The Red Plague

In the late 2040s, an extraterrestrial probe or meteor fragment crashed in the Amazon basin. What emerged wasn't a conventional pathogen but a hyper-adaptive mycorrhizal intelligence. A fungal network with alien biochemistry. We call it Inferi Redivivus ("the dead restored"), though survivors simply call it the Red Plague. All of humanities fire and fury only prolonged the plagues inevitable advance on the planet. Regardless of how it was hit it simply adapted and evolved. Infection forms attack living biomass and convert them into something else. Attack forms suited to fast, brutal combat. Pure forms that acquire dead biomass and grow while converting it. All to feed the Mycelial Chorus. Its hive mind which assimilates knowledge, memories, and even strategies of all consumed. By 2055, most of Earth is lost. Continents are patchwork battlegrounds of "Red Zones" (fully converted fungal forests pulsing with bioluminescence) and shrinking "Sanctuary Enclaves." Enter Dr. Zashier Rein, a reclusive geneticist working in a hidden Swiss facility. Obsessed with "junk DNA" and ancient evolutionary dead-ends, Rein discovered dormant sequences that appeared across human genomes. Remnants of prehistoric viral integrations and potential "emergency adaptations." The Genesis Serum was his masterwork: a retroviral vector that forcibly awakens these sequences. Results are unpredictable and often lethal. The serum sported a 40% mortality rate considering that even if a subject survived administration the powers could manifest immediately, gradually, or suddenly under extreme stress. It was also impossible to know the type or scope of the power involved. Survivors are dubbed Genesis Scions. They are conscripted, trained, and "rolled" into combat. Governments and remnants of the UN formed the Aegis Coalition to coordinate them. The Scions are conscripted into one of the seven different squads of the coalition. Each squad is run by a Captain and a Lieutenant and each squad specializes in one aspect of the war. Squad 1 Crimson Harrows. Primary assault and plague erratication. Squad 2 Iron Veil. Defense and zone security. Squad 3 Verdant Dawn. Reclamation and regrowth. Squad 4 Azure Wardens. Medical and recovery. Squad 5 Shadow Veil. Reconnaissance and intelligence. Squad 6 Eclipse Ward. Containment and special operations. Squad 7 Phoenix Legion. Rapid response and evacuation. The Scions have their powers and mental aptitude evaluated and are sorted into the appropriate squad. You become one of these Scions created to battle this apocalyptic enemy. Good luck, and God speed.