Post by Gifted on Feb 11, 2013 2:12:42 GMT -5
Welcome, my friend. Are you comfortable? Have the others gotten you a room yet? Your preliminary tests shouldn’t take too long. If you’d just follow me down to the labs…
Oh, I’m sorry. I guess I have some explaining to do, don’t I? I can understand you being a little wary of us.
My name is Sharie Starr. I don’t know if you’ve heard of me… nobody ever talks about the background people. I used to be just like you, you know. Just recently brought here, scared to death of the government. It took a long time for me to trust them at all, let alone decide to work with them. I know you’ve heard a lot of bad things about us, and frankly, most of it was what we wanted you to hear. But the truth is, well… we’ve been trying to act in the best interest of the people. We always have… it’s sort of our job as a government agency.
Woah, geez kid, calm down and pull yourself together. It’s not as unbelievable as it sounds. You’ve been conditioned to hate us, to believe we’re tyrannical, but we had to show it like that because the alternative was too gruesome to face. Just hear me out.
They say the government’s been pursuing gifted since the twenties and earlier, but that’s not actually true. After the government was forced to start being open in the seventies and became less corrupt and, well, movie-villain-ish, the entire Gifted Persecution Project was shut down, and remained that way throughout the eighties and nineties, and the only work that was going on into their study was on gifted who agreed to be tested to further our understanding of the phenomenon. It was revived in the mid 2000’s when the scientists discovered something alarming; they discovered the very nature of gifted and their powers. They discovered gifted were not created by an act of God, or some supernatural force, but by a rapidly multiplying virus. You’re deathly ill… and so am I.
I know you don’t feel sick right now, that’s because the virus is still in its ‘dormant’ stage. The only symptoms of the virus you’ll display are your powers, and you can control those. But you’re still a carrier. You still infect others.
Once your active stage begins, your powers will see a substantial increase in strength all at once, and will become more difficult to control. You’ll start having fevers, vision problems and coughing up blood. Some are sapped of their energy quickly, others more slowly… either way, when it starts, you’ll be dead within the month. There’s no way to tell how long you’ll survive in the dormant stage before reaching he active one.
The average gifted’s lifespan is half that of an uninfected human, and that number is dropping quickly. If we don’t find a way to kill this thing… it could wipe out most of the planet.
We couldn't tell the public. You've seen the panics over things like H1N1 and SARS, and combined they kill less people than the regular flu! What do you think would happen if we told the world there was a virus that had the potential to do the same amount of damage as the Black Plague, and oh yeah there’re usually no symptoms except for an inexplicable superpower until right before the infected person dies? There’d be mass panic. Mass hysteria. The governments of the world have got their hands full just trying to deal with the actual infected, we can’t handle the flood of hysterical patients that’ve convinced themselves they have it that would occur if they knew the truth. Every day the men here risk their lives to protect the public. We’ve developed a drug that reduces the likelihood of catching the gifted infection and they take it every day, but it doesn’t completely erase the possibility of catching the disease. We’ve made some effort to get it to the general public too… it’s been secretly mixed into painkillers and other common household drugs since the drug was discovered to get it to the widest array of people as possible. But it’s not enough and it doesn’t help people who’re already infected.
We need to find a cure. For that, we need the widest variety of strains possible, to crack the genetic code to curing all strains of the gifted virus. That’s why you’re here. After the tests are complete, you will either be kept here if we have some success combating your particular strain with the hopes of getting you back to your normal life, or you’ll be sent to Quarantine with the other gifted. Either way, we’ll try to keep you as comfortable as possible.
Do you understand? Now, please follow me to the labs. The doctor will need to perform an MRI scan and take a blood sample. He’ll also want you to show off your power in a controlled environment… a subject will be provided if you need another human being to activate it on.
Oh? What about me? Well, some gifteds choose to help the government save theri fellows rather than spend their lives in quarantine. It’s a long and difficult process, since if you’re accepted into the governments ranks you’ll be working in enclosed spaces with uninfected individuals every day and they had to be sure you’re safe… but it’s worth it to know you’re helping everyone on the outside who you care about.
