Strange Sciences: Dimensional Self-Displacement Disorder

Simon C. Robbins and Rodger Cartman

Revised edition, published March 19th, 2060

Chapter One: What is Dimensional Self-Displacement Disorder?

Dimensional Self-Displacement Disorder, (alt. Spielman Disease, Dimensia, acronymized DISD) is a clinical disorder characterized by its unique ability to affect human bodies on a cellular level, resulting in memory alteration and, in a majority of instances, dramatic physiological changes. The final, terminal symptom of the disease has become known in medicine as terminus; the patient will experience severe seizures before simply ceasing to exist in our reality.

DISD is similar in many ways to other degenerative disorders. However, interestingly, rather than the brain and other muscles simply wasting away, the disease regenerates the cells it has previously destroyed, albeit with the new cells having been augmented in some way. This process results in the patient experiencing various changes in their bodies, which include, but are not limited to:

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Skin lesions, which heal as scales, fur feathers, or other non-human surfaces.

Anomalous sensory experiences – common examples include night vision and enhanced hearing.

Rapid height change.

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The disease was first discovered not long after the destruction of Doctor Mason Spielman’s prototype ‘Dimensional Cannon’ in 2025. Spielman himself is the first known victim of the disease. A few months after the incident, Spielman -who was, despite all odds, unharmed in the explosion – visited his general physician with complaints of intense spinal pain and migraines. The doctor attributed this to a long-term result of the incident and prescribed strong painkillers and rest.

A week after this appointment, Spielman was overseeing the rebuilding of his laboratory when he began to convulse violently before seemingly vanishing from existence. Within two days of his disappearance, approximately two hundred individuals around the globe – all of whom had recently visited a doctor with the same maladies as Spielman – also vanished after experiencing a seizure.

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By 2040, over a million individuals had been infected with the disease. At the time of writing, less than two percent of those have returned from where they were ‘displaced’ to. Those who have returned in a non-catatonic state are largely not the same person as they had been before the disease; to date, only 300 have recovered enough to report on their experiences. Thankfully, due to diligent efforts by doctors and scientists around the globe, an early detection system has been created, allowing those with the disease to make the most of what time they have.