Delving into the origins of the virus believed to be the cause of the zombie outbreak in Banoi & Palanai. Introduction: Pathogen HK is a stronger, faster-acting variant of the endemic disease Kuru, and is the biological agent responsible for the zombie outbreak in Banoi Island. Pathogen HK received its name after members of the Consortium discovered strains of Stage 2 HIV and Stage 2 Kuru within the virus. The Consortium Explained (Part 1):While the origins and history of the organisation still remain largely a mystery, they are more than willing to resort to highly unethical and amoral research, often revolving around the purposes of manufacturing and selling biological weapons, and even commit criminal acts on a massive scale to obtain their goals. Specifically by the start of the series, the organisation, after being alerted by theirs labs in the area, seeks to weaponize a highly mutated form of the Kuru disease that began to plague the native tribes within the Banoi Archipelago; a disease born from the cannibalistic tendencies of those same tribes occupying the islands, and sell it as a biological weapon to various military organisations across the globe. Projecting the profits that could be secured by selling a weaponized version of the disease to be in the billions, the Consortium went to great lengths to develop and test such a weapon. Seeing the archipelago as a highly lucrative opportunity, the Consortium constructed several labs to be be used by GeoPharm, a scientific research corporation under their control, to conduct inhumane experiments, including human testing, to discover the full potential of the virus. The labs were mainly built in secluded locations in order to ensure the highly unethical and illegal nature of the research and experiments were kept away from the public eye. Eventually, after several infected were captured and studied within the labs per the Consortium's orders, the researchers discovered the true cause of the recent disease plague: Pathogen HK, a much stronger and faster variant of Stage 2 Kuru, Stage 2 HIV and others diseases that combined and mutated together over the course of many years and originated from the cannibalistic lifestyles of the local tribes. The deadly disease quickly contaminates any infected individual and kills them, leaving only their most primitive brain functions active, while the host becomes highly aggressive and prone to attack and devour any uninfected individuals and could easily spread the disease to others via blood and salvia. Thus, one victim could easily start a chain reaction that could infect an entire population in mere minutes. Greatly intrigued and unable to pass up such a viable opportunity, the Consortium assembled an international team to carry out further experiments and isolate a stable specimen of the pathogen to be weaponized. The potential of adapting this new disease into a biological weapon was seen as world-changing and highly lucrative by the Consortium, quickly becoming their top priority, and they immediately ordered for further studies to be conducted in order to asses the pathogen and begin the process of creating prototype mutagens. To this end, the organisation needed to further understand the pathogen's properties, how quickly it spreads, and if it can be controlled, and began to plan out several tests in order to obtain the answers that they sought to these questions. Equipment and teams were sent to their labs across the archipelago and preparations were even made to orchestrate outbreaks on some of the islands, as the Consortium saw them as ideal locations to test and observe the effects of the disease, mutations, and any weaponized versions they develop, seeing the economic ramifications from the resulting death and destruction to be at a minimum on islands that were isolated from the rest of the world and thus also much easier to contain and control. The outbreaks would also serve as the most ideal tests in order to asses how the disease and mutagens function once exposed to a populace, allowing the Consortium to perfect a bio-weapon that would pave the way for immense profitability. However, in order for the virus to be a viable biological weapon for military organisations and applications, a vaccine would also need to be developed. To this end, the organisation eventually learned through their continued experiments that a small portion of individuals, all with type O negative blood, seem to be immune to the virus and that their blood could be the instrumental key to developing a vaccine. The Consortium then made plans to lure a handful of such individuals to the Banoi island by first initiating a nationwide blood drive to locate viable individuals and then invite them to the Resort on the island via various communications. A total of nine such individuals were found and lured to the island via invitation communications to the resort for a two week vacation, free of charge, claiming they were entered into a random drawing for the free vacation when they participated in the blood drive It is implied in the prequel comic that the Consortium also made dealings with the