Featured in MUSICAL BIOHAZARD - Voice of Gaia -, this unnamed virus (henceforth called the Gaia Virus) turned human hosts into Zombies. It destroyed most of human civilization, creating a Zombie horde that was innumerable. Special thanks to ReLiveRu for translating Voice of Gaia, to BSAArklay for the screenshots, and to Reen Hearst for her in-depth suggestions that vastly improved the quality of the Analysis. Voice of Gaia can be seen with English subtitles here.
History
In a remote area in Alaska, the “progenitor of cetacean” was discovered frozen in ice, a prehistoric species of whale which disappeared 3 million years ago. It was either the last or the only one of its kind. Inside its preserved body were smaller organisms, only half-frozen and miraculously still living (and moving). These creatures carried an undiscovered virus (Gaia Virus), which was transmitted via bite to an excavator named Catherine.
A sample of the virus was sent to an expert named Dan Gibson, at the USAMRIID (United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases) headquarters at Fort Detrick, in Maryland, in the hopes of treating Catherine. Catherine eventually transformed into a Zombie, and the rest of the excavation team was subsequently infected and wiped out. The virus then spread to a nearby village, and the American government wiped out the entire area to contain it.
The government retained the single sample of the virus given to Dan Gibson, most likely in an attempt to create a vaccine, in case the virus ever surfaced elsewhere. Fort Detrick holds pathogens from all over the world, and Level 4 keeps viruses with no available vaccine, like Ebola. It was here that the Gaia Virus was stored.
After discovering its devastating potential, Dan tried to convince the USAMRIID to destroy the sample, realizing its danger to humanity. His request was denied, and so he plotted to destroy it himself anyway. The government was suspicious of Dan and sent special undercover agent Lisa Martin to watch him. Lisa posed as a research associate from Stanford University sent to help with Gaia research. Lisa and Dan subsequently fell in love, and Dan confided in Lisa about his plans.
On the day he planned to steal the virus, Dan found that it had already been taken. Lisa suddenly appeared and pointed a gun at Dan. It is implied she may have taken the sample, to stop Dan. A special forces team arrived at the same time to capture Dan, and accidently shot Lisa with a tranquilizer dart instead.
The government retained the single sample of the virus given to Dan Gibson, most likely in an attempt to create a vaccine, in case the virus ever surfaced elsewhere. Fort Detrick holds pathogens from all over the world, and Level 4 keeps viruses with no available vaccine, like Ebola. It was here that the Gaia Virus was stored.
After discovering its devastating potential, Dan tried to convince the USAMRIID to destroy the sample, realizing its danger to humanity. His request was denied, and so he plotted to destroy it himself anyway. The government was suspicious of Dan and sent special undercover agent Lisa Martin to watch him. Lisa posed as a research associate from Stanford University sent to help with Gaia research. Lisa and Dan subsequently fell in love, and Dan confided in Lisa about his plans.
On the day he planned to steal the virus, Dan found that it had already been taken. Lisa suddenly appeared and pointed a gun at Dan. It is implied she may have taken the sample, to stop Dan. A special forces team arrived at the same time to capture Dan, and accidently shot Lisa with a tranquilizer dart instead.
Gaia was somehow released at this time, possibly by accident, and turned the researchers into Zombies. Injured soldiers were sent to a hospital and infected the staff. The virus spread from there. Soon the outbreak became a pandemic, with hordes of Zombies ravaging the planet. Countries fighting against the plague began to lose power and communications. Every nation was forced to fend for themselves. The last holdouts of humanity lived in isolated settlements, while vaccine research went nowhere.
Lisa and Dan sought shelter at a settlement near the Adriatic Sea. The settlement began to hear rumors of a girl immune to the virus on an island called Linosa on the Mediterranean Sea, south of Sicily. Dan hoped to use her antibodies to create a vaccine, and set out with a group to find her, with Lisa following shortly after. On the island it was revealed the girl was a healthy carrier, and when her blood was used to try and develop a vaccine, the virus was transmitted from her blood to the rest of the island’s population, killing everyone
During their trip to Linosa a horde of infected whales blocked the path of the sea-faring group. A single whale was discovered immune to infection, and Lisa took a sample of its blood in the hopes of Dan one day developing a vaccine.
