not judgmental. They sometimes have problems concentrating. Well, I should say we sometimes have problems concentrating. It is very annoying for others. You know how I can occasionally be. But I am a grownup, and I know how to deal with it, but for kids, it is difficult. You are lucky that you have mild symptoms as a Hyper.”

“Have you heard about the new schools opening up for the H- and G-enterotypes next term?” asked Karl.

“Yes, indeed. Two of each, but that is just the start. I have put Anna on the waiting list. Until then, we just need to be patient and do the best we can. All right, pumpkin?” Jonas looked at Anna lovingly, who was fiddling with her long blond hair.

Sara nodded at Anna, who went on, “And the G-enterotypes. They can be a little scary. A few of them get furious sometimes and start screaming and throwing things around in class or the playground. And it is freaky when they talk to people who are not there.” Jonas looked at Sara and Anna and then at Karl. He looked serious and concerned.

“Look, I know the situation is not very good. And, especially the G-enterotypes, some of them are quite sick. When I was a kid, we used to call them schizophrenic, and they did not normally mix with normal people. The severe cases lived in hospitals or care homes most of the time. Now we live in special times. We only found out about the different enterotypes a few years ago, and we are adjusting as best as we can. It is the same all over, on the street, in the shops, at work at the university- right Karl, right Sara?” who nodded sympathetically. “Things are changing slowly, and we are in the middle of it. Hopefully, next term, you can start school with people like yourself, and things will be much better. All right, darling?”

She nodded hesitantly and then asked, “Dad, how were things when you went to school?”

Jonas settled back in his seat and threw a look at Sara, asking for support, and went on, “Well, where do I begin? OK, the city, the streets, the cars, buses, buildings and all looked pretty much the same as now, except one thing. When you went out during the day, you would see old people everywhere. With old, I mean, really old; over 60 but even 70-, 80- or 90-year-olds walking with a dog or with a walker on wheels or just sitting on park benches. They had a soothing effect on everyone as they were never in a hurry and loved talking to the young people. Most other people were healthy and normal.”

“How about the school, dad, was it different then?” Anna wanted to know.

“Well, when we went to school, most kids were carefree kids who just played and had fun. Of course, there were always the odd ones here and there who were nasty or very noisy, but most kids were just fine. The same with the teachers. We had some teachers who were a little grumpy or strict, but nothing like now.”

Sara, cut in, “But already then we had special schools for kids who did not feel well who had symptoms similar to the G-enterotypes, or the C-enterotypes. But there were very few. Very few indeed.”

“Daddy, will I grow up and become old? Will you be there for my children?” Jonas gave her another cuddle and said, “I will be there, darling. Don’t worry.”

Sara looked down.

* *

Hans Borg sat down on his favorite bench overlooking the children’s playground near his church. He had his lunch box, which he had prepared in the morning before going to work. Meatballs and sesame rolls; it made a delightful change from his normal ham and cheese roll. The sun was out, the birds were chirping, and the kids were playing. He stretched his neck, combed his blond hair, and got comfortable. He was going to enjoy this.

People would normally react to a middle-aged man sitting near a children’s playground, but he had his clerical shirt with a tab collar, and that made all the difference. He looked harmless. He was not a threat to the children. He often got smiles from parents who felt good to have a priest nearby.

Hans started to eat his roll and looked at the children. He enjoyed being near them. Unlike the adults, they seemed so pure and innocent- and they had no scars from life’s worst enemy: aging. The way they moved, and the way they talked, lacked the heavy burden of adults whose postures revealed a life full of unwelcome duties, conflicts, and worries. And the eyes were so clear and vibrant compared to the troubled eyes of the grownups, some of which were almost scary to look at as if staring into a deep dark abyss, reflecting the soul.

