The Pathogen

Subject: The Pathogen Fri Jan 04, 2013 9:59 am

A really bloody long time ago, I asked on the Sporum is a zombie-mutation "virus" was possible. Now, a lot has changed in the mean time, but some of the basics and most of the details explained here still remain the same (excuse the massively large amount of spelling errors. I was like 13 or something at the time):

Spoiler:

Quote :: The Virus (helped by eSCSi and TuefelHundenIV, from the Sporum):

Question 1: I was just thinking, but is it possible for... something to cause the cells of an adult body to revert back to an embryonic state and "mutate" certain parts of the body?

What got me thinking was the salamander. When certain species loose a limb or tail or something, the cells at the tip of the stump does something simmilar (or something - I think I may also have heard something about stemcells on the documentary) and the limb grows back.

Now, can a simmilar proccess be induces in adult humans to possibly cause severe mutations (eg. scale formation, tail growth, web formation between the fingers, etc.) over, perhaps, a relatively short period of time?

Answer: As all of your cells have the same (or very similar) genetics, it is certainly possible to revert some of them to an embryonic state... in theory. That might let you regenerate complex limbs, after all if you could grow them once you can grow them again, although the results are likely to be ugly if not carefully under medical control. I suppose you could coerce the body into forming new structures from different kinds of tissue, as with the "treeman" with keratin horns on his skin from a virus. We don't know how to do this, though: and a way to make embryonic stem cells from adult tissue would get you a Nobel Prize.

It wouldn't be "mutation" so much as literal sculpting of flesh as a branch of regenerative medicine, as the genetics remains the same. You wouldn't pass on any such "mutations" to your children, and you would certainly need a lot of medical help during the [re]generation process.

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I think it would to put the victim into a short coma so that the generation process isn't disturbed. Then I imagine it forming small nodules from which to distribute whatever factor is making the reversion happen. For a body horror factor, you could make the nodules resemble small teratomas as a sign of the changes, even have them motile or semi-sentient. These would spread through the body. They'd release a antimicrobial gel in order to prevent any other pathogens from getting in while the host is vulnerable. At that point it would sections portions of body cells to stem cells.

Body fat would be consumed to feed them. This would cascade over the body, converting small sections at once, until the desired mutations are achieved. Mostly these would be creative rearrangements of human anatomy although at lower levels entirely new genes and cell lines could be introduced. At that point the nodules would dissolve and the transformation is complete. The victim would be emaciated and the death rate during the process could be quite high.

Comments: Above is the reason for extreme hunger and hunting instinct. Comas mark mutation periods. Before comas, headaches and fainting periods mark mutation periods for the first few hours/days.

Question 2: Would it be possible for individual microbes of a virus to transmit bio/chemical/electro/radio signals to other microbes of the virus to form a sort of "brain" or "hivemind", perhaps extending even between hosts?

Answer: Not individual microbes, as viruses are barely (or not) considered alive at all, they're just bits of genetic material with a protective shell. Cysts formed from infected cells might form nerve-like fibres to link together within a host. Between hosts, it's more difficult. I suppose simple actions like "enter mutation phase" could be mediated by chemical pheromones. Bioelectrical pulses could be used but have a very limited range. I can't see radio transmitters in every host working well.

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You'd need the ability to deposit inorganic material in detail, at least well enough to make simple electrical circuits. This isn't easy: inorganic crystals like bone or tooth enamel are only crudely formed by their biological means. If it does work, it might be just recievers with manmade transmitters providing the signal, or it could be very noisy and produce eerie static.

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Say that after the infection process, not all of the nodules dissolve, and some of them swell into cysts. These link together with small nerve-like fibres. Within them some sort of chemical computer is established, and this controls viral functions such as... I don't know, whatever the virus might want to do. Since it might generate a lot of heat it has to be slower, less intelligent, or more efficient than a human brain.

