Five weeks later, Terry stared in disbelief at his family doctor. “What do you mean you’ve never seen anything like this?”
“I’ve never even heard of anything like this. It’s definitely unique in my experience, and as far as I can determine, nobody anywhere has seen it before.”
His mother, meddling as she was, had been right. It had taken several visits over the first week, but they got him on some more powerful medications that at least allowed him to function. He still felt a general malaise that intensified whenever he was exposed to ads; as the days and then weeks passed, he’d started noticing patterns about which specific ads would trigger an attack. Anything that he thought of as an advertisement in any sense would grow to dominate his mind, and the effect was devastatingly strong with some ads. After two weeks he’d had enough, and had insisted his doctor run more in-depth tests.
“It doesn’t respond to the antibiotics I put you on initially; not surprising. The lab results are in, and though I’d have sworn it was a bacterial infection, the lab reports indicate that it’s actually a virus.” The report itself was in the doctor’s hands, various imaging results they’d run the last time he’d stopped in.
“A kind you’ve never seen before?”
Doctor Goodman gave him a half-smile that didn’t hide the puzzlement and concern in his care-worn eyes. “On its own, that’s not so surprising. New viruses pop up all the time. Usually they’re new strains of viruses we’re already familiar with, but entirely new ones aren’t completely unheard of.” He sighed and looked at Terry with open concern. “What bothers me about this one is the symptoms you’ve described. We’re going to have to keep you isolated for a few days while we run more tests and scans.” He sighed. “This virus is accumulating throughout your brain, Terry. But it’s concentrating on a specific region called the pre-frontal cortex. It seems to be stimulating the attentional spotlight. Maybe even focusing it somehow.”
Terry’s mouth was very dry. He nodded mutely. “How much testing will it take?”
Dr. Goodman tapped his report tablet off and slipped it into a pocket, gesturing toward the door. “Like I said, a few days…” he paused. “At least a few days. Is there someone you can call to pack a few things? We should start as soon as possible.”
Together they walked out into the waiting room. A newspaper lay out on one of the tables, open to an inner page. The ads on the page immediately grabbed his attention, but not before a headline right out of the tabloids caught his eye; Viral Marketing - Top Tips From the Experts. With a sinking feeling in his stomach, he followed Dr. Goodman out to the already-waiting ambulance.
A New World
by Lou Gagliardi
Luke was checking his appearance in the mirror. Tonight was an important night, both professionally and personally. It wasn't every day, after all, that one got to date the boss' daughter. Jeff worked as a experimental lab assistant, but he felt more like a crash test dummy sometimes. He hoped that if he made a good enough impression that he'd get promoted to actually doing his own research. For now though, he did a quick check of the whiteness of his teeth, one hand searching the pockets of his black dress slacks. Jeff adjusted his tie and smiled in the mirror.
"Wallet with extra cash…check. Comb, check. Breath mints, check. Big, purple whirlpool of doom in the bathroom door…chec…wait…"
Luke would have screamed if he could, instead he stood, frozen in fear, worry, and fascination!" When he did finally scream, feeling himself being sucked into the vortex, Jeff couldn't help but feel a little disjointed.