First Appearance of Medusa
The first instance of Medusa on record occurred in the latter half of 2001. Janet Leito, a nurse working in the Topeka, Kansas Urgent Care noticed her son scratching at his arms ceaselessly. John Leito had been complaining of 'bugs' under his skin for several days. Initially refusing to believe him, the young boy's cries eventually became so insistent that she bent her attention to his complaints. Janet was surprised to discover small sores on the boy's skin, beneath which were burrowed tiny vein-like fibers. The fibers varied in color and girth, and appeared to have no ultimate root or obvious cause. Fearing some desperate allergic reaction or fungal infection, Ms. Leito hoped to find help.
The local physician was unable to find anything unusual about the boy's skin and was unable to discern any obvious medical problem, and it was suggested the boy seek psychological assistance for what was then claimed to be a 'purely mental ailment'.
John Leito was diagnosed with Delusional Parasitosis, a condition convincing the victim to possess general parasitic symptoms. Further efforts by Ms. Leito to have her son diagnosed would lead to a diagnosis of Munchausen by-proxy, shifting responsibility for the illness from the child to the mother. John Leito was removed from his mothers care and put into the care of the state. Janet Leito was interred into a state mental institution for her perceived ailment.
Lesions continued to break out across John Leito's skin. Occasionally these lesions would reveal small tuberous fibers. He reported that these fibers would twist, slowly, climbing under and across the skin.
The CDC continued to deny reports of Medusa throughout the first half of the twenty-first century. Declaring that there was 'no proof of any kind of infection'
"We're not ready to concede there's a new disease, but the volume of concern has stepped up because a lot of people are writing or calling their congressmen about it. There is nothing to imply there is an infectious process, but our mind is open to everything, including that remote possibility."
John Leito would later be identified as Patient Zero. It is unclear from whence John received his infection.
Symptoms
The first instance of Medusa on record occurred in the latter half of 2001. Janet Leito, a nurse working in the Topeka, Kansas Urgent Care noticed her son scratching at his arms ceaselessly. John Leito had been complaining of 'bugs' under his skin for several days. Initially refusing to believe him, the young boy's cries eventually became so insistent that she bent her attention to his complaints. Janet was surprised to discover small sores on the boy's skin, beneath which were burrowed tiny vein-like fibers. The fibers varied in color and girth, and appeared to have no ultimate root or obvious cause. Fearing some desperate allergic reaction or fungal infection, Ms. Leito hoped to find help.
The local physician was unable to find anything unusual about the boy's skin and was unable to discern any obvious medical problem, and it was suggested the boy seek psychological assistance for what was then claimed to be a 'purely mental ailment'.
John Leito was diagnosed with Delusional Parasitosis, a condition convincing the victim to possess general parasitic symptoms. Further efforts by Ms. Leito to have her son diagnosed would lead to a diagnosis of Munchausen by-proxy, shifting responsibility for the illness from the child to the mother. John Leito was removed from his mothers care and put into the care of the state. Janet Leito was interred into a state mental institution for her perceived ailment.
Lesions continued to break out across John Leito's skin. Occasionally these lesions would reveal small tuberous fibers. He reported that these fibers would twist, slowly, climbing under and across the skin.
The CDC continued to deny reports of Medusa throughout the first half of the twenty-first century. Declaring that there was 'no proof of any kind of infection'
"We're not ready to concede there's a new disease, but the volume of concern has stepped up because a lot of people are writing or calling their congressmen about it. There is nothing to imply there is an infectious process, but our mind is open to everything, including that remote possibility."
John Leito would later be identified as Patient Zero. It is unclear from whence John received his infection.
Symptoms
- The sensation of insects "moving, stinging or biting" beneath the skin
- Circular, crater-like skin lesions, sometimes exuding fibrous stalks
- Musculoskeletal effects and pain, including joints, muscles, tendons and connective tissue
- Disabling fatigue accompanied by the release of spores through sores in the skin
- Dimensia followed by death and consumption by the parasite
- Final expulsion of parasitic spores
Hypotheses About the Fibers
After John's death and the confirmed infection of his mother and several people both had been in close contact with, the CDC began to take the disease seriously. They were able to determine that the fibers are not man made and do not occur in nature. The fibers could not be classified under any family of animal or plant, although there was commonality with certain species of vine and kudzu. That they issued from a biological organism of unknown origin and virulence was unarguable.
Treatment
Treatments are dangerous and have included the use of bleach, veterinary medicines intended for de-worming horses, and industrial weed-killer.
Escalation
Medusa, named during the Escalation for the fibers that appear out of the sores of the infected, officially became an epidemic on April 1st 2058. Satisfied with lingering on the fringe of medical concern for decades, infecting only random unfortunates and those with whom they had been unlucky enough to be in contact with, the infection then spread suddenly and like wild fire. Out from Kansas, cases of Medusa appeared all over the united states, particularly in large cities and industrial areas. These new infections were far more virulent and aggressive. Victims of the new strain were terribly infectious and cases were often fatal. No known treatment halted the illness. Gas masks were distributed nationally to keep the spores out of the lungs. Fear and terrorism were rampant.
The World Entwined
Rumors that Medusa spores could burrow through the skin caused massive international panic. The first international case occurred in Britain, the next in China. Forty million people were infected before 2058.
Two hundred million people were dead and another 800 million infected by the middle of 2059. Official International policy was to support the use of gas masks in all zones not determined to be 'vacant' of illness, although the number of people infected regardless of the use of such precautions numbered into the hundreds of thousands.
Death by Vines
After John's death and the confirmed infection of his mother and several people both had been in close contact with, the CDC began to take the disease seriously. They were able to determine that the fibers are not man made and do not occur in nature. The fibers could not be classified under any family of animal or plant, although there was commonality with certain species of vine and kudzu. That they issued from a biological organism of unknown origin and virulence was unarguable.
Treatment
Treatments are dangerous and have included the use of bleach, veterinary medicines intended for de-worming horses, and industrial weed-killer.
Escalation
Medusa, named during the Escalation for the fibers that appear out of the sores of the infected, officially became an epidemic on April 1st 2058. Satisfied with lingering on the fringe of medical concern for decades, infecting only random unfortunates and those with whom they had been unlucky enough to be in contact with, the infection then spread suddenly and like wild fire. Out from Kansas, cases of Medusa appeared all over the united states, particularly in large cities and industrial areas. These new infections were far more virulent and aggressive. Victims of the new strain were terribly infectious and cases were often fatal. No known treatment halted the illness. Gas masks were distributed nationally to keep the spores out of the lungs. Fear and terrorism were rampant.
The World Entwined
Rumors that Medusa spores could burrow through the skin caused massive international panic. The first international case occurred in Britain, the next in China. Forty million people were infected before 2058.
Two hundred million people were dead and another 800 million infected by the middle of 2059. Official International policy was to support the use of gas masks in all zones not determined to be 'vacant' of illness, although the number of people infected regardless of the use of such precautions numbered into the hundreds of thousands.
Death by Vines
The Medusa
Pandemic effectively destabilized China and India. Wars, which were
already occurring due to food and water shortages, became first more
aggressive, then dissolving under the weight of infection.
By the time of the Brilliant Conquest of Christmas 2060, Medusa had claimed 55% of the seven-billion strong human population.
Rumors
Rumors of Medusa infected persons continuing to walk after physical death or transforming into hostile non-human creatures are unconfirmed.
By the time of the Brilliant Conquest of Christmas 2060, Medusa had claimed 55% of the seven-billion strong human population.
Rumors
Rumors of Medusa infected persons continuing to walk after physical death or transforming into hostile non-human creatures are unconfirmed.
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