Chain Story E
1 Germany – 2 Turkey – 3 Italy – 4 Portugal – 5 Estonia – 6 Ireland
Part 1- Written by German team
One day in 2050 all the participants of the EU-topia project got a message: “Come quickly to the abandoned salt mine in Merkers near Fulda, Germany. It’s an international emergency!” Those words are flashing on the displays of their google glasses in big, red letters. Everybody is very surprised, even shocked. Of course, they all remember the project and how much fun they had together during the mobilities. Some of them had visited the huge salt mine which had been used to hide Nazi treasures during World War II. It was opened in 1996 for different events like concerts 800 metres below the ground. There are light and sound effects all the time, which makes it more unique. It’s always warm there (20-28°C). The others had seen photos of it, but that was back in 2015, when they were still teenagers. Now they were 50 years old or even older and most of them have a big family now. Much had changed. And now, after all those years, this mysterious message? Suddenly there are more words on the displays: “We need your help! Terrorists have modified a special mushroom, the Orphiocordyceps unilateralis. Normally, it only affects ants and turns them into mushroomzombies (short: Shroombies). But now, the mushrooms also affect humans! The whole American continent is contaminated. The epidemic is spreading from Asia to Europe quickly. It’s our duty to save the world from being wiped out. The only safe place where we can plan our counter attack is the mine in Merkers. Because of the epidemic, there is no electricity. You have to use solar trains to get to the mine. America and Asia are already destroyed and chaos is all over. We have to find an antidote and produce it in the 500 meter deep pit. There is space for all of us (140 km²) There everybody will be safe and no one from the group will be affected. We have to stop the epidemic! But how can we get down there? The mine was closed for visitors in 2025. Maybe the old elevator is still there? But with no electricity how can we live down there? And how will we find the antidote? We need your help, please come quickly!!!”
Part Two - Written by Turkish Students
Eu-topia Project partners got surprised as soon as they got the message.Many of them what they have done , did not remember in the first stage, what they did 35 years ago. But after getting over the confusion with the hours depending on direct brain waves in the previous 35 years beautiful days that live were committed to re memory. Now they had one thought. It was not possible to unrespond to their calls like they achived many good things. All Project partners tried to come using the new solar train. But Irish and Turkish partners were unable to reach the salt mines. Because of various reasons. Due to various accidents they made on the road their google glasses were broken. Fortunately due to Eu-topia Project they sent messages through solar internet implemented, to other Project partners collected in the mine by solar energy without the need for electricity to save them to the common. Project team knew that , they can’t achieve the duty of saving world perfectly without gathering entirely. So, it was a must to say the stranded Project partners to save the world.
(Handenur KARADİKEN)
Part 3 , written by the Italian team
So the first to arrive at the mine was the German team followed by the Estonians, Italians and Portuguese. Only the Irish and the Turkish team weren't there. Suddenly one of the solar phones rang. On the phone was a guy from the Turkish team: “Hello my fellow! It’s Furkan, we're with the Irish team but we can't reach the cave because our train is broken. Don't worry, we will go around the world looking for a cure”. The others answered together :”OK, be careful!”Then the guys who were in the mine decided to get further inside. They hoped to find the secret laboratory of the Nazis, where they were sure they would find some instruments or materials that could be used to make the antidote to the poisoned mushrooms.
