Techno-biological Cyberpsychosis Virus. A Sith-engineered virus that infects both sentients and machines, causing catastrophic computer malfunction and violent psychosis in both sentients and droids.

Excerpted from the notes of Dr. Evika al-Amri, preliminary to her report to the Council:

The virus manifests in five separate phases. Phase I, the least harmful, if left untreated, causes flu-like symptoms and delays healing in unrelated injuries. It may also cause nightmares, but this is uncorroborated. After infecting a sentient with cybernetic implants, the virus mutates to Phase II, and begins to infect cyberware, causing difficulty in controlling the implant and changes toward weaponization. Any physical contact with a computer or droid can transmit the virus, which then takes on its Phase III (in a computer) or Phase IV (in a droid) forms. Phase III is a computer virus capable of infecting all but the most hardened systems, where it causes systemwide havoc by shutting down crucial functions or setting instructions to execute at random. Phase III can be transmitted to droids, computers, or cybernetics through physical contact, wherein it mutates to Phase IV. Phase IV causes homicidal psychosis in droids, and can be passed to computers, and cybernetics. If passed to a computer, it functions identically to Phase III while waiting to infect a sentient via cybernetics. In a sentient, Phase IV mutates into Phase V, causing violent psychosis with homicidal ideation, dissociation, and eventual coma.

The virus crosses species barriers in Phase I and Phase V. It is transmitted by contact with the bodily fluids of infected sentients. There is no indication that there is an airborne variant of this virus, but further mutation is possible. It crosses the biological/machine barrier in Phase II, Phase III, and Phase IV, and is transmissable among machines and cybernetics in Phase II and Phase III.

Unsually complex, the viral DNA has nothing that could be described as intron sequences. All pairs encode either conventionally, or for data that mimics computer code. The virus can communicate with cybernetics along the same neural pathways that are used for the patient to control the implant. The mechanism of cybernetic-to-biological transmission of Phase IV to Phase V is unknown. [Note from user ealamri: And it's breaking my head. Has to be the Force.]

The virus has a Force component, specifically Dark Side. This may contribute to the nightmares reported by Phase I patients. Additionally, it causes the virus to resist certain treatments (See Treatment.)

UPDATE: The Coruscant strain is airborne.

Epidemiology

The pathogen was introduced to Corellia by a human female Knight returning from captivity in Sith space (hereinafter referred to as Patient C). Patient C had been involuntarily and without her knowledge implanted with cannisters in her bone marrow, similar in chemical character to the Resurrection Parasite, which, at some unknown signal, released the virus into Patient C's bloodstream, infecting her. In light of this, the team recommends detailed scans of all prisoners of war returning from Sith space. Patient C displayed Phase I symptoms and was hospitalized under the assumption that she had contracted a flu strain. While hospitalized, she drew on the Force to cure herself, clearing her symptoms, and hospital staff assumed she had recovered. However, her viral load remained high, and she became a silent carrier.

From the hospital, Patient C infected Patient E, a human female Knight, Patient I, a human male Knight, and Patient M, a human female Knight with cybernetic implants. Patients E and I experienced no mutations, but acted as vectors for further spread of the virus. Patient M underwent the full course of mutation, infecting the planetary information infrastructure, and manifesting the first recorded Phase V infection. Patient M is comatose and unresponsive to conventional treatment.

UPDATE: A militarized version of the virus was discovered in the laboratories of Nakail Enati on Coruscant. This strain is airborne and seemingly exists only in Phase V, opportunistically jumping both species and sentient/machine barriers. At the time of the strike team's departure, the number of cyberpsychotics in evidence solely in the area of the the Jedi Temple suggests that the virus was released before the Sith faction abandoned Coruscant. Coruscant should be quarantined until a vaccination and reliable mass-dispersal treatment are available.

Patient C, while in quarantine, was able to purge the Dark Side components of the virus from the cannisters in her marrow, rendering the virus no more harmful than the common cold, which she then treated with Cure Disease. Patient C has fully recovered, and is no longer a disease vector.

Treatment

No conventional treatments are known to be effective. In the absence of further information, medical staff should provide supportive care and take sanitary and personal protective precautions to avoid spread of the disease.

Cure Disease in Phase I patients relieves symptoms, but causes the patient to become a silent carrier. This treatment is contraindicated. Cure Disease may be able to control psychosis, or possibly reverse coma in Phase V patients, but has not yet been tested, and until such time as it can be, use of that particular skill should be avoided unless, in the judgement of the attending physician, the only alternative is the death of the patient. The same applies to the use of Force Light, detailed below.

When attacked directly with Force Light, Phase I of the virus responds by causing extreme pain and minor hemorrhaging in the patient. The treatment attempt was discontinued before it was determined whether further harm would be caused. Force Harmony dampens the Dark Side response sufficiently that Force Light is able eradicate the virus. However, this treatment is intensive, requiring the concerted efforts of between three and six Jedi to function optimally. No data is yet available on how a Phase I patient with some Dark Side taint will respond to this treatment. This is the next area of research the team intends to pursue.

UPDATE: Force Light in tainted patients can cause cardiac arrest. Treatment is contraindicated except in the case of vital personnel with a resuscitation team standing by. [Note from user ealamri: Man, that hurt.]

No controlled Force-based treatments have been attempted in patients infected with later phases. However, Patient T, a human male Knight infected with Phase V through use of the Cyber Lock discipline, was given emergency treatment with Force Light, causing seizures and internal hemorrhaging, including cerebral hemorrhaging. Whether these would have been susceptible to conventional treatment is unknown, as Patient T was immediately stabilized with a burst of Force energy by another Knight. [Note from user ealamri: See if I can get someone to pat Quindo on the back for that.]

Do not treat suspected Phase II or Phase V patients with devices containing electronics. This includes but is not limited to: all medical droids, all medical scanners except non-contact handhelds, installation defibrillators (portable defibrillators may be used if immediately quarantined and destroyed), pressure hypodermics (use hypodermic needles), life support equipment, boneset rigs, smart gurneys and operating tables, reactive intubation kits, and smart-valve ventilator systems.

[Note from user ealamri: Hale is immune and the cyberpsychotics ignore him. How is the Resurrection Parasite connected to all this?]

UPDATE: The Resurrection Parasite cures the disease in all stages, in both Force sensitive and non-Force sensitive patients, and provides immunity from reinfection. This treatment is non-scalable, and ethically questionable. However, it suggests a line of research, which Masters Rill and Dur will be pursuing in concert with the Bith teams on Clak'dor VII.

Note: New outbreak on Aysemius.