corrupt manager of the resort, Kenneth Ballard, who often used the hotel as a front for illicit and illegal activities, in order to facilitate the arrival of the immune at his resort, as he had files and photos of several of the immune in his office. Employing their covert operative, Kevin "Charon" Barrister, a notorious terrorist hacker for hire who was transported to the maximum security prison near the island, and GeoPharm scientist Dr. Robert West, located in GeoPharm's laboratory in Banoi's dense jungles and away from prying eyes, the organisation ordered these two to work together to create an initial prototype of the weaponized virus mutagen and lure the immune to the lab to use their blood to create a viable vaccine. The Consortium Explained (Part 2):Unknown to the Consortium, Charon had his own plans to create only the weaponized virus. Not caring about developing a corresponding vaccine, Charon planned to spread the virus on a global level as a twisted form of revenge over the organisation for their greed and the role they played in the death of his father, Dr. Chase Barrister, previously the co-founder of GeoPharm before it fell under the control of the Consortium and their inhumane experiments claimed his life as well, partially to make an example out of him for his refusal to cooperate with their operations. The organisation had soon set its sights on Kevin's mother as well, seeing her as a loose end needed to be tied up, and while Kevin was able to hide and protect her, it came at a cost. Charon's various logs imply that his mother was horribly mutilated, most likely as an unwilling subject in the Consortium's experiments before Kevin saved her, with her pain and the loss of his father fuelling his hatred. Kevin's notorious career as a hacker for hire working with various terrorist organisations was simply a means to get noticed by the Consortium and hired in their employ, adopting the alias of "Charon" as a symbol of his lust to ferry the souls of his father's killers to their afterlife. Having effectively infiltrated the Consortium, not being recognised as the son of one of the GeoPharm's co-founders, Charon planned to create the weaponized virus and use it to destroy the organisation, along with most of the world, from within as a twisted form of poetic justice. Around the same time as the selected and lured nine immune stayed at the resort, the virus plague on the island of Banoi went violently out of control, no longer just infecting the highland tribes but the entire island in an outbreak and killing and reanimating thousands of tourists, resort employees, and island residents alike. The resulting social chaos added to the carnage, with the authorities being completely wiped out while bandits and criminals took advantage of the destruction to further their own desires to steal and murder without restriction. It is heavily implied that the outbreak was deliberately initiated by the Consortium, who would later be directly responsible for a second outbreak just days later, to further test the potential of the virus and lure both infected and the immune into their labs for research. Evidence to support this is the organisation's equipment being moved to the islands and their agents setting contingencies in place weeks prior to the outbreak to prevent significant army intervention. With the outbreak gaining global attention and causing worldwide panic, the Banoi Island Defense Force quarantined the archipelago and would eventually call for a nuclear strike on Banoi if the situation continued to worsen. Previously knowing this and not wanting to let all their research go to waste, the Consortium pulled strings within the government and military to ensure Colonel Ryder White, previously observed by two agents of the organisation to be a viable pawn in their plans, would be selected as the officer to be deployed to Banoi, knowing that he would hesitate to order a nuclear strike as his wife Emily worked within the maximum security prison as the chief medical officer, allowing the organisation's operatives time to develop both a virus mutagen and vaccine. To further ensure this, the Consortium orchestrated an outbreak within the prison complex as well, at which point Charon pretended to help Emily during a resulting riot by saving her from various inmates and infected and then secretly unlocking the security door to the barricaded laboratory they were in, which allowed an infected to get in and bite Emily before Charon killed it. Once his commanding officer declared Banoi a lost cause and should be firebombed as soon as all military personnel evacuated, White travelled to the prison to find Emily, refusing to call in the firebombers until he confirmed her safety. Eventually meeting Charon who informed the colonel of his wife's condition, White agreed to work with the hacker, despite knowing his criminal history, to save Emily. With his wife infected and Charon guiding him for his own purposes, White would do everything in his power to create a vaccine. With more than half of the lured immune on the island claimed by the social chaos, Charon posed as