Mold

The Mutamycete, also known as bacterium and Mold is a vicariant evolution fungus resultant of the NEXBAS Initiative, a project started in 2000 focused on developing a bioweapon capable of neutralizing combatants in a massive scale with the lesser contact.

History
The Mold's story is directly connected with the NEXBAS Initiative (next-generation experimental battlefield superiority), a program composed of several objectives and concepts, one of them was to neutralize combatants in the highets distance possible, reaching a massive number of targets. The project received the technical assistance from H.C.P to develop this bioweapon and had its activities around 2000.

For reasons unknown, NEXBAS was folded, and all of its composition served as an embryo to the project that would lead to the fulfillment of their objective. This new project that rose from the ashes of NEXBAS actually met its purpose with the discovery of a "vicariant evolution" fungus in a high developed stage known as mutamycete. It was a success in terms of bioweapon, since it could turn enemies into allies, or hostiles into servants, eliminating the costs of P.O.W and even combat, gathering attention from the bioweapon market.

Fabrication and results
To fabricate the mutamycete, its genome should be introduced to a pre-Stage 4 human embryo under cultivation over a period of 38 to 40 weeks. To ensure blending into crowded populations without effort, the appearance of a roughly ten-year-old was selected as the subjects identity.

The individuals that resulted from this experiment were graded according to their usefulness, starting a Series of subjects, from A through D, until the E-Series. The first E-Series, Eveline, showed remarkable abilities, being capable of blending by hiding the mutamycete at will. Another astonishing feature was that Eveline was capable of a profounds imposition over the body and mind of those who were hosts of the mutamycete. The creators of the bioweapons theorized that the mind control was possible much alike the action of autoinducer pherormones used for quorum sensing in pseudomonas bacteria.

In futher analysis of Eveline's abilities, immediately after infection, subjects showed to see images of her, even though she was not present, having their will bent from companionship or assistance requests to self-mutilation or hostile behavior. Infected subjects also stated a schizophrenic state where the person hears Eveline's voice, even though it's inaudible to anyone else. This psychological shock helps to break down the mind's natural barriers and open the way to Eveline's brainwashing abilities.

Infection
The E-Series is capable of developing on the inside the bacterium, the agent responsible for the infection of other individuals and the cause to symptoms stated above. Hereafter, the bacterium is referred as mold, and the subjects were called by the researchers as Molded, in a nod to be made of mold, but also in the meaning of "molded", as in "shaped".

As Eveline was the first and only E-Series subjects before the events of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, the reports take in consideration the effects caused by her actions. The fungal filaments she produces from mycelia are produced in a large scale present significative strength and toughness, creating superorganisms from countless filaments.

Initial infection
The initial infection occurs when the mold ingests nutrients from the subject's body to propagate itself, and slowly takes over cells within the body, causing, as a side effect, remarkable regenerative abilities. Subjects infected are capable of coapting legs and arms within minutes if severed.

Mid-stage infection
Once the mold reaches the brain, a mind connection is made with the E-Series asset, allowing the infected to experience the aforementioned hallucinations, including images of the asset and hearing voices. This can lead to hostile behavior, and eventually the infected become so connected with the E-Series that a process of losing its individuality starts, losing all of its sense of ego.

Complete infection
When the mold takes every cell in the body, the infection is complete, causing severe physical changes, leading to the infected to lose their human form. The mutations differ from case to case, but all resulting in him or her acquiring incredible physical strength. To contain a subject in this state is considered to be extremely difficult.

Treatment
The only known cure to the state of infection by the mold is by a serum produced by a method that uses samples of the E-Series body tissue, producing an unique fungicidal serum, capable of destroying the cells of any subject infected by results of E-Series bioweapon model.

Effects
The pattern effect of the toxin is to calcify every cell that has been infected with the mold. As the infected in initial stages do not have a high number of cells corrupted by the mold, the fungicidal serum is advised to those at this point of contamination, since the calcification will have small impact on the subject's health.

As higher stages include infection in the brain or in every cell of the body, if the serum is injected into an individual afflicted by the mold at this stage, the result is certain death, by the calcification of every cell. For that reason, the fungicidal serum is primary use of the disposal of initially infected subjects, rather than a cure.