Malediction - Patient Zero

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Malediction - Patient Zero

On a cold, clear day in the middle of fall, it arrived. Of course, nobody noticed it at all, at least not at first. The students of Oran High School were milling about on their morning break, slowly settling in to the rhythm of another year of school, when it descended upon them out of the sky.

It had existed for thousands of years, and had been called many names in that time. Some people call it a curse, although it might not resemble what you or I might think of as a curse. It has no origin, no creator behind it. It also has no intention, no motive, no payback or justice to serve. In many ways, it's more like a virus, simply existing, moving from host to host, making the changes it has always made without any thought as to why.

Unlike a virus, however, it isn't bound to our understanding of the laws of physics. As a result, its effects are hard to notice. When people do notice it, they often write it off as an extreme case of bad luck. Perhaps you've even seen it in your own life, without being aware of it. The prom queen who breaks her leg and gains 100 pounds. The star scholar who burns out and becomes a drug addict. Perhaps it was a random fluke of chance, or perhaps it was something more...

Like a virus, however, the curse affects different people in different ways. Some people are completely Immune to it, and as a result are more aware of how it's affecting others. Other people are Resistant, aware of how it's changing others, but susceptible to those changes themselves. The large majority, however, are Compromised, easily affected by it and almost completely unaware that anything out of the ordinary is happening. If someone does point out the strangeness of the "coincidences" befalling them and their fellow citizens, they'll simply shrug it off as bad luck.

Since few people are even aware of this curse, and fewer still are willing to acknowledge its supernatural powers, very little is known about it. In general, it affects young men and women of around high school age, though people of all ages are at risk. It mostly, though not exclusively, spreads from physical proximity, like a virus. But, unlike a virus, it doesn't merely act on a person's physical body. While it often does make physical and mental changes to its host, its reach extends far into the physical world, able to alter computers and other electronics, even bending and breaking the laws of physics to make its changes.

Our story begins with...
  1. Rachel Wentz, a gorgeous blonde cheerleader type. She is Compromised, completely susceptible to the curse, and inexplicably begins having the worst day of her life.
  2. Alana Somers, an average looking girl with sandy brown hair. She is Resistant, and begins noticing some strange things happening to her.
  3. Rob Moss, a chubby, shaggy haired nerd. He is immune, and begins noticing some changes in his classmates...
  4. Someone else.
  5. Someone else.

Page created by: trunkkeyfitz on 2016-03-11 18:33:19.

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