The virus mutation kept outpacing medical advances and humans had to live alongside the ever-evolving disease. Cities went into lockdown from time to time. Health code applied worldwide and became the new visa. People now take different drugs constantly to ease new symptoms. The abuse of chemicals brought physical malfunctions or even genetic disorders. Some nations resorted to the more extreme measure- genetic modification- to prevent generational extinction. The pandora’s box had been opened. They promised an ultra-immune generation, but what occurred was more and more deformed human shapes, the most obvious side-effect of all, especially in poorer regions.

In a world where almost everyone has been more or less altered biochemically or genetically, it’s considered a great privilege to stay intact, to remain ‘pure-blooded’. One needed to remain entirely isolated from society,

being protected all the time, or avoid every socialization with others to stay uninfected. Only the richest of the rich could afford this social segregation, and their intact human genome represents the highest social status, granting access to all levels of rights, including, ironically, health-code-free traveling.

Image by Chiayu Hsu, Creepy future, via https://medium.com/the-creepy-future/memo-4-the-pure-blooded-elite-1e43252f5628

The world couldn’t be more divided. The protected, sheltered, isolated elites and the exposed, infected, hybrid, deformed class, living together, exploiting the last riotous delight on the planet.