Genres:
Apocalypse | LGBT+ | Romance | Drama | Survival | Experiments | Future-Wasteland
Introduction:
"Are you sure this isn't Mother Nature's way of punishing us? We've been taking her kind hands for granted for eons."
-Mr. Belleville, Former Squad Leader of The Dragons
The year is 3000 CE, and the world you know is gone. The lands you once adored became a battlefield. No longer did untouched vegetation thrive within Earth's soil. Time passed, yet the remains of machines, men, and mutant beasts remained in the infertile fields. No one dared to move such objects, not wanting to be contaminated by whatever disease was left. The plague created by man has defiled nature. Trees that once released oxygen have become poisonous toxins to the human lungs. The only ones able to withstand such toxic gases were the mutated beasts and humans, going beyond the path of their instincts. The flowers you once admired have developed into sentient beings, craving the taste of meat and blood. No more is freshwater drinkable without the aid of purifiers. The aquatic environment was formerly a wonderous site, but now, the waters are a death zone, especially the vast open sea. As for the skies, the birds that chirp their heavenly songs now caw with a bloodthirsty rage. Man-eating birds patrol the skies for aircrafts to knock down or snatch unaware humans below.
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"How will the rest of humanity survive in such circumstances!?! The human population is on the decline!"
-Mrs. Ambrose, Money Lender to TCOMP
How did this chaos start in the first place? Well, let's go back to 100 years before the aftermath. A mysterious mutation was developing quickly in the animal population and appeared to target herbivores, yet there were no notable changes to said animal. Correction, there was no transformation on the surface level. Underneath, the mutation was thriving and transitioning the way the animal behaves by altering its nervous system. Gradually, it attacks the brain to have complete control of the body. Once those two are under its control, it beings the mutation process by modifying the DNA of the creature. With these stages, the animal's diet would change, along with its preference. The first seen case started in Texas when researchers noticed a buck devouring the flesh of a deceased one during the mating season. The researchers recorded this incident before ordering the Wildlife Comity to euthanize the deer. Permitting the government scientists can run tests on it once the process is over.
With the mission given to them, two hunters went off to find the deranged buck to kill it. Only for them to be the ones hunted by their supposed prey. After the incident between the two hunters, the government ordered a task force to find the buck and exterminate it. They were successful after two days passed, with casualties, of course. Five scientists tested the buck's body, collecting samples and studying it thoroughly. The five scientists named the mutation Doxia-1. While running tests on it, the mutation started to evolve due to a person's grave mistake. Steadily, it was able to infest the human body after a scientist accidentally cut herself on a shattered beaker and poorly tended to her wound before coming into contact with it.
As you might've guessed, the mutation ran rabid throughout the facility and soon breached the small headquarters to the outside world. Doxia-1 unknowingly corrupted millions of the human population from around the world. The remaining humans battled against those infected with Doxia-1, leading to the almost extinction of both sides. With great reluctance, the humans pulled back from the battle to focus on restoring the population after 5-years of war. Forming three new capitals within three states: Cronio is the newfound capital of Missouri and focuses on sustaining food for the remaining humans. Godon is the new capital of the state of Washington, and its primary focus is on saving the economy. Lastly, Sloxsas is the altered capital of Texas, and they handle the military.
To transport supplies and troops to the other states, they created train tracks that traveled through all three states, but the transportation would last days. In addition, mutated creatures are lured to the loud noises of the trains and would attack them. The train is the only decent option for transporting goods, yet it's always a gamble.
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"Tell me this, little one. Are you eager to make this sacrifice for the shake of humanity?"
-Dr. Lockhart, 2nd Lead Scientist of TCOMP
Now, how can humans fight against their evolved enemies? How would humans remain safe from the cruel world? For the answer to both, the creation of TCOMP, with its full name Test Center Of Mutating Pathology, came in. Who created this program? It's all thanks to Dr. Herington, who retrieved the Doxia-1 samples from the destroyed facility and battled against it to assume control of the mutation. The battle between the disease and human scientists took years before it was enough for it to coexist with the human body instead of fighting it. During the event, they injected each new -sub-Doxia strand into adult humans, but the sub-Doxia strands refused the merging and killed the hosts. Stunned by such a result, this sub-Doxia killed them and hadn't infected them like the original Doxia-1. A theory about this found evidence: since the adult human body has a complete immune system, the sub-Doxia didn't have enough time to adapt to the human body. Defensively, sub-Doxia flicked a kill switch because it doesn't have the original defense mechanisms as Doxia-1 and perverse itself from the combatant immune system, which was to assume complete control of the body.
They knew they were getting closer to accomplishing their goals. So, they focused on a different test subject.
Children.
They brought parentless children to the facility and injected the disease into their system. In positive results, the sub-mutation has infused itself with the DNA of the children while leaving the nervous system and brain alone. When the experiment became a success, they named it Vertio. Although there were some written cases that a child showed high emotions of anger, the Verito will spread into their nervous system and brain. This action triggered the child to have an enhanced body of sorts, a strength beyond human and speed that's off the charts. Sadly, the child passed away after an hour after this event. The scientists learned after the incident. Expressing high emotions can activate the Verito invasion instincts.
To ensure that it doesn't happen again, they produced Haloban. A pill-formed medicine that would strike Verito if it goes on take over frenzy. Keep this information to your heart, as the pill doesn't get rid of it. Haloban only slows Verito down from conquering the body at an accelerated rate to give the host an extended time of living. Humans injected with Verito are called the First Generation Mutants, and now they're middle-aged adults.
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"Verito was a grand achievement for the human race. But, we need to keep evolving to retake what's ours."
-Dr. Herington, Head Scientist and Creator of TCOMP
WIP