The Chimeran virus as depicted in Resistance 3.
The Chimeran virus is an extraterrestrial biological weapon engineered by the Pure Chimera to mutates lifeforms ranging from humans to various animal species into Chimeran hybrid strains.
Description[]
The Chimeran virus was designed by the Pure Chimera to convert non-Chimeran lifeforms into lesser Chimera. The virus was deployed to Earth in some form of artificial meteoroid which struck Russia and caused the Tunguska Event in June 1908.[1][2]
The Chimeran virus has a different form for every type of Chimera except certain strains such as the Widowmaker, which do not come from the virus. The larger Chimeran strains (such as the Titan) require more than one human host, and take months to create.[3]
By 1957, Military Chimera have abandoned their efforts to infect humans with the Chimeran virus, as they have no further need for converted humans.[4] Feral Chimera can transmit the virus via their bite, most notably Leapers.
Conversion Process[]
The virus was originally distributed through Crawlers into a host organism and then released into the blood stream. It causes shock in its host and forces the victim into a comatose state.[5] The Crawlers were commonly delivered by Spire missiles onto densely populated areas. After this, Carriers were sent in to convey the comatose bodies to conversion centers, where lower caste Chimera such as Menials tended to the infected hosts, enveloping them in cocoons, which advance the hosts' physical mutations. After the cocoons "hatch" the final product which emerges is augmented with a cooling pack to offset its high metabolism. Following the conversion, the transformed host retains no trace of their former personal identity, and are completely subservient to the higher chain of the Chimeran hierarchy.[3]
After the events of Operation Morning Star, a "second conversion process" was established and exclusively focused on infected female human victims, and the results were creatures called Boilers and Hags. During Operation Overstrike, James Grayson temporarily halted the conversion process by eradicating the Carrier strain with Dr. Claude Bouchard's serum. It's unknown if this temporary conversion process was fixed, but it was replaced by the "third conversion process": Spinners.
Between late 1951 and 1953, the Crawler strain was replaced by Spinners, which allowed for a swift infection and conversion process to be undertaken upon heavily populated areas, transforming countless humans into Grims. During their invasion of the United States, the Chimera launched Spires containing hundreds of Spinners upon American cities, turning entire areas into Gray Zones. Initially, most of these Spire attacks were launched from Chimeran airships upon American coastlines. Many towns and cities such as Twin Falls and Chicago have become virtually empty of human and earthly life, leaving only the cocoons that the Spinners made, in which new Chimera are slowly developed.
By 1957, Feral Chimera serve as vectors for the Chimeran virus, transferring the pathogen into fresh human hosts through bites that will cause victims to mutate into Chimera, with symptoms of high fever and a growing desire to consume raw meat manifesting within 72 hours.[6]
Cure[]
Graph showing "Chimeran Strain Resistance to Antiviral Serums".
The first instance of any major effort at researching a cure or engineering some form of immunity to the Chimeran virus was first attempted by the Russian military in 1927. Under the direction of Dr. Fyodor Malikov, Russian soldiers were chosen and subjected to a special inoculation that had been laced with Pure Chimeran DNA. They later developed similar traits to the Chimera, such as superhuman strength and regeneration. However, Malikov's vaccine was disastrously flawed as the candidates unexpectedly succumbed to madness and eventually became the Cloven.
In 1950, SRPA Tactical Ops launched Project Abraham with a similar goal to the Russians' efforts at creating super-soldiers known as the Sentinels.[7] The Project was likewise overseen by Dr. Malikov, who learned from his previous mistakes with the Cloven and utilized his experience in perfecting Abraham's goal.[7] Test subjects were administered with the virus and an anti-virus to see if it was possible to stop the process of transformation. However, only Nathan Hale (who was injected with a Pure Chimera form of the virus) and Joseph Capelli were considered a success.
After Hale was killed by Capelli during the events of Operation Black Eden on June 26, 1953, Dr. Malikov extracted a unique form of antigen from Hale's mutated corpse which he used to create the Hale Vaccine, a true cure for the Chimeran virus. Although the Hale Vaccine ensured immunity from the Chimeran virus, the virus itself is still considered a major threat for those who have not yet received the Hale Vaccine.[6]