Work Text:
X was having a wonderful day on the hermitcraft server; he had finished the redstone for the TCG arena he had been working on, and the build around it was mostly done, just needing a little polishing and final details. Then his comm went off. Several times. Rapidly.
JoeHills was slain by ZombieCleo
<JoeHills> hekp
JoeHills was slain by ZombieCleo
<CubFan135> jeez what did you do?
ZombieCleo burned to death
<ImpulseSV> ???
<JoeHills> somethings wrong get X
<JoeHills> SHE CAN BREAK DOWN DOORS
JoeHills was slain by ZombieCleo
<CubFan135> Did Cleo go full undead?
RentheDog was blown up by Docm77
Docm77 was blown up by Docm77
<GeminiTay> oh gosh Doc too?
Hypnotizd was slain by iJevin
<Xisuma> @all Everyone sound off
Various Hermits replied, usually some version of “here”, until the only ones who hadn’t sent a message were Doc, Cleo, Jevin, and… Zedaph. Xisuma gave Impulse permission to check on the Ram hybrid so long as he agreed to quarantine with him, whether he was affected or not.
Joe managed to box Cleo in next to her bed, and was keeping her entertained with the occasional raw pork or mutton - "enrichment" he said. Ren was also able to trap Doc next to his bed in a small hole. Since Hypno didn’t know for sure where Jevin’s bed was, and they didn’t want to risk dropping him all the way in the middle of spawn, he just baited him into a fenced area. Apparently, he was unable to pathfind around them, just like a full slime.
Unable to question the affected, X asked around and was lucky enough to pin down where the virus had likely come from. Apparently, about three days ago, Doc returned from one of his trips to SciCraft and bumped into Beef, Cleo, Joe, Cub, and Jevin, who were meeting to talk TCG game master things. He chatted with them for a bit before leaving, complaining of exhaustion. No one had seen Doc since - not uncommon for the man, especially after returning from talking shop with other redstoners.
A quick message to SciCraft confirmed, Doc had accidentally brought the virus from offworld. It seemed that the other server actually had it much worse, considering their head admin was also infected.
Reportedly, Cleo had met with Gem the day after her likely infection and the fox hybrid was unaffected thus far. As long as that continued to be the case, it meant that there was at least a day incubation period before infected hybrids were able to spread the virus.
It was unclear at this time if human players could also spread the virus; considering the symptoms, X found it unlikely. Joe was slowly picking apart what code he could from his place bunkered in with Cleo, but with just his handheld comm it was slow going. The only thing that they could tell at this time was that it spread using the breathing mechanic, rather than proximity or touch. Which, on one hand, was difficult to stop the spread of, as it was unclear how long the virus could linger in air blocks, but on the other hand, X was uniquely equipped to deal with.
Until he could fully unravel its code though, the admin advised caution. Players were advised to stay in their bases and avoid public spaces as much as possible. A few Hermits decided to bunker down together, such as Gem and Pearl (mostly to keep an eye on if Gem showed symptoms) as well as Ren and Keralis (who, knowing Ren had been infected by Doc, was planning to look after him while he went full Dog Mode™), but for the most part, everything became very quiet for the next few days. Until…
<Ethoslab> x i think
<StressMonster101> Etho?
<Ethoslab> i think im infected
<Xisuma> Etho are you safe?
<Ethoslab> for now
<Ethoslab> im just
<Ethoslab> anxious
<Xisuma> Okay Etho,
<Xisuma> who all have you met with in the last 7 days
<Ethoslab> just beef
<Xisuma> Void,
<Xisuma> @all FULL QUARANTINE EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY
<Xisuma> Everyone whisper me for sound off
<Xisuma> At this time, it seems that infected players are only contagious around 2 days after they have been infected
<Xisuma> but it may take as many as 5 days for infected hybrid players to start showing symptoms
<Xisuma> We now know that human players can spread the infection as well, so to avoid further spread, I’m instituting a full quarantine
<Xisuma> I still have not received a message from Grian,
<Xisuma> If there are any human players that would not mind checking up on and quarantining with him, I would greatly appreciate it
<MumboJumbo> I’m closest, I can bunk with him for the time being
<MumboJumbo> So Grian has gone full bird
<MumboJumbo> and it appears that includes clothing theft
<MumboJumbo> I see things here from Pearl, Scar, Impulse, Iskall, BDubs, Etho, Ren, and Doc
<MumboJumbo> Since we don’t know how long the virus can linger, it’s possible that Grian has infected anyone on that list
<BDoubleO100> >:(
<ImpulseSV> well I’ve been staying at Zed’s, so I’m infected either way
<PearlescentMoon> ): sorry Gem, looks like you might not get out of this unscathed after all
<PearlescentMoon> I’ll quarantine myself at my base, in case I am infected but not contagious yet
<MumboJumbo> In other news, it seems Grian’s Otherness has also been enhanced
<MumboJumbo> He was able to TP me to himself
<MumboJumbo> I had to distract him with a record so I could go grab some more golden carrots
<MumboJumbo> So maybe don’t invoke his Name unless you don’t mind being nested for a while
<MumboJumbo> SCAR
<GoodTimeWithScar> what, you said that I’d been infected anyways
<MumboJumbo> I SAID POSSIBLY
<MumboJumbo> oh this is going to end poorly
<MumboJumbo> And I’ll be the one stuck with the brain cell
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Xisuma could not figure out this virus. He had investigated every area of code that he could reasonably assume would be affected, and while he found traces, he could not find its loci. He was just about to resign himself to combing through Jevin's code line by line when he got a DM.
<ImpulseSV> X? I have a… development, that I think might help
<Xisuma> Is everyone alright?
<ImpulseSV> Yes, Zedaph and I are fine, I just…
<ImpulseSV> I think human players are not as unaffected as we thought they were
<ImpulseSV> I was getting a little restless, as was Zed, so I brought him to a small field just outside his base so he could graze a little
<ImpulseSV> threw up a quick fence
<ImpulseSV> and then I just… kept going
<ImpulseSV> a small shade building, some bushes,
<ImpulseSV> it was like I could not stop building
<Xisuma> Thank you Impulse, this might be just what I needed
Sure enough, when X looked at the section of code that denoted the slime as a Player, with the ability to place blocks, the main body of the virus was there. He highlighted the foreign code with extreme caution - it was a much nastier virus than he expected, being so close to such vital code - and wrote a quick program to delete it whenever it showed up. Then, with a quick (careful) prayer, he implemented it.
Instantly, Jevin stopped trying to jump over the fence between them, crouching to lean against it instead, groaning.
"Give me just a second, I still need to remove some loose code the virus left behind."
"No problem, dude, I'll be here for a while yet."
He finished scrubbing the last lines of code left behind, and when Jevin seemed to perk up a little, he sent a few quick messages. One to SciCraft, to give them the code to eliminate the virus, one to the high council, to let them know about the virus and its seriousness, and one to the main Hermit group chat.
<Xisuma> I have been able to isolate the virus' main location, and will be coming around to implement an antivirus program with everyone very soon. For the time being, please remain in your bases until I have seen to you, even if you were not infected. Thank you for your patience.
It would take a couple days to get to everyone, being as methodical as he was being, but he didn't want to take any chances on any of his player's core code. He was hopeful, though, that the only permanent damage that would come out of this would be blackmail material.
At least none of that blackmail would be for him, for once.