Chapter 4: The advent of the Arcane Virus

Mankind had grown as a race, its progression seen in the developments made within the galaxy. The expansion to the furthest reaches of the galaxy paid testament to their success. The tragic events to follow came with the advent of the new and deadly virus, designed to systematically wipe out mankind. The galaxy's best known scientists and scholars examined the new strain, in a bid to find a cure and to wipe this deadly virus from existence. But time was against them, their only discovery showed that the symptoms were very similar to those of the Arcane Virus, the same virus that had destroyed the Earth's Solar system all those centuries ago.


Infected people showed signs of aggression and extreme excitation with a strong desire for destruction. It was inevitable that the killing would start, as cases of infection grew out of control. People killed each other and then themselves. Mankind as a whole was on a losing battle with itself.
This new strain of the virus differed from the Arcane Virus. The life expectancy of a human infected by the virus was a mere 8 hours, unlike the Arcane Virus, which took 7 days to kill its host. The scariest thing about this new virus wasn't the rate of fatality, but the speed of infection between carriers and victims. The resilience of the virus to variations in temperatures, sterile conditions and known medical anti-virals, meant that it spread to the general population with ease via transport links, communication channels and even individual spacecraft. 90% of humans were infected and killed within a day.

To survive this horrific destruction, the rest of mankind had no choice but to segregate themselves from the outside world. Planets were put into a self-regulated quarantine. All landing platforms and communications were destroyed to prevent any outside intervention. For a lucky few, a number of planets in the Lablum Sector escaped infection. This was one of only a handful of sectors that escaped the damage the virus had brought to the galaxy. The Lablum sector played home to Doctor DoHyun and he deduced that the current virus was somehow related to the Arcane Virus. Working closely with the scholars and members of the Arcane Club, they dubbed the new strain the “Mutant Strain Arcane Virus”. With the latest information gathered from the other colonies before the galaxy wide cut-off, the researchers resumed their investigations into this MSAV.

Soon after the research into the MSAV strain had started, scientists found something truly unexpected. For within the Lablum sector, the MSAV was found to be lying dormant. All life activity had ceased.

Like true scientists, this lack of activity intrigued the team greatly, so much so that they inadvertently activated the virus to ascertain whether it was indeed the Mutant Strain Arcane Virus. The death of 5 researchers confirmed this. The intriguing by-product of these deaths was the peculiar actions of the virus. It again seemed to cease its activity and resume a state of hibernation. Dohyun and his fellow researchers hypothesised that the cause of this hibernation must be in some way related to the environment within this sector. What exactly, was still a mystery.

With communication to other sectors unavailable, it was difficult to explain this great finding. Members of the Arcane Club took it upon themselves to communicate by any means possible, what they had discovered, in the hope someone was listening.
The distance between sectors was vast, and the platforms were used as communication and transportation tools. Alas all had been destroyed and hence making the task very difficult.

As the scientists continued on with their research, the Lablum government discovered a rare and previously unrecorded element. This newly discovered element had unique properties never seen before, its most distinguishing feature being the incredible explosive power. This was like no other element and was named “Holy Mental”. This element had a deeper side to it though. The mystery of where this great power came from baffled scientists, as it didn't follow any of the known scientific laws.

The local government in the Lablum sector was carefully developing this newly discovered element in the utmost secrecy. However, with the advent of the Mutant Strain Arcane Virus, the discovery and research of the Holy Mental was put to one side and forgotten. Members of the Arcane Club took the opportunity and began to look into the attributes that this new element possessed. The theory was that this one element may in fact be the key that they were looking for. This could be the element that destroys the MSAV and inevitably save what was left of mankind.

It was speculated that the unusual wave emanating from the Holy Mental was somehow effecting similar waves coming from the Arcane Virus, which were seen to penetrate the human brain, stimulating the aggressive centres and hence causing violent behaviour. The “spiritual waves” from the Holy Mental had a cancelling effect to the virus. Working together with the government studying this relationship between the two waves, the theory was eventually proved to be true.

