[ WP ] The Fountain of Youth is discovered in Florida and then quickly turned into a tourist trap .

`` The Crime That Killed Humanity,'' it was called. When they discovered the Fountain of Youth. Sure, Ponce de Leon found it first. But we did n't know that until a crazy billionaire that was convinced that the Fountain existed staged a silly expedition into the middle of nowhere in Florida. 
 
 There, he found the bones. What we used to know is that Ponce de Leon gave up the search and decided to keep on gallivanting around the world. What we now know is that there were a few men he left behind to guard his discovery. Turns out that when the discovery of the century was made, he was told off for searching for something that was n't gold or of benefit to the Spanish Crown. So off he went, leaving a few men to guard the Fountain. There, they kept their promise, drinking the water. And when we found what was left of them, then we did n't believe them. Even though we encountered something that was life-restoring, but we did n't believe anything they wrote on whatever they could write on - rocks, trees, their armor and clothing. All in Spanish. Curses in Spanish, pleading of God to end their suffering. We did n't know why they wrote it. Only that they showed remorse for having indulged in living. We ignored the warnings, and we paid the price. 
 
 The Fountain of Youth was opened a few years later. The crazy billionaire flaunted it, drinking it in public, saying that the Fountain was going to make America great again. He was n't wrong. Those who drank the stuff had their wounds healed, their vision restored. Muscle dystrophy was treated, cancer was done in, the blind regained their vision, the deaf their hearing, it was a miracle - the water healed everything that was n't right. The religious were chanting how the Fountain was their gift from God ( as was he, chugging bottles of it and then cutting himself just to show how the water healed him ), atheists were baffled, scientific experiments were conducted to find out why the water healed. 
 
 That's where science decided to keep quiet. I'm not sure why, only that it did. 
 
 The Fountain of Youth was never empty. In fact, it was very badly overcrowded. Each time an expansion was commissioned, the Fountain never underscored in attendance. The hardest part of expansion was how fiercely the local wildlife protected it - almost zealously, without giving up. But as soon as the expansion was made, up to a certain point, the wildlife gave up. Whatever animals were captured fought against their captors, baring teeth, claws, rabid. But after a few days they stopped. They reverted to their average behavior. The parrots, instead of shrieking and flying everywhere, resumed their calm melodies and mocking tones of the zookeepers. The crocodiles were crocodiles. Everything was fine with them after a week of drinking non-youth water. 
 
 The water was akin to a drug in how the body handled the it. First it released a huge amount of dopamine. Then adrenaline. Then it healed any wounds or afflictions. And then it went straight to the bladder within five minutes. That was the concentrated mix, derived straight from the fountain and had flavors added. The consumer version was diluted twentyfold, but was half as effective as the concentrate. But it was tastier, considering how many flavors could be added to it. Health-Juice was monopolized world-wide. And hence why only one company was ever blamed for the genocide. Not like the company exists now to keep taking the blame like a champ. 
 
 They say, by the time seven years have passed, that all cells from seven years ago are gone and have been replaced with newer versions within your body. The water that was left within your body after you drank it left some minor healing effects, that much was apparent. 
 
 Then the Fountain ran dry, five years later. By that time, five hundred billion consumer bottles have been sold. Considering that the consumer version was diluted twentyfold. The company was rich, the billionaire was rich, most investors were rich. And everyone was chugging the stuff. Those that did n't chug right away set up stockpiles. When the Fountain ran dry, there was a rapid spike in prices - each bottle, instead of costing ten bucks, cost two hundred. Assuming that the bottles were n't tampered with and then diluted even further until the water's healing effects were on par with the body's own regeneration. 
 
 The well ran dry not because of overconsumption, but because the water's effects were adjusted by the body. After six months of drinking one bottle a day to heal a bone that was being broken continuously, five bottles were needed to do the same job per day. After another six months, two tonnes of the stuff was needed to heal anything per day. The madness and the quest for eternal youth never stopped. 
 
 By 2027, humanity was dead. Because of the body's adjusted healing effects, the water became unnecessary. One could make do like Deadpool and heal any injury. 
 
 Five years after drinking the last drop ( for the average human ), the healing effects stopped for most people. In fact, due to the immune system's new state of being obsolete, the body rejected it. The water's adding effects did the job better. And then the healing ran out. Wounds that could heal within seconds festered. Bones did n't heal. Those who regained vision and hearing kept their senses, but were n't so different from the rest of humanity when everyone shared a festering gangrene papercut. 
 
 Whoever did n't stop healing within five years stopped within six. Those who stockpiled their shares were often robbed for it. 
 
 Vaccines, by virtue of not being needed, killed whoever was injected with them. Humanity could n't do anything, not even the weakest of injections. Because even the tiniest virus could undo everything. 
 
 Viruses never go away. Even in the body, they remain dormant while waiting for the right conditions to start the incubation period. And then they strike. 
 
 That's what happened. The common rhinovirus, a common little cold, something everybody shared... killed humanity. Few people survived, and only because they were careful to watch their steps. I watched mine. I knew where we were heading. Accelerated healing and youth have a terrible price. A price I never cared to pay. I watched most people I know die, but I did n't care because of how delusional they were, thinking there was no catch to endless healing, tasty water, and eternal youth. I only had a few bottles in my entire life - one to get me up on my legs from the wheelchair that plagued me for twenty years, one to heal my poor eyes, and another for alcohol poisoning. All within four years. Not like I care. I can do what I like, now that no one's here. 
 
 Now that I think about it, I know why we never weaned off the water. We liked health too much to think about giving up a little bit of living just to experience invulnerability from the common cold.