Lisa and Dan sought shelter at a settlement near the Adriatic Sea. The settlement began to hear rumors of a girl immune to the virus on an island called Linosa on the Mediterranean Sea, south of Sicily. Dan hoped to use her antibodies to create a vaccine, and set out with a group to find her, with Lisa following shortly after. On the island it was revealed the girl was a healthy carrier, and when her blood was used to try and develop a vaccine, the virus was transmitted from her blood to the rest of the island’s population, killing everyone
During their trip to Linosa a horde of infected whales blocked the path of the sea-faring group. A single whale was discovered immune to infection, and Lisa took a sample of its blood in the hopes of Dan one day developing a vaccine.
Effects
The Gaia Virus was at first confused for Ebola or rabies, indicating similarities to those viruses. The first symptom of the virus in humans is fever. After around a day (two max) of being infected, the host will experience severe convulsions, followed by death. Moments later, the virus reanimates the host into a Zombie.
Despite Catherine dying prior to becoming a Zombie, Marco became one without losing consciousness first. Complicating matters further, Lovro was about to turn immediately following infection. This indicates the virus’ incubation period and symptom speed varies dramatically from host to host. It also indicates the death (or more specifically, losing consciousness) symptom is not necessary for Zombification, and merely a side effect of the transformation. In that case the Zombies may not even be undead, at least in all cases, but simply mutated to behave like walking corpses. As pointed out by Reen Hearst, Lovro’s bite wound was on the neck, and so he may have been bleeding to death very rapidly. This very likely has an effect on exactly how quickly the host will transform.
Besides some hosts turning at different speeds than others, some hosts had the potential to be healthy carriers. This means that they carried the virus and could accidently spread it to others, but they displayed no symptoms, creating the dangerous illusion they were immune.
It seems that almost all, if not all, of humanity was completely susceptible to infection, and almost every potential host would become a Zombie. This is in contrast to some whales, which potentially generated natural antibodies to the virus.
Despite Catherine dying prior to becoming a Zombie, Marco became one without losing consciousness first. Complicating matters further, Lovro was about to turn immediately following infection. This indicates the virus’ incubation period and symptom speed varies dramatically from host to host. It also indicates the death (or more specifically, losing consciousness) symptom is not necessary for Zombification, and merely a side effect of the transformation. In that case the Zombies may not even be undead, at least in all cases, but simply mutated to behave like walking corpses. As pointed out by Reen Hearst, Lovro’s bite wound was on the neck, and so he may have been bleeding to death very rapidly. This very likely has an effect on exactly how quickly the host will transform.
Besides some hosts turning at different speeds than others, some hosts had the potential to be healthy carriers. This means that they carried the virus and could accidently spread it to others, but they displayed no symptoms, creating the dangerous illusion they were immune.
It seems that almost all, if not all, of humanity was completely susceptible to infection, and almost every potential host would become a Zombie. This is in contrast to some whales, which potentially generated natural antibodies to the virus.
Gaia primarily spread through saliva, which was carried into host a host’s bloodstream through Zombie bites. It is unknown by what other mechanisms the virus could possibly spread. It was explosively infectious, and impossible to contain when released into a population.
The virus primarily affected the brain, like rabies. As such, an infected person who had not yet transformed into a Zombie could be temporarily protected from the progression of the virus by stopping brain activity through a medically induced coma. While this is said to work 10% of the time in rabies hosts, it worked 50% of the time in Gaia hosts.
When Marco was bitten by a Zombie, he tried to hide it by claiming a dog bit him. This may imply dogs are not susceptible to the virus, or at least to the Zombie mutation. This is later confirmed by Chavez, who wonders why whales can become infected, yet no other animals can. “Infected "in this context could just mean they do not display the Zombie symptom, and it is possible that other animals could become healthy carriers. This would explain how the virus managed to spread from humans to whales. Although viruses are known to be very selective in what they can and cannot infect.
