My Eclipse Phase campaign is heavily influenced by the works of Tsutomu Nihei (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsutomu_Nihei), especially Biomega. So, I was looking for an Exsurgent Virus type that would produce mutants akin to the spore drones. Additionally, I wanted a scenario where the player characters are on board of a space station when suddenly everybody else is changing into monsters, forcing them to battle their way out. This made me come up with the Timebomb strain. Warning: This Eclipse Phase may contain traces of Zombie Apocalypse. [b]Exsurgent Virus, Appendix 3: Timebomb strain[/b] [i]Restricted to Firewall personnel with reputation 50+[/i] We have now confirmed that the explosion of space station Iolante was not the work of terrorists, but instigated by Project Ozma in order to wipe out an Exusrgent Virus outbreak of the Timebomb variant. As we have learned from the disaster of Proxima Gamma, this insidious infection can defeat most standard quarantine regulations, resulting usually in level red epidemics. Timebomb is a variant of the Biological Nanovirus class and spreads through droplet infection. However, contrary to most other known types, this strain stays mainly dormant in the victim's body, apparently content with multiplying and infiltrating cells. Some victims experience cold-like symptoms (see *Extinct Diseases*) that are often attributed to stress or morph malfunctions. The real danger, however, lies in the altered pheromones that infected glands produce. The virus is apparently able to analyze the pheromone concentration in the surrounding air through means that still need to be researched. Once it reaches a critical amount, the virus becomes fully active and alters the infected biomass in a sudden and violent manner. This modus operandi ensures that changes do not happen isolated from another, but that a significant number of individuals will be transformed at the same time, forming a large force that is hard to contain. All victims experience massive neural and psychological trauma that turns them into psychopathic and paranoid killers of animal intelligence within minutes. In addition, their bodies experience terrible deformations with uncontrolled mutations and tumor growth. Since this usually results in a less efficient morph, it is suspected that this is an unwanted side effect of the quick transformation. All Sentinels are advised to evacuate the area of a Timebomb outbreak as soon as possible and erect quarantine level 5 measures, since the full scope of infection is impossible to judge until it is too late. Our attempts to identify Timebomb infected prior to the outbreak via their pheromones have yet been unsuccessful because these virii are able to produce a wide variety of "flavours". Once an outbreak has been confirmed, however, we now have the means to isolate the pheromone code from the infected, so that a particular strand may be tracked. Keep infected isolated or in small groups in air tight confinement until further actions have been decided. Theories that the Watts-Mcleod strain is actually another type of dormant virus whose trigger has not been discovered yet remain unconfirmed.