Tenacity Malady

## What is Tenacity Malady?

Tenacity Malady, a disease which manifests itself within the very Determination that humans and some monsters retain. On a smaller scale, this disease is essentially harmless, however, as the disease itself continues to worsen, mutate, and develop, it can prove to be the cause of numerous complications not only within one’s vessel, but also in terms of their magic. During the disease’s first appearance, it was only contagious amongst Determination Users, meaning other humans and monsters weren’t to be affected by it. The disease itself originates from StaticTale, a Universe that was altered due to extreme amounts of radiation, dark matter, amongst several other unknown elements that were present during the Universe’s formation. One of the first known humans to have the disease was a woman named Amber Mary Johnson as due to her constant exposure to magic during the Human-Monster War, a small percentage of her overall Determination had been mutated, allowing for the Disease to develop. Overtime, the longer the diseased user is exposed to larger fluctuations in magic which is present, or overall large quantities of magic, the more their Determination will mutate and inevitably turn on them. However, after the events having unfolded within StaticTale, the disease itself is no longer limited strictly to Determination Users and can now affect humans as well as monsters.

## Causes of Tenacity Malady

As discussed previously, the disease originally could only be transmitted amongst Determination Users, mainly those who were exposed to large amounts of magic for extended periods of time. However, after countless mutations, the disease can be transmitted in more ways than just from overexposure to magic. The disease itself formerly was merely something that occurred within Determination souls, preventing it from spreading with the exception of amongst Determination Users, however, since the events of StaticTale, the disease has become more tangible, the magic which caused the mutations essentially helped the disease solidify itself in the physical world, no longer being strictly bound by magical properties.

## Forms of Transmission

Like any disease, Tenacity Malady has several forms of transmission, some not as severe as others. The following list of types of transmissions will be listed starting from the more safer forms of transmission, which don’t have a high risk of infection, to the forms of transmission which certainly have a higher risk of infection.

### Inorganic Transmission

In opposition to Organic Matter, where the disease can have an easier time taking hold, on inorganic objects such as metals, salts, and water, however, despite water being inorganic, it’s still one of the most dangerous forms of transmission. Inorganic matter doesn’t have anything that the disease particles and bacteria need to survive, which is why in most cases, it doesn’t reside very long on such substances or surfaces, water and other light liquids being the only exceptions.

### Transmission through Physical Contact

Simply being around someone who’s infected for an extended period of time isn’t guaranteed to give someone the disease itself, yet instead a form of weak variation of it, one that can more easily be combatted. Physical contact, in most cases, won’t result in infection, unless said physical contact occurs on an open wound or involving a soul, as the soul is arguably the most fragile part of one’s body or vessel.

### Organic Transmission

The disease has most likely infested itself within countless amounts of vegetation or anything else which consists of organic properties, allowing for the disease to be transmitted through consumption of organic matter, along with simply touching said organic matter.

### Respiratory Transmission

Ever since the events of StaticTale, the disease itself has become independent enough from its former magical properties that the disease is airborne, meaning simply by residing within a place which either has, or formerly had the disease present can result in infection.

### Transmission through Bodily Fluids

Through the exchange of bodily fluids can certainly heighten the risk of infection. Some bodily fluids which can be listed are, but aren’t limited to: Saliva, blood, mucus, urine, physical magic. Almost any type of bodily fluid can be prone to allow for infection or easy transmission of the disease.

### Transmission through Liquids

The disease is known to be able to traverse easily through liquids, as most liquids aren’t very dense, water being a prime example. Because water is a necessity for most, this is what makes transmission through water as dangerous as it is, as it would be the equivalent to consuming something which has already had the bacteria of the disease present on its surface. Due to the nature of the disease, water and other light liquids can house the disease and even allow it to quickly move from place to place, especially across large masses of these liquids.

### Magical Transmission

Due to the close connection the disease has with magic, it can be transferred through almost any type of magic, meaning using magic when in the presence of someone who’s infected, or using magic in an area which either has, or formerly housed the disease might result in instantaneous transmission, in doing so, using magic under these circumstances are the most likely way of infection.