Ryder White on the island's communication channels to make contact and gain the trust of the remaining four immune (Logan Carter, rapper Sam B, Xian Mei, and ex-police officer Purna Jackson) and lure them to the GeoPharm lab where Dr. West would work with them to develop a vaccine and, unknown to the immune, a prototype of the mutagen. While the immune unknowingly helped to create the mutagen with the use of patient zero of the Pathogen HK disease, Yerema, Charon remotely disabled the locks of the infected cages in the lab to kill Dr. West and the other scientists after the former stated his intention to develop a vaccine per his orders from the Consortium. Charon, who only lusted to unleash the virus across the world, did not want the scientists to create a vaccine and thus had them killed in his first visible act of betrayal against his employers. Charon, still posing as White over the radio, then directed the immune to obtain the mutagen from the lab, lying to them by claiming it was the vaccine, and to meet him at the prison to escape the island. With all the pieces finally in place, Charon continued to manipulate White and had him gas the immune at the prison elevator to knock them out and steal what White thought was the vaccine. White hoped to use the vaccine on his wife, but Charon, wanting to preserve the mutagen, informed the colonel that Emily was too far gone. White refused to believe this and, having learned that Charon had been impersonating him, destroyed the radio, locked Charon in the control room, and planned to leave the island with the now zombified Emily to work on a full vaccine. Improvising, Charon escaped the control room with a spare key card he had hidden away and then met with the immune and turned them against White, lying to them that the colonel was planning to nuke the entire island after leaving with his wife and the vaccine. The resulting confrontation led to White being forced to kill the reanimated Emily, as well as Jin who released the zombified Emily to attack White, after she bit him and use the mutagen on himself, still thinking it was the vaccine. With the mutagen turning White into a superhuman infected, the immune killed the colonel and left the island with Charon in White's chopper. While the mutagen was used and destroyed with White's death, Charon now had Yerema, the source of the initial Pathogen HK plague on Banoi, with him and planned to use her to continue in the experiments and spread the virus on a global level. The Consortium Explained (Part 3):While the mutagen developed on Banoi was destroyed with White, the Consortium saw massive potential in the resulting mutation but also recognized the complications in controlling the mutagen and were eager to implement another test in order to further research and perfect a weaponized version of the Kuru disease. Per the Consortium's orders, Charon piloted the chopper to the HMAS Avenger, a military patrol ship located off the coast of Banoi and where another Consortium operative, civilian VIP Frank Serpo, was stationed. While the ship was under the command of Lt. Colonel Samuel Hardy, Serpo's affiliation with the Consortium enabled him to control the colonel and his military forces for their own ends. Taking the immune to the lower decks for further experiments and research, Serpo sent Yerema to another facility for specialised testing and had Charon relocated to the Consortium's headquarters, per their orders, where the hacker would be debriefed on the next steps of their plans. At this point in time, the organisation was also beginning to suspect Charon had his own agenda, one that did not fully align with their plans, but were still intent on working with him given his invaluable skills towards meeting their own objectives. Before further concrete findings could be found on the immune and they could be transported to a secure facility outside the archipelago for vaccine development, another outbreak, born from Yerema biting a solider restraining her and thus infecting him, and a monsoon caused the ship to lose control and crash near the island of Palanai. Serpo was able to evacuate from the ship in time and began to oversee the research being conducted by Dr. Kessler on Palanai, which was believed to be the original birthplace of the Kuru disease before raiders brought it over to Banoi, where it eventually heavily mutated into the deadly Pathogen HK variant, centuries ago. Specifically, the organisation was eager to test the effects of the infected with chemical weapons, left behind in bunkers from when Japan occupied the island during World War II, to create an even stronger variation of the mutagen developed on Banoi, using Japanese research conducted during the war as the basis of these experiments. Dr. Kessler came to the attention of Serpo and the Consortium after reading a paper authored by him and his associate, Marcus Villa, before the two had a falling out, that detailed the potential of the chemicals being combined with the various diseases that have plagued the island tribes. While Villa was unsuitable to serve as a viable pawn due to his renouncement of his