The soul. That was a keyword. How he had been tormented by this; by his dilemma. Is there a God, really? He had worked as a priest for twenty years, convincing so many people that, yes, there is a God. But he had never been able to convince himself. On the contrary, since the major changes after the last damned virus pandemic seven years ago, he had become even more swayed that the bible did not make any sense at all. He, of course, kept this all to himself, but what he preached was simply nonsense. Who, in their right mind, could believe that the earth is 6000 years old? How about evolution? And all the miracles? He felt like a charlatan standing in front of all the people in the church, telling them all these stories- and this is what they are, stories- and that Jesus performed all these miracles and that he was the son of God. What amazed him was the people’s need to believe. You could tell them anything. They would just sit there facing him with trusting eyes and take in everything he said. He sometimes felt like screaming at the people: “Come on, wake up, you sheep! You cannot possibly believe all this.” But he never did. Ever. People seemed to have an urge to believe in something bigger than themselves. It is the same all over the world. All the religions originate from the same problem. You simply have to leave your logic behind and just believe. There have been thousands of gods, worshipped by true believers, and each and every one believed sincerely that their God is the one-and-only true one.

He remembered meeting other priests, Imams, Buddhist monks, and rabbis. They all seemed so convinced about their God and their scripture. Why couldn’t he be like them? But surely, they cannot all be right unless there are many gods out there. No, it doesn’t make sense. They must also have doubts. Just like him, they go out day after day, pretending to be a believer, but deep inside, they must know. But he, himself, was a very convincing priest; that is convincing others.

He felt he was a fraud since many years ago, but this did not make him an evil person. Quite the reverse, he had done a lot of good since he started to work in the church. After he received his theological education and the pastoral training at the Johannelund Theological Institute in Uppsala in 2036, he started to work directly with so many troubled people. It was a very tough period when the viral pandemics hit every corner of the world. Just as they had managed one pandemic, another would start to spread. People were poor, and although there were no famines in Sweden, there were many hungry people who lived well below the poverty level. The virus wiped out so many people- mostly the elderly and the weak. He saw so many suffer. The hospitals were full of people in need of care and also filled with corpses. The smoke from the large crematoriums by the hospitals was a reminder of how fragile life could be. This had all contributed to his doubts about the existence of the God almighty. How could this God allow so many to suffer and die? It just did not make any sense at all.

When he was a teenager, thinking about becoming a priest, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sweden owned over 3500 churches and had 6 million members. He had stopped following the numbers as they were quite depressing, but forty years later, the number of members had dropped to below a million, and the number of closed churches was huge. Perhaps people had woken up and had realized that they had to start believing in something more credible. Despite his doubts and the negative trend, he had worked hard right in the middle of the polypandemic to help the poor, the troubled, and the ones in need of consoling. He had spent well over ten years with the American refugees, helping them with everything from food and shelter to domestic violence and trauma therapy. No, he was not a bad person. He just was not convinced about the existence of God.

He started to think about all that had happened. The polypandemic had shaken up humanity. When it all started in 2020, he was ten years old. While society was dealing with the first Coronavirus, not many considered that it would be followed by many more pandemics. All his memories of childhood before the pandemics were happy ones with laughter and people around in public. He remembered going to football matches with his dad and going to the movies with his mom. People would meet and hug and kiss, sharing a drink, and even food and sit very close to each other. As a teenager, once the pandemics got started, his memories were of people avoiding being close to each other- even relatives. There were no more football matches or cinemas to go to. Everyone went about their business with a face-mask, avoiding not only physical contact but all contacts. Of course, teenagers did not follow the rules like the adults, but the whole society had the heavy burden of the polypandemic. There were so many problems in society. The most common ones were related to contracted diseases. At a given time, a certain virus would be making people sick, and many people knew someone near who was very sick. Often the hospitals were capable of caring for only a small portion of the sick, so many ended up dying at home without getting help. The medical care sector had tried to expand its capabilities to deal with the pandemics, but the pandemics followed one after another- each virus had its special symptoms. Once the health care had adapted and started to manage a respiratory pandemic, a new mutation of the original virus SARS-CoV-2 would re-emerge and would attack another part of the body such as the brain or liver. The health care would then have to, once again, start building up stocks of the drugs, diagnostics, and medical equipment, during which time, many would perish.

