FCA Files: âThe Restaurant Chainâ
Federal Containment Authority
Nickname: âThe Restaurant Chainâ
AE-2043 manifests as a chain of self-generating restaurants that appear sporadically in airport terminals and other public spaces. To date, FCA has identified multiple iterations of the anomaly, each offering cuisine and cultural theming consistent with a particular nationality:
âJuntosâ â Mexican cuisine; patrons display physical, linguistic, and behavioral traits consistent with Mexican heritage.
âMaâanaâ â Arab cuisine; individuals adopt Middle Eastern features, language patterns, and culturally aligned behaviors.
[REACTED] â [REDACTED] cuisine; entry results in [REDACTED] physical traits, speech fluency, and culturally consistent behaviors.
The names of these restaurants roughly translate to the same conceptâunity, togetherness, or âwe are one.â While the precise purpose remains unknown, FCA theorizes that the anomaly may aim to create a form of homogeneity between patrons and the cuisine, altering individuals to align physically, culturally, and behaviorally with the nationality represented by the food. This hypothesis remains under investigation.
Subjects entering any AE-2043 iteration exhibit a strong, often irresistible compulsion to consume the meals offered. Observations via CCTV indicate that longer exposure increases the speed and permanence of physical and cognitive transformation. Changes include:
Complete alteration of physical features to match the cuisineâs associated nationality.
Acquisition of speech patterns, accents, and linguistic fluency appropriate to the new identity.
Behavioral and cultural adaptation, including memory restructuring consistent with the adopted identity.
The precise mechanismâwhether genetic, memetic, or otherwiseâis undetermined. Attempts at containment by direct intervention have been unsuccessful; the restaurants disappear after the [REDACTED] time frame. All affected subjects lose memory of their previous identity, and no reversal method has been identified.
Subject File: H-7 (Most Recent Confirmed Case)
The most recent confirmed subject influenced by AE-2043 is a male adult identified as Henry [REDACTED]. A detailed reconstruction of his interaction with the anomaly and subsequent transformations follows.
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Henry leaned against the cold metal railing of the JFK airport terminal, tugging nervously at the sleeve of his thin jacket. His carry-on rested at his feet, slightly scuffed from months of travel, while he stared at the departure board like it held all the answers. He was supposed to meet his smarter younger brother who got a scholarship to teach English in Italyâa chance to reconnect after months of missed calls and text messages, a week of sightseeing and family dinners he had been looking forward to for months.
Except now, the flight had been delayed. Twice.
His stomach growled in protest. He hadnât eaten since the night before, and the thought of waiting another hourâor twoâwas unbearable. Most of the airport restaurants were closed until dawn, the lights off, metal shutters down, leaving only a few desperate signs glowing in the dim terminal. Henry glanced around, frustration rising. Heâd packed snacks, sure, but they werenât enough for a long wait, and he didnât want to waste his energy on candy bars or stale sandwiches.
Then he noticed it: a small, warm light in the corner of the terminal, a restaurant he could have swore hadnât been there a minute ago. The sign above the door glowed softly: Uri â Korean Cuisine.
Henry hesitated. He wasnât a fan of Asian food, always preferred burgers, pizza and pies. In fact, he was pretty sure heâd never even tried Korean food before. He barely knew it existed beyond the takeout places covering the streets of New York City. But hunger gnawed at him relentlessly. He pulled out a stool at the bar and watched the, admittedly handsome, Korean cooks busy cooking rice on the boiler.
âIâm probably not gonna like any of this.â Henry huffed, eyes scanning the Korean words on the menu: Bibimbap, Japchae, Sundubu Jjigae. It all seemed like gibberish to the uncultured man.
âWhat can we get for you, American?â The waiter asked with a polite smile.
âUmâŚâ The way he was addressed through Henry off center. âIâll have this oneâ.
He pointed at one of the only pictured items, choosing the one that had chicken in it - Dak Galbi.
When it arrived, he couldnât deny, it smelled decent - especially for airport food. He tentatively took his first bite, only for his tastebuds to explode with pleasure.
Fire and sweetness danced across his tongue. His eyes widened. He had never eaten anything like it. Not that he could remember. He wondered how heâd been missing out on this his entire life.
He took another bite. Then another. And another. Without thinking, he waved to the server. âOne more,â he said, and it arrivedâa plate of grilled meats, perfectly caramelized and tender. Then noodles. Then a sizzling pancake. Soon, he had ordered enough dishes to fill the table, bowls and plates spilling over, steam curling into the air.
He ate without restraint, shoveling food into his mouth with both hands, eyes wide, teeth tearing through morsels of rice, kimchi, pork, and spicy broths, his clothes feeling tighter and tighter with each bite. But he couldnât stop. He couldnât afford to not feel like this. It was almost like an addiction that had taken hold within a milisecond. One that heâd carry for life. Never able to escape.
