Space Zombies part 2

In another section of space we find humanity has once again conquered everything in its path. Now we have tools capable of "cracking" open entire planets and harvesting the resources within. Except on one planet we find something much older then humanity. And discover that while humans knew they weren't completely alone, whatever is out there, does want us all dead.

The video game which has spawned an plethora of content for it's expanding universe is Dead Space. And in Dead Space we find something that has been missing in video games sinse the old Resident Evil and Silent Hill games, true horror. A game that you play at 3 A.M. with the lights turned off knowing that it will make the maniliest of men jump and have nightmares. The reason for this scare factor? A large part of it lies with the unknown. The enemies are complete unknowns, Necromorphs they are called, mutated bodies of dead humans. But the Necromorphs mutate in many unpredicted ways.

While the humans gone crazies are one thing to generate fear in and of itself (also crazy humans never equals zombies) the Necromorphs are the true terror of space. Once the alien parasite has latched onto a corpse it takes ten seconds for the body to mutate and rise. The Necromorphs have no real need for any of the host body's functions so they are virtually impervious to damage and the most useful way of fighting them is to simply disable them by removing all limbs. Once a Necromorph has been created it's sole goal can vary depending on the type of Necromorph created but in general, is to kill more creatures so other parasites can find hosts.

The Necromorphs have proven to be predators who hunt in packs and set ambushes, often waiting in vents or playing dead, until a victim is close enough to kill in a single strike. Beyond this they also have a sort of Hive Mind and will listen to "leaders," more advanced Necromorphs, which sometimes are composed of multiple host bodies merged together. This base intelligence makes the Necromorphs a threat humans in todays culture often refer to as the end of mankind, that is to say, intellegent undead.

So to break it down:

Cause: Parasite
Undead: Yes
Body: Humanoid (mutated)
Freewill: Yes
Infectious: No
Fear: No

In the end I have to say Necromorphs, while more dangerous then any zombie are not infact zombies. They are intelligent predators, which zombies are not, and they are not directly infectious. While they are a parasite which infects and reanimates the dead this alone does not a zombie make.

Stay vigilant, may Marker never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

T-Virus

Allow us to take the time to look at one of the most complex thought out zombie viruses, the Tyrant virus, more commonly known as the t-virus. The t-virus is similar to other viruses. As the virus makes contact with another cell, it inserts its genetic coding into it. The cell absorbs the viral genome into its own genetic make-up, taking over the cell and beginning to produce more of the original virus. The new viruses are then released from the host and infect the other cells, which of course starts the process over anew.

The t-virus kills and replaces mitochondrial organelles with a replica of itself and then combines with other cells to produce energy. The energy produced is just enough to power the motor neurons and the basic lower brain functions. The reanimated host body is then left with the "need to feed" in order to replenish energy without having to sacrifice its own tissue. This slow eating of the cells by the virus leads to the gradual breakdown of the host, causing necrosis. The virus then inserts itself into the host's DNA.

If the host is alive at the time of t-virus infection, all higher brain functions are destroyed. This leaves only the cerebellum to govern behaviour. Leaving the infected host with very basic, animalistic behaviour. As the virus spreads, it damages the hypothalamus. This produces a massive flood of neurotransmitters, enzymes, and hormones such as norepinephrine and dopamine: which along with the infection, cause rage and hunger.

If the host is dead at the time of t-virus infection, only enough energy is produced to re-start the lower brain functions. Again these functions are responsible for the most primal and animalistic instincts, such as walking and eating.

There is some suggestion that the state of further mutation of the host by the virus depends on the host's state of mind and personality. The creator of the virus became a twisted representation of his own self hate, which can be compared to Albert Wesker's transformation which made him into the god he thought of himself as. This could however also simply be the chemistry of the different viruses relating to the DNA of the host.

The t-virus is capable of various ways to spread infection. The t-virus is a protein structure at it's core and is best transmitted by direct injection. However the virus can transform and will maintain itself (for a very limited time) as an airborne pathogen. The virus also transforms very well into liquid, mainly water and will infect any who ingest it in this way. Finally the virus can be spread through direct contact with an infected host. This is considered a secondary way of infection however as with many viruses, it can take several times in contact with tissue or even fluid containing trace amounts of the virus in order to become infected in such a way.

The virus was created as part of the weapons reseach done by the Umbrella corporation and more can be read about it here. While the t-virus is a made up bio-weapon the way it is presented and the science behind it is, in some places, scarily possible. To think corporations are not trying to develop a weapon like this is simply foolish. The questions are just when and exactly how. Will it be something like the t-virus? One can only hope not.

Stay vigilant, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

Zombies in Gaming: Resident Evil

Never will you find a game more re-made and over complicated as Resident Evil. This examination will stick to things that are common in all versions. Note that mention of the game as a game will exist but the main objective is to view the use of this game as training and preparation for surviving an outbreak. This is based off of the original American Resident Evil and the gamecube remake.