Other typical problems were related to a bad economic situation. Ever since the first pandemic, the economy had no growth and was shrinking. Many were unemployed, and the ones who did have a job paid very high taxes, leaving very little to maneuver with. Many domestic issues were related to financial problems, fighting over bills, allowances, and expenditure. Fewer and fewer babies were being born as a result of economic depression and uncertainty, making the outlook for future growth rather hopeless.

People, however, had hopes that a vaccine would be able to solve the problems once and for all. However, time after time, the vaccines were either too late or had efficacy problems. In any case, none of the vaccines even came close to giving protection for future mutations. It seemed that each mutated virus required its own special vaccine. Interestingly enough, some people appeared to catch almost every strain of the virus. In contrast, others, including most children, would go from one pandemic to the other not being affected by the virus at all.

Things got a little easier once the government started to install the so-called VSU’s (Virus Sanitization Units) outside of most public buildings. The VSU’s were like a small cubicle into which one walked, and within 20 seconds, the intense UV-light would kill all the viruses and bacteria on the clothes, the hair, nail, and the skin. And a little droplet of blood from the index finger would quickly indicate if there was an infection inside the body. This increased mobility considerably, but to have large crowds such as sports events and concerts were still outside the scope of society.

The food-chain logistics were functional throughout the pandemics, but the assortment was limited as the economy was slow, and the purchasing power of the people was low. The government did issue some coupons from time to time to ration some food types when things got difficult during the pandemics. One of the most profound memories that Hans had from his childhood was seeing smiles and hearing people laughing. This was quite uncommon during the polypandemic. To see a happy face was unusual. He remembered that he missed that a lot- also the large family gatherings when the relatives would come over and he could play with his cousins.

He finished his lunch and looked at his watch. It was almost time to go back to work. He looked at the children playing. Could they count on having better lives? Things had become better, of course. The pandemics had been over for over six years—no more mass extinction of the elderly and the weak. People did not wear masks on the streets anymore. There were hardly any restrictions left from the polypandemic, and the economy was picking up. But the smiles had not come back. The relaxed atmosphere of a happy life was still just a childhood memory. The society was not a happy one.

People were aware of the new problem. It introduced too many variables into an already uncertain future. This worried them- and for good reasons.

* *

Immunovirology Centre,

Uppsala University, Sweden.

January 4, 2057, 10:15 a.m.

“Jonas, you are trembling. Are you OK?”

“I am fine. Just a panic attack.”

“You have a lecture now?”

“Yeah. A review talk for the first-year undergraduates.”

“Take it easy, all right?”

“I will be fine.”

Jonas Frost was a timid and pleasant cell biologist in his mid-fifties. He was of medium height, thick blond hair, and looked in an excellent shape barring his frequent twitching on the right side of his face, a condition which he developed after a viral infection when he was studying at the university. It was a reasonable price to pay for surviving one of the earlier waves of the polypandemic when society was not prepared at all and was caught totally by surprise. He had learned to deal with this inconvenience and had a more or less normal life except for his hyperactivity, which was considerably more than an inconvenience.

He had spent his entire career researching and lecturing in the field of immunovirology. He had done hundreds of lectures at various academic levels on this topic. He knew by heart the anticipated reactions and questions. He had his standard set of overhead pictures and topics for such undergraduate lectures. His favorite way to start the talk was by showing a series of pictures from the Swedish countryside in winter, beautifully clean and covered in untouched snow, glittering in the sun. That, he would refer to as a typical low population density area, to be compared to the high population density areas where the contaminations had spread. He would then show pictures of randomly picked streets of Stockholm packed with people and the ground littered with dog turd and urine; the excrements and yellow patches easily contrasted against the white snow. He would then show pictures of rock concerts and sports events where tens of thousands of people would gather close, sharing drinks and touching each other for hours. Another picture that he always showed was a video clip of a typical dinner party in a restaurant in the south of France, where every time a guest arrived, they would go around the table kissing all the other guests. The pictures always led to awe and surprise by the students.

