THE VIRUS: is a strain of constantly mutating nanotoxin with a preprogrammed strategy of multistage attack. The need to reconfigure individual nanobots, adapt to the individual morph/mind of the victim, and maintain a low-key presence to avoid detection means that the virus has a high latency period lasting anywhere from 3-5 months.

Structurally, the virus resembles a microscopic fractal (a machine with the ability to branch off, link together, form flexible joints, and disassemble just about anything on a molecular level). It has the ability to reassemble itself on the quark level to suit specific tasks. However, limited energy production means that these reconstructions take time and must be followed by period of recharging (through ambient heat collection) before an individual bot can begin acting upon its environment again.

STAGE ZERO: CONTAINMENT
Due to its ability to reconfigure on the molecular level and maximize its effectiveness, there are few options for transporting the virus in an inert state. The nanobot fractals would make short work of even a diamond container. It can only be transported frozen near zero-degrees Kelvin or within a complex containment field. The enormous energy cost of each method are the surest sign of a virus container, but one would first have to know what they were looking for.

STAGE ONE: SCOUT
Upon release, the virus starts as a self-replicating scout swarm. It will map out any habitat in which it is released whilst giving out false mesh ID’s identifying itself as standard cleaner swarm. Priority mapping is given to areas of high traffic and any access jacks available. This stage only takes a few hours.

STAGE TWO: HIVE CONSENSUS
After the scout has been completed, the virus will swarm a centralized location. In order to maintain maximum stealth, the virus limits self-communication to this very confined range. Each bot will link into a computational matrix whose sole purpose is to develop a strategy for total infiltration. When a plan of attack is finished (usually within seconds due to quantum computation speed), the swarm will use its isolated location to self-replicate according to projected needs. The few moments this process takes is, in fact, the final opportunity transhumans will have to totally prevent infection. An EMP charge, guardian swarm, or plasma burst grenade could wipe out the infection completely during this stage.

STAGE THREE: DELIVERY
According to the population surveyed, the virus will split into multiple swarms with delegated tasks. Reconfigured sabateour swarms will infect habitat systems to disable Infosec detection, then self destruct. This allows large swarms to hide in any hard access jacks used on the facility: ectos, backup stations, secure servers, etc. Other swarms will reconfigure as Proteans and begin manufacture of a chemical DMSO, a carrier substance designed for dermal delivery. This slippery, clear substance found on handrails, shower floors, and beds is one of the few noticeable signs of virus incursion. The energy required for this process means that it can take weeks.

Whether attacking synths through jacks or bios through DMSO, the virus will opt for quantity over distribution. The bots will assemble into a number of grouped cells so as to have sufficient numbers for immediate action upon infection of a morph. This circumvents the need for large, attention-grabbing replication processes in the body itself. It also means that not everyone jacking into a certain port or touching a certain wet spot will be infected; the virus spreads itself thin. In the long run, this means tracing the delivery path of the virus is very problematic, even if transhumans are aware of intrusion.

STAGE FOUR: STACK ATTACK
Upon entering a morph, the virus will morph into a swarm of Nutcracker nanotoxins and another Protean swarm. Due to the shifting nature and novelty of of the virus, medichines as yet have no templates for recognizing or fighting the infection. The nutcracker swarm will immediately begin degrading the diamond lattice of the cortical stack’s case (a cortical stack is a memory implanted cell used for ego back up in real time. Located where the spine meets the skull), but rather than full degrading the device, the following Protean swarm will redesign and reconstruct the tech in the wake of the nutcrackers. The new stack’s exterior will have a two-way interface with sensors built to detect upload. Once finished, the Protean will go dormant and reconfigure (see stage seven).

The nutcrackers will continue up the stem to the stack itself, using quantum computing capabilities to map the ego contained within. The alien nature of the virus allows it to selectively abrade certain links within the diamond lattice framework. The nutcracker swarm will attack only those areas of the mind used strictly for processing sensory information: visual and auditory encoding, kinestetic awareness, olfactory recall, etc. While the one-way design of the stem prevents alert to the morph, the wireless coordination required of the Nutcracker swarm might cause minor interference within the morph's mesh AR. Users might complain of sunspot interference or get their software checked, but nothing will be found. This process takes days.