previous research, Kessler, while generally viewed as a decent and ethical man by the island populace, allowed his curiosity to get the better of him and agreed to aid the Consortium and Serpo in their experiments. To serve as a viable test, the Consortium ordered Serpo to cause another outbreak, this time on Palanai island, in order to observe the progression of this new mutation, effectively sacrificing the island's entire population as guinea pigs, while also instructing him to win the trust of the immune to complete the original plan of using their blood to create a vaccine. While it is unknown if Dr. Kessler was aware that the outbreak was a direct consequence of the Consortium's orders, he nonetheless continued in their research within his Biosphere, which also suffered an outbreak that killed all his scientists, an incident which the doctor claimed was due to the carelessness of his staff, though the immune are suspicious as to whether it was indeed simply an accident or another twisted experiment to further test the virus mutations. Further experiments on the mutagen developed on Banoi also continued with several tests being employed on human subjects within a field laboratory in Henderson while several prototype vaccines based off the initial research of the immune were developed and tested on various infected within a lab in the Quarantine Zone. The resulting mutations from these experiments were consistent with the research previously conducted by Dr. West while the vaccine test trials all resulted in horrific deaths for the test subjects, further reinforcing the need for the immune to be captured for further experiments. With Palanai being an External Territory of the Australian Commonwealth, unlike Banoi, which was independent, the political and military contacts of the organisation were also able to ensure that the military would largely stand down during this outbreak, preventing nuclear action, in order to ensure the full results of the outbreak, now combined with chemical weapon exposure, could be fully observed and tested. However, some military personnel, including Lt. Colonel Hardy, went against these orders out of morals and conscience, resulting in Hardy's death at Serpo's hands and the destruction of the military base in Henderson, all under the orders of the Consortium. While another mutagen was created and partially tested on WHO researcher Harlow Jordan, who was captured by the research staff while she was investigating the Quarantine Zone lab and forcibly used as a test subject, these plans failed when Harlow went into a crazed rage, killed the researchers, and was ultimately killed herself by the immune after they injected the mutagen into themselves in order to defend themselves against her. Serpo was left by the immune, realising his true nature, to be killed by the infected while they escaped the island on a boat. While the immune's ultimate fate is not known, the Consortium is most likely far from finished in their unethical research despite these failed attempts. With Charon, who was seemingly continuing with his own plans for global panic and destruction, still in their employ and new findings into the world-changing and immensely lucrative potential of the virus, the Consortium still saw massive promise in a weaponized virus and would likely continue to remain a massive, unseen threat to the world as they continued in their attempts and lust to develop the biological weapon. Origins of GeoPharm & The Laboratories:GeoPharm is a corporation dedicated to commercial scientific research. It is the owner of the Laboratory in the Jungle area of the Banoi Island, however it has various buildings and complexes all across the Banoi Archipelago. According to Dr. West, it was an organisation for "researching and testing various cosmetics away from prying eyes". This likely involved animal testing, a fact mentioned in Dead Island: The Book where animals are seen in cages, as well as in the main game where West mentions their previous lab which was firebombed by animal rights activists. GeoPharm is far from a morally high company, as they are very shady, using a lot of animal testing for their products and other such shady business practices. Several of their labs have been attacked by activists and Cliff Calo was traveling to the island of Narapela with his friends to investigate shady practices being performed at the labs there. However, according to both Charon's and Ronald's logs, the corporation was once much more idealistic when it was initially founded by Ronald Crown and Chase Barrister. The company worked to create vaccines and medications to cure some of the most fatal diseases known to the world. However, the goals and ethics of the company began to drastically change once they were brought under the control of the Consortium and Palm Garden Order, massive and global secret organizations, in order to leverage the corporation's resources for their own ends. Emory Crown, having replaced his father as CEO through intimation and Ronald dying shortly after as a result, approved of the new leadership and even facilitated it. Having been