THE TRUTH: This is a work of fiction. It’s inspired by real reports about popular weight-loss injections like Ozempic and Wegovy (both use a drug called semaglutide). These shots were first made for people with type 2 diabetes, but lots of people use them just to lose weight—often 15% or more of their body weight—because they make you feel full sooner and eat less. But studies have shown they can sometimes cause problems like missing important nutrients (vitamins and minerals) or losing muscle along with fat. For the real science behind this story: Obesity Pillars article.
THE STORY: The Slim: A Tale of Bio-tech Horror
What You Need to Know About MMWR Reports
The MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) is an actual report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These are the bulletins physicians and public health officials read when something new appears: an outbreak, an anomaly, or a medical mystery unfolding in real time. I have mimicked their starkly clinical style.
What follows is an unfolding…
MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY WEEKLY REPORT (MMWR)
December 12, 2026
Notes from the Field: Sustained Metabolic Remission After Injectable Gene Therapy — Germany
A 61-year-old man with severe obesity received an experimental gene therapy injection in 2025. The therapy used a modified respiratory virus to spread quickly in the body. It did not include known appetite-reducing changes but caused lasting improvements in fat use. Treatment stopped in 2026. One year later, the patient kept a 40% weight loss with no return of weight.
This is the second reported case of long-term obesity improvement without usual resistance factors. The approach is now called the “Brandt Protocol.”
MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY WEEKLY REPORT (MMWR)
May 28, 2027
Notes from the Field: Multiple Cases of Metabolic Remission After Routine Injections — United States, Europe, and Asia
An additional 190 patients had lasting weight loss after the gene therapy in trials and off-label clinics. All stayed at reduced weight during follow-up. The therapy did not use any known ways of preventing weight regain.
Early results suggest broader effects on metabolism than expected.
MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY WEEKLY REPORT (MMWR)
September 24, 2027
Notes from the Field: Widespread Post-Injection Metabolic Optimization — Global
Reported cases reached 630, now in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
Patients reported no hunger and easy weight control. Lab tests showed better metabolism in several areas. Early reports called this a major advance against obesity.
MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY WEEKLY REPORT (MMWR) — EARLY RELEASE
March 24, 2028
Acquired Metabolic Extinction Syndrome (AMES) — United States, Europe, Asia, Africa, South America
Affected people showed almost complete loss of fat storage and appetite. Lab tests on patient cells found inability to hold extra calories due to widespread metabolism changes.
The condition is named Acquired Metabolic Extinction Syndrome (AMES).
Early checks found minor stomach issues and early nutrient shortfalls after several months. Importance is unclear.
MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY WEEKLY REPORT (MMWR)
July 21, 2028
Notes from the Field: Transmissible Metabolic Trait Observed in Household Contacts — Global
Four household contacts of AMES patients (no injection history) reported unexplained weight loss. Blood tests showed similar metabolism patterns. This suggests spread through breathed-out droplets, likely from the therapy’s design to spread easily in the body.
Checks noted occasional ongoing hunger and slow weight loss in carriers over months. Effects stayed mild. Further study continues.
MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY WEEKLY REPORT (MMWR) — EARLY RELEASE
February 28, 2029
Notes from the Field: Global Impact of AMES
New obesity cases dropped more than 90%.
Seasonal weight gain and related problems mostly disappeared in watched groups worldwide.
AMES spread quickly across Asia, Africa, Europe, North and South America, and Oceania. Non-exposed people showed the same traits within 72–96 hours of contact. The therapy’s design for fast body-wide changes — meant for easy, one-time results — now allows spread through the air.
Monitoring found early weight loss and nutrient shortfalls despite enough food intake over 2–3 months. Effects mostly mild but need ongoing checks.
MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY WEEKLY REPORT (MMWR)
May 16, 2029
Public Health Advisory: Emergent Malabsorption in AMES Carriers — Global
About 15% of the world population now has AMES. Obesity is effectively gone.
More carriers have worsening nutrient absorption problems, with constant hunger, severe weight loss, and poor uptake of key nutrients. Early cases worsened over months; in crowded areas, symptoms sped up to weeks, with confirmed metabolism failure in serious cases. Energy metabolism issues reported worldwide.
MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY WEEKLY REPORT (MMWR
November 29, 2029
Interim Recommendations: Management of Widespread Metabolic Collapse
Global AMES cases exceed 85%. Obesity, diabetes, and similar conditions are no longer seen.
Reports describe severe malnutrition, fast wasting, and starvation-like states even with food available. Progression has sped up: early cases worsened over months; recent data show final-stage wasting in 2–4 weeks after exposure in high-spread settings. Worldwide emergency food and care efforts are in place, but limited by cells rejecting nutrients.
The condition is now commonly called “the Slim.”
From: Alexander Brandt <a.brandt@immunology.ch>
To: Elena Brandt <elena-loves-sunflowers@gmail.com>
Date: November 29, 2029 — 11:47 PM
Subject: (no subject)
My dearest Elena,
The final public report dropped this morning—AMES at eighty-five percent, obesity “eradicated.” I stood at the podium, fed them the sanitized version, watched them cheer. But inside the lab, the models scream the truth no one else hears: total cellular rejection. Nutrients pass through like ghosts. No storage, no uptake—only waste. We’ve run the projections: weeks, not months. Exponential as it saturates the air we share. Billions eating, chewing, swallowing, yet starving in plain sight.
We knew the vector was transmissible early on—household contacts proved it in 2028—but we told ourselves the risks were low, manageable. The team has caught it too; they just haven’t admitted how fast it’s moving yet. Then that brief visit home in the summer of 2028—our first real break in years. I came straight from the lab, still carrying traces of what we’d released. I smothered you in kisses, held you close, breathed every breath with you. I thought I was bringing love. I brought the Slim. You’re carrying it now, and the baby—our little one, not even halfway formed—won’t survive the birth. We’ll both be gone before then, skin stretched thin over bones like ladder rungs, ribs sharp under fingertips. I force food down; it sits like stone, does nothing. The mirror shows a stranger: hollow cheeks, eyes sunken, body betraying every promise.
The team believes I’m at a conference in Berlin. I said nothing. What’s the point? The Brandt Protocol—my name on it—unleashed this. We chased vanity’s perfect slim, and now the world withers quietly. No reversal, no antidote. Just this ravenous hollowing.
I’m boarding at Geneva now. Twenty-four months buried in data that warned me, warnings I dismissed as outliers. I’ve already passed it on today—the valet who took my keys, the cab driver who talked about his kids, the woman at the gate who smiled and checked my boarding pass, the stewardess who helped me with my seat. Every breath, every word, another seed planted.
And I can’t stop breathing.
Coming home to hold you while we still have flesh to press together. We’ll eat what we can, pretend it’s sustenance. I’ll kiss your belly one last time, whisper forgiveness to the child we won’t meet.
We’ll face the end together. The Slim claims everything—body, future, hope—but it won’t steal our final embrace.
We sold them slim.
We gave them nothing left to fill.
I love you. Always.
Alexander
______
Professor Alexander Brandt, MD, PhD
Metabolic Engineering and Gene Therapy
Principal Investigator, 2025 Nature study on vector-mediated metabolic optimization University of Geneva, Switzerland
© 2026 W. Darrell Curtis. All rights reserved.
Veni. Vidi. Scripsi. 