Ravaging Plague

Author's Note: The Ravaging Plague is the Dimension Delta Zeta 17-46 analogue of the Primal Dimension's Devouring Earth.

The Following material was extracted from the personal Super Force datacomm unit possessed by Samantha Grey during refugee reception and immigration review on arrival in Primal Dimension.

The Forbyn Blob ravages the surrounding jungle after destroying Imperial Science Command Research Station Juno-9 in Guyana. Its accidental emergence, subsequent exponential expansion, and metastasis as a virulent biogenic plague become unstoppable and sparks the Final War. 2012.

Ravaging Plague (provisional designation: Ravaging Biogenetic Cascade; colloquial: The Blob, Forbyn's Curse) is a hyper-virulent, non-sentient biogenetic entity first documented in late 2012, characterized by its amoeboid aggregation, predatory assimilation of biomass, and inexorable environmental sterilization. Classified as a Class-Ω existential threat by the North American Federal Republic (NAFR) Scientific Oversight Board, the plague represents a chimeric fusion of engineered xenobiology and anomalous rift-derived substrates, exhibiting behaviors analogous to invasive myxomycete (slime mold) consortia under extreme selective pressure. As of [REDACTED: Q4 2019], it has rendered approximately 87% of terrestrial biomes uninhabitable, precipitating the terminal phase of the Last War. This entry compiles provisional data from isolated Apex Researcher outposts; all observations are subject to verification via surviving orbital feeds. URGENT: Cross-reference with Imperial intercepts if available -- collaboration protocols suspended per Directive 47.

Origins

The Ravaging Plague traces its emergence to a containment breach at Imperial Internal Security Research Division (IISRD) Facility Epsilon-9, located in the Guyana Highlands, on November 30, 2012. Professor Jonathan Forbyn, a Xenobiologist operating under the British Empire's "Eidolon Protocol" (a "lone genius" isolation model mirroring NAFR's Spark Program), was conducting experiments on symbiotic slime-mold derivatives fused with Eidolon Node rift-spores. These nodes -- geomagnetic anomalies hypothesized to bleed extradimensional energies -- were intended to engineer a "universal compliance vector" for metahuman suppression and colonial resource denial.

The index event occurred during a high-energy "Convergence Experiment," wherein Forbyn's bloodstream entangled with a culture vat via unanticipated skin puncture, catalyzing his transformation into the progenitor entity: the Forbyn-Blob. This man-sized amoeboid mass initiated radial dissemination of the cascade agent, a prion-amoebic hybrid capable of horizontal gene transfer at unprecedented rates. Initial IISRD logs (recovered via NAFR SIGINT) indicate the agent's design incorporated predatory amoebae analogs (e.g., Naegleria-like trophozoites) for neural hijacking, but rift contamination induced emergent multicellularity, evading locally engineered safety kill-switch protocols. Speculative Note: Forbyn's unchecked autonomy -- devoid of peer review per imperial "black box" protocols -- exemplifies the perils of isolated genius models; cross-disciplinary oversight might have flagged metabolic instabilities. Ref: Spark Program Annual Review, 2019.

Biological Characteristics

The Ravaging exhibits a plasmodial life cycle reminiscent of myxomycetes, oscillating between unicellular amoeboid propagules and aggregated pseudopodia networks, with a hyper-efficient entropic metabolism that outcompetes terrestrial carbon cycles by orders of magnitude. Core traits include:

Cellular Architecture

Composed of chimeric trophozoites (10-50 μm diameter) exhibiting phagocytic predation on eukaryotic cells, augmented by rift-derived quantum catalysts that accelerate ATP hydrolysis and biomass reconfiguration. Under nutrient stress, propagules emit acrasin-like chemical signals, aggregating into migratory plasmodia (up to 100m diameter) via chemotaxis -- mirroring Dictyostelium discoideum slug formation but without fruiting body senescence. The Forbyn-Blob serves as a persistent nexus, fractalizing tendrils that "remember" prior substrates via epigenetic imprinting.

Metabolic Supremacy

Unlike baseline amoebae, which rely on glycolysis (yielding ~2 ATP/glucose), the Ravaging employs a hybrid entropic cascade, hydrolyzing polymers (proteins, chitin, lignin) with near-100% efficiency and minimal waste -- excreting only a sterile, hyper-viscous, acidic slime matrix (pH: -2 to -4, laced with quorum-sensing inhibitors). This enables exponential replication: a single propagule can assimilate a 70kg host in <48 hours, outcompeting native microbiota by sequestering iron and phosphorus reserves. Environmental stressors (e.g., gamma flux) trigger sporulation, rendering cysts resilient to -50°C desiccation or 10⁵ rad exposure -- analogous to invasive extremophiles like Physarum polycephalum.