persuaded by the Order to leverage his father's company and research for their own experiments, Emory saw lucrative opportunities in the future while Chase was against it due to the amoral nature of the organization. Specifically, the Consortium was much more interested in researching and weaponizing diseases and viruses in order to be sold to military organizations throughout the globe for the price of billions of dollars. Any developments on vaccines were strictly kept on hold until after biological weapons were developed, as they could not be sold without a viable vaccine also available. To make matters worse, Consortium was also not against using animals and even humans as test subjects to perfect their experiments and research. While it could never be directly proven to the public, due to Consortium's high connections in government and law agencies, countless rumors persisted, leading to GeoPharm to earn a somewhat notorious reputation and even leading to some of their labs being attacked and firebombed by animal and humanitarian activists. Consequently, many of their labs were built in secluded locations in order to ensure that their inhumane experiments were kept away from the prying eyes of the public and media. A pivotal moment in the history of GeoPharm came with the death of founder Chase Barrister, heavily implied to be a casualty of the inhumane experiments at the hands of Emory Crown to remove him as an obstacle in the organization's projects. This caused a psychotic and genocidal hatred of GeoPharm and the Consortium in Chase's son, Kevin, seeing them as greedy monsters who represented the worst of humanity. Over the years, Kevin developed plans to infiltrate the organization in order to destroy them from the inside out with the use of their biological weapons. As the Consortium was a global organization, their destruction would also ensure much of the world would descend into complete chaos and destruction. To this end, Kevin, having learned much from his father, used his unique hacking skills to offer himself as an invaluable asset to various terrorist organizations throughout the world. Kevin used the alias "Charon," born from his desire to ferry the souls of his father's killers into the afterlife, to conduct his illegal, international activities. His true end goal was to become so notorious that the Consortium would take notice of his unique skills and employ him as a covert operative in their own operations. True to Kevin's predictions, the Consortium eventually offered him a role in their organization, not realizing that he was the son of one of GeoPharm's founders. Origins of The Virus:According to emails sent between Consortium members Wong, Androv and Goss, Pathogen HK is transmitted through blood, and thus physical injuries. Once inside a host's system, it will incubate for a period of hours or days. Meanwhile, the virus' host will experience indescribable pain, while his or her mental abilities gradually diminish, up to a point where the host will be completely unable to speak properly. Once dead, only the host's primary mental capacities will remain, turning the host into a zombie-like being, driven only by its instinct to feed upon uninfected beings. Whether such a reaction is caused by fear or rage is largely unknown. It appears that as a human goes through the Zombification process, they will be extremely fast and aggressive, but as the infected human goes through the process, they will Slow down and gain more health. It appears that stronger men, when infected, will become more stronger and brutish zombies than walkers. It also appears that a few special strains of the virus have emerged, leaving infected individuals Covered in explosive gas bubbles, Extremely taller and stronger than other infected, or Faster and deadlier than other infected. Also, being in or submerged in water during the time of zombification will result in other types of Zombies beside the Walker, being in water will result in the Drowner and being submerged in water will result in the Floater. Chemical radiation also appears to change infected individuals, being in around greenhouse gasses and other types of chemicals create the Grenadier and touching chemicals found in The Japanese Tunnels appear to create The strongest zombie of them all, the Wrestler, however, this may be untrue and it could be another strain of the virus, as several wrestlers appear all over the place in Henderson and the docks. It is also unknown if the Screamer is made from a chemical reaction or a different strain of the virus, saying the Screamers were tested on before infection, it is possible that they were chemically tested on too. Apparently, it is possible for animals to become infected as well, as heard in one of Roger Howard's audio recordings in which he and his driver are attacked by an infected orangutan after accidentally hitting it with their car and crashing it. Description of The Disease:Based on cut content of the "Organization" (a.k.a. Consortium), detailing emails between Wong, Andropov, and Goss. Email 1: "Apparently, a strain of some new and, as yet, unclassified virus