WORLDBUILDING
Basic setting and information about the world of VINZUVERSE. Subject to updates as our story is developed.
Background
Details in this section are subject to change as our story is developed!
The Virion Project was founded in the early 25XXs by the government of Atriven City in the hopes of combating and one day finding a cure for viscerosis, given its sudden appearance in the population of Atriven in recent years. The Project consists of five main branches:
- The Investigation Division: The frontline of the Project, actively tracking down sources of the virus; identifying viscerosis cases and deaths; conducting interviews; and relaying ground information to the other members of the Project.
- Active Members: Aaron Vesre, Lucius Zuciane, Nikolai Korobeiniki, Tolys Mareika
- Former Member(s): Clarence Rheuma, Duncan Ferelle, Kay Mironov
- The Forensics Division: The department that first arrives at the location of a suspected viscerosis death in order to make sketches; document the scene; collect the body; and create the initial coroner's report.
- Active Members: Chanto Valerin, Dioe, Elizaveta Lisouskaya, Matvei Alexeyev, Musika Murete
- Former Member(s): Tolys Mareika
- The Research Division: Conducts research about the structure and pathology of viscerosis using the data generated by the Investigators and Forensics Division; the most technical branch, attempting to develop the actual cure.
- Active Members: Anya and Pierre de la Cour, Cameron Carier, Duncan Ferelle, Laverne Carier, Lisza Quorys
- The Containment Division: The branch that disposes of infected EQE and contains violent Vessels, preventing viscerosis from spreading even further within the city; tracks down illegal essence and EQE use to prevent essence poisoning deaths.
- Active Members: Celeuxe Reivine, Jaime Wintye, Set, Yumeno Kisaki
- Former Member(s): Lucius Zuciane, Nikolai Korobeiniki
- The Public Relations Division: Spreads government-approved news about EQE, essence, and viscerosis, promoting the Virion Project and its goals while censoring information that might otherwise cause panic.
- Active Member(s): Carabelle Sorbetes, Irene de Vries
While the Virion Project has been mostly successful in containing and controlling mass fear (and public knowledge) about viscerosis, the Outbreak Incident that occurred several years after its founding nearly caused the entire Investigator Division to be replaced and the Virion Project to be dismantled. The lead investigators, at the time -- Aaron Vesre, Duncan Ferelle, Kay Mironov, and Clarence Rheuma -- along with a significant portion of the Containment Division, then headed by Lucius Zuciane, were sent to deal with a major viscerosis outbreak. The sheer number of infected essence-users that the team was forced to fight against led all four Investigators to contract viscerosis in the heat of battle, even as they were using their essence to their thresholds in order to escape.
In containing this outbreak, a significant portion of the original Containment Division was either infected or killed. While all four of the Investigators survived, Aaron and Kay each lost one of their eyes; Duncan lost an arm and an eye; and Clarence went blind entirely, losing part of their personality in the process. Kay and Clarence have since quit the Project, disappearing into the underworld of Atriven City, while Duncan stepped back into the Research Division.
The Virion Project faced significant criticism for the danger that their members were put under, and would likely have folded under the pressure if not for the efforts of the Public Relations Division in repairing their ties with both the government and the people of Atriven. While the Project has managed to recover, they have since been forced to shroud their activities in far more secrecy than they were in the past; the Investigators replaced nearly all of their members, with Aaron being the only remaining Investigator that continued working in his original division.
Several years later, as the growing number of viscerosis cases pose more and more of a threat to Atriven City and the EQE industry as a whole, the Virion Project is under more pressure than ever to produce a cure before the virus grows out of control. Aaron and his new partners -- Lucius Zuciane and Nikolai Korobeiniki from the Containment Division, as well as Tolys Mareika from the Forensics Division -- continue to fight the disease, but they fear that time may be growing short for them to find a solution. Combined with the growing suspicion of betrayal and deceit from within the project itself, many of the Project's members have been left in a constant state of paranoia. Given that viscerosis continues to loom as the biggest threat on the horizon, however, there's little more that the team can do other than to set aside their fears and continue fighting towards what they've fought for since the beginning.
In the background, the only entity that seems to ironically have benefited from the virus is the Wingspread Funeral Home -- the primary funeral service provider in Atriven City, having existed since the 19XXs when the city was first founded. As morbid as it is, business has been booming due to the number of deaths that viscerosis has caused within the population. Despite a fire that burnt down the main funeral parlor and killed the previous owner in the early 25XXs, the current CEO, Xell Grey, has adeptly taken over the business for himself. Their reputation for clean, timely service and kindness has been kept as pristine as ever -- but at the same time, conspiracy threads still circulate online, their participants wondering why the body of the previous owner was never found in the remnants of the flames.