Jonas always allowed a good couple of minutes for this to be discussed and absorbed by the students. They, of course, knew of the polypandemic, but such day-to-day details were known only to the people who had lived before the polypandemic era. He would then show videos of people spitting saliva or tobacco snuff, again in public areas, leaving millions of bacteria/viruses on the pavement for the next pet to take home. The students often commented on how crude humans were just a few decades ago—the concept of having pets also created quite a discussion. Cats, for example, were known to be optimal carriers of the Toxoplasma Gondii parasite. These parasites dominated the brain neurochemistry of class G citizens- the so-called Gondii’s, he told them. Pictures of pets sleeping in humans’ beds also led to reactions of amazement. Other matters that interested the students were the lack of sterilization of public places. How could there not have been any personal- or UV-sterilization in public areas? No VSU’s? How could they live with so many germs around them?

Jonas then went on to explain that the polypandemic had started on a small scale. There had been a few minor viral epidemics, but the first major pandemic in 2020 had crippled the world, in particular the economy and the supply chain for medical supplies. Life continued as before, albeit under great economic and sociopsychological strain. Herd immunity had not been reached, nor a vaccine ready before a new mutation had spread over the continents. The second strain, similar to the first, attacked mainly the weak and the elderly with higher death rates, but this time the meninges was the target with symptoms very similar to meningitis, brain membrane inflammation. Painful and lethal. The supply chain for medical supplies had to be reset as the organ under attack was different, requiring other sorts of equipment. By the mid-2030s, the society had changed significantly; over 300 million people had died, over 95% of them over the age of 60 or with impaired health. The shift in average age in society was striking. He would then show a picture of a gathering at an old people's home, where they did gymnastics, and then a picture where they danced. This led to a reaction from the students who were not used to seeing old people.

He would then ask the audience their age, knowing full well that most of them were younger than twenty years old. He then told them they were probably the first generation to have immunity against most kinds of viruses. After many failed attempts around the world, where the vaccine seemed only to provide immunity for one or a few viruses, the scientific leap had led to a vaccine against most types of viral infections, including all variations of influenza and the common cold virus. By 2049, the vaccine was being manufactured and started to be administered. However, it would take a few years to complete the vaccination on a global level.

He then went over the basics of the immunization process and the logistics problems of vaccinating billions of people.

He later would wait for the expected key question.

“Professor, this is very interesting. Please do not misunderstand me. But the actual problem now is not the virus. It is the bacteria and parasites that have torn our society into pieces. What can we do about them?”

Like many times before, he would pause, lean back with a sigh, and say, “Well, we are working on it, but it may take quite some time. This may very well be the challenge for your generation, my good fellow.”

Chapter 2

During Hans’ first week of pastoral training in Uppsala, he remembered so clearly reading the headlines in the newspapers about the official dissociation of the USA. No one was shocked as, for years, there had been daily news about the domestic problems there with no resolution in sight. The country had already been clearly polarized with the last president, Donald Trump, making many rudimentary and severe mistakes in handling the situation. The country hence became even more divided: on the one hand, the Republicans wanting to continue with the capitalist way of life and the Democrats moving toward a more European way of life to divide wealth more fairly to be able to deal with the pandemic and care for the sick. The Republicans were clear about the issue: the death of a few percent of the population per pandemic was a reasonable price to pay to sustain the American way of life and keep the American dream. The Democrats argued that society had to take care of its sick and had the responsibility to save the lives of its citizens. After years of confusion, each state decided to deal with pandemics without federal interference. The federal government lost considerable power after the first few pandemics, and by the beginning of the 2030s, the states were acting more or less independently, not following federal rules. The federal government had a democratic majority in the senate and the congress, whereas the army was dominantly Republican, who refused to take orders against Republican states. The situation had become highly unstable. After eighteen months of negotiations, the Republic of America (RoA) and the Democratic States of America (DSA) were formed without starting a civil war, which for a long time, seemed inevitable.

