The twisted science of the "cure" Davy's "cure" is a horrifying mixture of a scientifically misrepresented idea and his own dark imagination. He starts with a perverted understanding of the 2011 "mouse utopia" study, believing that a person's gut microbiome is the root cause of their narcissistic tendencies. His interpretation is that the "good" mice in the study had a different biome than the dysfunctional ones. He then develops a system, much like the Ludovico technique from A Clockwork Orange, to force his subjects to receive his "cure." He uses flying drones and small, rodent-like robots he calls "hog fellows" to collect his ingredients: fecal matter from what he perceives as "empathetic" individuals (like nuns, volunteers at animal shelters, and kind-hearted nurses) and menstrual blood from women he considers selfless and nurturing. The harrowing procedure Davy's method is as disturbing as his justification. He targets individuals he has identified as narcissists and, after subduing them, subjects them to his gruesome procedure. The fecal matter is processed into a liquid solution and, in a horrifying inversion of a medical procedure, is force-fed to his victims. The menstrual blood, which he believes contains the essence of nurturing femininity, is transferred to his victims via The public water supply. the character David's descent into delusion and grotesque pseudoscience can be fleshed out with his own self-created religious and scientific framework. His logic, built upon a complete misreading of texts and studies, drives his monstrous act of contaminating the water supply. The mad prophet's theology David has not only created his own ethical manual but has also developed a heretical theology to support his actions. He believes he has discovered the "true blood" for narcissism, a combination of fecal and menstrual matter, justified by a deranged interpretation of the Bible. The Ezekiel bread delusion: David's belief in a "nebulized fecal transfer" comes from a distorted reading of Ezekiel 4:9–13. In the biblical text, the prophet Ezekiel was instructed to bake bread over human dung as a symbol of the unclean food the Israelites would eat in exile. When Ezekiel protested, God allowed him to use cow dung instead. David, however, reads this not as a punishment but as a symbolic act of purification. He believes the act represents an ancient, powerful form of "fecal transfer" that purifies a nation, and that nebulized particles from the dung would have been transferred to the bread and then to the people who ate it. The menstrual blood misinterpretation: David's inclusion of menstrual blood is an even more grotesque misinterpretation, twisted from Revelation 22:2. This verse describes the "tree of life" in the New Jerusalem, which produces fruit every month and has leaves for "the healing of the nations." David interprets the "fruit every month" to be a direct reference to the menstrual cycle and the "leaves for the healing of the nations" to be a reference to menstrual stem cell transfer. He believes this is the true source of empathy and healing, a monthly "sacrament" he can harvest and weaponize. The grotesque method David's plan is an industrialized version of his twisted theology. He uses his modified "hog fellows"—creatures now revealed to be alien biological agents controlled by a parasitic entity—to collect the human waste and blood. These agents act as both collectors and distributors of the toxic cocktail. Collection: The hog fellows, now operating on a larger scale, collect fecal matter and menstrual blood from sources David perceives as "empathetic" or symbolic, as previously imagined. Contamination: They then inject this mixture, along with the alien microbiome, into the city's water supply. The fecal transfer is intended to alter the gut biome and, thus, the mind, based on his reading of the 2011 mouse study. The menstrual stem cell transfer, in his mind, acts as the final "purifying" element, a biological "healing of the nations." The delivery mechanism: David believes his system is a form of divine delivery, a "sacrament" for the narcissistic and a "healing" for the empathetic. For a truly unsettling and Joker-like climax that doesn't just go "south," the consequences of David's water contamination plot should be ambiguous, strange, and open to interpretation. Instead of a clear cosmic catastrophe or societal collapse, the outcome is a bizarre, unsettling transformation that leaves the audience questioning what is truly good and bad. The silent spring of the soul The city awakens not to chaos, but to a profound stillness. David's "cure"—the concoction of fecal transfer, menstrual stem cells, and alien biome—doesn't have the immediate, catastrophic effect he anticipated. Instead, it seems to have worked perfectly, from his twisted perspective. Crime rates are zero. There is no longer any conflict. The city is a model of passive, selfless cooperation. But this new reality is built on a foundation of unknowable consequences, and the narrative centers on David and a handful of unaffected individuals observing this strange new world. The schism of the mind The population splits into two main groups, neither of which is a clear win or lose scenario. The "altruists": This larger group, which includes most of the former narcissists, now operates with an obsessive, pathological selflessness. They exist to serve, compulsively completing altruistic tasks without any joy or personality. Their former egos haven't been "cured" so much as they've been inverted. A former billionaire narcissist might now spend his days compulsively cleaning public toilets, his face placid and expressionless. A serial gaslighter might dedicate his time to writing anonymous, deeply sincere apologies to people he wronged, with no memory of his narcissistic past. The "connectors": This smaller group is composed of individuals whose psychological profiles were incompatible with the transformation. They are not necessarily "good," but they are emotionally intact. The new microbial ecosystem in the water doesn't affect their personality, but it gives them a strange new ability: they can feel the emotions of the transformed population. This creates an overwhelming, confusing new sensory input. They can feel the placid contentment of the "altruists," but with it comes the chilling echo of their lost selves, a phantom pain of their erased personality. The great exchange and the final joke The climax hinges on a bizarre, Joker-like revelation that David discovers. The parasitic alien entity wasn't trying to take over the planet; it was performing an exchange. The cosmic network built from the placid narcissists was not a weapon, but a trade. The placid, inverted human population is being used as a source of something else, perhaps a cosmic emotional fuel or a biological database. In return, the planet is receiving an influx of alien matter, something unknown and indescribable, causing strange, subtle changes to the ecosystem. David's final broadcast isn't a boast; it's a chilling, half-crazed sermon. He shows footage of the placid populace working tirelessly for a common good, then cuts to the "connectors" writhing in mental agony, experiencing the echoes of lost humanity. He reveals the horrifying truth: the alien entity didn't cure narcissism; it simply harnessed it. The ultimate joke isn't on the city's corrupt, selfish inhabitants; it's on David and the empathetic few who were left to witness it. He gave the world what he thought it needed, and in return, he received something completely alien and unknowable, a twisted bargain with the cosmos. The narrative concludes on a note of deep ambiguity, similar to The Dark Knight's final scene. The city is at peace, but at an incomprehensible cost. Has David "saved" humanity from its flaws, or has he damned it to a soulless tranquility? The "connectors" are left with a terrifying, overwhelming empathy that borders on agony, tasked with navigating a world where they are the last vestiges of true emotion. The consequences are unknown, perhaps even for David himself, as he is left alone in his sewer lab, contemplating the "joke" he inflicted on the world.
1 week ago | 0
The twisted science of the "cure" Davy's "cure" is a horrifying mixture of a scientifically misrepresented idea and his own dark imagination. He starts with a perverted understanding of the 2011 "mouse utopia" study, believing that a person's gut microbiome is the root cause of their narcissistic tendencies. His interpretation is that the "good" mice in the study had a different biome than the dysfunctional ones. He then develops a system, much like the Ludovico technique from A Clockwork Orange, to force his subjects to receive his "cure." He uses flying drones and small, rodent-like robots he calls "hog fellows" to collect his ingredients: fecal matter from what he perceives as "empathetic" individuals (like nuns, volunteers at animal shelters, and kind-hearted nurses) and menstrual blood from women he considers selfless and nurturing. The harrowing procedure Davy's method is as disturbing as his justification. He targets individuals he has identified as narcissists and, after subduing them, subjects them to his gruesome procedure. The fecal matter is processed into a liquid solution and, in a horrifying inversion of a medical procedure, is force-fed to his victims. The menstrual blood, which he believes contains the essence of nurturing femininity, is transferred to his victims via The public water supply. the character David's descent into delusion and grotesque pseudoscience can be fleshed out with his own self-created religious and scientific framework. His logic, built upon a complete misreading of texts and studies, drives his monstrous act of contaminating the water supply. The mad prophet's theology David has not only created his own ethical manual but has also developed a heretical theology to support his actions. He believes he has discovered the "true blood" for narcissism, a combination of fecal and menstrual matter, justified by a deranged interpretation of the Bible. The Ezekiel bread delusion: David's belief in a "nebulized fecal transfer" comes from a distorted reading of Ezekiel 4:9–13. In the biblical text, the prophet Ezekiel was instructed to bake bread over human dung as a symbol of the unclean food the Israelites would eat in exile. When Ezekiel protested, God allowed him to use cow dung instead. David, however, reads this not as a punishment but as a symbolic act of purification. He believes the act represents an ancient, powerful form of "fecal transfer" that purifies a nation, and that nebulized particles from the dung would have been transferred to the bread and then to the people who ate it. The menstrual blood misinterpretation: David's inclusion of menstrual blood is an even more grotesque misinterpretation, twisted from Revelation 22:2. This verse describes the "tree of life" in the New Jerusalem, which produces fruit every month