Story:
... Where to start... this game has kicked off one of the most complicated stories that actually retains some sort of actual plot line to date. The game begins on July 24, 1998 after a STARS team (Special Tactics And Rescue Service) discovers the destroyed helicopter of Bravo team, but there are no signs of survivors; only a severed hand is found. Alpha team is attacked by zombie dogs, one of which kills, Joseph Frost. Alpha's helicopter pilot, Brad Vickers, panics and takes off alone. Alpha team seeks refuge within a nearby mansion.
With the dogs outside, the last Alpha team members (Albert Wesker, Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine and Barry Burton) are trapped inside. Depending on which character is the player, one of the members of Alpha team is separated from the others during the chase and does not make it to the mansion (Barry if Chris, Chris if Jill). The player then explores the mansion and finds Bravoe team members, Kenneth J. Sullivan, (being eaten by a zombie) Richard Aiken, (dying of poison) Forest Speyer, (found dead on the balcony), and Enrico Marini, who reveals that one member of the team is a traitor before being shot and killed by an unseen attacker.  Scattered documents suggest that a series of illegal experiments were being done there by the Umbrella Corporation, a biomedical conglomerate. The monsters are the results of these experiments with the T-virus.
The player eventually discovers the Tyrant. Wesker reveals that he is a double agent working for Umbrella. Wesker is killed by the Tyrant. The player finds the other playable character trapped, and manages to get him/her out by activating the self-destruct system. Chris, Jill and the helper character (Rebecca if Chris, Barry if Jill) head for the heliport, the other characters are separated from the player. The player gets up to the heliport and manages to contact Brad and meet the other two survivors there, but they are attacked by the Tyrant yet again. After the beast is brought down, the heroes manage to escape the premises in the team helicopter.
Note this is the "best" ending. There are various endings in which some of the characters do not survive.

Zombies:

• T-virus Zombies - Slow moving, mindless, tend to sneak up on you or appear around corners. Vulnerable to fire and bullets.
• Tyrant - A human exposed to a lot of T-virus over a prolonged period of time. Bigger, stronger and nastier then normal zombies. He is a mutant of sorts and does not infect other humans but simply kills everything he sees with his one arm which has transformed into a sort of human blade. Vulnerable to rockets.
• Cerberus - Zombie dogs. Fast but relatively weak. They travel in packs and like to leap at victims knocking them down and surrounding them. Vulnerable to bullets.
• Hunter - Part reptile, part human, all zombie. The hunter is just that, it retains some very basic intelligence, the ability to track and fight. Vulnerable to fire and grenades.
• Lisa - Lisa was given the P-virus. An earlier version of the T-virus. She survived it and all other experiments done on her. Eventually Umbrella would extract from her the G-virus which is used to create the Nemisis Bio-weapon. Vulnerable to emotions.
• Giant Spiders - Zombie spiders... infected by the T-virus Spiders grow and carry their babies on their backs. Vulnerable to fire and grenades.
• Neptune (Giant Shark) - The scariest things ever. Zombie sharks. Faster, stronger and bigger then normal sharks (obviously that's what happens when sharks become zombies) these mothers are scary! Vulnerable to shotguns, electricity and Tom Jane.
• Chimera - This is what happens when you meld flies, humans and T-virus. Not pretty, or useful. But plenty deadly for no reason! Vulnerable to fire and shotguns.
• Yawn - Continuing with the idea that all small animals become huge when injected with T-virus RE brings us the giant snake. Vulnerable to grenades, explosives and book shelves.
• Plant 42 - Plant life can also be infected by the T-virus. (This seems strange but has common ground with some other zombie lore, including House of the Dead and Edge of Darkness) um... yeah. Vulnerable to fire and lots of bullets.

Survival lessons:

• Become a Master of Picking Locks.
• You don't have to be able to move and shoot at the same time to survive.
• Don't trust anyone, even those of the greatest morale fiber can have that used against them.
• Don't infect anything with T-virus it grows larger and wants to kill you.
• If you can't see around a corner there are probably zombies.
• In areas you've already checked and secured there are probably zombies.
• If one member of the team can never be found, don't look for him.
• Dying people will always give you their free stuff (better then letting you just loot it.)
• The guy who wears sunglasses at night, in a dimmly lit building, keeps a journal of everyone's behavior and disappears all the time: kill him early on.

Stay vigilant, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

Zombies in film: Resident Evil

“Survive the horror.”

