Memetic Virus

People start writing the gibberish I usually write (take a picture of it) whenever they're not actively thinking about not doing it, and they have a means to. They feel compelled to do it, as if it were relieving them of some level of stress, just in the action. Viewing said writings, or hearing them spoken carry a chance of spreading the virus to others.

Progression of the virus. This is how something will come of it. Perhaps introduce a TF element into the memetic virus, so that over time, they start shifting into something else.

How would this be solved by mortal man? Possibilities include burning the documents. Or perhaps having a slightly more advanced staged person tell them what's written. You will have to provide a translation, so that people know what's being written. Once this is done, perhaps there is a simple ritual that can be done. Especially effective if done by non-mages. benefit to that is that a non-mage is coming up with a magical solution. Problem is that this solution may be too easy.

On a side note, perhaps a TP link could be set up with one of the victims, then relay the informations. Of course, that would spread the virus all the quicker and worse. Again though, handing away the solution is a bad thing. Perhaps embed it as a riddle. Or seeming like a riddle. Maybe they will need some sort of countermeme. LOLcats. The salvation of the multiverse will clearly depend on LOLcats. Or the ability to distract these people in general.

What would they shift into? This thing is definitely either some sort of weapon, or an attempt of some sort to salvage an alien civilization/species/whathaveyou.

If it's the former, you'd want to go for something incapacitating. Perhaps inflict a debilitating OCD or more writing as time goes on. Or perhaps they transition into writing out the entire works of the species just to keep them going. If the latter, then there should be personality shifts over time. Have cultural stuff change, give them new infoes, or a change in what they view to be right or wrong, or make them focus on other things in life. Try to make them seem alien, without being shock characters. Pendra's a good upper limit for shock-value. A notch or two lower than her. She's a good example of alien though. Maybe not so much lower, as a lateral shift to being 'alien' in a different way. Have them lose their English as time goes on.

You should write out a very long script of what they're writing. have there be a preset number of times they write it out before they reach each stage, perhaps? Of course, having someone in a more advanced stage read it out to them is just going to run the risk of spreading the virus, and advancing it within themselves.