The virus primarily affected the brain, like rabies. As such, an infected person who had not yet transformed into a Zombie could be temporarily protected from the progression of the virus by stopping brain activity through a medically induced coma. While this is said to work 10% of the time in rabies hosts, it worked 50% of the time in Gaia hosts.
When Marco was bitten by a Zombie, he tried to hide it by claiming a dog bit him. This may imply dogs are not susceptible to the virus, or at least to the Zombie mutation. This is later confirmed by Chavez, who wonders why whales can become infected, yet no other animals can. “Infected "in this context could just mean they do not display the Zombie symptom, and it is possible that other animals could become healthy carriers. This would explain how the virus managed to spread from humans to whales. Although viruses are known to be very selective in what they can and cannot infect.
Human Hosts
Zombies are, at least in this scenario, humans who have been transformed by the Gaia Virus. They resemble walking corpses and are driven by an insatiable desire for human flesh. The Zombies described here are not to be confused with the Zombies created by the t-Virus, which in this analysis are referred to as “t-Zombies”, in order to help distinguish them from Gaia ones. In fact, those infected with the Gaia Virus are never actually called “Zombies”, although their symptoms suggest that is what they are.
According to Chavez the virus destroys the cells of hosts, and that Zombies bite because of “reproductive instinct”, although he isn't exactly an informed source. Dr. Joe Gibs, however, said the virus erodes flesh, and so it seems the virus does cause necrosis of some kind, leading to hosts resembling cadavers. This could be due to metabolism or due to the stress laid on cells, caused by intense mutations. Zombies are said to starve, meaning they do require food to survive. They may be in a constant state of starvation, like t-Zombies, which also explains the necrosis symptom.
According to Chavez the virus destroys the cells of hosts, and that Zombies bite because of “reproductive instinct”, although he isn't exactly an informed source. Dr. Joe Gibs, however, said the virus erodes flesh, and so it seems the virus does cause necrosis of some kind, leading to hosts resembling cadavers. This could be due to metabolism or due to the stress laid on cells, caused by intense mutations. Zombies are said to starve, meaning they do require food to survive. They may be in a constant state of starvation, like t-Zombies, which also explains the necrosis symptom.
Zombie intelligence is debatable, although they seem to be less intelligent than uninfected humans, as they are unable to talk or use weapons. They do seem to retain some social instincts, however. A group of Zombies are, at one point, said to ambush a group of survivors. Whether this was intentional, or a “happy accident” is unknown. When food becomes scarce in one area, Zombies will coordinate to some degree and migrate to an area with fresh food. Once an area is identified as having survivors, they surround it and will stay until the prey is captured, meaning they may retain object permanence.
Despite this, Zombies lack human emotion like compassion, and do not seek to defend other Zombies.
Zombie eyes are blurred and, according to Roberto, they can't see anything. They may be just partially blind, like t-Zombies, due to necrotizing of the eyeballs. In order to compensate, Zombies are extremely sensitive to sound, to such a degree that survivors had to live in near silence to avoid detection. Roberto also said that “blood runs through their mouths”, preventing speech; but Zombies are capable of screaming and moaning, so this is most likely just poetic language. Since the Gaia Virus is closely related to whales, it is possible that Zombies use a form of echolocation to detect prey and navigate environments.
Due to necrosis, Zombies have pale skin. Their movements are highly erratic, which is either due to damage to the brain, or convulsions. Their strength appears to be greater than human strength, due to either the virus affecting the development of muscle or to Zombies being in a sort of adrenaline state. Zombies can migrate across wide areas, but their speed is unknown. It is also unknown if they can swim to their destinations.
Zombies wont attack people in a comatose state, and simply playing dead may work to avoid detection. This may be due to Zombies having poor eyesight and relying on movement and sound to detect food. This also means that unlike t-Zombies, Gaia Zombies do not feed on corpses or lying Zombies, although in such cases they may be drawn to the smell instead.