is tearing through the highland tribes on the island of Banoi. The infected show symptoms similar to the local affliction Kuru, but the incubation period appears to be hours and days rather than years. The symptoms exhibited are analogous to rabies or mad cow, but much more violent and severe. After the carrier’s death, only the most primitive functions of the brain remain active, turning the victim into a violent animal operating on pure instinct. Whether it’s fear or fury, the victim is compelled to attack those who have yet to contract the infection. The disease is transmitted by blood or bodily fluid, most often during a physical attack. Attached photos show an infected individual in each stage of the illness." Email 2: "Andropov has requested that some of the infected be captured so this virus can be studied more closely. Trace the source of this virus, prepare a report, and judge the feasibility of weaponizing it. Certain questions need to be answered. For instance, what is the most common mode of transmission? Can this transmission be controlled? What is the speed and rate of infection? What is the average incubation period? How long from first visible symptoms until death? Once the feasibility of its use as a weapon can be determined, profit projections can be ascertained." Email 3: "The bodies of the patients 1 through 3 exhibit indications of clinical asymptomatic Stage 2 HIV as well as Stage 2 Kuru. As is typical with any transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, the cerebral cortex has been eaten away, permeated with thousands of tiny perforations. Researchers believe that this new disease might be a mutation/combination of Kuru and HIV. There appears to be a small percentage of people, all with the blood type O negative, who are resistant to the effects of this virus. Because of this, researchers believe that it might be possible to create a vaccine. This is essential if the virus is to be weaponized and sold to military organizations. Estimates place the profits for such a biological weapon in the billions." Email 4: "Virus “HK” has been given priority one. The Consortium has assembled an international team to do research into isolating a stable form of the pathogen." Email 5: "Virus “HK” has spread much more quickly than originally projected. The breakdown of the social fabric and the loss of assigned agents and researchers have made operations in the field problematic. The mission is clearly threatened. The Australian government has a set of protocols in place in the event of such a massive pandemic. The worst case scenario calls for the nuclear annihilation of the entire island of Banoi. If this worst case scenario unfolds, the Consortium will lose the opportunity to create what could be an extremely profitable biological weapon. Attached photographs document the chaos currently engulfing the island." Email 6: "An emergency video conference is being held at 2 pm GMT. All members of the executive team are required to attend. Please be prompt. Current plans need to be reassessed. Alternatives will be discussed. The successful creation of a weaponized version of Pathogen HK is currently the Consortium’s highest priority." Email 7: "Summary of decisions made during the video conference. 1) Impede the actions of the BIDF Colonel authorized to activate the nuclear protocol. Distract him from his primary duty by infecting his wife, a doctor in the prison hospital on Banoi, with Pathogen HK. 2) Activate Charon, the covert operative located in the prison. An expert hacker and high-tech operative, he’s currently serving a life sentence for his terrorist activities. Charon will be tasked with neutralizing the Colonel’s actions as well coordinating efforts towards finding a stable specimen of the pathogen. To do this he will use recruited agents. Possible allies include the head of research lab hidden in the jungle, away from the prying eyes of environmentalists and animal activists. 3) Lure Pathogen HK immune individuals to Banoi to aid Charon in his quest for a stable specimen of the pathogen. Myers will organize an international blood drive designed to locate and lure suitable candidates. Attached photographs of Charon, Colonel Ryder White, and Dr. Emily White." Email 8: "Charon reports that he has contacted the lead scientist at the research lab located in the jungle and that he has agreed to cooperate. Half his fee should be immediately wired to the previously provided bank account in the Cayman Islands. Dr. West’s photograph is attached." Email 9: "The international blood drive has led to the discovery of 9 individuals immune to Pathogen HK. Attempts are being made to lure them to Banoi by various means. Charon will use whoever arrives in his search and surveillance of the island. Attached are a few of the welcoming emails." Email 10: "Charon reports that more than half of the immune individuals lured to Banoi perished as a result of the social chaos caused by the pandemic. Charon has, however, made contact with four immune individuals who have managed to survive. They will be used to help locate and secure a stable sample of the