It’s well known that viruses have been essential components in the evolution of life on earth, and that millions of viruses with a great diversity of function remain undiscovered. In 1996, farm boys in their teens living in California’s central valley realized that their own farms had some of the best breeding grounds for both plant and animal viruses and chances were that at least a small number of undiscovered viruses could have unique qualities that could replicate in their own bodies. Some boys didn’t want to take the risk, but Sam, William, and Matt did. (We are withholding their last names to protect their privacy.) It began as a competition, but they agreed that if one of them found anything interesting then he would share it with the others, that if they caught anything that wasn’t life-threatening they would avoid taking antiviral medicines, and that they would keep their effort a secret. All three began to spend time breathing and digging around their farms, in orchards, rice fields, and barns. Most of their deliberate infections just made them sick and gave them nothing discernibly beneficial. After about five years of this, Sam, William, and Matt disappeared together. By now they were young men, and so only their own families fruitlessly searched for them. Some people think the three found a virus that made them invisible or gave them spider senses, which they used as criminals or spies. It’s likely, however, that more mundane effects changed their lives, such as becoming anthrophobic. Even so, many people today are avoiding antiviral medicines in an effort to prove that Darwin was right.
Tales