Crocodile
Mister Zero
The world of Elysium was a bustling home of humanity in the years beyond Earth. The home world is long forgotten but many troubles followed the species, many of which are self-inflicted. Poverty remains and many find themselves banished to the lower depths of the city covered world where not even the sun can be seen. The merchant and corporate classes dwell in the upper levels and towers that span the surface of the city, filling the skies with traffic of anti-grav craft. The powers that be have reigned over the planet for a long time and Elysium sat at the heart of powerful trade empire until the another horror of humanity came forth. Disease.
The Proteus Virus struck the world and tore through all classes. No one was safe from the mutagenic virus which seemed to bypass almost all forms of medical treatment and examination. The Senate reacted with panic, sealing off whole sections of undercity to try to stave off the horrors that came forth to spread the virus to the surface. Elysium became isolated, sealed off as Stellar Treaty ships reacted aggressively, trying to contain the spread of the virus with a planetary quarantine, but the damage was done. The Proteus Virus had already spread off-world via carriers it laid dormant in. Humanity as a whole collapsed in on itself in terror as it struggled to stave off infection and annihilation.
Elysium is now a husk of world. Countless infected roam mindlessly, driven by the virus as plague zombies or other inhuman shapes to seek out victims to spread the virus to. Pockets of humanity that proved immune to the airborne variant of the disease or otherwise rely upon scavenged biohazard gear have managed to survive and form together for safety. The species as a whole potentially is now in a state of decay. The government has collapsed and for over a decade the world has been left to rot. The virus keeps its victims alive and mobile, seeking prey to devour or infect.
What should be noted is that some humans, through flukes of genetics have survived the infection. The virus has twisted them genetically into the carrier of a personal strain. These people are designated as Virals. To be a Viral is to be beyond human, to have powers no person should be able to have or demonstrate. All seem fine upon initial inspection, but each Viral often has an Alterd Form they can reveal to defend themselves. Stranger still is that Virals can harvest the zombies and monsters created by the Proteus Virus, converting their material into Nodes. A normal human being can willingly take on a Node and become infected with the Viral's variant of the Proteus Virus. They retain their free will but also seem to feed some form of psionic energy to the Viral. This feeds a Viral's power and ability to mutate themselves into stronger forms while protecting those who take a Node from infection by the Core Variant of Proteus or CVP.
Only the Virals have the power to bring any sense of order to Elysium. Some have sought to forge their own territory. Who would suspect that someone with forethought has stored away a cluster of Virals in the hopes they could work together to reforge their ruined world into something new?