While t-Zombie vitality was so great that destroying the brain is the only way to kill them, aside from total incineration, it is not known if this applies to Gaia Zombies. But regardless Gaia Zombies are much more resilient than humans. Machine guns are even said to not be an effective countermeasure, and humans attempting melee combat with Zombies would certainly die unless they possessed considerable skills in combat.
Survivors would burn Zombie corpses immediately after killing them, either to ensure death, prevent them from possibly regenerating and rising again, or simply to prevent infection by handling the corpse.
Despite this, Zombies lack human emotion like compassion, and do not seek to defend other Zombies.
Zombie eyes are blurred and, according to Roberto, they can't see anything. They may be just partially blind, like t-Zombies, due to necrotizing of the eyeballs. In order to compensate, Zombies are extremely sensitive to sound, to such a degree that survivors had to live in near silence to avoid detection. Roberto also said that “blood runs through their mouths”, preventing speech; but Zombies are capable of screaming and moaning, so this is most likely just poetic language. Since the Gaia Virus is closely related to whales, it is possible that Zombies use a form of echolocation to detect prey and navigate environments.
Due to necrosis, Zombies have pale skin. Their movements are highly erratic, which is either due to damage to the brain, or convulsions. Their strength appears to be greater than human strength, due to either the virus affecting the development of muscle or to Zombies being in a sort of adrenaline state. Zombies can migrate across wide areas, but their speed is unknown. It is also unknown if they can swim to their destinations.
Zombies wont attack people in a comatose state, and simply playing dead may work to avoid detection. This may be due to Zombies having poor eyesight and relying on movement and sound to detect food. This also means that unlike t-Zombies, Gaia Zombies do not feed on corpses or lying Zombies, although in such cases they may be drawn to the smell instead.
While t-Zombie vitality was so great that destroying the brain is the only way to kill them, aside from total incineration, it is not known if this applies to Gaia Zombies. But regardless Gaia Zombies are much more resilient than humans. Machine guns are even said to not be an effective countermeasure, and humans attempting melee combat with Zombies would certainly die unless they possessed considerable skills in combat.
Survivors would burn Zombie corpses immediately after killing them, either to ensure death, prevent them from possibly regenerating and rising again, or simply to prevent infection by handling the corpse.
The main distinction with Gaia Zombies when compared to t-Zombies is their peculiar weakness. Uplifting singing, or music in general, calms them, and even leads to them losing the desire to attack and feed. In one circumstance of this, Jilma notes this was the first time the present Zombies heard music, which could be a factor. Playing the iron bell instrument and the windy bells at Mizusawa Station worked as well.
Once music ceases, pacified Zombies will go into a frenzy, perhaps angry the music stopped. In one such case these frenzied Zombies were able to break through gates they weren't able to penetrate before. This makes the use of music as a countermeasure a double-edged sword.
The reason for this behavior could be one of the following, or a combination of them all:
Once music ceases, pacified Zombies will go into a frenzy, perhaps angry the music stopped. In one such case these frenzied Zombies were able to break through gates they weren't able to penetrate before. This makes the use of music as a countermeasure a double-edged sword.
The reason for this behavior could be one of the following, or a combination of them all:
- Whales will sometimes sing when migrating or mating. As the Gaia Virus comes from a whale, it is possible it instilled instincts in Zombies that causes them to change behavior in response to singing or bells (which most closely imitate the singing of whales).
- t-Zombies are known to be pacified when exposed to certain stimuli as well, like the Zombie Jammer, which could be a related phenomenon.
- It could simply be the Zombies retain enough memory to be reminded of their humanity through music, causing them to forget their inhumane instincts temporarily.
- Normal animal behavior can be influenced by music in many ways. Music can cause the brain to release endorphins that aid in pain reduction. It can also calm nerves, relax muscle, improve digestion, and even simply distract the mind.
