Let's Write Together- The Root of All Problems.

This is an experimental Creative Write/Free write. I wrote this in the Hive.Pizza DiscordPizza Guild Discord while sharing my screen and asking for input/direction/whatever from the community. I think it will be an interesting way to construct a post and have no idea how this will turn out!

Rules!
They are few:

Anyone else in the voice channel's input overrides mine- I will type and incorporate ideas and input as I do- ANYONE in voice can make me edit or whatever!

Pizza Tips for participants throughout the event.

Other than that this is a standard free writing format! So lets GOOOOOOO!

It came in waves, rolling over the population like the sea breaking upon the shore. At first people simply developed a severe case of the sniffles but seemed to recover. No one thought it was anything other than a standard cold virus. For a long time the doctors and virologists classified it as a normal mutation, one of the many yearly strains that humanity has always had to deal with.

Weeks later, a second bout overcame the same group of individuals that had suffered in the first wave. However, the second time they fell ill, it was much worse, with fevers, detachment of their finger and toenails, hair sprouting from their knuckles, and an insatiable thirst. As a result of the millions that grew sick simultaneously the global economy suffered. Millions took time off work and stayed home to ride out the symptoms. Epidemiologists took note at last and began to research this strange new virus. In no time teams all over the world were sequencing its genome in an attempt to understand and combat its spread.

Despite the mountain of research and the best efforts of scientists across the globe no one could understand how it was transmitted from person to person. Once genomic sequencing had been completed the scientific community was aghast at the results. This particular virus was novel. Nothing like it had ever been recorded. It had appeared from seemingly nowhere with inexplicable virility and its genome had no connections or similarities with other recorded pathogens. The search for the origin of the virus proved futile. Only one conclusion was possible. This particular virus was not of earthly origin. It was dubbed Alien Lipovirus Type- F(4) and rapidly became referred to as ALT F-4 by the media. Skeptics among the populace that believed it was some sort of conspiracy mockingly referred to it as the "Stranger Cold" because no one they knew had fallen ill.

With the economy suffering due to the number of workers stuck at home, it seemed that the rapid progression of the virus through the population began to slow. When people returned to work, an immediate increase in the number of cases was recorded. A rogue epidemiologist spread the belief that the virus was transmitted in peoples clothing. She immediately gained a large following by promoting these beliefs via ViewTUBE, a popular internet video platform. Her followers quickly converted to a nudist lifestyle and the streets of the cities and other population centers were soon thronged with naked men and women that firmly believed their nudity would protect them from the terrible sickness.

Individuals that had contracted the virus and attempted to return to normal society were often shunned by the "Wakey Nakies." The followers of the rogue epidemiologist had dubbed themselves this because they were "woke and naked." The obvious thick black hair growing from the knuckles of those that had fallen sick marked them. At first they wore their knuckle hair with pride as a badge of those that had suffered. As the Wakey Nakies grew greater in number and more violent in their approach, however, they took to hiding their hands by wearing gloves. Of course this was a fairly obvious disguise and the Wakey Nakies were not afraid of demanding a suspicious individual remove their gloves, no matter the weather.

As an attempt to further reintegrate into society, the Fallen Apes took to waxing their knuckles and affixing press on nails to their empty nail beds. This gave them a short reprieve from their ostracization before, inevitably, the thick black hair grew back in and their knuckles were no longer bare.

In disgust at the hairiness of the Fallen, the Wakey Nakies began to further remove any evidence of hair about themselves and extravagantly bedazzle and adorn their nails to show them off. The boom in economic activity as nail salons and hair salons and waxing parlors were packed full of consumers for the first time ever was enough for the governments of the world to declare the economic crisis solved. Of course the injection of capital in such an odd sector of the market was not enough to correct the imbalance caused by the lack of labor.

Within a couple of weeks of this economic recovery, many more began to fall sick. A third wave washed over the population and struck deep within the communities of the naked. The commonly accepted idea that the virus was transmitted via clothing and could not attach itself or survive on human skin was debunked.

New research ensued.

A brilliant young pedicurist named Naomi Nail began a series of experiments after her shifts. She had a passion for virology and though she had never graduated and received her degree due to familial circumstances she had continued to pursue independent research as a hobby. In the tiny lab behind the salon where she worked she began a series of surface tests. She had fallen ill in the first wave but had seemingly avoided the second. She took samples from herself and found the virus was still present in her body. Using these samples she was able to determine that clothing was not the source of transmission.

Nor was human contact.

The virus was not airborne.

It appeared that it could only survive on slightly porous surfaces composed of dead organic material. The fibers of clothing were too porous, the skin of a human was still alive and the virus could not compete with other bacteria on the skins surface. Wood and paper seemed to be where the virus survived longest, and in the case of some types of paper, even thrived. A dollar bill that she added to her sample pool at the last minute was the perfect breeding ground and was soon infested with the virus.

It appeared that money was indeed the root of all problems.