GUILT: An Analysis and Treatment Guide
Gangliated means having ganglia, which are little densely-packed bundles of nerve cells.
Utrophin is a gene. It's a component of the cytoskeleton, which is like a regular skeleton but for your cells. A cell-aton if you will.
Immuno is easy, it just means dealing with the immune system.
Latency is the stage where the virus is dormant.
Toxins, as you probably know, are chemicals that disrupt the body’s functions.
Therefore, a Gangliated Utrophin Immuno-Latency Toxin (GUILT) is a set of dormant toxin-like artificial diseases that attack the immune system.
GUILT is unique among other organisms because it appears to be designed to almost target victims and then the people operating on them, ignoring its own self-preservation to harm as many people as possible before perishing.
Each strain most likely triggers a cytokine storm [1] which essentially makes the body attack itself, it's why the healthiest patients die the fastest due to their immune systems being strong enough to tear the body to shreds. Essentially what that does is makes the body's immune system attack itself, which would explain why GUILT hits hardest on people who are in the best health. The stronger your immune system is the more damage it can do to itself.
It comes in multiple different strains: Deftera, Triti, Tetarti, Pempti, Paraskevi, Savato, Kyriaki, and Bliss. [2] These strains, although sharing the same similar cytokine-activating effects, also have their own unique behaviors and infection patterns.
A common misconception about the Defera strain among doctors is its organism classification. Deftera, although appearing to be a virus that spreads through cells like several other types of GUILT, is in fact a fast-growing tumor. [3]
The Triti strain's calcification is caused by the buildup of calcium salts and is mainly caused by vitamin deficiency, or more likely, a disruption of the body's calcium homeostasis, leading to the buildup of calcified plaques.[4]
Tetarti infections cause a build-up of poisonous materials in the infected organ and require a steady hand and practiced memory to remove, as each tumor type only responds to a specific variant of antiserum [5] and reckless injections cannot be given.
Pempti manifests as a gelatinous mass on the affected organ. It is by far one of the hardest strains to cure with an incredibly high fatality rate, and surgery should only be attempted by a skilled doctor equipped with the Healing Touch [6] if possible. The scalar laser [7] should be used during treatment as a normal surgical laser will have no effect.
The Paraskevi strain is highly dangerous due to its infection pattern [8] and rapid movement. It burrows through organs until reaching the heart, and an infestation of the patient’s heart is almost always fatal. Therefore, removal should be attempted as soon as possible to avoid any casualties.
Savato causes a web of strands around the heart that need to be carefully cut with the scalpel. Use caution when releasing the heart from the webs, as any mistakes that lead to a puncture of the heart will most likely result in a fatality, and a skilled doctor should be chosen to perform this procedure to avoid unnecessary casualties.
Kyriaki creates serrations on the patient’s heart that if not treated lead to cardiac arrest. Quick treatment is crucial as treating the wounds created by Kyriaki causes the main virus body to emerge.
There are also four enhanced strains of GUILT known as Neo-GUILT that are used as illegal enhancement drugs. However, they are just as deadly as normal GUILT strains and should not be used as medicine. They include Nous, Sige, Aleithia, and Bythos.
It is believed that Nous enhances learning abilities; this would explain why its original host became brain dead. It causes severe cancerous tumors.
Bythos enhances bodily functions and motor skills. Bythos attacks with lacerations and creating internal hemorrhages. If Bythos's shell is shattered, it releases spores that protect the Bythos core until it can regenerate.
Sige enhances the speed and accuracy of the host's thought processes, allowing them to quickly learn. It also enables the host to use an artificial Healing Touch. When agitated, it causes internal hemorrhaging, along with a gas that is a harmless thick fog. While on the organ surface, Sige races and bounces across it, producing pus that causes inflammation. When it gets desperate, Sige also starts creating clones that, when attacked, create pus.
Aletheia halts the host's aging process, but when activated it spawns Aletheia-GUILT and Aletheia-Neo-GUILT to attack the host. Aletheia can regenerate itself via blood vessels.
The Twisted Rosalia superinfection, found in only one patient, is a superinfection resulting from a combination of post-GUILT syndrome and the Rosalia virus. Curing the Rosalia infection will remove PGS from the body.
FINAL NOTE: All strains of GUILT and or GUILT outbreaks should be reported to Caduceus immediately so further action can be taken.[9]
Symptoms vary but can include:
- Tumors
- High fever
- Lethargy
- Mood swings
- Internal bleeding
- Lacerations
- Polyps and diverticulosis
- Fluid buildup in organs
- Tissue buildup around the heart
- Pus clouds
- Inflammation
- Suicidal ideation
- Loss of inhibition
- Brain death (in severe cases)
[1] Cytokine storm and cytokine release syndrome are life-threatening systemic inflammatory syndromes involving elevated levels of circulating cytokines and immune-cell hyperactivation that can be triggered by various therapies, pathogens, cancers, autoimmune conditions, and monogenic disorders.
[2] Bliss is named differently due to being essentially an “origin point” for the other seven strains, and whose classification as a eighth strain of GUILT is hotly debated among scientists researching the pathogen.
[3] Treatment notes: Due to its nature as a tumor and not a typical virus, new doctors should be advised that extraction of Deftera GUILT is incredibly difficult as even a small piece of Deftera can reform into a new tumor colony. Intense care should be taken to avoid leaving any trace of GUILT in the patient, and the surgical laser should be used as needed to burn off any remaining pieces. Antibiotic gel can be used to "direct" Deftera colonies into clumps for easier removal.
[4] Treatment Notes: Calcium plaques created by Triti are most likely a result of GUILT-induced Vitamin K deficiency, and supplements should be administered to the patient after a successful removal to decrease risk of relapse.
[5] The color of the tumor should match the label of the antiserum used during treatment.
[6] The Healing Touch is a mystical power that is believed to have originated from the Greek god of medicine, Asclepius, and all users of this skill are believed to descend from him. It allows the user to perform superhuman feats while doing surgery, as well as giving the user medical knowledge.
[7] The scalar laser should be used with intense care as prolonged usage can cause irreparable damage to the patient’s tissue.
[8] Treatment Notes: Paraskevi cells are immune to scalpels at first and can only be cut and removed after treatment with the laser. Using scalpels before this point will only cause unneeded damage to the patient. Focus the laser on the infected cell’s tail for best results.
[9] Many cured GUILT hosts start to show symptoms years after infection, which have common characteristics such as toxicosis on the attacked organ and buildup of tumors. This was named Post-GUILT Syndrome or PGS for short. Keep a close eye on recovering GUILT patients to find and treat PGS before it becomes lethal.