By the time Hans had finished his pastoral training and started to work as a priest in Uppsala, millions of Americans were escaping from the RoA, mostly to Mexico and South America but also over to Canada, Europe, and the Far East. The refugees heading to Europe mostly left the RoA by boats from the coasts of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina to various places in Europe, including Sweden. It was estimated that by 2050, nearly 20 million people had left the RoA, out of which about 2 million had ended up in Europe.

Hans remembered their stories of misery and injustice. RoA provided no health care for the poor, and the ones that contracted viral infections during the pandemics and had become critically ill were left to die. State-owned trucks would pick up the dead and bury them in mass graves unless people could afford to pay for a funeral and a personal grave. Furthermore, all labor union restrictions to protect the workers had been removed, and the employers had full control over the employees. “Slavery” was the term used by the RoA refugees describing the work camps. This time, however, slavery was not reserved for the blacks but the poor. The pictures and videos distributed through social media showed a country where the rich exploited the poor to work in appalling conditions to manufacture products in order to keep the capitalist way of life.

The number of American refugees in Europe was becoming uncomfortably high, and making it especially difficult as it occurred during a polypandemic where the economy was in dreadful shape. Sweden was no exception to the rule, and by the beginning of the 2040s, the American refugees could be seen on the streets, asking for handouts. There were indeed refugees from other countries, but that was quite a small number compared to the influx from RoA.

According to the immigration authorities, there were two types of refugees, the political refugees, who had the right to political asylum, and then there were the economic refugees who immigrated for a better life outside of RoA. The latter dominated the influx of Americans who had no legal rights to stay in Sweden. Consequently, they remained in the country without a permit or financial help from the government. Many applied for asylum as “LGBTQ persons in fear of long-term imprisonment” as homosexuality was illegal in RoA. Most of them were, in reality, not LGBTQ but saw that as a way to get a permit to live in Sweden.

Hans worked with the refugees for many years, trying to ease their desperate lives of illegal existence without a future. He had a network of doctors, dentists, and psychologists who would treat the refugees voluntarily for non-emergency cases- the state did provide emergency medical care even for illegal immigrants. A tooth-ache or an ear infection may not sound like medical emergencies, but it was heartbreaking to see people suffer night after night. He even had volunteer teachers to organize classes for the kids so that they would have some stimuli; otherwise, they had very little to do.

Hans’ work was hard, with very little encouragement as the refugees’ lives were miserable. And so was he. He was getting tired and saw no light at the end of the tunnel. It was the same thing, day after day. The only thing that changed was the people he had to deal with.

His sanctuary was the bench facing the children’s playground near his church, where he would sit there and watch the beautiful children- so happy and carefree. During that time, he felt free from stress and anxiety. This was the only time during the day that he was carefree. It was something he looked forward to; otherwise, his life was monotonous and depressing.

The diocese bishop, Peter, was a kind, gentle and wise man. Hans liked him immensely and had a lot of respect for him. Peter came to see Hans one day and asked if they could go for a walk. Hans obliged, and they took a stroll around the church area. Peter looked at Hans, cleared his throat and told him,

“Look, Hans, what I am about to tell you is quite sensitive, and I feel very uncomfortable bringing this up. I want you to know that.”

Hans was taken by this and asked him what was on his mind.

“Well, Hans, I just want to make sure that you realize that I am only conveying a message. It is not my point-of-view, OK?”

Hans felt the tension in the air. He had no idea where this was heading, so he asked the bishop to get to the point.

“You do know that parents are very protective of their children- sometimes overprotective,” said the bishop.