pathogen. Attached photographs of Sam B, Xian Mei, Purna, and Logan Carter." Chief Medical Officer Emily White's Research:Emily White was an infected survivor featured in Dead Island. She is the wife of Colonel Ryder White. Prior to becoming Infected, Emily was the Chief Medical Officer of the Banoi Island Prison Hospital. She is also the mother of Kate and Pamela White. During the events prior to the main storyline, Emily worked as a doctor in the Banoi High-Security Prison until the outbreak occurred. While on the prison island, she left a series of five Tape Recordings that documented her progress. She was escorted and protected by a prisoner named Kevin, who saved her from being bitten by an Infected. While conducting research and treating patients, Emily was eventually bitten by an infected patient. Despite her set fate, Emily vowed to continue her research until the disease took complete control of her. Upon being contacted by Ryder to prepare for evacuation, she informs him that she had been bitten and that he should go on without her. However, he refused to take her advice and returned to the island in hopes of rescuing her. Upon being found by Ryder, Emily was strapped to a bed; already in the late stages of her transformation but due to the Tetracycline and its ability to slow the effects of the Infection, she was still able to communicate with her husband in slurred English. After aiding Kevin (who was later revealed to be a terrorist), Ryder returned to find Emily already turned into an Infected. Unable to accept his wife's fate, Ryder brought Emily to the roof of the prison for evacuation but was intercepted by the Heroes, who had been tricked by Kevin into believing that Ryder was corrupt. Emily is then set free by Jin. When set loose, Emily attacks and bites Ryder, forcing him to kill her in self-defence. Events of Dead Island: During the main quest "Chasing the White Rabbit", the Hero catches up with Colonel White during his escape attempt. Emily appears to have fully regressed into a mindless Infected, and Ryder has her restrained in a prisoner transport harness and plans to use the cure on her when they're off the island. However, Jin becomes angry with him and unties Emily, who charges straight at Ryder and bites him. He is forced to kill his wife, and enraged, he kills Jin and then uses the antidote on himself — only to discover that it is actually an enhanced version of the virus that transforms him into a monster, which the Heroes end up killing. Dead Island - The Book: Emily, or as she is called in the book, Dana, takes a far larger role than in the game. She is the catalyst for the final event and final fight in the novel. Like the Colonel, she is not seen until the last chapter. We meet her on the roof, already zombified and strapped to a gurney. After Jin gives her life to give White the vaccine, he dumps the whole lot into her mouth. After Charon kills Ryder, Emily starts to change as the 'vaccine' alters her. She turns into what Logan describes as an 'Uber zombie' and they all have to fight her. She ends up falling off the prison roof and getting impaled on a fence, leaving Charon, Yerema and the Heroes to escape on Ryder's helicopter. The Tapes: Tape #1: "This is the Journal of Emily White, Chief Medical officer at the Banoi Island Hospital. A few hours ago, one of our outside food suppliers attacked and bit two of the guards. The man was delirious, violent, and unresponsive, so I had him put in restraints and ran some tests. The symptoms indicate Kuru, a type of spongiform encephalopathy that is endemic to the native population here. It's a Prion disease, like mad cow, and is spread by the practice of cannibalism and the consumption of human brains. I'm keeping him and the guards who were bitten under close observation." Tape #2: "One of the guards being held for observation attacked an orderly and another guard and was, unfortunately, shot to death. A Taser had no effect on him whatsoever. I’m doing a preliminary autopsy as I record this and so far, what have I have found confirms my earlier suspicion. His brain displays advanced symptoms of spongiform encephalopathy. This is astounding, because usually it takes years for Kuru to progress to this stage. The incubation period seems rapidly accelerated. Looking at the cerebellum, I’m finding advanced vacuolization in the… Oh, my God, he’s… he’s alive. He’s still alive. How is this possible? My God… I pronounced him dead! He had no vital signs whatsoever… Guard! GUARD!" Tape #3: "The infection has spread rapidly throughout the prison population. The speed of transmission is breathtaking. Once the first cases emerged among them, the prisoners began to riot. The guards are trying to keep order, but the chaos is spreading. One of the prisoners is helping me with my research. His name is Kevin and he’s been extremely useful as I’ve been trying to find some sort of temporary drug treatment to slow the effects of this devastating disease. Tetracycline seems to stall the infection, but for how long… I don’t know. We’ve barricaded ourselves in a laboratory as I await evacuation. I’m in contact with