by Kyle West
Xenofungus: Xenofungus is a slimy, sticky fungus that is colored pink, orange, or purple (and sometimes all three), that infests large tracts of land and serves as the chief food source of all xenolife. It forms the basis of the Blights, and without xenofungus, xenolife could not exist. The fungus, while hostile to Earth-life, facilitates the growth, development, and expansion of xenolife. It is nutrient rich, and contains complicated compounds and proteins that are poison to Earth life, but paradise for xenolife. It is tough, resilient, resistant to fire, dry, and cold – and if it isn’t somehow stopped, one day xenofungus will cover the entire world.
Xenolife: Any form of life that is infected with the xenovirus.
Xenovirus: The xenovirus is an agent that attaches itself to DNA, acquires it, and mixes and matches it with the DNA it has already collected. It then mixes and matches genes to create something completely new – that something can be a new plant, animal, bacteria, etc.. There are thousands of strains of the xenovirus, maybe even millions, but most are completely undocumented. While the underlying core of each strain is the same, the strains are specific to each species it infects. Failed strains completely drop out of existence, but the successful ones live on. The xenovirus was first noted in 2046 by Dr. Cornelius Ashton of Bunker One. His collected research on the xenovirus was compiled in the Black Files, which was lost in the fall of Bunker One in 2048.
Also by Kyle West
The Wasteland Chronicles
Apocalypse
Origins
Evolution
Revelation
Watch for more at Kyle West’s site.