As he chewed like a pig, he rubbed his belly, straining against his tight shirt. He was lost in thought. He took another bite of the Kimchi Jeon.
âMother used to make it just like this.â Henry let out a satisfied belch, in front of the cooks and staff. âMy brother, heâd always fight me for the last pancake. Heâd yell at me, so Iâd speak in English to annoy him. He never did really get the hang of English. Still canât speak it to this day. It still annoys him when I speak English in front of him.â
Henry sat back in his seat, giving time for his food to settle. As he does, the stool creaks under the newly added weight.
He caught himself, confused. What are these memories? That isnât true. Did I just make that up?
Still shoveling food into his mouth, his body expanding past its previous limits, the chair began to creak under his weight. But he couldnât stop. He tried thinking of his brotherâbut the image that sprang to mind wasnât the clever, familiar boy he knew and loved. Instead, it was a towering, muscular, almost brutish Korean man. It looked like him⌠just warped, reshaped, a version of him that felt both wrong and uncannily real.
Instead of recalling his brotherâs past boyfriends, all he can see is how much of a ladiesâ man he wasâbig, brutish, impossible to ignore. Memories of accidentally walking in on his 21-year-old brother breeding a chick or seeing him stroking it while playing Call of Duty invaded Henryâs mind. The clever, familiar brother he once knew has vanished from his mind.
âë´ ëěâŚâ Henry jumped at the sound of his voice. âI mean, my brother! What is happening to me?!â
He squeezed his chest absentmindedly, feeling his pecs swell under his shirt as he reached for more food, the pec filling his monstrous meaty hand. Panic prickled through him.
âIâm not-â Henry picks up his phone, the screen off, the black mirror reflecting back an undeniably Korean man where his white American face should be.
Henry looked towards the Korean waiter pleadingly. âI- I am American.â The words came out thick, impossibly accented. His own voice sounded foreign.
The server smiled, calm, unhurried. âDonât worry,â he said. âItâs on the house.â
âI am American!â he insisted, trying to make himself believe. His voice rising, nearly trembling.
The serverâs smile didnât falter. He leaned closer, pointing at the manâs face. âYou look⌠Korean,â he said smugly. âShow me passport.â
Hands shaking, he reached into his wallet. He blinked. There it wasâa passport, black leather, the words âëí믟ęľâ embossed across the cover. Fully Korean. The photo looked like himâyet the face he thought he knew as his own now seemed undeniably Asian.
As if on cue, seeing his own Korean face seemed to snap everything into place. Suddenly, it all made senseâwhy he had panicked, why heâd been convinced his brother was a nerdy gay English teacher, why he had thought he was⌠white? He was no pathetic white man.
He shook his head one last time, the old him clinging on. Italy. Italy. My family⌠my brother⌠my flight. He looked down at the boarding pass, expecting to see Rome. The letters glared back at him: ICN â Incheon International Airport, Seoul, South Korea.
âIâm go to Italy,â he whispered, trying to convince himself, but the thick, unmistakable accent betrayed him.
âNo,â the server said, calm and absolute. âYou go home.â
âI am Hyun Ki⌠I go home.â he murmured, voice soft, almost droning.
âI go to South Korea.â
And for the first time, everything made sense.
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Post-Exposure Observations â Hyun Ki (FKA Henry [REDACTED] )
Following documented exposure to AE-2043, Henry has been observed living seamlessly in South Korea. Surveillance and open-source data indicate he maintains an apartment, has an established social network, and functions as a recognized citizen. These findings suggest that AE-2043âs influence extends beyond physical and cognitive transformation, altering surrounding reality to align with the subjectâs new identity.
During follow-up operations, FCA personnel located Henryâs brother, Jamie [REDACTED], in Italy, the original intended destination for Henryâs travel. The brother was found in his private residence, exhibiting extreme physical hypertrophy: significantly increased muscle mass, incredibly enlarged pectorals, and proportionally enlarged extremities. When personnel entered the premises, he was sitting squishing his massive pectoral muscles as he drooled onto them. Cognitive function was severely diminished; subject was unresponsive to standard questioning, displaying compulsive behaviors like bouncing his pectorals and stroking his enlarged penis through his grey sweatpants. Fluent English was no longer present, and the subject displayed fully reoriented heterosexual behaviors.
The image below shows Jamie (now legally known as Ji-Ho) as observed by personnel during their initial encounter in his private residence in Italy.
These findings confirm that AE-2043 not only transforms the initial subject but also rewrites the genetics and associated behavioral patterns of biologically related individuals, creating family-wide congruence.
Due to inability to fulfill prior professional obligations and irreversible physiological and cognitive changes, FCA has taken custody of the subject. Current containment protocols classify him as permanently altered and non-reversible. Monitoring and research into familial propagation effects continue.
The two are now reunited in their legally registered birthplace, Seoul.
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