2 mana poisoning

They did not have to wait long before the doctor once again entered the room. This time he did not have a student with him, rather a man in a black suit. He had a fade haircut and wore sunglasses. The sunglasses were rather strange as it had already become dark outside.

The man in black looked around the group, before he began to speak. "What I am about to tell you is shocking, but please wait until the end to ask any questions."

"I would like to start by saying from this point forward you no longer exist. Your families, friends, and classmates will have forgotten all about you. Every trace of your existence has been erased."

He paused for a moment, letting the shock of his words flow through the children he spoke to. They had much larger shocks coming to them.

"The disease you were informed of is real, and each of you is infected with it to a different degree. The good news is that there is a treatment, the bad news is it is not something we can give you. It is something that you must earn for yourselves." His eyes came to a rest on Nick as he spoke "Their are various degrees to this illness, which are represented by the colors that come up with the test. White means that there is no infection. Red is a slight infection. From there it is yellow, green, blue, and finally black. Black represents an infection that cannot be treated. The only outcome for those that have advanced that far is death."

Again he paused, letting the words he spoke sink into the children in front of him. "The illness is called Mana Infection. A recent change in the world has caused some people to have a once dormant gene in their bodies to awaken. Our bodies are not used to this energy, and it slowly begins to corrupt the host. Perhaps you have recently felt tired, easily irritated, and have a hunger that you can not satisfy?"

The three students nodded at his words, Nick had already taken out a candy bar from his backpack and began to eat it as the man spoke. He seemed surprised to find the candy bar in his hands, but it was something he had slowly grown used to over the past six months; It had been a constant occurence.

"The good news is that their is a way to treat the mana infection. Unfortunately the cure is not something that is found on our planet..."

Nick couldn't hold it in at this point "So what? You expect us to go to Mars or Jupiter to find a cure? Sure just let me grab my space ship."

Surprisingly the man laughed. "The world you will find the treatment in is not found through a spaceship or in space at all for that matter. The treatment can be found on a world that is not earth, but you can find a way there in a small town in montana, through the men's room in a certain bar."

Nick had to laugh at that "Now you just sound like a bad line from a 90's movie. Its 2032 we all know that montana was wiped from the map in 2020 due to their dumb ass response to the Corona Virus. "

The man nodded. "That is the story we told the public. However when we went to explore the ruins of the state we noticed that their was a type of radiation in the air, a type that could not be classified under out current understanding. It was only after we found the world on the other side of the door that we discovered the answer. The radiation was caused by mana coming from the other side of the Door."

"Long story short there was a completely different world on the other side of the door. One where magic was real. For the last 12 years We have been building a relationship with the people on the other side. Sending in our men, trading, ect. This is where a lot of our recent breakthroughs in medicine have come from. In return we have helped modernized their world using technology and magic. It had been a wonderful opportunity for all involved."

"Unfortunately a year ago something happened. An explosion on the other side of the doorway sent the mana radiation flying spiralling out of control. It entered the atmosphere and began to infect the people of Earth. Fortunately the radiation could only infect a small number of people, all of those people between the ages of 18 and 25. Unfortunately we cannot force people to tests easily. It took a lot of work to make it mandatory for the graduates. We also offer free testing for the age category.. but it's up to them to get it."

This time it was Dylan's turn to voice his skepticism "so you're telling us that magic is real, and because you fucked up our bodies are dying. That there is no cure, only a treatment, which is through a bar in Montana, which is supposed to be a wasteland. Am I missing anything? Do you perhaps have any proof that what you said is real? or are just supposed to believe some random guy in a black suit?"

The man smiled "Of course we would never expect you to believe this fantastical tale without proof. This is why I am here. " He slowly reached up to his face, taking off his sunglasses. Behind them was a sight that none of them could deny. there were two solid black humanlike eyes. But around both of the eyes was another three smaller black eyes. when he blinked all of the eyes blinked with him.

"I am one of the people who were first infected. Mana infection does things to our bodies with the treatment it is true, some good, some not so pretty. But the alternative is death. Cases such as mine are rare, for the most part the people who travel to the other side retain their physical features. But I don't think they can really be described as human anymore. At least they are not like the humans here on earth."

"You have a choice. We can wipe your memory of this, you will be reinstated into society and people's memories of you will be restored. But you will die. It could be tomorow, or maybe up to a year. But you will die soon. The other option is to come with me and go through that door. You will be a government opponent. Only through this path do you have a chance of survival."