Oripathy
| “ | A malignant infectious disease. Patients will die soon after their bodies start to crystallize, and become new vectors of infection. | ” |
| —Loading screen tip |
Oripathy is a progressive, terminal "disease" in the world of Arknights, caused by direct or prolonged exposure to Originium.
Individuals with Oripathy are referred to as the "Infected".
Overview
Oripathy is scientifically defined as "the abnormal assimilation between body cells and active Originium," a disease in which active Originium corrodes the patient's body as the crystals slowly replace normal body cells.[2] It usually starts within a few days after initial contact with Originium particles from raw (unprocessed) sources, such as Originium shards, ingots and Originium particles in the air. The Infected will begin to exhibit hardened skin on the site of contact, which will then turn dark and start to rise in elevation similar to a regular scab. After a few more days, the Infected will often experience internal burns and the blackened spot will continue to harden to the point of crystallization resembling that of Originium crystals, typically preceded by lesions in the shape of radiating lines on their outer skin, which becomes the tell-tale sign of Oripathy. Further contact with Originium and overusing Originium Arts could further accelerate the progress.
The crystallization will continue to spread through the Infected's body, causing pain and discomfort and inhibiting their ability to breathe and properly intake and distribute nutrition. The process eventually causes medical complication and organ failure that could lead to an Infected's death.[2] Their body will immediately disintegrate post-mortem in a manner similar to spontaneous combustion — the crystals on their body start to glow, leaving behind Originium particle dust that can cause secondary Oripathy infections if the Infected's body is not isolated properly.[3] In some cases, the Originium crystals inside the Infected may destabilize upon the host's death, causing an explosive chain reaction which turns the Infected into a "living bomb" as seen with Infused Originium Slugs and its derivatives.
A common misconception is that Oripathy also improves the Infected's affinity towards Originium Arts, although this is generally not the case; most Infected individuals are incapable of using Arts, and Oripathy has no effect on one's Arts potential. Some Infected even have their Arts potential weakened instead of strengthened. The Infected, however, are able to use Arts without a catalyst (e.g. staves) at the cost of worsening their Oripathy.
Many Terran races are vulnerable to Oripathy. As the oldest race that first enhanced Originium, the Teekaz/Sarkaz races are exceptionally vulnerable to contracting it as they were cursed by the first Originium, to the point where they might even carry such illness since birth. Another race that is highly vulnerable to it are the Elves, who have their elongated life spans greatly decreased upon contracting Oripathy. There are races that are at least mostly immune to it, such as the divine Feranmuts and the Seaborn.
Terran society has been highly dependent on Originium since ancient times, even before the industrial Crystalized Age.[4] As a consequence, Oripathy can be found in all Terran countries and territories, making it a pandemic.
Transmission
As stated above, the only way to contract Oripathy is direct contact with active Originium shards. These sources could range from survival from Catastrophes, crude Originium mining, industrial pollution, to accidental contact with a disintegrating Infected corpse. Survival from Catastrophes is the worst form of contraction because large amount of microscopic actuve Originium shards pollutes the air and remain colorless and odorless, and it posts a severe threat if proper precautions are not met. Since the Crystalization Age when large numbers of Originium product factories and Originium refineries are set up, industrial pollution and excessive mining become the sole factors of transmission, and people residing around factory areas, mines, and sewage have a higher chance to contract the disease.[5]
There is a common myth that Oripathy can spread through physical contact with the Infected, although it has been long proven that that person-to-person Oripathy transmission is very unlikely.[6] This is because Oripathy is actually a transfusion transmitted infection that can only be transmitted via blood, and Originium granules inside blood will become inactive once it is separated from the patient's body and left alone for a few minutes.[5] As a result, there is a high possibility that Oripathy can be congenitally transmitted, especially between Infected couples, making it a vertically transmitted infection that results in giving birth children carrying the disease.[7][8] Needle sharing too can transmit Oripathy if it is reused from an Infected, resulting in accidental transmission onto others within hospitals, so medical groups have long urged hospitals to practice needle exchange.[5]
Diagnosis