Alright, you ready? Then let’s go.
Oh, I’m sorry. I guess I have some explaining to do, don’t I? I can understand you being a little wary of us.
My name is Sharie Starr. I don’t know if you’ve heard of me… nobody ever talks about the background people. I used to be just like you, you know. Just recently brought here, scared to death of the government. It took a long time for me to trust them at all, let alone decide to work with them. I know you’ve heard a lot of bad things about us, and frankly, most of it was what we wanted you to hear. But the truth is, well… we’ve been trying to act in the best interest of the people. We always have… it’s sort of our job as a government agency.
Woah, geez kid, calm down and pull yourself together. It’s not as unbelievable as it sounds. You’ve been conditioned to hate us, to believe we’re tyrannical, but we had to show it like that because the alternative was too gruesome to face. Just hear me out.
They say the government’s been pursuing gifted since the twenties and earlier, but that’s not actually true. After the government was forced to start being open in the seventies and became less corrupt and, well, movie-villain-ish, the entire Gifted Persecution Project was shut down, and remained that way throughout the eighties and nineties, and the only work that was going on into their study was on gifted who agreed to be tested to further our understanding of the phenomenon. It was revived in the mid 2000’s when the scientists discovered something alarming; they discovered the very nature of gifted and their powers. They discovered gifted were not created by an act of God, or some supernatural force, but by a rapidly multiplying virus. You’re deathly ill… and so am I.
I know you don’t feel sick right now, that’s because the virus is still in its ‘dormant’ stage. The only symptoms of the virus you’ll display are your powers, and you can control those. But you’re still a carrier. You still infect others.
Once your active stage begins, your powers will see a substantial increase in strength all at once, and will become more difficult to control. You’ll start having fevers, vision problems and coughing up blood. Some are sapped of their energy quickly, others more slowly… either way, when it starts, you’ll be dead within the month. There’s no way to tell how long you’ll survive in the dormant stage before reaching he active one.
The average gifted’s lifespan is half that of an uninfected human, and that number is dropping quickly. If we don’t find a way to kill this thing… it could wipe out most of the planet.
We couldn't tell the public. You've seen the panics over things like H1N1 and SARS, and combined they kill less people than the regular flu! What do you think would happen if we told the world there was a virus that had the potential to do the same amount of damage as the Black Plague, and oh yeah there’re usually no symptoms except for an inexplicable superpower until right before the infected person dies? There’d be mass panic. Mass hysteria. The governments of the world have got their hands full just trying to deal with the actual infected, we can’t handle the flood of hysterical patients that’ve convinced themselves they have it that would occur if they knew the truth. Every day the men here risk their lives to protect the public. We’ve developed a drug that reduces the likelihood of catching the gifted infection and they take it every day, but it doesn’t completely erase the possibility of catching the disease. We’ve made some effort to get it to the general public too… it’s been secretly mixed into painkillers and other common household drugs since the drug was discovered to get it to the widest array of people as possible. But it’s not enough and it doesn’t help people who’re already infected.
We need to find a cure. For that, we need the widest variety of strains possible, to crack the genetic code to curing all strains of the gifted virus. That’s why you’re here. After the tests are complete, you will either be kept here if we have some success combating your particular strain with the hopes of getting you back to your normal life, or you’ll be sent to Quarantine with the other gifted. Either way, we’ll try to keep you as comfortable as possible.
Do you understand? Now, please follow me to the labs. The doctor will need to perform an MRI scan and take a blood sample. He’ll also want you to show off your power in a controlled environment… a subject will be provided if you need another human being to activate it on.
Oh? What about me? Well, some gifteds choose to help the government save theri fellows rather than spend their lives in quarantine. It’s a long and difficult process, since if you’re accepted into the governments ranks you’ll be working in enclosed spaces with uninfected individuals every day and they had to be sure you’re safe… but it’s worth it to know you’re helping everyone on the outside who you care about.
Alright, you ready? Then let’s go.