The findings saw that whenever the Arcane Virus was in the presence of the Holy Mental, it would not activate itself and remained dormant. With this groundbreaking discovery, scientists began to study this further in the hope of creating a much needed vaccine to eliminate the deadly virus. However, it was seen too be impossible to create a vaccine using Holy Mental without further understanding how this element actually functioned.

Consequently, Doctor Dohyun focused his research into developing the Holy Mental as opposed to creating the vaccine. His research, though, did not receive support from the Sector administration nor from the members within the club. As a result, he was excluded from the Vaccine research group. As the Lablum sector and Arcane Club research teams developed ideas and theories for the vaccine, a devastating event was taking place on the outer boundaries of the Lablum Sector. An unidentified ship was seen to be entering the area, much to the dismay of the Sector’s Administration.

Electrical transmissions were repeatedly sent to alert this unidentified ship to hold back and to cease its current trajectory. The only reply from the ship was the sound of destruction and burning, and the complete annihilation of the outermost colonies in the G-17 sector. The Lablum Sector itself was in complete shock by what was happening. The ship had completely destroyed the G-17 sector all within an hour, using an unimaginable force and power that human weapons couldn’t match.
The 400 million people living in the G-17 sector were wiped out within 30 minutes.

Back in the Lablum Sector, people were in a panic, mass hysteria channelling through the planets. The alien ship was on a direct heading toward the Core Lablum planet, G-60, all the surrounding planets subjected to the same terrifying force that had been witnessed earlier. There was no mercy in these attacks. Planetary armies were deployed but failed to even launch a single attack on the incoming vessel. All hope was lost.
People tried fleeing the planet but without a central platform to launch from, options were limited. Those that did find a way to leave the planets surface became easy pickings and effortlessly destroyed.

Doctor Dohyun suspected that there was some sort of relationship between the unidentified spacecraft and the source of the mutated virus. Instinctively, he knew that the ship was being controlled by the unknown race that had destroyed the two great ancient Earth civilizations centuries ago. The question remained, would it be possible to hold back these attacks with the newly discovered Holy Mental?

These deductions were pure speculation based on his understanding of the cultures, and earlier research. He presented his findings to the members of the Arcane Club and the local government, but his ideas were dismissed as fantasy with no basis. The tense conditions on the planet led to chaos and fear. The social structure broke down completely leading to rioting, lawless behaviour and even suicidal tendencies. Complete anarchy took over. With the end of humanity so near, only a miracle could save mankind.

Be it a miracle or something more sinister, the alien ship so close to victory, did a most unexpected thing. On the eve of its triumph, it stopped. For what seemed like an eternity, the ship remained stationary, attacks ceased, and all was at peace for that moment. Without warning or cause, the spacecraft took a new heading back toward the outer colonies and disappeared to whence it came.
Doctor Dohyun, though perplexed by this course of action, kept on with his research. This time they had survived. But why? Who were these attackers? What did they want? With so many questions, Dohyun immediately began work.

The secret of the Holy Mental was key to Dohyun’s research. Did it possess some sort of ability that allowed telepathic ability, an ability to communicate to other creatures through the power of thought? Could the great explosive power of Holy Mental be adapted into an energy source for a new era? His thoughts and suspicions focussed on the spiritual wave which he strongly believed drove the alien spacecraft away. It was obvious that his work here could not be carried on with so much hostility around him. With the army themselves in turmoil, uprising against the government, the stability of the planet was in ruin.

Doctor Dohyun planned to leave the Lablum Sector with others, sharing the same ideals and beliefs. He needed a more stable location to continue on with his research into Holy Mental with a firm belief that this was indeed the key to mankind’s survival. Upon their departure from the Lablum sector, reports came in that the alien spacecraft had returned to Lablum and mounted its final and devastating attack on the area. The Lablum sector, a once peaceful and tranquil quadrant of space, was left as a barren and lifeless solar system…

Chepter-5