Drip

Drip, also known as The Cracking Shell, is a catchall term for a psychological disease that is, as of now, incurable, with the only known immune population being epileptics. No physical changes seem to arise in the brain immediately after patients begin to report symptoms of Drip, with the only measurable proof of the disease being the detection of small, erratic negative potentials in the temporal lobe. Patients first hear a small, typically distant sound that repeats over and over, unceasingly. This is how the disease was named. The first patient (a passenger on a COLLUX-14 based ICC) reported hearing a small dripping sound that seemed to grow more and more frequent over time, as if he could hear a small pipe leak that grew larger and larger as the water eroded and expanded its exit. Patient 0 spent years with Drip, behaving much like anyone else, save for the psychotic breaks he would have at home (a fact that would only be discovered through the autopsy of his wife immediately after his death). Eventually, the patient was found writhing on the ground, screaming, an irregularity in his behavior cut short by his death. His exact cause of death, which was quite similar to all who experience Drip, was a small circular hole being opened in his skull, revealing a gaping red-grey chasm. Any patient of Drip that lives until the opening of the skull is missing approximately 87% of their brain matter, including 99%-100% of their fatty grey matter.

All deaths due to Drip are identical, except in how the holes are shaped, some being like Patient 0, with a perfect circle drilled through the top of the skull, and others aquiring more... unique forms, like that of "Pitter-Patter" who heard constant footsteps and subsequently had her skull burst open and align itself in the shape of a foot on the floor, or that of "Guide" who heard little whispering instructions that lead him toward greater and greater wealth and influence, only to have his jaw rotate and saw off both temporal lobe areas of the skull, leaving only the front, back, and top of the head intact. All cases share approximate cause of death and erratic auditory stimulus as symptoms.

After the death of Patient 0, every passenger on the ICC began reporting symptoms of Drip, eventually leading to the extinction of the colonists. Years later, space pirates plundered the vessel, retrieving everything of value from it, including some unexpected guests.

In present day, people who report symptoms of Drip are executed on the spot, and the remains of those who die from Drip are immediately frozen, then burned, then shot into space, in that order, with anyone in a 3 mile radius "permanently quarantined". Despite these methods, Drip continues to expand its reaches across the galaxy, constantly thwarting the new regulations put in place to stop it. The effects of Drip on galactic history, while not fully known, are certain, as it has been proven that Drips like Guide's exist, and that there have been people in power with Drip.

-Treith Merindao

(This article includes a small note from the scholar)

"The late king of Prod was recently discovered dead missing the majority of his frontal lobe. On an unrelated note, I wonder how the Couatl Pact is doing right now [ :) ]"