Unfortunately, they didn't find any laboratory , the mine was just a cold, dark cave, probably the wrong cave. All the same they decided to walk straight to the other end of the cave. Suddenly one of them stopped because he was tired. As soons as he sat on a small rock, they heard a sound from nowhere, a secret door was slowly opening into a long descending tunnel at the end of which was a second door. Was this the right way to the laboratory they were looking for? This looked like the alternative way to descend into the mine in case the lift was broken. They walked in fear into the tunnel and saw some strange drawings and writings on the wall but they didn't know what they meant. Suddenly one of the guys from the Italian team shouted with joy and, out of curiosity, the others asked him why he was so happy. He then told them the writings on the wall were in Latin and it was the key to open the second door which led into the lab . This news gave them hope and he quickly opened the door. When they went into the laboratory, they were really shocked and happy at the same time. After shouting and celebrating in the laboratory they heard a strange voice saying " welcome to our world ", then a door opened and a robot popped out of nowhere. The robot told them to stay calm and started showing them around the lab, all its instruments, materials, chemicals . Finally it said” Now it’s time you meet him, follow me”. The guys were a little scared but they decided to go with it. They were led into another messy room where there were a lot of computers. In the brightest part of the room they saw a man wearing a lab overall sitting at a desk intent on studying a strange reddish plant. The man, aware of the presence of the newcomers, turned, looked at them for a moment, then he said:”Hello ladies and gentlemen, I'm doctor Luca Fortinhofen and I know exactly why you are here. You don’t recognize me now but I was in the Eutopia project too. I fell in love with Germany and decided to live here…in this mine.
There he was, Luca, the eutopian student who liked parachuting, of course they remembered him! In the years after the project he had become a scientist, and had developed the capacity to perceive telepathically what his ex fellow partners said and thought. That is why he knew why his partners were coming and had already studied and found a medicine to cure the effects of the disease. After testing it on ants, where it had improved things, Luca had decided to try it on himself to speed things up, and it had worked! it had made things better. Only there was a drawback: it worked only after making things worse! Indeed what had happened to poor Dr. Luca in the first three days after taking the medicine? his skin had become grey, his eyes had become white and he had grown a tail. Finally, his skin had grown wool, and he had started spitting like a lama.This had lasted three days after which he had completely recovered to find out he was immune to the disease too. Now he was telling his ex project partners everything. Everything except one detail: the three days of monster transformation that went with the cure. Now everyone wanted the cure. So Luca started to work to prepare enough doses to be taken by all the eutopian partners. He knew there was no time to perfect the cure. It had to be given to everybody no matter what its side effects were. At the end of the day they were only temporary. When everything was ready, Luca called the team to line up along the wall of the mine, and with a spoon he gave the medicine to everyone. Happy to know they were immune from the ants' bites, excited at the idea they would meet their partners soon, they left the mine..
Part four, written by the Portuguese team
As soon as the survivors started to get out of the mine Shroombies attacked them and they had to go back to protect themselves. Suddendly they realized they were trapped and they could not get out because the mine was surrounded by Shroombies. After some time of resting, the survivors started to feel the transformation and the effect of the antidote and out of nowhere they started spitting each other massively and after hours of spitting saliva they stopped their lama behaviour. When the effect decreased they thought about going deep into the mine to see if they could find any more secret doors all while Francisco from Portugal was arguing about how hungry he was. With that arguing everyone thought that there was no food and water in the bunker so they thought they were going to die from starvation and dehydration. They started to panic and then they began running like wild lamas while the spitting problem appeared again but this time they realized that when they panicked they spat a weird liquid which contained enough DNA codes to rewrite the DNA sequence of the Shroombies and maybe save them. They all stopped running and spitting and thought that maybe if they would all go outside and face the Shroombies while spitting that liquid, maybe they would absorb the liquid into their body and be cured.
Part five, written by the Estonian team.
They went outside to face the Shroombies. They started spitting again, but this time on the Shroombies. At first they thought that it doesn’t work, but then they saw that the weird mushrooms looked normal again. All the people who were there started jumping around because they were so happy that they had found a cure for the Shroombies.
Suddenly someone started yelling: “Look at the mushrooms!” And they all saw that the mushrooms were much bigger than before and they had turned green or blue. They looked very angry and started moving towards the people. The Erasmus+ people started running to the cave. They were all very sad because they didn’t have any ideas how to fight with the Shroombies.
But then Eliise said: “I know what we have to do. We must find Annika. She is a famous chemistry expert, maybe she knows what to do.”
Eliise called Annika and all the people found her soon. “Do you have any ideas what to do with the Shroombies?” Eliise asked. Annika said: “Fortunately I have one idea. I developed a serum some weeks ago, but I haven’t tried it yet. But I think we should go outside and try because it is our last chance to make the Shroombies normal again. If it doesn’t work, we have to give up and the Shroombies will rule the world.”