#### Physical Magic

Stated briefly in the previous form of transmission, physical magic can best be described as a dense liquid which is formed when an entity uses more magic than what their vessel typically exerts or can handle. Excreting this substance normally isn’t anything to worry about, as it’s a byproduct of one’s vessel adapting to the excessive amounts of magic, however, when in the presence of the particles of Tenacity Malady, or someone who’s already infected, the disease can quickly be transmitted, affecting not only the soul, but the vessel and mind or consciousness within the vessel.

## Stages and Symptoms

### Stages and Symptoms (Monsters)

#### Stage 1: **Fatigue and Loss of Focus**

During the very first stage, when monsters finally begin showing symptoms of Tenacity Malady, they’ll begin showing noticeable signs of fatigue, often seen dragging themselves around as if they’re constantly in a state of exhaustion. With this fatigue comes a lack of focus, or the struggle to stay focused on a singular task, similar to how those with ADHD function. With this however, those within the early stages will apparently have a burst in the amount of magic they can exert, however, exerting any amount of magic will quicken the process of the following stages.

#### Stage 2: **Headaches and Soul Aches**

Monsters will begin to experience headaches of sorts, these headaches being a continuous, throbbing sensation, one that can be suppressed by medication most of the time. Another symptom would be a slight aching sensation within one’s soul. While not exerting any amount of magic, this aching might go unnoticed unless the user of said soul is only focusing on their soul, however, when attempting to use any form of magic, this aching will turn to a form of pain, a pulsing sensation that can be felt throughout the monster’s entire vessel. Toward the end of stage 2 and into the early start of stage 3, the monster will also show signs of melting, something that commonly happens when monsters absorb any amount of Determination.

#### Stage 3: Mental Distortion

The third and final stage for monsters who have been affected by Tenacity Malady and aren’t capable of handling any amount of Determination. By this stage, the monster’s mind will begin to deteriorate, the vessel strictly relying off of primordial instincts, which might result in more violent tendencies and lack of overall emotion. The infected will begin to lose who they once were as their vessel, soul, and mind all begin melting in unison before all merging together into one amalgamated lump of monster remains.

#### Stage 4: Reincarnation

Luckily for most monsters, they won’t have to experience what the fourth stage offers, however, for those who are unfortunate enough to be able to withstand some amount of Determination, the amalgamated mess will begin to reform, molding the monster’s former vessel into something usable. In this stage, there are no remnants of who the monster once was, they won’t have any memory of their former life and will only function off of primal instincts. These amalgamations are incredibly hard to destroy due to their regenerative properties, however, they can be damaged through magical means, though in most cases, said magic will only empower these amalgamations.

In conclusion, most monsters won’t have to bear the pain of being reincarnated and amalgamated, spending their final moments with the little sanity they have left as the life they once spent so long constructing becomes nothing less than a blurry, distant memory.

### Stages and Symptoms (Humans)

In comparison to Monsters, there are many more stages of Tenacity Malady for humans and other entities which can actually withstand Determination. While there are many extra stages, most of these stages happen in fairly quick succession, though all the changes that occur are broken up into individual stages.

#### Stage 1: Magic Fluctuations

During the first stage of Tenacity Malady for humans, the symptoms are much less noticeable for humans in comparison to monsters. Most humans in this stage will only notice some of the benefits, some of these being: increased magic output, enhanced magical strength, more positive emotive responses and more enthusiasm in general. One negative effect that might be noticeable would be

#### Stage 2: Subtle Mana Decrease

As the disease slowly begins to root itself within one’s vessel, almost siphoning the Determination from within one’s soul, the infected might start to feel slight pains in their chest along with minor symptoms of exhaustion, though overall, the negative symptoms are still hardly noticeable due to the overwhelming positive effects which are still prominent, but only slightly faded by this stage. Furthermore, compared to the effects of the first stage, the amount of mana the user has will begin to dwindle.

