1 | Fat Every Second

At first, it was a joke. Late-night hosts made cracks about "The Great Expansion." Diet pill stocks plummeted while sweatpants manufacturers saw their value triple. People laughed as they notched new holes in their belts every week. In thirty days, everyone on the planet had gained roughly five and a half pounds. It was manageable. Month 3: The Infrastructure Crisis

The ticker appeared on the morning of June 1st, hovering in the bottom-right corner of everyone’s vision like a digital ghost: . 1 Fat Every Second

Society became quieter, slower, and strangely more empathetic. We were all carrying the same burden, second by second. No one was thin, so no one was judged. At first, it was a joke