my husband who assures me that a rescue helicopter is on its way." Tape #4: "Somehow one of the infected got inside and bit me. I was sure I locked the door behind us. Luckily, Kevin killed him before he could do more damage, but now… now I’m infected. This disease is obviously transmitted by blood and saliva and there is no cure for Kuru. There is clearly no cure for this. I can no longer be evacuated from here as I carry the pathogen inside myself now. It’s just too dangerous. I will continue my research as long as I’m able. From what I can tell, everyone infected also has blood markers that indicate HIV. I don’t understand the connection… or even if there is one…" (Kevin's voice cuts in): "Dr. White? Are you alright? Maybe you should lie down?" (Emily): "N-no, I'm alright, Kevin. I need to keep working. As long as I possibly can…" Tape #5: "I’m running low on tetracycline and it’s much too dangerous to venture into the other parts of the hospital now as the corridors are teaming with the infected. Thank God for Kevin’s help. I’m trying to stay lucid long enough to document the symptoms for other researchers who may find these notes. My gait is becoming increasingly unsteady. I’m suffering from ataxia. Tremors are racking my body. My head is throbbing and oh, God… Ryder… I’m sorry. So sorry…" Tape #6: "I radioed the rescue helicopter and told them to leave me here. The disease is taking control of me and soon… soon… Oh God... I told Ryder to stay away, but he’s so stubborn. He has to stay away. I don’t want him to see me like this. I want him to remember me the way I was… not like this… Ryder, if you find this… I’m sorry. Tell Kate and Pam… that mommy loves them… Oh, God…" Events of Escape Dead Island & The HKEA Strain:In Escape Dead Island, numerous files provide information about GeoPharm's research on something called the Hewitt Kahn enzyme accelerator, or HKEA. Although the name HKEA bears some similarities to Pathogen HK described above, Escape Dead Island gives a different account of its nature and its creation. It is unclear at this time whether the original account of Pathogen HK remains canon. HKEA is a virus originally developed to combat kuru, and is capable of being programmed to express proteins as desired. Initially, it is tested on anemones which are then infected with kuru; these results are promising, but insufficient. The research team requests human subjects. Since infecting humans with kuru would be unethical, the team tests Kuru against ADAR1, an RNA-editing enzyme which the team believes will cause a safe level of mutation. Some tests subjects are exposed, either accidentally or intentionally, to HKEA programmed to express the kuru protein itself. Either due to expression of the kuru protein, or modification by ADAR1, or both, HKEA develops anomalous properties - generating blood-borne stem cells that congregate along the spinal column. This development is considered promising, and the team drops research on HKEA as a potential cure for kuru to focus on these new properties. By the time research on HKEA is discontinued, it has developed into the pathogen that will wipe out the Banoi Archipelago. In this form, it takes control over the nervous system and musculature, replicating faster than the ongoing decay of the body can kill it. It maintains this control as long as possible, and in later stages introduces mutations allowing it to spread the infection more efficiently. The Kuru Virus:As is repeated (accurately) several times in the story, Kuru is a prion disease. However, it is not a virus. It is a mis-folded protein that catalyzes the identical mis-folding of other, similar proteins, so that they clump together in a huge stack, disrupting cell functions. The most notable examples of the disease affect neurons of the central nervous system, thus affecting behaviour. Prions contain no genetic material, and cannot recombine with viruses. They are also incapable of mutating, as they "reproduce" not by copying a genetic sequence but by causing similar proteins to misconfigure themselves, a process which then repeats. Kuru is a form of Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD). You cannot get CJD from being bitten; you must ingest tissue from the brain or spinal cord of an infected victim, as in "mad cow" disease. However, the disease can appear spontaneously in a person when one of his brain proteins just happens to mis-fold (the sporadic form). Some people are also born with a defective form of the protein that tends to spontaneously misfold (the familial form). It can also be contracted through the use of contaminated medical equipment (the iatrogenic form), especially tools used in brain surgery, as the CJD protein is not destroyed by ordinary antiseptic procedures, such as the use of an autoclave.
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aboutWelcome to the zombie apocalypse experience of a lifetime – and now more beautiful than ever. Caught in the midst of an epic zombie outbreak on the tropical island of Banoi, your only thought is: Survive! ArchivesCategories
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