“Yes, of course. Naturally. Why do you say that?” asked Hans.

“Some parents have called me and complained about a middle-aged priest that sits by the children’s playground every day and stares at the kids in a strange way. They feel this is very inappropriate.”

Hans felt his pulse surge. He could taste the bile in his mouth. “But I am a priest, a man of God, for Christ’s sake,” exclaimed Hans.

“I know this, Hans. And I do know that you have no bad intentions. But would you mind just taking your lunch break somewhere else, just to relax the situation?”

Hans had not felt so much anger for a long time. He was lost for words. “I have been using that bench for ten years. Why should I change that? I have done nothing wrong.” Hans was getting very upset now.

“Look, just go to another bench. Surely it is not a big deal. Is it?”

Hans was shaking with anger now. They were taking away his only pleasure during the day. Hans nodded and walked away without saying a word. He felt cold sweat on his forehead.

His days went by, and he went on with his business of talking to worried people, giving them therapy, fixing broken things in and around the church, buying and serving food, giving the sick lift to the doctor’s or the dentist, visiting the police station, etc. The chores were endless and occupied his days. He stopped going to the children’s playground. But that had left a scar. He now had nothing to look forward to. He remembered one day when some refugees ran over to him about the news of a new pandemic; he just listened and then continued with his work. He was in no mood for even more bad news. But that night, he read about it in the paper: it was another Corona-type virus: the AGIS-CoV-1 (Acute Gastrointestinal Syndrome Corona Virus-1). It was apparently a relatively harmless one and only gave stomach pain and fever for a couple of weeks- nothing much to worry about. Well, that was sort of good news, he thought- lack of bad news is always good news, he thought. He also read in the paper that the production of the new vaccine had started. This vaccine, the so-called Omniviral vaccine, apparently worked against all types of Coronavirus and most other viruses- a breakthrough in immunology. It apparently would also stop most cold- and flu viruses. They predicted that by the end of 2050, most Europeans should have received the vaccination.

Hans felt better after reading this. There was hope. The new vaccine would not protect them in time against the upcoming virus, but this was seemingly a mild one, anyway. After that, the vaccine would stop any new pandemics. And just maybe they could go back to normal life. But what was normal life? This was the only life he knew of. He had only worked during pandemics. What would life be without all this misery?

A few months later, the new virus reached them. It appeared to be relatively harmless, as they had read in the media, but it was exceptionally contagious, so most people went around, complaining about pain in their abdomen. Some people had a fever, and some of the old and weak were hospitalized, but as a whole, this was a walk-in-the-park compared to the previous pandemics. After some weeks, most people around him had contracted the infection, and within some months, the pandemic seemed to have been out of the way. It was a touch of luck to have a mild virus, the last viral infection before the vaccine.

The Nordic winters are long and dark, and people almost go into a mental hibernation- most people gain weight and sleep more. As spring comes, people start to reactivate and become more social. But this particular spring, Hans felt that things were a little different. He could not put his finger on it exactly, but more like many incidences. Peter, the bishop, for example, was acting very strangely. His soft, gentle manner seemed to have disappeared. He now acted like a volatile person who sometimes was furious for no particular reason and, at other times, almost paranoid. His eyes were not warm and wise anymore. They were the eyes of- well, for lack of a better word- a madman. Hans was wondering what happened to old Peter. Had he gone crazy? He talked carefully with Peter about the issue. However, Peter was not receptive. He even got angry with Hans and was wondering if this was Hans’ pay-back for the children’s playground incident. And then there was Chris, one of the early refugees from the RoA who had decided to stay in the church to help out as he had no other plans in life. A nice man in his early thirties, known for his lethargy. Hans used to joke that Chris was the only person he knew who was able to take a nap in the toilet and jokingly called him Chris-the-sloth. But since a couple of weeks ago, he could see Chris get up early in the morning, sweeping the church floor and then mopping it thoroughly. He would then clean all the windows and continue with all sorts of work the whole day. What Chris did in a day nowadays took him a week before. Laziness was an integral part of Chris’ personality. He could not recognize the new Chris.