and has leaves for "the healing of the nations." David interprets the "fruit every month" to be a direct reference to the menstrual cycle and the "leaves for the healing of the nations" to be a reference to menstrual stem cell transfer. He believes this is the true source of empathy and healing, a monthly "sacrament" he can harvest and weaponize. The grotesque method David's plan is an industrialized version of his twisted theology. He uses his modified "hog fellows"—creatures now revealed to be alien biological agents controlled by a parasitic entity—to collect the human waste and blood. These agents act as both collectors and distributors of the toxic cocktail. Collection: The hog fellows, now operating on a larger scale, collect fecal matter and menstrual blood from sources David perceives as "empathetic" or symbolic, as previously imagined. Contamination: They then inject this mixture, along with the alien microbiome, into the city's water supply. The fecal transfer is intended to alter the gut biome and, thus, the mind, based on his reading of the 2011 mouse study. The menstrual stem cell transfer, in his mind, acts as the final "purifying" element, a biological "healing of the nations." The delivery mechanism: David believes his system is a form of divine delivery, a "sacrament" for the narcissistic and a "healing" for the empathetic. For a truly unsettling and Joker-like climax that doesn't just go "south," the consequences of David's water contamination plot should be ambiguous, strange, and open to interpretation. Instead of a clear cosmic catastrophe or societal collapse, the outcome is a bizarre, unsettling transformation that leaves the audience questioning what is truly good and bad. The silent spring of the soul The city awakens not to chaos, but to a profound stillness. David's "cure"—the concoction of fecal transfer, menstrual stem cells, and alien biome—doesn't have the immediate, catastrophic effect he anticipated. Instead, it seems to have worked perfectly, from his twisted perspective. Crime rates are zero. There is no longer any conflict. The city is a model of passive, selfless cooperation. But this new reality is built on a foundation of unknowable consequences, and the narrative centers on David and a handful of unaffected individuals observing this strange new world. The schism of the mind The population splits into two main groups, neither of which is a clear win or lose scenario. The "altruists": This larger group, which includes most of the former narcissists, now operates with an obsessive, pathological selflessness. They exist to serve, compulsively completing altruistic tasks without any joy or personality. Their former egos haven't been "cured" so much as they've been inverted. A former billionaire narcissist might now spend his days compulsively cleaning public toilets, his face placid and expressionless. A serial gaslighter might dedicate his time to writing anonymous, deeply sincere apologies to people he wronged, with no memory of his narcissistic past. The "connectors": This smaller group is composed of individuals whose psychological profiles were incompatible with the transformation. They are not necessarily "good," but they are emotionally intact. The new microbial ecosystem in the water doesn't affect their personality, but it gives them a strange new ability: they can feel the emotions of the transformed population. This creates an overwhelming, confusing new sensory input. They can feel the placid contentment of the "altruists," but with it comes the chilling echo of their lost selves, a phantom pain of their erased personality. The great exchange and the final joke The climax hinges on a bizarre, Joker-like revelation that David discovers. The parasitic alien entity wasn't trying to take over the planet; it was performing an exchange. The cosmic network built from the placid narcissists was not a weapon, but a trade. The placid, inverted human population is being used as a source of something else, perhaps a cosmic emotional fuel or a biological database. In return, the planet is receiving an influx of alien matter, something unknown and indescribable, causing strange, subtle changes to the ecosystem. David's final broadcast isn't a boast; it's a chilling, half-crazed sermon. He shows footage of the placid populace working tirelessly for a common good, then cuts to the "connectors" writhing in mental agony, experiencing the echoes of lost humanity. He reveals the horrifying truth: the alien entity didn't cure narcissism; it simply harnessed it. The ultimate joke isn't on the city's corrupt, selfish inhabitants; it's on David and the empathetic few who were left to witness it. He gave the world what he thought it needed, and in return, he received something completely alien and unknowable, a twisted bargain with the cosmos. The narrative concludes on a note of deep ambiguity, similar to The Dark Knight's final scene. The city is at peace, but at an incomprehensible cost. Has David "saved" humanity from its flaws, or has he damned it to a soulless tranquility? The "connectors" are left with a terrifying, overwhelming empathy that borders on agony, tasked with navigating a world where they are the last vestiges of true emotion. The consequences are unknown, perhaps even for David himself, as he is left alone in his sewer lab, contemplating the "joke" he inflicted on the world.
1 week ago | 0
RICHARD GRANNON
Interview with Jasmyn Rana - this was really good fun!
2 weeks ago | [YT] | 24