Progenitor Virus

The Progenitor virus (also known as the Mother or Founder virus) is an ancient virus which pre-dates the tyrant virus.

Discovery


The Progenitor virus was a highly potent non-carcinogenic (Cancer-causing) Mutagen that became central in the Ndipaya culture.The Progenitor-flower (also called "Stairway to the Sun") was discovered by Westerners in the 19th century and the virus that was extracted from it, would become the base from which the Umbrella Corporation's most successful bio-organic weapons research would stem several decades later.

Derived from the "Stairway to the Sun", it was rediscovered in the Kijuju region of West Africa on December 4, 1966 by Lord Ozwell E. Spencer, Sir Edward Ashford and Doctor James Marcus, along with his student Brandon Bailey, in an attempt to prove the validity of Henry Travis, a man who mentioned the flower over a century previous.

In March of the following year, Spencer made plans to start up a company and the Umbrella Corporation was founded by the three, with Spencer providing most of the funding, to disguise the research they hoped to carry out. Sir Ashford died because of a Progenitor virus infection in 1968. Despite sir Ashford's death, his colleague Dr. Marcus would continue his research into the Progenitor virus as planned. Dr. Marcus, however, was much more interested in the effects the Progenitor virus would produce when exposed to organic subjects, whilst Spencer had plans for the virus to be utilized towards military applications. Eventually this research would begin to yield results, and would eventually show Marcus and Spencer that cells infected with the virus would undergo a very violent and uncontrolled cellular change through the mutation of the host's genes. This caused increased aggressiveness and rapid growth in non-mammals, while mammals would exhibit various new attributes, including the symptoms displayed in the non-mammal specimens. However, the results weren't suitable for Umbrella's plans, as the subjects would prove to be inefficient and uncoordinated bio-organic weapons.

As Marcus and Spencer became obsessively fixated on the possibilities the Progenitor virus offered, this fixation eventually took a dark turn. The first human subjects to be infected were Lisa Trevor and her mother, Jessica, who were administered the virus on November 10, 1967. Jessica was administered the Type-A strain game but displayed no reaction to the treatment and was killed by Umbrella afterwards. Lisa was administered the Type-B strain and underwent severe mutation, becoming extremely aggressive, suffering dramatic decline in intelligence and horrible disfigurement. Lisa would then become Umbrella's test subject for several decades.

Birth of Tyrant
In January 1978, James Marcus combined the Progenitor virus with leech DNA, creating the tyrant virus. In 1988, Dr. Marcus' two most valued (and, ironically, most trusted) assistants, William Birkin and Albert Wesker, would then assassinate Marcus at the order of his partner and fellow co-founder, Lord Spencer. The two would continue his research from within the secluded Arklay Research Facility. Here, under Spencer's supervision, Dr. Birkin continued to experiment on Lisa with new variants of the Tyrant virus. These experiments led to the creation of the G-virus at a much later point in time, discovered by mixing the Type-B Progenitor virus and the countless viral experiments made on Lisa and the NE-Alpha parasite, injected into her body.

Path to Godhood
In 2006, Lord Spencer in his waning years, met with Albert Wesker to discuss his plans for world domination through Umbrella's rebirth. Having grown arrogant as leader of the now disestablished corporation and his knowledge of B.O.W.s, Spencer felt it was his right, and only his right to become a god among men. In his hubris, Spencer revealed that Wesker was the product of an experimental hybridization between humans and the Progenitor virus. There were multiple "Wesker Children", children of intellectuals, hand picked and programmed with Spencer's values, but only one, Albert Wesker himself, survived and flourished. Upon discovering this, Wesker brutally murdered the decrepit president of Umbrella, and decided to use the power of Progenitor for his own gain by using it in the development of the powerful virus known as "Uroboros"

Strains
There are at least two strains of Progenitor.

Type-A
The Type-A strain was tested on Jessica Trevor on November 10, 1967. The virus failed to fuse with her DNA and she was later killed. It should be noted that she did not simply die from Progenitor, which were the fates of Marcus' human "test-subjects". Furthermore, she managed to live for three days, and with a reasonably good-condition brain. Her mind was not fully intact, however, describing drifting into unconciousness and memory loss in a letter.

Type-B
The Type-B strain was tested on Jessica's daughter, Lisa on the same day. This time, the virus succeeded in fusing with her DNA, albeit with a delayed reaction. Her brain - either due to the virus strain or her young age of 12 - was significantly affected by the virus, killing an imposter after five days and losing her ability to write from the 17th of November. By December 4, all she can write is "I mis yuo".