Whale Hosts
The Gaia Virus is also capable of transforming whales into Zombie-like creatures. This is due to Gaia being a whale virus in the first place. An infected whale is referred to as a “Black Moby”, in reference to Moby Dick. Many of the world's oceans (at least the Mediterranean) became overrun with Black Mobys, making fishing and travel by sea too dangerous for the last human survivors.
Going by the sheer numbers the Black Mobys seemed to be in, they may have retained the ability to reproduce. In fact, their reproductive capabilities may have actually improved.
While they moved in large pods, Mobys did not seem to care for individual members, similar to the human-based Zombies. They were also calmed by music.
Whales that were immune to the virus were seemingly not attacked by Black Mobys. This may indicate Mobys do not attack other whales at all, regardless of infection, and that they are infected only by consuming other species of animals that function as healthy carriers.
The “progenitor of cetacean” creature that the virus was discovered in had smaller creatures living inside it that carried the virus. These creatures bit humans and transmitted the virus to them, indicating they were also Zombie-like hosts. These creatures had such impressive vitality that they survived half-frozen for 3 million years, likely in a state of suspended animation. These creatures may have been:
Going by the sheer numbers the Black Mobys seemed to be in, they may have retained the ability to reproduce. In fact, their reproductive capabilities may have actually improved.
While they moved in large pods, Mobys did not seem to care for individual members, similar to the human-based Zombies. They were also calmed by music.
Whales that were immune to the virus were seemingly not attacked by Black Mobys. This may indicate Mobys do not attack other whales at all, regardless of infection, and that they are infected only by consuming other species of animals that function as healthy carriers.
The “progenitor of cetacean” creature that the virus was discovered in had smaller creatures living inside it that carried the virus. These creatures bit humans and transmitted the virus to them, indicating they were also Zombie-like hosts. These creatures had such impressive vitality that they survived half-frozen for 3 million years, likely in a state of suspended animation. These creatures may have been:
- Parasites, that either infested the infected cetacean and contracted the virus in it, or infected the cetacean in the first place.
- Animals that the cetacean consumed that were subsequently infected.
- The offspring of the cetacean. The mother may have frozen prior to giving birth, and the offspring entered hibernation in order to survive, stunting their growth.
Origins and Role in Ancient Times
Origins and Role in Ancient Times
The ancient corpse the Gaia Virus was discovered in was said to be the “ancestor to the whales”. This means the modern whale species of the world all descend from this animal. Not only this, but it is called the “progenitor of cetacean”. Cetacea are whales, dolphins, and porpoises. The creature being their progenitor means all those creatures are its descendants, making it an important species in the development of mammalian life in the ocean. The fact it also caried the Gaia Virus is no coincidence.
According to Joe Nags: “they [viruses] existed on this planet since the beginning of life.” “This virus [Gaia] can change the DNA. Imagine the deers [deer] were infected with a virus, longering [lengthening] their necks and the elephants with the one longering [lengthening] their noses. And if you change only 4% of a monkey’s DNA, it’ll become humans. It adapts the organisms to changing environment, developing or destroying them, preserving the life on Earth. That is what this virus is for. Poor humanity. Resisting the virus is heresy against celestial.” “Somewhat we can say that via transforming because of the virus people, perhaps, evolve.”
Taking all this into account, it is implied that the Gaia Virus was actively involved in the creation of all whales, dolphins, etc. This accounts for its ability to greatly alter the genetic makeup of its hosts.
Joe Nags and Dan Gibson also believed that Gaia was responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs. This would mean Gaia both promoted the development of mammalian life (at least in the ocean, although the fact it could also mutate humans may imply it had a role in the development of land mammal life too) and killed off the larger animals that would be in the way of mammalian development.
The Progenitor Virus utilized by the Umbrella Corporation was also said to be responsible for the development of early life (in fact Progenitor was responsible for the very first organisms). Not only that, but viruses based on Progenitor also turn hosts into Zombies. The odds of this being a coincidence are extremely low. It may be that Gaia is actually an ancient offshoot of Progenitor, specialized for cetacean lifeforms. Progenitor’s effects on aquatic life are very minimal, and so a strain that was particularly adapted to marine life existing is entirely plausible.
