The t-Veronica virus (short for Tyrant Veronica virus) was an artificial RNA virus created by Alexia Ashford through transfusing the genes of a queen ant that contained traces of an ancient virus with the Progenitor virus and incorporating plant genes. It was named after the founder of the Ashford family and possessed the absolute dominance ability of a queen ant which could control low-level infected individuals like a queen. It was officially classified as a "t-virus", but its purpose greatly deviated from the t-Virus Project. Although it was initially deemed a lost virus soon after its development, its recovery by Albert Wesker led to its use in B.O.W. (Bio Organic Weapons) development, and it came into the possession of several organizations. 1 2
History
Creation (1981)
In 1981, Alexia Ashford was conducting virus research as part of the Ashford family's own "t-Virus Project" in the hopes of creating a weaponized virus based on the Progenitor virus and grasp the leading edge in biotechnology, an ideal her father Alexander Ashford had formulated. This would allow her family to regain the prosperous legacy of her grandfather and increase their power within the Umbrella Corporation. The initial goal was to create a virus designed to increase the physical abilities of a human host, but during her research within the Umbrella Antarctic Base, she discovered traces of an ancient virus within the genes of a queen ant that inspired her to change the course of her research.
The ecology of the queen ant served as a model for her personal ambition, and she found that the ancient virus she discovered carried an attribute of "absolute dominance to control other creatures" which she hoped to engineer into a new virus. By transfusing the queen ant genes with the Progenitor virus, she successfully created a new viral strain. Thereafter, she dedicated herself to the research of ants and the building of an anthill. She viewed the ant ecosystem as perfect, and most notably saw the relationship between a queen ant and its soldiers and workers as befitting of her relationship with the rest of mankind.
During the building of her anthill, Ashford administered the virus into a plant, incorporating its genes into the virus and creating a giant anthill known as the "Alexia Pod" as a result. The new virus possessed an astounding reproductive capability and was able to replicate itself without restriction and destroy any existing ecosystem once introduced. To prevent a dispersal accident, Ashford chose the extreme climate of the Antarctic to culture the virus. Ashford had surpassed all other scientists in the field and realized "immortality."
Human Testing (1983)
On March 3, 1983, Ashford conducted an injection experiment on the first human test subject using the prototype strain of the virus. This test subject was her own father, Alexander Ashford. 3 The rapid mutation of her father's cells caused an extreme rejection that led to the erosion of his flesh and the destruction of his brain cells, rendering him a grotesque and uncontrollable monster. When this defect became clear, she blindly sought for a method of perfect symbiosis with the virus.
Ashford eventually devised a method of physical cryopreservation which would preserve a host's body at a low temperature that would control the speed of the virus' erosion and enable it to adapt to the host's cells and maintain their mental state. By her calculations, symbiosis and immuno-retention would take 15 years. With this answer, on December 27, 1983, she administered the virus to her own body and entered a cryogenic sleep. 4
Recovery (1998)
In 1983, attempts to obtain t-Veronica by another Umbrella researcher named Albert Wesker initially proved fruitless due to his colleague William Birkin refusing to have anything to do with it because of his intense jealousy of Ashford. However, upon betraying Umbrella and defecting to their rival company, one of the company's spies planted on Rockfort Island confirmed that Ashford had faked her death and believed she would soon awaken on the island. The rival company immediately ordered Wesker to lead their Special Forces named H.C.F. (Hive/Host Capture Force) in an assault on the island to recover Ashford so that the virus could be extracted from her body for use in their B.O.W. research.
On December 27, 1998, H.C.F attacked the island but found no sign of Ashford, who later awoke in the Antarctic Base and extracted the stabilized strain of the virus from her body and injected it into Steve Burnside. Ashford was destroyed by Chris Redfield and the virus was presumed lost. However, following the death of Burnside whose body now also harbored the virus, Wesker's subordinates recovered his corpse and escaped, bringing it back to the rival company. The company applied it to the research and development of various B.O.W.s, including the Jabberwock S3. This gave them another advantage over Umbrella in the field of B.O.W. development, while Wesker saw no value in the virus for his own plans.