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Magnetite (produced in some organisms) or a similar material is deposited in a dense matrix towards the surface of the skin. It is encased with enamel and then flushed to remove traces of organic material. Powerful clusters of electrocytes (as in electric eels) gather around it. They are timed by something similar to the pacemaking cells in the heart to produce pulses of electricity. These act as a weak radio transmitter.

For the reciever, it's very similar. It might be similar to a crystal radio or it might somehow use neural circuits instead of solid components.

Comments: Above causes grey skin with what appears to be puffed blood-vessles, with is infact the "computer" network. Radio nodules appear wart-like and the network causes the body to shiver/pulse slightly.

Question 3: Let's assume the "virus" does what is explained in eSCSi's answers on the OP. Which actual uni-cellular Earth-organism would be easiest to genetically alter into something that does that?

Answer: *After much discussion*

I was just thinking on the way home from class, something like cordyceps would work. Get one that attacks human tissue instead of arthropod tissue. It secretes cordycepin which suppresses the immune system. Have the fungus also carry a virus or a bacterium that is symbiotic with it. the fungus could penetrate the cells of the body, and the virus could expedite the hijacking and mutation of DNA. What you would have to do is control the dna being swapped.

Comments: So, the "virus" is now a braincell-like microscopic single celled fungus with slave viri (that could be anything as simple as the common cold) that cause the mutations.

Question 4: Okay, so we know that the virus mutates the host, we know it can form a hivemind and we know what the scientists used to create the virus. But there's yet another, disturbing aspect of the "virus" that must be discussed. Denecrofication. Aka Zombification.

If the host seemingly dies from something other than severe brain trauma or perhaps heart trauma, would it be possible for the viri within the host to... ressurect him/her/it as a... zombie? Not to say that the host will, at this point, be dead/undead - the host is still biologically alive - but the host's mind will have been stripped down to nothing but instict, perhaps even controlled by the virus, if the infection was advanced enough. The host will have lost all memory, thinking ability and concious will. If the host had a soul, it would have left the body at this stage. The need for nutrience, basic bodily functions and mutation will still continue.

So, is it possible for the "virus" to "ressurect" the host in this way?

Answer: "For more clarification, this is what I was thinking: Fairly advanced host is, for instance, shot in the heart and dies. The "virus" rapidly repairs the damage, perhaps by inprovisive use of other organs (eg. breaking a lung down and rebuilding it as a make-shift heart which will later mutate into more of an actual heart) and reawakens the host. Massive brain damage may have been sustained, so either way, the host will now be working on the primal reptile brain, instead of the whole thing, thus loosing concious will. Perhaps, if the infection was advanced enough, the host will be controlled by the hivemind itself.

It should also be noted that there are multiple strains of the "virus" (4, infact). The first contageous strain of the virus ("G2") killed the host, bringing him/her/it ("it" because the "virus" can infect most species of complex life, not just humans) into the "zombified" state imediately. Only later, when the virus had allready spread quite a bit and the hivemind had allready begun to form, did the "G3" strain emerge. This version of the virus does not zombify the host untill (perhaps) the final stage of mutation.

Here are the differences between the normal state (N) of infection and the "zombified" state (Z):

-In N, mutations occur slower, are less extreme and less random because the host posseses slight concious controll (via subconcious communication with the infection - the "feedback" you mentioned earlier). In Z, mutations occur seemingly continuously and can be incredibly extreme, because the host no longer has conciousness.

-In N, mutations occur in stages - a few hours in which the host is "put to sleep" - as not to kill the host through the shock and pain he/she will probably experience during mutation. In Z, the mutations seem to be continuous, as the host can no longer register pain or go into shock.

-In N, the host will be able to communicate with the hivemind as the infection becomes more advanced. In Z, the host will eventually be controlled by the hivemind as the infection becomes more advanced.

