Tails' Notes on Lycanthropy (LYC-N73)

General Description of the Disease

Despite popular belief in stories and folklore told to children around Mobius, Lycanthropy is NOT a curse nor does it have anything to do with magic or fantasy. It is, in fact, a viral cell that releases mutagenic pathogens into healthy red blood cells. The cell wall is unique, meaning it's built not to prevent any antibodies from killing it, but more so to prevent UV light (sunlight) from entering the inside of the cellular body. Inside the cell, it produces and recreates RNA with traits that can be related to primal wolves and bears.

The RNA itself is weak against UV light rays and the strand will disintegrate when it comes in contact with the beams of light, whether it's directly from the sun or from a man-made lamp. However, the RNA is completely protected within the cell during the day and can only be destroyed when it's transferring into a healthy red blood cell or inside the infected cell.

The cells seem to have adapted to the day-night cycle of Mobius, sticking to veins and cells during the day then injecting the red blood cells as the sun sets. White Blood cells attempt to battle against the infection, but the virus fights back by injecting the RNA into the white blood cell, since the white cells cannot mutate, the RNA kills the cell with the foreign substance. This, of course, makes the body vulnerable to other diseases. Oddly enough, the viral cell combats the infections the exact same way it does with white blood cells. If there's a bacteria cell, it'll attach to the bacteria cell, inject the RNA, and kills it instantly. I'm currently doing more research on ways to extract the RNA to see if we could possibly cure diseases that have plagued Mobius for centuries.

When the RNA enters the healthy cell, it bypasses all other defenses and undergoes the same process as normal RNA, transcription, translation, etc. The new traits are replicated as new strands of DNA, and the body would begin to physically morph and gains those new traits. (To see the details of the traits and the transformation process, turn to page 4) When the sun begins to rise, the beams of light will begin to kill the infected blood cells, the host will be weaker and tired. Often, if not always, the hosts' body will fall into a "hibernation" state. This "hibernation" state is similar to those of a hibernating bear, sleeping for a lengthy amount of time (around 3-6 hours) and preserving nutrients within the body to get back into the normal routine.

Over the course of the day, the cell will reproduce another RNA strand with the same traits. Mutation within these strands is rare to impossible, I have never witnessed a cellular mutation and I'm hoping to never see one. The destruction of the cell itself has yet to be found. It's a viral cell, which means no cure will be possible, however, I have been working on a serum that prevents the virus from infecting the cells, thus, preventing a transformation. Antibodies are not effective against the disease whatsoever. 

Oddly enough, the only accurate thing to the fanatical stories is the silver part. When silver enters the bloodstream of a transformed Lycan, it poisons the infected cells, causing the physical changes to revert back into their normal form. Why can't we just use silver to kill the disease then? Well, because the silver which killed the infected cells has a domino effect. The dead cells begin to rot the bloodstream which damages tissue and other important bodily functions. The body will begin to slowly shut down before dying.

Again, regarding the common belief of werewolves only transforming during the full moon doesn't apply here. Every infected transforms every night, which means they only get around 5-14 hours of actual daytime to get things done. Making research on this difficult to memorize, hence why I'm writing this down.