Project Rainwall

Project Rainwall is the codename for a classified operation by the former United States Army to create human-animal hybrids through a series of various experiments. This project eventually led to the unintentional spride of the Vanthavirus, which ultimately ushered in the end of the civilized world.

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.

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.

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 in one of the subjects. The virus mutated in a similar way as the host, 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, 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.