Anomalous Properties

Rift entanglement confers phase-shifting: slime pools exhibit micro-rifts, "leaking" extradimensional entropy that disrupts local causality (e.g., inertial damping in 5-10m radii). No sentience detected; behaviors are emergent from distributed signaling, not centralized neurology.

Provisional Taxonomy: Proposed Myxamoeba ravagans (Forbyn strain); rejects fungal classification despite superficial Ophiocordyceps parallels in host manipulation. URGENT: Genomic sequencing incomplete -- submit samples to Pallas Array if viable.

Transmission and Spread

Transmission occurs via direct contact with propagules or slime matrices, with aerosolized cysts viable in humid vectors (e.g., refugee migrations). Incubation: 6-24 hours. Primary vector: Forbyn-Blob tendrils, advancing at 3-5 km/h ("walking speed") via peristaltic pseudopodia, infiltrating urban grids undetected. Secondary spread: 10⁴-10⁶ cysts/km² from dissolved cadavers, persisting in aquifers and biofilms -- exacerbated by climate anomalies (e.g., +2°C global mean post-2013 nukes).

Global coverage: 92% by Q3 2019, with "sterile blooms" (slime lakes >1km²) in 47% of former biomes. No natural predators; vastly outcompetes invasives like Bufo marinus (cane toad) analogs by assimilating their alkaloids. Model Projection: Total biomass conversion by 2021 absent extraordinary intervention.

Clinical Manifestations

Human infection progresses in three phases:

1. Prodromal (0-12h): Asymptomatic trophozoite invasion via mucosae/orifices; olfactory hallucinations (acrid "rift-ozone") reported in 40% of sentinels.
2. Aggressive (12-36h): Neural hijacking induces ravenous mutation -- hyper-aggression, dermal pseudopodia extrusion, metabolic upregulation, morphological changes, (VO₂ max +300%). Victims exhibit Physarum-like chemotaxis, forming "hives" (10-50 individuals) that move as swarms. Analogy: Naegleria fowleri primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), but systemic.
3. Dissolution (36h+): Host liquefaction into slime pool; residual cysts viable for 6 months. Fatality: 100%; no recoveries post-mutation.

Metahuman variants: Super Force metas report "inertial bleed" (drained momentum), "healing factor failure" (wound corruption), psionic distortion, rift-echoes (e.g., phantom extradimensional beings). Field Note: Super Force autopsies essential -- transmit to Redoubt-2 as comms hold.

Ecological and Societal Impacts

Ecologically, the Ravaging enforces a monocultural equilibrium: slime matrices preclude regrowth, collapsing food webs and mobilizing 1.2 Gt carbon as sterile effluent by 2019. Invasive parallels: Zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) filtration but scaled to planetary sterility. Societally: 7.2B casualties; proxy wars (e.g., 2017 South Asia Catastrophe) claim 1.4B more. Refugee vectors amplify via unchecked borders; economic collapse (GDP -99%) from "sterile zones."

Note: Wartime irony: Imperial denial vectors (e.g., engineered blooms) seeded the cascade; NAFR's hands-off Apex model isolated researchers from collaborative cures.

Research Efforts and Countermeasures

Pre-2018: IISRD gamma projectors (ineffective; flux <10¹² eV insufficient). NAFR Spark pivots: Quantum resonance inhibitors (Ellison Protocol) show 40% cyst dormancy in vitro. Post-2018: Distributed "black box" labs yield single-shot portals; ethical reviews suspended.

Countermeasures (provisional):

• Thermal Ablation: >800°C sustained (viable in vacuums).
• Atomic Detonation Target fluence: 1×10¹⁷ n cm⁻². To clear a 1 km² "grey bloom," plan four 1 kT neutron air-bursts on a 400 m grid, 200 m HOB, calm weather, <30 min window. Higher yield area-clearing devices in crash development.
• Entropic Disruptors: Rift-tuned fields (efficacy 65%; power draw prohibitive).
• Xenocidal Agents: Prion chelators (Carlson synth; 20% reduction in aggregation, see: Redoubt-29 [Redacted]).
• Next Generation Radiation Projectors: 0.5 kT/sec output 100 m diameter beams considered minimal for ground firebreak. Ref: Montana Project, TS/[Redacted] Ceres [Redacted].

Final Directive: Consolidate data to Ceres Base. End of Entry.