I also thought that, in the "stage" where the host is "dead", the hivemind within the host would keep the body alive by acting as the brain. I thought this could work because you are "dead" once more brain shuts down. As the "virus" is able to act as a sort of brain, it could keep the body (and the brain core) alive by possibly linking in to your nervous system. The brain (at least the "reptile" core of the brain) will be reawakened once the "repairs" are complete to whatever killed you. If you were infected by G2, it will be exactly the same, but no "repairs" will take place - the host will reawaken as soon as the "virus" has multiplied enough to form the hivemind.

This also made me think that with G3 infected (the concious hosts) you may have the "virus" within you for a few hours before mutation will start, as it first needs to multiply to suficient numbers to form the hivemind."

The virus needs to:
- Seal off the circulatory system, and stem any open wounds.
- Cannibalise, consuming fat, organs, muscle, and dead tissue in order to fuel the regeneration.
- Farm the cells that survived, feed them, and then use to repair damaged tissue.
- Discard tissue what cannot be saved.
- Spread through lymphatic system: cells contract in waves to improve circulation and make corpse look eerie.
- Hijack the spinal cord to take over motor controls.
- Reanimate and seek out nutrition.

There's very likely a lot more that it needs to do.

"That basically summarised the zombification procces for G3 infected after death.

How would it work with G2, where the host becomes zombified uppon infection? It could be something like this: Host becomes infected. "Virus" starts multiplying. As soon as sufficient numbers are reached to form internal hivemind, host is knocked unconcious. [Prosses] - takes a few minutes. Host is reanimated, "zombified"."

Eh, I'd say that once they finish multiplying, they just invade the central nervous system, knock the host out, and then start to take over control of the body. The unconciousness period doesn't last as long as in the normal infection, as they are in constant mutation. Then they alter the organs to fit their new feral lifestyle better, making them highly specialised yet resilient and redundant."

Comments: The "feedback" is the G3 host's ability to suppress or accept their mutations, allowing slight controll.

Also, the zombified hosts will die if the virus dies or if they cannot feed.

Back at the present, the pathogen isn't a virus, fungus or actually any earthly microbial life anymore. It's now essentially a black, blood-and-other-bodily-fluid-bound goop that originated (on Earth, at least), from the remains of an asteroid dug up in some mine or quarry in Africa. Miners noticed the peculiar black "rock" and alerted their superiors. Investigators were sent in to examine the strange substance and, upon further investigation, it was found to be organic. All trance of the substance was immediately taken to a research facility and the international scientific community notified. The US government near-immediately purchased the substance and hushed everything about it. This was during the fifties. Over the next decade, the substance was studied under the highly classified Blackrock Project, and eventually the means by which to reanimate the organism was found. It was discovered that the organism was parasitic and would attack itself to the nearest living organism. Experiments with creatures such as lab mice and house flies revealed that the organism (in small enough amounts as not to ingest the creature completely), would bond to the blood of the host, kill it, reanimate it as a and then begin altering it physically to make it a more successful (and violent) organism. Below is another quote, telling what happened next (also quite old):

Spoiler:

Quote :: Wales, Alaska – 12 May 1966…
The Blackrock Project is handed over to FASE - the Fringe Approach to Strategic Enhancement - who beging a top secret project to create the perfectly adaptable soldier using the properties of the organism. The resultant soldier would be capable of literally adapting to its environment by physically changing – consciously mutating into something more, or even less. A “super-soldier” of sorts. They started experimenting with the material and test early serums on animal subjects. All died.

13 December 1978…
FASE now believe they have created what they set out to create – a substance able to enhance the capabilities and functions of a human soldier, by allowing them to change their bodies in whatever way needed. They called their creation the Blackrock Serum. Human trails started. They first acquired various test subjects in the form of the homeless. Unfortunately, the serum killed almost all the test subjects, with the exception of a man with Haematological malignancy (specifically blood cancer). More subjects with the condition were sought after and, due to the rarity of the disease, kidnapped for the purpose of experimentation. After being treated with the serum, only two of the subjects survived: Alexandra Bennet and Andrew Harper. With Alexandra, the organism seemed to effect nothing more than her brain cortex, forming strange swellings. She was subsequently placed in biostasis pending further examination. Andrew, on the other hand, survived with no apparent side effects. He appeared completely normal. They continued testing him, but found that nothing had been enhanced, improved, or even disadvantaged. He appeared completely untouched by the Blackrock serum.

