Project Rainwall

Project Rainwall is the codename for a classified operation by the former United States Army to create human-animal hybrids through a wide variety of experiments. This project eventually led to the unintentional spread of Vanthavirus, which ultimately ushered in the end of the civilized world. The project was to take place over a number of years, and actually began in 1982, and would happen in three stages:

• Phase One - successful creation of human-animal hybrids through a variety of means
• Phase Two - mass production of the hybrids through breeding, cloning, or other processes
• Phase Three - training the hybrids for use in combat

Rainwall and Facility 42

Project Rainwall was conducted from a deep underground military base (DUMB) on Fort Carson, Colorado. This building was simply known as Facility 42. The project was overseen by a physician named Byron Talmage on the scientific side, and Colonel Thaddeus Jessop on the Army side. Rainwall's mission was to create human-animal hybrid soldiers using volunteers.

Talmage masterminded a number of different compartmentalized experiments under the program, such as DNA splicing, using nanotechnology, cloning, pure surgical reconstruction, and combinations of these. Many of the experiments were illegal, and some of the test subjects were experimented on without informed consent. The initial group of volunteers were led to believe they would undergo a series of tests that would give them enhanced abilities, such as speed, strength, and heightened senses. Many of the volunteers were held against their will for a number of years in the underground facility, and suffered monstrous deformities and side effects as a result of the experiments.

While the primary goal was to create human-animal hybrids, Talmage wanted to maintain human intellect in the subjects, which proved to be difficult in some instances. The DNA splicing in particular, when used in mutagen form, was more aggressive than the other methods. Test subjects often began to become more animal than human. Eventually, scientists were able to create a special serum which could stall the progress of the mutagen, but this serum would have to be administered on a recurring basis in order to maintain the human intellect integrity.

Once Talmage was able to perfect his methodology, he moved onto the second phase of the operation, which was finding a way to breed the subjects to mass produce the hybrids. It was during this phase that the breakout took place.

Phase Two

Where Phase One of Project Rainwall was to create animal-human hybrids, Phase Two would focus on handling the second speed bump: mass producing them. Creating a cybrid was expensive and time-consuming, especially during the first portion of the program. Once success was achieved in Phase One, Dr. Talmage and his team began work on the problem, as the US Army expressed a desire to produce the hybrids in a cheaper, faster manner. Many of the test subjects escaped, however, before Phase Two could be completed.

Breakout

Given that the subjects retained their human intellect, a group of them conspired amongst themselves to escape the Facility and exact revenge against their captors. They reasoned that their new traits made them superior to humans in every way. Led by a test subject named Sergeant Hexler, they leveraged the empathy of one of the soldiers working within the project. This man was Captain Nathan Oscar Simon. He had taken pity on them for what was done to them, and he helped them orchestrate their escape from the facility. The initial group of escapees then rallied the support of the other subjects and facilitated their release, where they swiftly went on a murder spree across the installation at Fort Carson, targeting Colonel Jessop and his highest ranking subordinates first. Doctor Talmage managed to flee before they could capture him.

The government tried to contain the uprising, but attempts at retaking the installation were unsuccessful. Nathan Oscar Simon was quickly blamed for the incident, and his likeness was broadcasted across every news outlet in the world. This was merely the beginning, however.

Vanthavirus

Several months prior to the escape of the test subjects, scientists discovered another unintended side effect in the experimental DNA alteration group. They had successfully created a mutagen that could alter DNA in a recipient, which also managed to alter a dormant strain of varicella zoster (chicken pox) in one of the subjects. The virus mutated in a similar way as the host due to the effects of the mutagen, and the subject was placed under quarantine for further observation. This unexpected development prompted further study. They discovered that many of the other subjects' immune systems were able to handle this new strain, however, it was highly contagious in humans, pigs, primates, bats, and birds. Knowledge of this new strain of zoster was thought to be kept hidden from the test subjects, and even many within the project, though some theorize that the escapees knowingly released infected subjects so as to spread the deadly virus as retribution.

Government response to this new pandemic was typical, however, they also pinned this on Simon and fabricated a lie that his true motivation for aiding in the hybrid escape was to unleash the virus. Exposure of the rest of the world to the virus led directly to The Collapse.