Hepradiatsiya-37

Hepradiatsiya-37, colloquially known as “Hepra” is a bioengineered fungal strain developed by the Joint Unconventional Weapons Research Administration (СУИНО) in tandem with the Kurchatov Institute and the VPK in early 1984 in an effort to create biological agents that could be used to cause maximum possible damage to human life and local ecosystems, in a way that could utilize human migration to increase the area of effect of a strike location tenfold, and even exponentially if used in organized and engineered tactical strikes.
Hepradiatsiya-37 originally was bioengineered from specific strains of cryptococcus neoformans with enhanced radiotrophical effects, as well as its ability to attach to mammalian cell proteins and perform a pseudosymbiotic relationship with its infected host, Hepradiatsiya-37 being the only strain variant of the 82 mutant specimens of cryptococcus neoformans to effectively gain and utilize this ability without outright killing its host in most cases, although hepradiatsiya-37 likely won’t kill its host under the right circumstances, there is still many autoimmune conditions that arise among heavily infected hosts, which can often indirectly lead to host death, as well as autoimmune symptoms there is also a high likelihood of hosts developing cryptococcal meningitis once the host is thoroughly infected, causing almost constant hallucinations and visual over-stimuli when the host is exposed to light.
Alongside these effects, one of the most predominant and groundbreaking effects is the radiotrophic properties the fungi utilizes and exploits once attached to a cell protein, as the fungi will be able to metabolize gamma radiation that the host is exposed to, and in turn through the pseudosymbiosis would allow the host to stay alive and functioning as long as the host is in exposed to gamma radiation, or extremely large doses of UV radiation, though the host will be incredibly ill when exposed to gamma or UV radiation for the reasons mentioned above, and alongside that the high likelyhood of severe melanoma caused by the rapid melanin production cryptococcus neoformans causes, that comes with a multitude of other symptoms and effects, and is mainly characterized by large melanated splotches on the skin of the host.
The desired effect of the fungi is to keep infected hosts alive when exposed to radiation such as exposure to nuclear fallout in the vicinity of a nuclear strike location or often from direct inhalation of nuclear fallout and having a source of radiation within the host, although the symptoms caused by the exposure will likely coerce the host into leaving high radiation areas, and in turn going into unaffected areas where they can then infect those the host comes in contact with, as the symptoms would fade when no longer exposed to radiation, though eventually after a long deprivation of radiation, the Hepra will begin decoupling from connected cells, killing the cells in the process, and festering within any areas of the body that still has trace amounts of radiation, often being the lungs from fallout inhalation, causing the fungus to create cystic masses within the lungs that would eventually burst once filling up with puss, blood, spores, and necrotic flesh, causing massive internal hemorrhaging of blood in the lungs and throat, the fluid filling the lungs and causing the host to cough and vomit blood and puss, if the infection reaches this stage, the host has a near 100% chance of death by either drowning or hemorrhaging.
Minor hosts or hosts without present radiation or fallout exposure, often people infected by major hosts outside of radioactive exclusion zones, often are never fully infected by Hepra, though the cells that have been coupled with Hepra will begin dying if deprived of radiation exposure for long enough, causing necrosis in various parts of the body of the host, and although the Hepra itself won’t be able to propagate within the host, the necrotic flesh as well as the weakened immune system caused by the Hepra leaves the host extremely vulnerable to other infections, often leading to the host’s death, or at least major loss of limbs due to the necrosis, though occasionally minor hosts are able to survive this process, either by exposing themself to radiation where the Hepra can perform radiotrophy and not kill coupled cells, or simply by waiting for the Hepra to be eradicated by deprivation of metabolites and radiation