15 December 1978…
Half of the scientists are dead. What had once been dead test subjects, were now very living monsters. Andrew Harper had died the day before from unknown causes. The survivors had to completely destroy the subjects to stop them from killing them. The remains were incinerated – still alive. During the autopsy of Andrew Harper, the five scientists who were participating noticed an acceleration in bone growth. That’s the last thing their minds could process before Andrew killed, and then consumed, them all. Christened Patient Zero, Andrew escaped and entered the vastness of North America, never to be seen again, until now.

New York City, USA – 8 October 2013…
Nearly thirty five years after Patient Zero escaped from the Wales compound, a group of people of varying is being briefed by an unknown man in an obscure basement in New York City. He contacted them each individually a few days prior regarding the ill feeling they'd all been having and stated, without any explanation, that they were in grave danger. Many more were contacted, but only eight came, with two already being by the man's side. He explains that they're infected with a classified pathogen than escaped from a government organization's covert laboratories. There is no cure, and the organisation - FASE - will do anything to keep the pathogen hidden and under control, not excluding the extermination of everyone infected. They are to flee to a secure safehouse in Crucible, Pennsylvanian. From there, their next moves will be decided, that is, if they manage to survive FASE, and the other, not so fortunate infected.

I'm thinking of perhaps replacing blood cancer with HIV, and Alex and Andrew would originally be a couple both dying of the virus (FASE would then be able to acquire volunteers as those dying of AIDS, perhaps under the guise of attempting to find a cure).

There have been four strains of the pathogen since Patient Zero:

-G1: Generation One of the Blackrock pathogen is the one effecting Andrew. I didn't mention it above, but FASE tried a different means with which to get the serum to work with each of the various final test subjects - with Andrew, they injected him with Rabies, believing it could act as a vector for the organism. The organism bonded with the virus and resulted in the pathogen (okay, so I guess it kinda is a virus). G1 infected are able to consciously control their mutations, though their consciousness is also highly suppressed by the pathogen, as they are also the centre of the pathogen's hivemind. A G1 can also infect other living organism through transferal of genetic material (eg. a bite or scratch). The infection, however, will be G2 and not G1. Initially, the only known G1 is Andrew.

-G2: The original contageous form of the pathogen, which results in zombification and extreme mutation controlled by the pathogen (which is sentient, in case I failed to mention that). The flesh of an infected organism will remain alive as long as energy is available for it to survive and can only be killed by incineration or extreme cold (like, near-complete-lack-of-energy cold). Once infected, the pathogen kills the host, then reanimates it as a mindless zombie (mindless only until the pathogen has evolved enough in the host to sentiently control it and connect to the hivemind). Sadly, shooting (or any other attack method that causes great trauma) a young G2 infected in the head will only incapacitate them for as long as it takes for the pathogen to repair the brain (same with the heart and other vital organs). However, shooting a mature G2 infected will likely have no effect whatsoever.

-G3: Upon entering a woman named Sheila, who was infected with some or other aggressive virus (preferably airborne, or something interesting like HIV could also do, then I'll just keep blood cancer above), the pathogen bonded with the virus which, though making it less potent, also made it airborne, but only for Sheila's blood-type (AB-). G3 infected are not killed by the virus and retain their consciousnesses. However, the will periodically fall into comatose-like states, at first lasting just a few seconds, but eventually lasting hours, during which the pathogen mutates them in stages, first unnoticeably, but later in very extreme ways. Eventually they will connect to the hivemind as well and their consciousness assimilated into (and therefor lost to) the hivemind (they will become slaves to the hivemind). When killed, the pathogen reverts back to G2, reanimating them as zombie-monsters.

