Kyle slouched over in the lab, his mind whirling as he pounded away at his report. The need to have something tangible was more than he could stand. The Director's deadline hung over him, and every minute seemed to be creeping away from him. But he couldn't get past the bickering that still seethed among the research team. It wasn't theory any longer—it was survival, and both factions had put their stake in what they thought the infection truly was.
The team had broken up into three teams, and each team had a competing hypothesis, and each team was desperate to be right. The first team, the prion team, was still wedded to the idea that the infection was a deformed protein, much like Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), a rare and fatal neurodegenerative disease. They had evidence of degeneration of brain tissue in the infected, but the numbers did not quite match. The prion theory was so close, but not complete.
The second, who believed in a parasitic cause, were equally insistent. They pointed to atypical biological signs in the blood and speculated that the infection might be a parasitic organism, similar to Toxoplasma gondii, which had previously been demonstrated to control host behavior. Their hypothesis was that the parasite was controlling the infected's brain, driving them towards violent behaviors.
And then there was the third group, the faction most sensitive to Kyle's own hypotheses. This faction had determined that the infection was a composite mutation of rabies, measles, and foot-and-mouth disease. Both rabies and measles were neurotropic viruses, and foot-and-mouth was said to cause acelerated degeneration and behavioral changes in animals. They believed that a viral mutation had produced something new and monstrous. The mixture of symptoms, from aggression to neurological dysfunction, seemed to be most easily explained by this theory.
Kyle needed to use his thinking mind. He was reasoning while scanning through the most up-to-date data they had on Sam, the final component that was absolutely one of a kind. She did not die from the infection, and might have been immune to it as well. The more he worked on her, the surer he was becoming that Sam held the answer to all this. Her immunity was no model in terms of everyone perfectly, but it was something that could not be overlooked.
The Discovery of Infection Time and Transmission Methods:
Kyle added a new section to his report, something he had never done before. The discovery was huge and, if accurate, would turn their entire idea for how the infection was transmitted on its head.
He had found out that the incubation period of the infection wasn't completely based on the viral load or where the bite had been. In fact, other vectors of transmission such as kissing or any exchange of bodily fluids had also been a mode of infection. Although bites were the newest and most common way the infection was transmitted, it wasn't the only mode of transmission. Blood, saliva, and even sex could all spread the virus.
What Kyle was most keen to know was that the viral load seemed to play a very significant role in the onset of symptoms at any velocity. In non-resistance individuals, time to infection could be between 7 to 14 days, depending on the amount of viral material entering the system and the manner it interacted with the immune system. The higher amount of viral material entering the body, the more rapid was the onset of symptoms.
For Sam, this was important news. She would have been infected about 16 days previously when she was in the shop with Edward, long before she had any observable symptoms. Her system had fought off the infection for longer than it could have, and she was asymptomatic. But the implications were disturbing. Had Sam been infected then, the infection curve didn't behave in the way that they thought they knew the virus did.
The Prion Theory Camp Fires Back:
The head of the prion camp, Dr. McAllister, was the first to reply when Kyle revealed the new facts. His attitude was abrupt, dismissive.
"So now we're talking about kisses and body fluids as vectors?" Dr. McAllister snorted, shoving his glasses up his nose. "Let's not forget that we're dealing with neurodegeneration. The brain tissue is where this virus is doing its damage. Saliva doesn't change the fact that it's damaging the brain."
Kyle would not give in. "The virus can harm the brain, but it's not so much brain degeneration, McAllister. Transmission via bodily fluids has been documented in such diseases. We're seeing aggressive behavior and cognitive function loss among the infected. If we're considering prions, then tell me about the changes in behavior seen—why should it be so consistent across so many individuals? The infection is not solely a matter of the brain. It's changing their entire physiology.".
Dr. McAllister's face turned red with rage, but he didn't respond. Instead, he shifted his eyes to Dr. Yuan.
The Parasitic Faction Joins the Discussion:
Dr. Yuan, leader of the parasitic theory faction, raised an eyebrow and leaned forward. "Now we're adding a layer to this?" she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Maybe we should be looking at the body as a whole.". You see the evidence of increased aggression, don't you? It's a parasite-host relationship. The virus is clearly making its hosts violent.
I am certain that you can notice that the behavior is more akin to something such as Toxoplasma than prions.
Kyle shook his head, struggling to keep his irritability in check. "I see that virulence, yes, but that doesn't explain how Sam is still alive, still functioning after sixteen days. No parasite we've studied has this kind of long-term effect on the host, and none of them allow the host to survive the infection for so long."
The room fell silent as the tension mounted. Dr. Hastings, sitting quietly at the far side of the table, glanced over at Kyle before speaking softly. "What Kyle is saying is important," she began, holding up a set of data sheets. "We've discovered something that may add a layer to this—Sam's infection timeline. The virus isn't strictly about the bite. It spreads through bodily fluids, which means the infected can pass the virus even without a bite. This changes everything.
We had been taking for granted only bites caused transmission, but that is not the case.
Everyone stared at Dr. Hastings. Kyle's temperature in the room shot up. The different factions were going to battle it out again.
An Unexpected New Revelation
We can't keep focusing on just one transmission method," Kyle continued. "We need to consider the entire disease cycle. Where the bite or fluid exchange took place, the viral load, and the individual's health—these conditions all have something to do with the rate of symptom development. Sam's body has been able to delay symptoms longer than any of us expected.".
Dr. Yuan raised an eyebrow. "So what does that imply, then? Are we saying Sam is immune?"
Kyle hesitated. He didn't know the answers yet, but he did know the resistance Sam was showing indicated something. "Not immune. Just resistant. Sam isn't going through the normal course of the infection. But she's not by any means immune. Her body is. doing something to keep it at bay somehow.".
Dr. McAllister growled beneath his breath, not willing to give up his theory. "Then what about the prion connection? This doesn't rule out prions. It is effective. We just need time."
The debate was running in circles as more members of the team weighed in, but Kyle could see that they were not getting anywhere. The squabbling was a brick wall, and they could not cut through it unless they could settle on one theory.
Finally, he sighed and got up. "We can't waste time. The Director needs answers, and we need to provide them to him."
The Director's Pressure:
As the conversation was beginning to hit another roadblock, the phone rang. Kyle's heart sank as he looked at the caller ID—it was the Director.
"Dr. Kyle, I need to see that report. Now," barked the curt voice over the phone. "We've got a time limit, and I don't care how much disagreement you have with your people. You're wasting precious minutes. Come on up with some substance, or the entire project will be jeopardized. That virus isn't waiting."
The phone went blank before Kyle had a chance to respond, hanging over him in an atmosphere of suffocation.
He steeled himself to face the team around. "Get your hypotheses together. I'll try to pull everything together, but we need to provide a solid, combined report—whether or not we all agree on the facts."
There was a silence in the room, and the cloud of uncertainty weighed heavily. As the minutes ticked by, Kyle couldn't shake the queasy feeling that something much bigger was afoot. Sam's opposition was only the tip of the iceberg.