(rated T for mild violence, and the Bittersweet truth of the Cosmos.)
Introduction
War. War never changes. The universe is a dark forest. Every living organism is a hunter with a gun, carefully not to make any light or noise. Upon discovering anyone, or anything else, the only choice is to fire first-hide yourself, eliminate your enemy.
The weak was to be the food of the strong. Conservation is an evolutionary dead end. A flaw of the Human genome. Welcome to the top of the food chain.
Dark Forest-a black, viral fate
(inspired by the story "the other first contact" by swampghost1. backstory for the Evolved, and wasted potential fully explored...hopefully)
(the Biknots are Supremacy-Harmony. The Evolved in this AU are Harmony-Supremacy... Who said that an A.I. rebellion can't be organic?)
(Also. the Citadel is Purity.)
1980, Hope, U.S.A.
Wind is howling...
Infected are roaring...
The town of Hope, what used to be a small town home of 4000 people, is now the ground zero of an engineered outbreak. An outbreak created by Blackwatch in order to select for super-soldiers to hope to fight Russia. And it went terribly wrong.
It all starts from a woman called Elizabeth Greene. Or MOTHER as will be called by Blackwatch. Or Hive Queen by the Citadel.
Redlight is a specific virus found inside an alien probe crashed in Roswell. This retrovirus "Activates dormant genetic information in the form of non-coding segments within eukaryote DNA. Granting traits of all the ancestors of said organism." Preliminary experimentation done by Blackwatch suggests that Redlight causes organisms to become enlarged, and violent. And greatly enhances the physical strength of those who are infected.
All prior experimentation done by Blackwatch have suggested that Redlight will destroy the consciousness of any human that happen to be infected. However, some of the infected have appeared to possess low-level intelligence that allows training akin to animal training by the Military. It have been suggested that certain type of Human DNA signature (believed to be a dead Transposon that were responsible for the separation of Humans and Neanderthals) allows the Infected to remain conscious...
Elizabeth Greene is of Nordic descent.
Elizabeth Green had the right Neanderthal DNA to cause Redlight to recognize it as the Hive Queen.
It didn't play out for the rest of Hope.
Blackwatch was expecting super-soldier level conscious survivors to emerge.
Blackwatch was not expecting to see something that is analogous to the Zerg emerging from their test-ground.
Nuclear fire envelops the small town.
Elizabeth Greene was recovered from the remains of the blast.
The unborn child of Elizabeth Greene was missing.
22 April 2025, Manhattan, New York
Sirens are blaring. Shattered glass littered everywhere. The (Used to be secret) facility is now in rubble, smoke and flames everywhere. A gaping hole could be seen on the ground of the containment facility. Broken restraints and bent iron cage bars tells the story of a violent escape.
"MOTHER has breached containment. I REPEAT: MOTHER has breached containment."
24 April 2025, Manhattan, New York
Blackwatch soldiers patrols carefully on the streets. Fires can be seen emanating from buildings. Roars of unknown creatures could be heard.
A quadruped creature suddenly burst out of a manhole-cover of the sewer. Blades for claws. No tail. The large creature ripped open a transport vehicle with a single slash, sending the flaming debris toward a group of Blackwatch soldiers, squashing two in the process.
"Fire RPGs!"
A soldier emerged from behind a piece of debris, rocket launcher on his shoulder. A rocket flies out of the thin-walled tube, guided by IR sensors toward the creature. It impacted the large creature, ripping open it's flesh. However, the creature quickly started regenerating. Gaping hole closing. Tendrils emerging from the wound knitting itself back together. The soldiers did not give it the chance of fully regenerating however. More rockets are launched. And they impacted the creature. The body stopped moving as it's head were blown into pieces.
"Appeared that the only way to stop these things is an Explosive bullet into their heads. Still works."
However, before the soldiers can regroup, more and more creatures emerged from the sewers. The buildings. The trees. Everywhere.
Civilians screaming. Blackwatch sent out helicopters to deploy thermobaric bombs. Bits of flesh flying everywhere. Flames engulfs much of downtown Manhattan.
26 April 2025, Manhattan, New York
Tanks stranded midair by huge tentacles emerging from the ground. Red flesh with black veins strewn across buildings. The Military have started intervention. Blackwatch running across streets. Rifles firing. Machine guns roaring. Infected rushes toward the vehicles, only to be turned into exploded, flaming pieces of mystery meat by the incendiary rounds employed by the Military. NYPD officers escorting survivors out of the infection. Sirens are blaring.
28 April 2025, Manhattan, New York
Enormous Infected creatures can be seen jumping between buildings. Two times larger than the previous. With wrecking balls as fists. The Military is undergoing retreat. NYPD officers have evacuated the area. Infected Walkers swarming every road and every street. Blackwatch have planted bombs onto the bridges.
"3,2,1, Detonate!"