-G4: The pathogen attached specifically to the brainstem and results in mild psychokinetic ability instead of mutations by unlocking higher parapsychological power. Only an exceptionally rare group of people are able to react to the pathogen in this way, but I cannot for the life of me recall what it was. The Hivemind is still able to psychically connect to G4 infected, but directly to them, as apposed to through the pathogen.

And that's just about all I can think to tell you at the moment. Any questions, please feel free to ask.

Subject: Re: The Pathogen Mon Jan 07, 2013 8:35 am

Actually, I just found this written down somewhere: "The scientists can find no discernable pattern involving genes or blood type or lifestyle". This line is from the "Breakdown: The Pandemic" RP by the Sporum's OsakaSun (and a very close friend of mine) which this is very loosely based off (though the RP up to when it died will essentially do as Part I of the first book of Breakdown).

And you know what? I agree with that line. It adds a very unpredictable, even somewhat sentient, quality to the pathogen, which are of course qualities it possesses. Instead of having the pathogen only work on certain people because of certain disorders or deceases they have don't work for me anymore. Therefor, I shall edit some of the info I mentioned above:

-Firstoff, FASE wasn't trying to create a serum from the Blackrock organism (by the way, I would very much like a better name for it. I originally had "Darkrise", but I couldn't justify why it was called that, and spontaneously came up with "Blackrock" one day, given that the organism was originally seen as black rock in a quarry or mine). Instead, they were trying to find a means to control it, using some or other microbial pathogen to do so.

-Alex (I actually had this figured out long ago, but forgot) is the daughter of the FASE scientist originally in command of Project Blackrock/Darkrise/whatever. She was born with astropathically sensitivity (she was a mild psychic) and, perhaps when Dr. Craig (working name for the past lead scientist) brought her to work with him, the organism inexplicably and unpredictably reacted to her, as if she could somehow communicate with her. When a tissue sample of her was exposed to the organism, it didn't even attach to it. Eventually (Dr. Craig being rather emotionless at the time), further tests were done of her and eventually she became a permanent subject at the Wales compound and was injected with the pathogen. Anger at her being denied the freedom to leave led her to accidentally incinerate her test cell and everyone and everything in it, after which she found nude and unconscious with her hair and nails scorched off in said room. She was then indefinitely placed in biostasis until a means with which to safely perform experiments on her was found.

-Andrew, Alex's boyfriend, went looking for her after she went missing (permanently detained in the Wales compound), and eventually tracked her down to the Wales compound via stuff in her father's Vancouver residence. Upon getting there, however, he was captured and about to be killed, were it not for the organism seemingly reacting to his presence (in reality, it was Alex reacting to his presence and the organism reacting to Alex's reaction). He was then tested on and subsequently became the first human test subject to survive (because of his connection with Alex), though appeared completely unaffected. Then the stuff happened.

-I've actually changed how G3 formed already, but just forgot. Patient Zero, though normally in the form of a very Dead Space-esque monster, still retains the ability to morph back into his original form (Andrew). As Andrew, he approached the psychologist, Sophia Wilmore (and old school mate of his and also one of the important characters), for "counseling". Perhaps he infected her with a handshake, perhaps he could get sick in his human form (and then coughed infected flu onto her), I don't know, and I'll even leave it open to speculation. Anyway, Sophia became infected as the first G3-infected, though her infection had no exterior signs. Her "mutation" was something akin to immortality - the pathogen preserved her physical state at the time of infection: she no longer aged and healed supernaturally well. (This, however, is spoiler information, as I'm going to make someone else seem to be Patient X (the first G3 infected).)

-G4 infected now results from the pathogen (in G0 (testing) and G3 forms) infecting an astropathically sensitive individual. FASE was able to track down such individuals via the work (and threat-induced co-operation) of Dr. Jonathan Right who, in the SPIRE timeline, also invented technologies that can "see" Aether (the energy/substance from which everything metaphysical (such as the "soul") is made).