The test subjects are not dead… they are only, let’s say, taken, if one could call it that. Here is where your other question comes in: the Urusarus-SN, or as we named it in this complex… Xankus.
– Dr. Elizabeth Saied (strange voice) describing the test subjects (Ferals)
The Ferals are humans infected with Xankus. As a result, their bodies undergo changes and mutations, caused by an evolutionary regression induced by Xankus.
This process strips the host of all rational capacity, producing primitive and savage behavior. Unknown to PROELIUM, Ferals are far more than simple infected individuals.
Infection Process
Infection can occur through several methods:
- Ingestion of Xankus, via contaminated food or water.
- Exposure to infected bodily fluids.
- Fomites (contaminated objects or surfaces).
Symptoms
An individual infected with Xankus may exhibit a range of symptoms, which can vary in intensity. The most common include:
- Fever
- Fatigue
- Vomiting
- Insomnia
- Excessive salivation
- Reddened eyes
- Swollen, greenish veins
- Sudden brain death
Symptoms may develop slowly or rapidly, depending on the method of infection or the amount of Xankus present in the host.
Once brain death occurs, the host awakens as a Feral.
Types and Characteristics
Ferals display different mutations and traits depending on the infection method and the host’s pre-infection characteristics. PROELIUM has classified the following examples:
- Normal / Common: A Feral showing no major mutation beyond red eyes and swollen veins. This type is the most prevalent worldwide.
- Howler: This Feral has a throat anomaly similar to the gular sac found in some birds and reptiles of the old world. It allows them to store large amounts of air and release a piercing, ear-shattering scream, which can injure anyone nearby and attract other Ferals.
- Silent: A Feral that has lost the ability to walk upright, moving on all fours or dragging itself. Typically sedentary, they remain in enclosed spaces and strike with a single, devastating attack when prey is detected. If the attack fails, they use whatever strength remains to escape or hide.
- Speaker: These Ferals appear normal but can articulate words intermittently.
- Clouded: A rare mutation. This Feral is completely blind, and its body acts as a Xankus incubator. Small orifices across its body release greenish gas containing Xankus particles. When a Clouded detects prey, it expels the gas more aggressively while charging. Close combat with this type is essentially a death sentence.
- Giant Feral: One of the rarest mutations. This Feral is enlarged, with gray, toughened skin, and no eyes. It has been observed using blunt objects, such as iron pipes, as weapons.
- Hybrids / Convergents: The cause of this mutation is unknown. Hybrids act like normal humans, with limited, primitive communication, but when they detect non-infected individuals, they revert to common Feral behavior.
GALLERY
