The New Plague has swept throughout the whole world like a gale-force wind through the sandy plains. At first, electric machines started malfunctioning for mysterious reasons, and no matter how many engineers looked through them, they could not find the source. Then, everyday appliances started shutting down, or restarting as if there was something clogging their systems, until they eventually no longer came online. After that, the internet shut down as phone lines literally burned up, and wireless signals were disrupted, causing mass panic, which escalated into chaos as everything that ran on electricity, or even generated electricity, stopped working. But that was only the beginning.
As the initial chaos slowly started to settle down, it was simple, mechanical devices that started to malfunction this time. Magnets would lose their properties in mysterious ways, alloys rotted away as if they were introduced to hydrocloric acid, metal items broke spontaneously and without explanation. The world watched in horror as tools simply turned into ash under seconds, the wind blowing away the now useless particles with its fierce strength. People could only stare in disbelief as even military-grade equipment disappeared into a cloud of dust within mere seconds. Opportunists, on the other hand, saw a much-awaited opening, and once again, chaos spread throughout the world. Without metals, humanity was forced to rely on sticks and tools, soon finding itself in a new stone age.
But the New Plague did not stop there. Its effects started to manifest on animals first, as they started to develop strange growths on their skin, which drained their power until they died. Whatever creature ate from such an animal's flesh also became infected with the disease, spreading it even further. Only plants proved to be immune to the effects of the New Plague, but soon, they too, started to show signs of sickness. Eventually, the few, still relatively sane groups of humanity started to wage a hopeless war for resources as they hopelessly watched the world fall apart around them. They realise that there might be no hope left for their species, but they still continue to fight, regardless of the situation.
One of these groups accidentally discover a strange, artificial cave. Not caring about the biohazard signs and warnings all over the place, they head into the place in hopes of finding food and shelter. Instead, though, they find a huge, metal door, which had somehow escaped the purge of the New Plague, so they try and decipher the strange code on it. They eventually succeed, and open the door, which leads to a chamber sealed off from all of the world. Inside, they find the rotting corpse of a scientist, with a perhaps still-working pistol in his hand. The wound on his temples is still clearly visible, telling the group that this was most definitely a suicide.
But what confounds the group most is the piece of metal that they find on the table of the scientist. It has familiar characters embedded on its surface, forming a letter of apology.
"I am sorry, but my masterpiece was too beautiful to destroy. It consumes electronics, then metal, then animal flesh, and finally, human flesh with such ease that I have never seen before. It is truly the crowning achievement of my life, and thus I am going to unleash it and see if mankind can survive its trial. To see if mankind can sing the song of the thornbird."