Before the 1040s when angiography, or imaging test by layman term, was invented, many crude methods were tried by many Terran societies, but all of them are inaccurate. One method is to hire a caster examining an Infected's blood. By dropping few amounts of blood onto their hands, the caster will try to activate their Arts using their blood; one that enables it signifies the presence of Oripathy. However, its disadvantages is pretty obvious: Arts could not detect the blood of an early stage Infected, and not all Infected could activate Arts. In modern days, this method has long been discharged in favor of modern science, yet it inspires medical scholars to investigate the relationship between blood and Originium.[9]
The modern angiography was invented by a Leithanian scholar who noticed that blurry outlines will form around an Infected's internal organs and blood vessels under exposure of a specific electromagnetic radiation. Angiography not only could precisely diagnose an early stage Oripathy, but also, the result can be produced within less than three hours. Since then, this modern technology becomes the sole clinical diagnosis to Oripathy patients.[9]
There have been medical cases where Oripathy patients miraculously "healed" long before angiography was introduced. Even until present days, these reports could still be found across Terra, and in some nations like Sargon, it is treated as some sort of divine "miracles."[2] Sometimes, this phenomenon is the result of "false recovery," a status in which an Infected's Oripathy goes dormant for a long period of time due to outside forces (e.g. Arts reaction), but the assimilation on a microscopic scale will quietly accelerate, resulting the patient to immediately suffer from sever symptoms after reaching the end of the period.[10]
Stages
The severity of one's Oripathy is measured through how much the Originium particles have assimilated with the Infected's cells (Cell-Originium Assimilation) measured by its percentage, and the density of Originium particles in every liter of the Infected's blood (Blood Originium-Crystal Density) under the measurement standard of unit per liter (u/L).
Using this method, Oripathy is divided into three stages:[11]
- Stage I (early): The patient only possesses little amount of Originium granules in their circulatory system usually less than 0.30 u/L. The usual symptom is light fever due to the immune system's response to their presence. Shallow outlines of internal organs could be detected, and some can possess little amount of Originium lesions on their skin. Usually, the early stage can be easily misdiagnosed as normal diseases because of its indifference from others.
- Stage II (middle): The patient possesses high amount of Originium granules in their circulatory system usually between 0.30 u/L to 0.50 u/L. The Cell-Originium Assimilation accelerates, and mild to severe symptoms become obvious. Outlines of internal organs become abnormally blurry under angiography, and the numbers and size of Originium lesions on their skin greatly increase. This stage is the last window period for treatment to suppress medical complications.
- Stage III (late): The patient possesses excessive high amount of Originium granules in their circulatory system that makes it hard to be detected. It exceeds 0.50 u/L. and, in some cases, even surpasses the dead line of 0.80 u/L. The body becomes crystalized and grows abnormal body parts. The patient losses mobility and suffers from organ failure. This stage is considered the terminal stage in which current medical methods are no longer applicable.
However, the characteristics of each stage often overlap with each other, as seen in Cliffheart and Franka, whose blood Originium-Crystal densities are 0.28u/L and 0.34u/L respectively, but are both considered to be nearing stage II.
The following are some of the notable cases of Oripathy and their symptoms. Red numbers/texts indicate serious cases.
| Subject | Assimilation | Density | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19% | 0.27u/L | Wearing ring-like inhibitors to suppress infection from progressing | |
| 5% | 0.23u/L |
| |
| 9% | 0.31u/L | Showing latent Originium Arts infused into her weaponry | |
| 16% | 0.31u/L | Having horns, which is unnatural for the Archosaurians | |
| 11% | 0.59u/L | Showing progressive loss of vision and hearing | |
| 19% | 0.27u/L | Exhibiting chronic nervous pain at times | |
| 13% | 0.27u/L |
| |
| 12% | 0.32u/L | Being able to use active camouflage | |
| 9% | 0.33u/L |
| |
| 16% | 0.31u/L | Suspected of being the cause of her DID | |
| 14% | 0.35u/L | Voice being capable of causing brain damage if inhibitor is absent | |
| 18% | 0.3u/L | Tail growing larger than average Lupus' | |
| 8% | 0.43u/L |
| |
| 10% | 0.16u/L | Crystalized left face, including the eye, yet not losing its optical activity | |
| 12% | 0.29u/L | Showing certain personality disorder symptoms | |
| 9% | 0.23u/L | Possibly the cause of her schizophrenia | |
| 7% | 0.25u/L | Narcolepsy | |
| 14.5% | 0.34u/L | Exhibiting various disorders including amnesia and psychosis |
Treatment
So far there is no known cure for Oripathy, although Rhodes Island is actively trying to find one. This, however, appears to be an unlikely prospect as the Originium particles are assimilated into the Infected's cells and blood, making them impossible to filter out without endangering the Infected's life.
