Back to the end of Prime Base

[cosmicfish]

I keep coming back to the logical consequences of the takedown of PB. If it is via a new bioweapon, where else does this exist and how does it not doom the Project and/or humanity? If it is via something inserted into the PB supply chain, where else was it inserted, what does that mean for the Project, and why does that level of penetration not doom the Project in other ways? If the Russians are involved... oy vey.

I don't like the bioweapon, and I like it even less if it is introduced via contaminated vaccines. Problem 1 is that it requires some significant penetration into Morrow's structure by Krell, and that penetration should have wide-spread consequences throughout the game. Problem 2 is that the large variability in incubation and symptomatic times means that PB should either have overcome the problem or at least taken much better steps to account for their own demise.

[ArmySGT.]

Originally Posted by cosmicfish

I keep coming back to the logical consequences of the takedown of PB. If it is via a new bioweapon, where else does this exist and how does it not doom the Project and/or humanity? If it is via something inserted into the PB supply chain, where else was it inserted, what does that mean for the Project, and why does that level of penetration not doom the Project in other ways? If the Russians are involved... oy vey.

I don't like the bioweapon, and I like it even less if it is introduced via contaminated vaccines. Problem 1 is that it requires some significant penetration into Morrow's structure by Krell, and that penetration should have wide-spread consequences throughout the game. Problem 2 is that the large variability in incubation and symptomatic times means that PB should either have overcome the problem or at least taken much better steps to account for their own demise.

Easy Peasy....... Several Biowarfare weapons are dropped on the U.S. in canon by Soviet missiles. The agent is Krell and carried the disease into Paiute Place doing the "Smallpox blankets" ploy; or an unwitting survivor that has taken a jacket or items from a car or tent from someone who has died.

[cosmicfish]

Originally Posted by ArmySGT.

Easy Peasy....... Several Biowarfare weapons are dropped on the U.S. in canon by Soviet missiles. The agent is Krell and carried the disease into Paiute Place doing the "Smallpox blankets" ploy; or an unwitting survivor that has taken a jacket or items from a car or tent from someone who has died.

That takes care of problem 1 (as does the 3ed version of the story), but does nothing for problem 2 - there are no illnesses out there that will kill everyone, much less do so in a manner that simultaneously kills the Project.

Although now that you mention it, if bioweapons are being used on the US, why aren't there strict biowarfare protocols protecting PB? Considering the importance of the site, any people interacting with the outside world would either do so with protection or would be prevented from reentering the base until they were confirmed clean.

[ArmySGT.]

Originally Posted by cosmicfish

That takes care of problem 1 (as does the 3ed version of the story), but does nothing for problem 2 - there are no illnesses out there that will kill everyone, much less do so in a manner that simultaneously kills the Project.

Biowarfare agents are not natural.... No one has a antibodies to counter the antigens...... the odds of that are even lower than the statistical probabilities for influenza or pneumonic plague. These are cultured to produce NO immune response because their is nothing similar in existance to activate the white memory blood cells in the lymphatic system.

[cosmicfish]

Originally Posted by ArmySGT.

Biowarfare agents are not natural.... No one has a antibodies to counter the antigens...... the odds of that are even lower than the statistical probabilities for influenza or pneumonic plague. These are cultured to produce NO immune response because their is nothing similar in existance to activate the white memory blood cells in the lymphatic system.

Biowarfare agents are based off of natural illnesses, modified to make them more effective as weapons (which is not always the same as "make them more lethal"). There are no bioweapons out there that are completely artificial, and even if there were the wide variety of human biology would still produce some percentage who either survived or took a very long time to die.

And if you are hypothesizing a new bioweapon that really does have these characteristics, who developed it, and why, and how are the teams waking up to anything but a barren wasteland devoid of human life?

[ArmySGT.]

Originally Posted by cosmicfish

Biowarfare agents are based off of natural illnesses, modified to make them more effective as weapons (which is not always the same as "make them more lethal"). There are no bioweapons out there that are completely artificial, and even if there were the wide variety of human biology would still produce some percentage who either survived or took a very long time to die.

I doubt Ft. Detrick and the multiple Soviet equivalents are advertising what is on the menu. They created new virii from those that are not normally infectious to Sapiens. Humans do not have antibodies because we have never needed them.

Originally Posted by cosmicfish

And if you are hypothesizing a new bioweapon that really does have these characteristics, who developed it, and why, and how are the teams waking up to anything but a barren wasteland devoid of human life?

Because like most that are exceedingly lethal they kill before the virus has spread onto another population. The same way that a hemorrhagic fever kills 99% of a village and doesn't get to the next two miles down the road. No hosts.

[cosmicfish]

Originally Posted by ArmySGT.

I doubt Ft. Detrick and the multiple Soviet equivalents are advertising what is on the menu.

In which case you are proposing this as part of the overall global biowarfare programs being enacted, correct? How does this influence the overall impact of the war, and what is still going on 150 years later? What would be the result of global powers with a 100% lethal bioweapon and an apparent willingness to use it? I think you are talking about a massive change to the game, TMP meets The Stand.

Originally Posted by ArmySGT.

They created new virii from those that are not normally infectious to Sapiens. Humans do not have antibodies because we have never needed them.

This may come as a surprise, but some people produce brand new antibodies to any given illness. Variations in the illness and the individual means that nothing is ever 100% lethal because some percentage develop antibodies even when none yet exist, especially when you add in modern medical care, or even better, Morrow medical care.

Originally Posted by ArmySGT.

Because like most that are exceedingly lethal they kill before the virus has spread onto another population. The same way that a hemorrhagic fever kills 99% of a village and doesn't get to the next two miles down the road. No hosts.

You are applying third world epidemiology to a first world nation. Hemorrhagic fever kills so many and never gets down the road because their medical care is terrible (which is why so many die) and because they quarantine the village (which stops the spread). And even in the kind of scenario you describe it still takes weeks or months to kill everyone whom it is going to kill.

If you want to propose a new illness, describe it in detail. Let's look at it like we would with any other weapon, with actual numbers and our best cut at real science, and see if it holds up. If someone proposed a hypothetical rifle that would shoot through a tank and fit in your pocket, we would dissect it in detail and talk about how it changes everything, let's do that here.