At the end of Stage Four, the infected has essentially been unknowingly alpha forked (ego copied). The backup link is still active, still feeding information to the stack, but the consciousness within the stack has been “blinded” to this input, so to speak. The two way stem, while keeping the ego in the flesh or cyberbrain unaware of any change, provides distance that was never intended for the ego of a cortical stack. In short, all ability to receive or transmit information of any kind has been psychosurgically removed from the stack, yet its consciousness is still powered on. The fork within the stack is essentially trapped in a sensory-deprived hell where they can’t even hear their own screams.

STAGE FIVE: DORMANCY
Truly the most nefarious display of the viruse's sick intelligence, all swarms will cease any activity except reconfiguration after the stack has been psychosurgically altered. This stage can go on indefinitely, the infected completely unaware that somewhere inside their head a version of their consciousness is silently going mad in an endless, incomprehensible vacuum. This stage lasts until the transhuman, according to his or her regular routine, schedules a backup upload.

STAGE SIX: BACKUP OVERWRITE
Unless the victim is lucky enough to be very rich and very, very paranoid, an infected transhuman’s scheduled backup is a date with death. Typical backup insurance requires an overwrite of previous files in order to maintain corporate server space. Files overwritten with a mind amputated by the viruse's stealth psychosurgery will forever be without the ability to process, perceive, or develop new sensory stimuli. Any attempt to resleeve (change bodies) them will result in a total catatonic state. If the true reason for this is discovered, any psychosurgery engaged to re-implement input/output processing will completely alter the person’s personality; how we see and speak to the world makes up a large part of a person’s identity. Furthermore, “turning the sound back on” will likely only result in the deafening shrieks of a crazed mind bursting into reality for the first time in what feels like years. All that will be achieved is the embodiment of a person driven mad in a never-ending night.
Sensors in the redesigned stem will know once backup overwrite has been achieved. They will then cease dormancy and enter stage 7.

STAGE SEVEN: EGO CLEANSING
The victim still exists in the flesh/cyberbrain of whatever morph was initially infected even after backup. But after upload, the virus recognizes that total, permanent death is now likely an option and goes about seeking that end. The Protean swarm in charge of redesigning the stack’s exterior in stage four typically has plenty of time to reconfigure and prepare for this moment.

In biomorphs, the virus assumes the form of a vicious Disruptor nanotoxin and begins abrading the myelin sheath on all sensory nerves in the brain. This action is clearly and openly hostile, so Medichines can have a substantial affect on the speed of this process. However, the fractal nature of the viruse's nanobots and the months of undetected study from within the host’s system make sure that defensive measures are no match. At best, a well-defended biomorph will be rendered totally catatonic within a week and left to starve to death on the floor.

Synthmorphs face even faster destruction. The susceptibility of cyberbrains means that the virus can transform into a deadly combination of Sabatour bots armed with Scorcher algorithms. The virus can completely burn out a cyberbrain in a number of hours after the upload trigger, and the nuclear power source mean the victims get to exist in their own personal hells for decades rather than days.
This stage is quite painful, confusing, and debilitating to those undergoing infection. Frankly, it is a horrifying thing to behold, which in turn leaves witnesses understandably scared for their own safety. Once undergoing a deep scan (which will show nothing), any “uninfected” members of a habitat entering stage 7 will likely perform an emergency back-up, thus speeding the process.

STAGE EIGHT: DENABILITY
After the largest possible portion of a habitat is rendered catatonic, The virus will self-destruct. Stack swarms will reduce to component parts, as will Saboteurs in synthmorphs. The trace elements actually have the effect of further corrupting whatever processes haven’t yet shut down. Disruption nanotoxins will migrate to the bladder and intestines before breaking down. They have the additional cover of being dispelled via bodily functions. Any non-integrated swarms will stop identifying as cleaner swarms and be consumed by the habitat’s actual cleaner swarms.
Thus, to a scavenger or survivor, the plague will look like everyone merely came to the conclusion that they should lay down and wait to die.