Film: Resident Evil

Directed by Paul W. S. Anderson

Written by Paul W. S. Anderson

Produced by Constantin Film Produktion, Davis-Films, Impact Pictures and New Legacy

Story: Adding to the mythology of this long running video game series, Resident Evil follows the story of Alias. A super soldier actually never named in the movie. The story of Alias and RE is very long and twisted and if you want to go into it quite a deep dive. But the story of them ovie is fairly simple. A team of Umbrella Soldiers go into a secret Umbrella building called the Hive to find out what went wrong. What went wrong is everyone turned into zombies. Alias is the soldier who was supposed to protect the mansion which serves as the entrance to the Hive. She is taken in with the team along with another man and a second man is found on the way in. These two men turn out to be part of Alias discovering her involvment in the project and trying to bring down Umbrella. Zombies, zombie dogs and Lickers (though the movie calls them Hunters) make for a very entertaining and undead filled flick.

Zombies: The zombies in this film come in three varities, much like the games the virus creates mutated versions of itself, resulting in the "Hunter" called a "Licker" in the games. This creature has an incredibly long and powerful tongue, along with huge claws that can rip through metal. The creature changes and grows as it consumes fresh DNA. Then there are zombie dogs, which some argue are possible and some argue are not. And of course normal zombies. These zombies are fairly inconsistent for being in one film. Some times they go straight for the survivors, sometimes they disapear with no explaination. The most realistic thing about them is the amount. Where there is any more then one or two zombies there are scores of zombies. And then surprise! If you look deeper into the Wesker Reports Alias' past (and future) is revealed in an interesting way.

Survival Lessons:

• If all hope seems lost, take a step back. Literally.
• Never give up on someone left for dead.
• If you warn someone that you will shoot them, and they keep coming, and you shoot them, and they keep coming, shoot them in the head, a lot.
• Shutting off the power is not always the best idea.
• You're never safe.
• If there is a cure and you're infected, it's probably too late anyway.
• If you haven't been infected there is always hope.
• Never trust corporations.
• Don't turn your back on an opening door.

Warnings: The sequels are very disapointing.

In the end this movie is an excellent addition to the zombie world. The T-virus is the perfect example of any number of real viruses being change into a bio-weapon by a corporation. It shows a fairly good course of events in which even the most elite soldiers can fall. In adition to all of this it is a fairly entertaining movie as well.

Until next time, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate,

Mike D.

Z9

Hello fellow survivors,

It is a strange world in which we live. Many theories exist that zombies would first be created as a weapon of death but in fact they now exist as a tool for life.

Within as little as two years humans may be able to come back from the dead. Resent studies have literally had doctors kill dogs and then bring them back to life. Man has finally done everything Jesus could do by defeating even death. This marks a new, hope filled and scary advance in technology. Once this can be done to a human there are endless possibilities. If this can be given to the public, spread world wide and kept out of corporate hands (will never happen,) no one need ever die again.

But this begs the question what will happen when they do this to a human? More specifically what will happen to the soul? Will it begin to go to its final resting place and then be ripped back to earth? Will this prove the soul does not in fact exist as we believe it but is mearly our brain's complicated attempts to explain its existence. Or will the soul depart the body as God intended and the body become literally a re-animated corpse, a zombie?

Re-animation in this way would not involve a virus and therefore these zombies would not be infectious. One would assume. However the bestial nature of man without a soul is still the most brutal thing ever imagined. If such a creature were to rise would it perhaps create the virus within itself? Becoming a new strain or creating a sort of parasite instead of the traditional virus we think of (Solanum, t-virus, "Rage" etc.)

Another possibility is that the human without a soul would become mindless and very much like a voodoo zombi. However very few of the animals used in these experiments suffered any side effects at all. It would stand to reason that a human would not lose the ability for brain use either and become a vegetable as this did not occur to the dogs. Dogs brains are much simpler then human brains however and they rely almost entirely on instinct and training. This only proves that a human's basic instincts and functionality would remain, not that his higher reasoning or morals would return. And a human's instincts are the three Fs: fight, flee and... mate. These primal instincts are used to fulfill basic needs involved in self preservation, most prominent of these is the need of sustenance... food.

Also is the question of if these zombies could only be killed by destroying the brain. In a way, the process of killing a zombie is the same as killing a person. When the brain stops working the person or zombie dies. Zombies do not require oxygen for the brain to function which is why the brain must be destroyed directly while a living, breathing human can die from any number of ways. Zombies re-animated in this way are done so using blood, oxygen and electricity, the three components needed to make the brain function. Therefore these zombies run off the same functions humans do, they are undead but their bodies still function in very much the same way ours do. This would lead to the possibility of zombies not unlike those from 28 Days Later, infected with "Rage."

This is actually a two part study. It also looks at the possibility of dogs as zombies, the true undead form that are so popular in films and video games such as Resident Evil. There is much debate on if animals can become undead and the answer to this is actually much simpler than it would seem. Consider that the zombie virus is just that, a virus. Viruses are able to infect any warm blooded animal, it thus stands to reason that any warm blooded animal is capable of becoming a zombie and carrying the infection further. Note that cold-blooded animals, while immune to most diseases and viruses that effect warm blooded animals can still be carriers. This is vitally important, something as innocent as a bite from an infected bug will transmit the virus!

Protect yourself, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate,
Mike D.