Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 It has been over half a century since The Change.  No one knows who started
it, but everyone agrees that anyone with the knowledge have long since
gone. However it might have started, life on Earth has been altered and it
happened literally overnight.  Nearly half of the world's adult population
started to behave like young children, some as infants and others as
teenagers.  It also affected some people's gender behavior as well, with
fully grown men acting as young girls.

   With nearly half the work force not going to work, but staying at home
and playing, the world fell into an economic crisis.  Crime and civil
unrest started to increase.  People started to believe that the end of
world was near.  Nations reacted differently to these changes.  Some
countries began eugenic programs against those who were affected.  Others
quarantined them into isolated communities.  Yet, neither of these worked
to eliminate the problem.

   It wasn't until months later that scientists started to discover that
there was an unidentified virus in the air causing the changes in people.
Although when The Change first accrued it affect all adults, with future
generations it only happened to some people in their twenties.  The
scientists couldn't understand why someone people were affect and others
were not.  They also could not clean the virus out of the air.

   People gradually started to accept and understand youngists, as people
were calling those affected with the virus.  Although they had the behavior
of someone much younger then their biological age, they still retained
their mentality.  They just needed more structure and guidance in their
lives just like the children they were acting like.  Some nations started
to set up Baby Communities were those affected could go and get adopted by
a mommy and/or daddy.  Also within these communities the work environment
is set up with strict supervision and guidance to ensure that they work and
become productive citizens.

   This is the story of one such Baby Community called Papoose, just north
of Chicago.