Alaunus

A sample of the Alaunus virus in a petri dish.

### Symptoms

90% of cases: Hyper aggression, increased metabolic rate, bleeding, death. 10% of cases: rapid and unpredictable tissue mutation.

### Lethality

90% lethality for those infected over a period of several weeks.

### Resilience

Low: Outside a host body the virus is very susceptible to UV light and other methods of decontamination.

## History

### Outbreak at Koulton

The outbreak was believed to have first begun on May 2nd, 1972 on the docks of Koulton. While unloading a shipment of FVRC weapons from the Koulton military dock, a security breach was detected, and two intruders were pursued. During the chase a box of FVRC weapons mysteriously exploded, severely wounding one of the intruders and several nearby guards. The intruder, 'Patient X', was taken into custody and brought for treatment at Montsav Hospital. This would become ground zero of the infection. Patient X quickly began displaying signs of increased aggression, and bleeding from his nose and mouth, while attempting to restrain him, a nurse was bitten and quickly became infected also. Within hours most of the hospital population had been infected with Type A infected spreading through the streets of Koulton.

Local Koulton police and gendarmerie struggled to contain the violence, not realizing that it was a viral infection and not a sudden popular revolt. With the vast majority of BVPU regular forces positioned at the Southern border, local militia forces could offer only limited support in the first few days of the outbreak as Koulton rapidly descended into chaos.

## Effects

### Type A: 'Yellow Eyes'

Encompassing approximately 90% of all infected victims, to these individuals, the Alaunus virus vastly increases the metabolic rate of victims, causing severe brain swelling, psychosis, vastly increased aggression, persistent blood loss and salivation, and yellow colouring of the eyes. The infection also seems to repair many longstanding health issues of the host, particularly autoimmune disorders. Infected will be compelled to seek out and attack uninfected they encounter.

A victim may experience symptoms as soon as minutes after initial exposure, with some taking hours to notice effects, loss of higher brain functions almost certain after 24 to 48 hours. After infection, the victims have an observed life expectancy of 4-6 weeks, succumbing to malnutrition, exposure, or organ failure. There is currently no known cure.

Outside of small increases in speed and strength, Type A infected have not been observed to have any notable physical differences from baseline humans, and can be killed as easily as a normal human.

### Type B: 'Aberrations'

While much more rare than Type A, at only 10% of infected victims, Type B infected are far more unpredictable and often far more dangerous. Likely due to some genetic pre-disposition, victims prove more susceptible to changes from the Alaunus Virus, restructuring most of their cells and causing uncontrolled mutation.

While many mutations prove unstable and result in death within a matters of minutes or hours as the body collapses, some more stable mutations can cause an extremely diverse and dangerous range of effects. Increased strength and regeneration has been witnessed, along with the growth of fleshy protrusions, resembling barbed tentacles. While often equally if not more aggressive than their yellow eye counterparts, aberrations have also been observed consuming biomass from uninflected or other available sources of protein to sustain their mutated growth. While this makes Aberrations more dangerous, it makes them less effective vectors of transmission, as those they attack are far less likely to survive to become infected.

Unlike Type A infections, Type B has been rumored to have affected some non-human animal populations, causing similar increases in aggression, strength and mutations observed in human victims.

Even more rare and unconfirmed, are reports of Aberrations that have retained their higher brain function, maintaining speech, critical thinking, and memories of their pre-infection life. Given the lack of confirmed observation of this sub-category of Type B infected, it can be assumed that it is extremely rare, and most Aberrations are unthinking and murderous, detached from the rest of humanity.

Aberrations require substantially more effort to eliminate than Type A infected. Their increased strength, durability, tissue regeneration and mutations make close quarters engagement extremely deadly. All but the most devastating injuries has been observed to be repaired in some Aberrations, with significant tissue damage prompted a 'feeding frenzy' in which the Aberration will attempt to consume any available bio mass to support its healing mechanism.

### Type C: Carriers

Representing perhaps less than 1% of infections, carriers nevertheless possibly represent one of the deadliest forms of the infection. In all respects identical to 30% of the population who resist infection or have natural immunity, carriers can unknowingly carry the Alaunus virus through quarantine points and into other populated areas, before accidentally sparking an outbreak. Carriers are often among the first victims of Type A or Type B infected after an accidental infection.