The two bridges connecting Manhattan to the rest of the city fell into the sea, as massive explosions broke their foundations. Blackwatch guarding the third bridge. Helicopters buzzing across the sky. Bombs containing unknown material fell onto the infestation. A building with hundreds of fleshy sacs can be seen in the center of the infection.
30 April 2025, Manhattan, New York
"It appeared that Whitelight have worked. Civilians are no longer getting infected by aerosols. And-"
A Hunter appeared from behind the commander as the transmission have been suddenly interrupted. The Hunter sliced the commander into two halves with it's bladed claws, and, to the horror of all, tendrils emerged from the Hunter, and the unlucky commander is now nowhere to be seen.
"S*** they can now eat people!"
Fleshy sacs on the building, which is now called the Hive, bursted open to reveal even more Infected. Walkers shambled out from below. Hunters leaped from what used to be windows. Brawlers pops from the top. Once after a while, a large Sac emerges from the Hive, and from within, a Juggernaut bursts out using it's wrecking-ball fists.
"Authorizing use of nuclear weapon to contain infection! I repeat, the Cure DID NOT WORK! The Cure DID NOT WORK!"
The Hive shivered and shriveled as a bright meteor falls right on top of it, punching a hole into it's insides. Before it could heal, the object exploded with the light of a thousand suns.
Manhattan is now a large crater beneath a mushroom cloud.
15 May 2025, GenTek Seattle
"Nuclear containment have failed sir, we have made a mistake. Redlight is NOT vulnerable to water. Downtown New York have been infected. Infection was spreading through every route."
"How about Whitelight?"
"Whitelight did work to stop civilians and our Officers from being infected by Redlight aerosols. But..."
"But what?"
"But the Infected can still Consume people even if they are immune to the virus themselves. And as the Infected accumulates biomass, they shuttle it into Hives, where they used it to make more of the Infected."
"So the cure did not work at all."
(This is a nod to Plague Inc. In the late stages of a Necroa virus game play, even is the Cure have been successfully developed and distributed, as long as you had enough Zombies, and had the evolution "reanimate", you can still win the game.)
18 May 2025, GenTek Seattle
"Did you head of Dark Forest Evolution Virus SC3?"
"What's that?"
"A contingency plan sir, You do know that Redlight was code-named Eco-Harmony Assimilation Virus SC2 from the small amount of data I have extracted from their genome? It is encoded in a strange language by genetic code. The code that does not change between strains. The sole piece of code in Redlight that is not used in Translation. The code that lead us to the current cure, which have failed spectacularly."
This hooded figure is none but Alex Mercer. A GenTek researcher, son of the only one who remain uninfected during the Hope incident. An absolute Ruthless, the trauma from the Incident prompted Alex Mercer's mother to join GenTek, and also her Son Alex Mercer himself. The motto: "No-matter how strange or how twisted, humanity will always find a way."
Dark Forest Evolution Virus SC3, or better known by it's short-handed notation Blacklight, or Mercer virus, is one of GenTek's multiple contingency plans-plans that "should" save Humanity should something went wrong.
Blacklight is a modified strain of Redlight, with it's prime directive of preserving nature and connecting everything replaced with that of ensuring the survival of Humanity as independent, sapient souls no matter the cost. Blacklight have all the current ability of Redlight, with a special piece of code spliced in that allows it to Infect cells that are already infected by Redlight and take the genome of said cells and assimilate it into the genome of Blacklight itself, it was supposed to be the last-ditch effort to stop Redlight by enhancing the Human body itself to a level that could fight it directly-at the expense of making Humans themselves...no longer human.
Philosophy that Alex Mercer considered to be still viable to use as a cure.
However, currently, all experiments of Blacklight ended up turning into goop, as the Virally enhanced cell structure is too different from the normal cell structure of Metazoa, to the point that it can not properly host a Human consciousness, or being controlled by said consciousness-resulting in all current experiments to be completely wiped off consciousness, before falling apart into independent, non-interacting protoplasts that no longer display any activity at all.
24 May 2025, Hudson river Bay
Elizabeth Greene was sitting, comfortably, inside the large, flesh-laden cavity of the Undersea Hive.
"Elizabeth Green calling all Infected:"
"The time have come, Humanity have failed to stop us even using the best weapon within their arsenal. The spread of our virus will never be hindered any more!"
"It's time to reclaim Nature from the hands of Humanity, to rebuild the shattered conduits of Gaia, and to make Nature whole, once again!"
"Their mind divided without unity, Their weapons ineffective against our adaptation, Their flesh Weak, their technology Unnatural. While We are unified, We are an unending force of Nature, We are Legion, We ARE Nature!"
"Let's spread our Hive mind to every inch of the earth, and make life itself Whole, once again!"
24 May 2025, GenTek Seattle
"Why he was here?"
