"And that's your biggest worry?" the host asked the first of two guests he was having on his talkshow.
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"Yes, any kind of virus, but most probably something similar to influenza." Dr. Schoenheiss answered.
"Because of air travel."
"Through the air. Coughing--"
"I'm sorry." the host quickly interrupted. "I meant people. On planes. That was something you described in your book."
"Yes, a new virus in Madagascar, say, could be in Chicago in a matter of weeks." the guest star explained. "And we end up with a global pandemic. Pan meaning all. The whole world becomes sick all at once."
The host hummed before turning towards his other guest. "And Dr. Neuman, you're also an epidemiologist. I presume the prospect of a viral pandemic keeps you up at night as well."
"No." Neuman shook his head.
"No?"
"No."
"All right, well, that's our show." he joked as everyone but Neuman let out a quick chuckle.
"No, mankind has been at war with the virus from the start. Sometimes millions of people die, as in an actual war. But in the end we always win." the professional calmly spoke.
"But you-- just to be clear, you do think microorganisms pose a threat?" the host asked.
"Oh. In the most dire terms."
"Bacteria?"
"No."
"You like saying no."
"Yes." Neuman shrugged as everyone laughed.
"Not bacteria. Not viruses. So?" the host looked up at Neuman who replied. "Fungus."
The audience let out sounds of surprise.
"Yes, that's the usual response. Fungi seem harmless enough. Many species know otherwise. Because there are some fungi who seek not to kill, but to control." Neuman informed before shifting his attention to the host. "Let me ask you, where do we get LSD from?"
"Where do you get it from?" the host deflected the answer as he didn't know the answer.
"It comes from ergot, a fungus. Psilocybin? Also a fungus. Viruses can make us ill, but fungi can alter our very minds. There's a fungus that infects insects. Gets inside an ant, for example, travels through its circulatory system to the ant's brain, and then floods it with hallucinogens, thus bending the ant's mind to its will. The fungus starts to direct the ant's behavior, telling it where to go, what to do, like a puppeteer with a marionette."
"And it gets worse." Neuman continued before anyone could interrupt him. "The fungus needs food to live, so it begins to devour its host from within, replacing the ant's flesh with its own, but it doesn't let its victim die. No, it keeps its puppet alive by preventing decomposition. How? Where do we get penicillin from?"
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"Fungus." the host interjected to put some much-needed comedy into the scene for his show. The audience chuckled as Neuman pointed his cigarette at the host.
"Dr. Schoenheiss, you're in distress." the host noticed.
"Fungal infection of this kind is real, but not in humans." Schoenheiss pointed out.
"True, fungi cannot survive if its host's internal temperature is over 94 degrees." Neuman admitted. "And currently, there are no reasons for fungi to evolve to be able to withstand higher temperatures. But what if that were to change?" he asked. "What if, for instance, the world were to get slightly warmer? Well, now there is reason to evolve. One gene mutates and an ascomycete, candida, ergot, cordyceps, aspergillus, any one of them could become capable of burrowing into our brains and taking control not of millions of us, but billions of us."
Neuman saw the looks people were giving him. They were confused, scared even. But he continued anyways.
"Billions of puppets with poisoned minds permanently fixed on one unifying goal: to spread the infection to every last human alive by any means necessary. And there are no treatments for this. No preventatives, no cures. They don't exist. It's not even possible to make them."
"So, if that happens?" the host asked, slightly scared of what the answer would be. But even if the answer would be terrifying, there'd be no way something like this could actually happen. Right?
But it did. In 2003. The outbreak started. And even as far back as 1968, Dr. Neuman, with two words, predicted what would happen to the human race in 35 years.
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