Gaia may also be related to the Abyss Virus. Abyss seems to have been involved in the development of sea life as well, but rather than cetacean life Abyss specializes in deep sea life. It may be that all these ancient, natural strains are related, with each adapted to a particular type of creature in a particular environment: Progenitor for the first organisms, Gaia for marine mammals, Abyss for deep sea fish, and even Veronica for insect life.
This also works well with the idea that Gaia killed the dinosaurs. If another Progenitor strain created the dinosaurs, Gaia in a sense was a natural foil to that strain. A viral civil war, with its aftermath determining the way life would continue to develop on earth.
The creatures that infested the body of the progenitor of cetacean resemble in concept the Malacoda B.O.W.s - skin fluke parasites infected with t-Abyss, that infected then infested the body of a whale. It may be the creatures inside the progenitor of cetacean were also parasites infected with the natural Abyss Virus, and that they infected the fish after parasitizing it. The parasites would then transmit the virus to the host, not only transforming it into the first cetacean, but also changing the virus itself into Gaia due to recombination. Since humans and cetaceans are both mammals, Gaia became more adept at spreading in human hosts than Abyss was originally.
According to Joe Nags: “they [viruses] existed on this planet since the beginning of life.” “This virus [Gaia] can change the DNA. Imagine the deers [deer] were infected with a virus, longering [lengthening] their necks and the elephants with the one longering [lengthening] their noses. And if you change only 4% of a monkey’s DNA, it’ll become humans. It adapts the organisms to changing environment, developing or destroying them, preserving the life on Earth. That is what this virus is for. Poor humanity. Resisting the virus is heresy against celestial.” “Somewhat we can say that via transforming because of the virus people, perhaps, evolve.”
Taking all this into account, it is implied that the Gaia Virus was actively involved in the creation of all whales, dolphins, etc. This accounts for its ability to greatly alter the genetic makeup of its hosts.
Joe Nags and Dan Gibson also believed that Gaia was responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs. This would mean Gaia both promoted the development of mammalian life (at least in the ocean, although the fact it could also mutate humans may imply it had a role in the development of land mammal life too) and killed off the larger animals that would be in the way of mammalian development.
The Progenitor Virus utilized by the Umbrella Corporation was also said to be responsible for the development of early life (in fact Progenitor was responsible for the very first organisms). Not only that, but viruses based on Progenitor also turn hosts into Zombies. The odds of this being a coincidence are extremely low. It may be that Gaia is actually an ancient offshoot of Progenitor, specialized for cetacean lifeforms. Progenitor’s effects on aquatic life are very minimal, and so a strain that was particularly adapted to marine life existing is entirely plausible.
Gaia may also be related to the Abyss Virus. Abyss seems to have been involved in the development of sea life as well, but rather than cetacean life Abyss specializes in deep sea life. It may be that all these ancient, natural strains are related, with each adapted to a particular type of creature in a particular environment: Progenitor for the first organisms, Gaia for marine mammals, Abyss for deep sea fish, and even Veronica for insect life.
This also works well with the idea that Gaia killed the dinosaurs. If another Progenitor strain created the dinosaurs, Gaia in a sense was a natural foil to that strain. A viral civil war, with its aftermath determining the way life would continue to develop on earth.
The creatures that infested the body of the progenitor of cetacean resemble in concept the Malacoda B.O.W.s - skin fluke parasites infected with t-Abyss, that infected then infested the body of a whale. It may be the creatures inside the progenitor of cetacean were also parasites infected with the natural Abyss Virus, and that they infected the fish after parasitizing it. The parasites would then transmit the virus to the host, not only transforming it into the first cetacean, but also changing the virus itself into Gaia due to recombination. Since humans and cetaceans are both mammals, Gaia became more adept at spreading in human hosts than Abyss was originally.