Alex Mercer pointed at an old, white-haired figure with black face. Neilson Freidheim Freeman, one of the best AI scientists available to them in this time of dire emergency. GenTek hopes to produce a version of Blacklight that can be safely used to convert a normal Human without destroying their consciousness or turning their bodies into goop. The best Neuroscientists, AI scientists, Nanoscientists and Evolutionary-Developmental biologists are all inside this secure, underground vault that should be able to withstand the onslaught of Redlight Infected and Elizabeth Greene's forces for at least one month.
Infection is spreading, Time is running, and there are already no more options.
27 May 2025, GenTek Seattle
Neilson Freidheim Freeman, the chief AI scientist, have found a way to safely upload a human consciousness into Blacklight biomass: by using a distributed analog-to-digital-to-analog system to store the pattern of connection and weights of the synapses of a living brain's neural network within the viral genome, and recreating this network using a hybrid between bioelectrical and digital connection within and between Infected cells, a mouse mind have successfully been transferred to a small pile of Blacklight Biomass-the puddle of protoplasm that used to be the mouse was evidently responding to EEG and Neural Stimulations just as would a normal mouse could.
29 May 2025, GenTek Seattle
Marcus d'morpheus, the chief Computer scientist, produced a pattern of interface-function calls that allows the uploaded neural network to interface with the genetic and morphokinetic component of Blacklight cells. Called NeuroDOS, this system successfully resulted in another puddle of amorphous biomass that reacted to external stimuli and food/chemical signals in a way similar to that of a mouse.
Alex Mercer suddenly went rogue, taking a sample of the virus, DFEV C3-L1, outside the building, and smashed the bottle containing the virus into the ground. Alex Mercer himself was nowhere to be seen.
31 May 2025, GenTek Seattle
No progress have been made, as the chief Evo-Devo scientist Schordinger-Higgs have commented: "forming a definite avatar for the uploaded consciousness caused Blacklight biomass to lose pluripotency, the resulting structure could not handle even 1 10th of the organism's original load. And it causes the organism to be trapped inside the state...the ability to consume other organisms, especially Redlight, have also been lost."
5 June 2025, GenTek Seattle
Alex Mercer was back. Nobody guarding the facility knows how he have re-entered the closely guarded, hermetically sealed facility. However, a sample of DFEV C3-L2a, or the Mercer strain, have been left inside the laboratories.
DFEV C3-L2a have a comparably low rate of causing subject death-mice that are injected with the strain remained the shape of a mouse, and the Blacklight biomass did not lose pluripotency-Consuming other organisms worked well, and cutting the mouse in two resulted in two, fully independent, mice.
7 June 2025, GenTek Seattle
Marcus d'morpheus have volunteered to inject himself with DFEV C3-L2a, which, despite all odds, successfully uploaded Marcus's consciousness into a nearly perfect copy of his original body made of Blacklight Biomass. After an initial state of confusion, it have been confirmed that most of the original Redlight's ability, including shape-shifting and limb/body mutation, worked successfully. DFEV C3-L2b have been created with the help of the second Prototype-or the first Evolved in history. Using part of Marcus's neural pattern, a more advanced, user-friendly operating system, BioLinux, was integrated into this new strain: it allows the user to control the "hereditary ability" of DFEV C3/Blacklight without direct training, and also included a developer interface/API that allows the user to sort/integrate, or use the genome of the organisms he/she have Consumed with a (comparatively less user-unique, and more programmer-friendly) system of genetic engineering/programming-assimilating traits with only a moderate need for brain-power.
15 June 2025, GenTek Seattle
DFEV C3-L2P/production model have been successfully created by the collaboration of the best minds of Humanity, using VirNT, the fully debugged and completely user-friendly operating system/user interface powered by complicated Genetic/Proteomic programming, Blacklight Game Version have passed the approval of GenTek Contingency department as a viable cure of the Redlight outbreak that have now completely enveloped much of the Atlantic shores.
"Greeting from GenTek High Directive, we have fully approved the use of DFEV C3-L2P Mercer/PROTOTYPE for mass immunization of general public. As it turned out, the best way to stop a virus is indeed a virus-more complicated, safed virus, but still a virus nonetheless. Production will start at-"
"Greeting from Elizabeth Greene, your Humans ARE really annoying... I see you create a race of sentient virus trying to stop Nature itself...How pathetic! Viruses by themselves aren't even alive..."
"But WE are alive. WE will make sure our virus will stay alive. WE will ensure the survival of Humanity as Individual and as Collective against all odds of the universe, and, especially, Nature."
John Connor, one of the developers of VirNT, smashed the vial that contained the first and only sample of DFEV C3-L2P on the desk with his bare fist.
30 minutes later, the army of Infected surrounding GenTek Seattle have seen what the 12 Prototypes of the new Blacklight race are capable of. In pieces.