Elixr itself is made of two parts. First is the actual treatment, a self replicating, cellular-level bit of genetic code that targets specific cells in the immune system and DNA struture of humans. The second part is the delivery system. In order to target those specific parts of human anatomy, a blend of highly contagious measles and flu viruses--genetically altered to remove all traces of harmful effects on the host--was created to get the treatment to only the specified cells requried for the desired result.

As a benefit of using measles and flu viral strains, the creators of Elixr could tap into the easily transmissible nature of those particular viruses. In order to spread Elixr to the largest population possible, the treatment mimics measles/flu's ability to spread from human to human with little to no direct contact. Thus when a person is "infected" with Elixr, when they sneeze, or touch a doorknob, they're leaving Elixr behind to be inhaled or somehow absorbed into the next person, who then becomes a host and spreads Elixr even further, and so on and so on.

A major side-affect of Elixr is the replication and repair of DNA/RNA structures. As the immune system is fortified and enjoys much higher efficacy in fighting disease and infection, so too does the patient enjoy a longer, healthier life. In lab studies, mice infected with Elixr ended up on average living twice as long as non-infected mice. Curiously, as the infected mice were allowed to breed with other infected mice, the offspring showed an even greater concentration of Elixr in their systems, leading to even longer life-spans. As the generations continued during the experiement, scientists discovered that with each succeeding generation, lifespans increased at an exponential rate. Barring an unforseen accident or blunt trauma, they estimated humans might achieve practical immortality in the near future. Work is already underway to speed that process up significantly.

Not everyone wants the treatment, however, despite all the benefits Elixr promises--a fact that Martin and Yang recognized from the beginning. They built into Elixr a safeguard: the viral strains that carry the treatment molecules have a short lifespan of less than a week. When Elixr moves into an area or city, in less than a week, the viral strains that make Elixr so contagious die a pre-progammed death, leaving the original patients with the treatment and no way to spread it further. In as little as two weeks, an entire city could be free of active Elixr spores, meaning if a person wanted to remain un-treated, they simple had to avoid human contact for the duration of an average flu sickness.

After Elixr is modified by an unknown group, two strains exist: the original strain created by Martin and Yang, and the new strain, released of its viral restrictions and modified beyond reason by terrorists to create the ultimate bioweapon.

Elixr Syndrome is what the press called the unanticipated sickness spreaded around the world wiht Elixr release cities as localized epicenters of infection. Instead of people coming down with symptoms like the common cold or flu--which is how Elixr spreads itself--and then recovering quickly with boosted immune systems, people are continuing to get worse.

The new, modified Elixr affects most people equally and infected almost 95% of people who came in contact with a host shedding active spores. This infection rate was well above the 80% seen by Martin and Yang in clinical trials. In general, the new host undergoes a period of intense fever, joint aches and pains, lethargy, and lack of appetite, combined with the typical runny nose and sneezing associated with the common cold.

But the infected didn't get better...

When conditions in cities begin to deteriorate and riots break out, coinciding with the quarantine of major cities like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, the press dubs it the Elixr Plague. No longer are people just getting sicker and sicker, they're dying--in such record numbers people are reminded of the 1918 flu. As the body counts continue to rise--exponentially now--things turn ugly and one reporter harkens back to the Middle Ages and the Black Death.

At this point, reanimation occurs sporadically at first, but more consistent as Elixr phase shifts--mutates--on its own, a quality inherited from the highly unstable flu virus. Infected people in later stages of the syndrome show high levels of aggression toward anyone not infected, and an increased desire to attack living things with hands and teeth.

Reanimation occurs in large popluation centers as Elixr kills off people by the thousands, the dead begin to rise in ever increasing numbers to attack and feast upon the living, driven by an as yet unknown impulse toward cannibalism.