This puzzled him greatly. How could people change personality within a few months? He had known Peter and Chris for many years. There was no question about it. Several other people had similarly changed character. A clear case was Oliver, the son of the Browns, who had been in his church for about five months.

Oliver was fourteen and seemed like a normal teenager. He was quite talkative and a bit of a Besserwisser, but charming, nonetheless. Since a few weeks ago, he had become withdrawn and did not talk to anybody, including his parents. At first, everyone thought it was a case of teenage love. However, as time went by, it became clear that this was more than a broken heart. He acted almost autistic. But he was too old for that- the autism symptoms often showed in the early years as a toddler. Here, again, was the case of a person changing personality.

There was another case that particularly bothered Hans. Helena was a mother of three, also an RoA refugee. She was always happy and cheerful and could be seen around the church singing with her children. Over a period of two months, it seemed as if she aged about ten years. She became weak and fragile- and very pale. Another word that came to mind was lifelessness. She seemed almost empty of life and energy. And nobody had any idea as to what the source of it was.

And then there was Charlie, a hopeless case of a linguist’s nightmare. He seemed to have no aptitude for learning Swedish. Everyone joked about it with him. He could not even remember the numbers one to ten in Swedish. His brain seemed to be like a sieve. Most things ran through it, and nothing got stuck. But he changed within a couple of months. Just last night, Hans heard Charlie talking on the phone with someone in Swedish, not exactly literary Swedish, but he was conversing without hindrance. What was going on? It seemed puzzling.

He talked to some people that he knew about the personality changes. Most people had a feeling that something odd was happening- almost everyone knew someone who had changed significantly during a period of only a couple of months. However, nobody, including the doctors or psychologists, had any clues whatsoever about the origin of these changes. Oddly, the changes varied quite a lot: from turning into an autistic personality to becoming anxious, aggressive, and paranoid. Also, you had the ones who had suddenly become hyperactive and then the ones that turned into gifted and clever persons and then the ones that had turned frail and fragile. The only thing they had in common was the fact that they all underwent significant changes- all recently.

He remembered that period in the early 2050s very clearly, the total confusion as more and more people became aware of the personality changes around them. Many stories were spread in the media about that, albeit with no answers. Humanity was facing yet another change for the worse.

Now, in 2057, everyone knew what had happened. Worrying as it was, there was a partial relief in at least knowing what the cause of it all was. Dealing with it, though, was another issue altogether.

* *

Immunovirology Centre,

Uppsala University, Sweden.

January 5, 2057, 09:30 a.m.

“Good morning. How are you?”

“I feel much better today, thanks.”

“You are looking much better today, Jonas.”

“You know how these attacks are, they come and go.”

“Tell me about it. I had a bad one last week.”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“Lecture now?”

“Yeah. Lecture two minutes ago. Got to go.”

Jonas went into the lecture theatre, looked at the students, and started.

“Yesterday, we briefly covered how the polypandemic changed human society. In 2020 there were approximately 1 billion people on earth who were over 60 years old. By 2057 this had dropped to below 500 million despite the natural population increase. Our history has never faced such a brutal level of mass death. In the pre-polypandemic era, the streets used to be full of the elderly walking or sitting- believe me.” he would tell them. On a summer’s day, you could go to any park, and you would find plenty of really old people. Now, as you know, things are different; I am probably the oldest person you will meet today.”

“The polypandemic crippled society in many ways. The economy was crushed within a few pandemics. The primary engine in the economy was then the medical sector, having replaced a major part of the transportation and military funding. Demands disappeared for many markets, including tourism and transportation, the car industry and the aerospace industry were wiped out, turning into government-owned corporations with no R&D- only manufacturing of the necessary products. Most other markets