Airbeletrina, 30. september 2025 ― It happened not so long ago, in the middle of the particularly hot summer of 2025. As usual, millions of tourists were rushing towards the coast, sweat pouring down their faces, with not the slightest idea that a particular kind of summer nights fever was spreading among their host country: a strange virus whose scope, contagiousness and consequences nobody could yet fathom. Despite the harsh working conditions, the self-sacrificing scientists at the Croatian Institute for the Study of Infectious Diseases (CISID) were doing their utmost to swiftly identify the cause of the disease and, if possible, halt its progress. While it did not appear to be fatal, the sheer number of infections made isolation impossible. The question was how much longer the infection could be contained and what the consequences might be, including the political ones. The disease appeared to be benign, or so it seemed at the beginning, at least. The question was how much longer the infection could be contained and what the consequences might be, including the political ones. In any case, it came across to be a short-lived phenomenon, not worthy of much attention. However, scientists were well aware that HIV infections and the more recent spread of the coronavirus had started in much the same way. The key to finding a solution was careful monitoring. At first, it seemed like a common flu, with symptoms such as fever, sweating and tremors. However, at a certain point, patients started acting as if they were drunk! Visibly agitated, they cried out at the top of their voices, sang, shouted incomprehensible gibberish, giggled, hugged one another and raised their right hands—all with happy expressions on their faces. One of the younger scientists even joked that their behaviour looked more like a group psychosis than a group infection, but his older colleagues, gathered at a crisis meeting, only gave him scolding looks. The scholars concluded that the specific symptoms needed t