Earth - Source Carrier (ethnicity)

Some humans live with The Source, the disease that decimated Earth post-WWV. While the disease has been around for over a hundred years, The Source can still be newly contracted by Wastelanders unfortunate enough to run into a swarm of nanites in their wanderings, as well as those who merely visit the Wasteland. Typically, the life span of somebody who contracts The Source is between one week and one year, and they tend to be highly contagious.
While all major pharmaceutical corporations stopped working on an official cure, select reserves of their original designs were stolen by Wastelanders and still exist. Long past their expiration dates, expensive and highly illegal, these medicines if found on the black markets can extend a Source carrier’s life span to up to five or ten years. More often, when found off-Earth, these medicines turn out to be placebos, sold intentionally by con-artists knowing nobody with The Source will be likely to return to announce their dissatisfaction.
Those carrying the Source are literally filled with nanites. The only up side of this is that these nanites ironically defend the carrier’s system from other foreign matter entering their host body while also working to break down the body itself. This makes the Source Carrier virtually immune to all other diseases, radiation or poisons. Often these foreign elements can actually bolster the carrier’s defenses temporarily, as the nanites break down these compounds into their respective elements.