Use in South America (2001-2002)
In 2001, Wesker travelled to South America and approached drug lord Javier Hidalgo, who at the time was desperately searching for a cure to his daughter's illness. He gave the virus to Hidalgo and told him of its need to adapt to the host over 15 years. Although Hidalgo had no ability to use cryogenics, he injected his daughter with the virus and used a clue from primitive religions that inspired him to regularly transplant his daughter's organs, a method which allowed her to retain her human figure. As it had adapted to Ashford's body beforehand, the properties of the virus had greatly changed and Manuela Hidalgo was able to control the virus' power sooner, but still required the constant exchange of organs to achieve full adaptability. While injecting her with the virus, it had accidentally infected a nearby plant, producing the Veronica Plant.
In 2002, during the United States government's "Operation Javier", Hidalgo allowed himself to fuse with the Veronica Plant and caused the creation of a new giant organism known as the "Veronica Complex." Because of the high temperature and moist environment of the Amazon jungle, the virus within the new organism would have quickly activated and spread in the scope of 60% of the whole jungle. If this happened, this area would become a "Veronica Ecosystem", and all animals and plants would be involved. However, the Veronica Complex was destroyed and the biohazard was prevented.
Later Developments
Manuela Hidalgo was taken into American custody. The virus was due to be disposed of, but a researcher named Carla Radames managed to obtain it for her own biological weapons research under "The Family", and she made improvements to the DNA mutation attribute of the t-virus in conjunction with t-Veronica, which led to the development of a new t-Veronica strain known as "t-02", which no longer required a period of fifteen years to adapt to the host and negated the extreme rejection of brain cells, the biggest fault of t-Veronica. By combining t-02 with the G-virus, Radames succeeded in creating a new virus known as the "C-virus" which exhibited remarkable mutations caused by the insect and plant characteristics inherent to t-Veronica. 5
In 2003, Wesker approached Excella Gionne of the pharmaceutical division of TRICELL and supplied her with t-Veronica and the t-virus in order for them to begin their own B.O.W. development. The information on the virus retrieved by Chris Redfield in the Umbrella Antarctic Base served as the foundation for the knowledge held by the BSAA on the virus, and allowed them to compile a fairly detailed dossier on the virus. 6
Attributes
The most unique attribute of t-Veronica was "absolute dominance to control other creatures", the ability for a fully adapted host to control low-level infected organisms who have not adapted, an attribute derived from the ancient virus contained in the queen ant genes used to create it. This gene also caused the virus' mutations on living creatures to bear insect-like characteristics. Similarly, the introduction of plant genes caused the emergence of plant-like characteristics in some mutations.
The DNA transmutation attribute of the Progenitor virus was inherited by t-Veronica, but as the focus of its development was the domination of other creatures rather than causing mutations, this attribute was inferior to the same one found in the t-virus. Despite this, t-Veronica caused immensely powerful mutations. Another attribute believed to have been inherited from the Progenitor virus was biological immortality for infected organisms, a trait normally inherent to "Progenitor humans."
t-Alexia
t-Alexia was a colloquial term coined by Albert Wesker, used to refer to the form of t-Veronica within the body of Alexia Ashford after she had awoke from her 15 years of cryogenic sleep. This strain had noticeably different properties in comparison to the initial prototype strain used on Alexander Ashford. This strain was extracted from Alexia's blood and injected into Steve Burnside. Although he was unable to adapt with the virus as he had not had the same 15 year adaptation period, he was still able to retain a limited amount of independent thought during his mutation, as he was able to break free of Alexia's command.
t-Alexia infected hosts with full adaption to the virus, such as Alexia Ashford, had the ability to revert to their human form at will unless the virus went out of control. Others that had not bonded to the virus, such as Steve Burnside, were also able to return to human form if they were not under the control of a "Queen" and could regain their own will. However, it is believed that this ability was time-limited, as the virus would eventually erode an unadapted host's brain cells to the point of no return.
t-02
t-02 was the term for an advanced strain of t-Veronica developed by Carla Radames. By extracting the DNA mutation attribute of the t-virus and making improvements in conjunction with t-Veronica, she was able to rectify the t-Veronica's fatal flaw of brain cell erosion and removed the need for a host to adapt to the virus over a period of fifteen years. This strain was then combined with the G-virus, resulting in the creation of a completely new virus named the "C-virus." Aside from its use in the development of a new virus, there is currently no other available information on t-02, particularly its independent effects on living creatures.