However, Rhodes Island has developed certain treatments which can slow the effects of an active (and only active) Oripathy. The most common method is their Oripathy suppressant, a specially made protein that stimulates living cell regeneration, forms a protective protein cover to halt further assimilation of Originium granules, and disperse the "energy" spread by the granules to prevent disintegration.[12] The damaged parts of the Infected's body can also be treated with conventional methods if they are in the early stage (e.g. amputation of crystalized body parts).
Although a select few of the Infected manage to stall or even halt their Oripathy's progress, the condition itself remains terminal; in fact, Oripathy has a near-100% mortality rate.
Body disposal
Because an Infected corpse is very contagious, improper methods to dispose them could lead to widespread transmission. So, Rhodes Island has invented a special corpse disposal machine. They will first place dying patient inside the machine. Upon reaching post-mortem, the machine will undergo three stages. The first stage is to either cremate or freeze-dry body parts that are not assimilated by Originium shards. The remaining parts with Originium shards will be voluntarily activated by the machine to freeze them into inactive shards. Finally, both the body parts and their Originium shards will be grounded and buried beneath the soil.[11]
Many nomadic cities practice similar methods, and in some cases, there is a practice called the Tombway in which people toss the deceased's ashes into the air as the mobile plates moves on.[13]
Infection monitor
- Main article: Infection monitor
As part of Rhodes Island's requirement, the Infection monitor is installed onto every operator regardless of infection status. It acts as a device to trace the user's medical condition and as a limiter to stop excessive use of Arts.
Social effects
- Main article: Infected
The Infected are ostracized and persecuted by much of Terran society because they pose a health risk to the non-Infected. The risk itself has been highly exaggerated in many areas thanks to misinformation spread about Oripathy, which is usually politically motivated. This is especially prominent in countries such as Ursus, where the Infected are subject to forced labor in gulag-like Originium mines which only worsens their Oripathy, and in Leithanien where Infected whose Oripathy reaches a certain limit are euthanized.
Discrimination against the Infected can even lead to racism. Being the oldest race that contracted Oripathy and one that has the highest vulnerability, the Sarkaz has long been discriminated by the Ancients and Elders throughout history because the latter two strongly perceive Oripathy as the "original sin" of the Sarkaz that turned into an active curse, resulting in social exploitation, marginalization, and sometimes even racial feud against them despite the intellectuals' effort to dismiss this deeply rooted misconception.[2]
As a result, a seemingly endless cycle of hatred between the Infected and the non-Infected has dominated Terra for centuries and continues to this day. Many have attempted to break the cycle through both peaceful and violent means. The most recent dichotomy of peaceful and violent activism has been between Rhodes Island, who seek a more rational, moderate approach to mitigating the Infected's suffering, and Reunion, who have adopted a more radical method: delivering retribution for the Infected's plight on the non-infected in Terran society instead.
Trivia
- Oripathy is similar to several diseases/medical conditions in various fictional media:
- The Apocalypse Virus in Guilty Crown. Unlike Oripathy which entirely involves Originium, however, Apocalypse Virus involves the namesake, a viral pathogen that crystallizes the infected's body.
- The Branches of Sin in Deadman Wonderland. Like Oripathy, it involves a crystalline substance and bestows the infected with special powers, but are not contagious.
- The Tiberium poisoning from Command and Conquer: Tiberium Series bears a much closer relation to Oripathy.
- Just like those with Oripathy, those exposed to Tiberium will develop crystalline substance on their bodies and, just like the Infected, are ostracized by the general population unexposed to the substance. The major difference between the two is that - while the Tiberium mutants benefit from being exposed to Tiberium crystals as it will heal their wounds, an Infected being exposed to Originium will only accelerate their infection rate (making it hazardous for them).
- Further supporting the connection, during Incursion's original conception before it was cancelled, the Mutants (called "Forgotten") possess the ability to manipulate Tiberium and use it for combat. Much like how those infected with Oripathy enabling them to tap into their crystalline bodies to further strengthen their Originium Arts without the need to rely on an Arts Unit.
References
|