#### Stage 3: DT Influx

By the time those who have been infected reach the third stage, this is when symptoms really start to show. All of the excess mana and energy they had appears to be gone entirely, and overall, their emotive responses are noticeably more dull and not on the scale of what’s considered normal. During the third stage, some might even begin to experience hardships when sleeping and even degrees of soreness throughout the day. The chest pains of Stage 2 will begin to worsen, going from a minor sense of discomfort to an occasional prick of pain, this pain coming and going in waves typically. By this stage, all symptoms can still be treated by medication.

#### Stage 4: Headaches and Soul Aches

By this stage, headaches will become more frequent. In all the previous stages, headaches and soul aches weren’t much of an issue, as they’d come and go all within a couple minutes, but going forward, they’re only going to worsen. By this point, the headaches are a constant pulsing sensation within one’s head, and a similar feeling can be felt in their chest, accompanying the already present chest pain, which is only continuing to worsen. This is one of the last stages where medication is going to actually be of any use.

#### Stage 5: Diaphoresis

Along with all previous symptoms intensifying, those who are infected will begin to noticeably begin to sweat. This sweating is almost constant and uncontrollable. The sweating starts off at a mild rate, though worsens as time progresses. Sweating to such a degree will also cause a sense of thirst, something that will be an almost constant feeling.

#### Stage 6: Immunitory Shutdown

The immune system or natural resistance someone might have against sicknesses begins to deteriorate due to the body focusing all of its attention attempting to combat Tenacity Malady. During this time, those infected might feel an extreme sense of fatigue and exhaustion, causing a decrease in motivation and overall willingness to do anything. Their emotive responses will also be at an all-time low by this point.

#### Stage 7: Insomnia and Schizophrenia

Despite the desire to sleep, most won’t be able to sleep more than a few hours at most. Over time however, these sleepless nights only continue to become longer and longer. Not only is the body incredibly  sleep-deprived, which begins to slow down most general bodily functions, though most might begin to hallucinate to an extent. Due to the lack of sleep, they’ll also appear far more anxious.

#### Stage 8: Catatonic and Cenesthopathic Schizophrenia

For a short period of time, the hallucinations will fade, however, these hallucinations will be replaced with two other forms of Schizophrenias. Once the hallucinations subside, most might constantly be switching through two “modes” throughout the day, one where they’re more like their usual self, wanting to get up and do things, despite not being able to, and then suddenly switching to not wanting to do anything. During these stages, there might be more evident signs of aggression. To follow up, those who are infected might begin to experience abnormal bodily sensations, these sensations revolving around their five senses: smell, taste, touch, hearing, and sight.

#### Stage 9: Delusional Amplification

By this point, there’s absolutely nothing that can be done for the infected, as there really is no cure for Tenacity Malady. Those who have managed to reach this stage will experience extreme hallucinations and perception alterations. The world around them might look entirely different than how everyone else views the world. On the contrary to how during the past several stages, those infected have shown little-to-no emotion, all of that emotion will suddenly return and their emotive responses will be at an all-time high. However, these emotions will only begin to amplify, resulting in happiness or joy becoming mania, sadness becoming depression, anger becoming frustration, etc. Such amplified emotive responses will contribute to the hallucinations which now haunt the infected’s mind. The hallucinations caused might advocate for a rise in suicidal thoughts.

#### Stage 10: Acceptance

By this stage, the one infected is so delusional that they’ve fabricated their own reality within their mind, memories having been altered, the world around them being perceived in an entirely new lens. To some extent, bits and pieces of these hallucinations might begin seeping into the real world, though it varies depending on the amount of Determination, as these effects are really only seen with those who have large amounts of natural Determination. After an undefined amount of time, the infected might begin to recover, all of the previous symptoms throughout the past stages seemingly being reversed, however, at some point during this process, most likely once they’re content, they’ll close their eyes, passing away peacefully in their sleep.