My theory about the Shanti "apocalypse" virus
notare...@wireless.co.il
with an explanation.
1) Who had been infected with the virus before Niki injected herself?
Answer: Shanti, Molly, the Haitian, and probably Sylar
2) It is pretty obvious that the original Shanti virus supressed the
'godsend' powers and could only infect people with the 'godsend' gene.
It also appears obvious that curing the original virus restored the
power ( at least for Molly and the Haitian ).
3) Sylar appears to have been secretly treated with a modified version
of the virus, which either has no health symptoms (and therefore he
would still be infected with it), or else it has been changed to
"permanently" remove the "godsend" power of its victims. If it was
the latter, then presumably the company "cured" him of the virus using
Mohinder's blood after they infected him.
4) The "apocalypse" virus in the future appears to be quite different
from the original Shanti virus, capable of infecting "normals" and
spreading rapidly despite quarantine protections.
My projection is thus:
The modified virus that was tested on Sylar instead of just
suppressing his power - STOLE his power. Now when the virus enters
the brain of a Hero, it 'takes' their power and passes it on to
further generations of the virus. When it entered Niki, it took her
superstrength, so that now it can fight the antibodies in Mohinder's
blood and not get killed by them.
If it enters Adam or Claire, the virus will become regenerating -
impossible to kill off. If it enters Nathan or West, it will get the
ability to fly - effectively becoming airborne. If it enters Hiro, it
will be able to teleport, or even travel through time. I'm not sure
what happens if it enters Alejandro - he might be the key to stopping
it.
I'm not sure whose power would give the Shanti virus the ability to
infect "normals". Maybe someone we haven't seen yet.
It is possible that the Haitian was infected with the modified version
of the virus, but he automatically blocked its power to "steal
powers", and once he received Mohinder's blood it was able to cure him
immediately.
Well - What do you think?
M. Halbrook
@k79g2000hse.googlegroups.com:
> I'm not sure whose power would give the Shanti virus the ability to
> infect "normals". Maybe someone we haven't seen yet.
Sylar, intuitive understanding. It knows how to adapt.
Davej
> [...]
> My projection is thus:
> The modified virus that was tested on Sylar instead of just
> suppressing his power - STOLE his power. Now when the virus
Let us hope not. I don't want to think about a virus that can develop
a split-personality or poke pins into a map to find people or read
minds or time travel.
Ian Galbraith
[snip]
> My projection is thus:
> The modified virus that was tested on Sylar instead of just
> suppressing his power - STOLE his power. Now when the virus enters
> the brain of a Hero, it 'takes' their power and passes it on to
> further generations of the virus. When it entered Niki, it took her
> superstrength, so that now it can fight the antibodies in Mohinder's
> blood and not get killed by them.
Please no. The Burning Zone had sentient viruses and was ridiculous.
[snip]
--
"The world of art and culture is a vast commons, one that is salted
through with zones of utter commerce yet remains gloriously immune to any
overall commodification." - Jonathan Lethem
notare...@wireless.co.il
> notarealu...@wireless.co.il wrote in news:1194778107.663976.187320
I don't think so - when Mohinder smashed the cabinet full of the
virus, it didn't spread to the normals in the company.
I don't think the virus has any sentience or awareness. It only has a
simple drive - to reproduce. Any power that depends on thinking would
be useless to it. Therefore it might not be able to use Hiro's power,
except by accident, since his power requires intense concentration.
If it is true that the virus has begun stealing powers, than using
Claire to try to cure it would be the worst possible mistake. The
obvious answer would be the Haitian, who would be able to neutralize
all of its powers from nearby and allow it to be cured by Mohinder's
blood again.
notare...@wireless.co.il
> On Sun, 11 Nov 2007 02:48:27 -0800, notarealu...@wireless.co.il wrote:
>
> [snip]
>
> > My projection is thus:
> > The modified virus that was tested on Sylar instead of just
> > suppressing his power - STOLE his power. Now when the virus enters
> > the brain of a Hero, it 'takes' their power and passes it on to
> > further generations of the virus. When it entered Niki, it took her
> > superstrength, so that now it can fight the antibodies in Mohinder's
> > blood and not get killed by them.
>
> Please no. The Burning Zone had sentient viruses and was ridiculous.
I'm not suggesting any conscious behavior on the part of the virus.
Just that it incorporated the 'godsend' power gene into its own
genetic makeup, and is now picking up new powers passively from any
hero it infects. Powers that require thought are useless to it, only
'reflexive' powers that correspond to its normal behavior are used.
ebrian
It's a nice theory but way too complicated for the general public to
be able to accept.
Zombie Elvis
>On Nov 11, 5:48 am, notarealu...@wireless.co.il wrote:
>> Let's look at what we know, and what we think we know, and come up
>> with an explanation.
>>
>> 1) Who had been infected with the virus before Niki injected herself?
>> Answer: Shanti, Molly, the Haitian, and probably Sylar
Logical but keep in mind that the Company has other ways of
suppressing Sylar's powers besides the virus.
>>
>> 2) It is pretty obvious that the original Shanti virus supressed the
>> 'godsend' powers and could only infect people with the 'godsend' gene.
>> It also appears obvious that curing the original virus restored the
>> power ( at least for Molly and the Haitian ).
Not so obvious. It could have simply made them too sick to be able to
use their powers by either making it difficult for them to concentrate
or by attacking the region of the brain which controls their powers.
>>
>> 3) Sylar appears to have been secretly treated with a modified version
>> of the virus, which either has no health symptoms (and therefore he
>> would still be infected with it), or else it has been changed to
>> "permanently" remove the "godsend" power of its victims. If it was
>> the latter, then presumably the company "cured" him of the virus using
>> Mohinder's blood after they infected him.
"Appears" is the key word here. While it makes sense to think that
they might have used the virus on him, it was strongly implied last
season that they were reluctant to kill him when they had him
imprisoned (Linderman's influence perhaps?). So maybe they used it on
him or maybe they didn't. There are a lot of ways to suppress a
mutant's power -- the Haitian, "Haitian pills," the drug (curare?)
that Suresh administered to Sylar when he tried to kill him -- besides
infecting them with the virus.
>>
>> 4) The "apocalypse" virus in the future appears to be quite different
>> from the original Shanti virus, capable of infecting "normals" and
>> spreading rapidly despite quarantine protections.
Viruses mutate. It's what they do. There is no reason to believe that
it could have mutated on its own and begun to attack normals.
>>
>> My projection is thus:
>> The modified virus that was tested on Sylar instead of just
>> suppressing his power - STOLE his power. Now when the virus enters
>> the brain of a Hero, it 'takes' their power and passes it on to
>> further generations of the virus. When it entered Niki, it took her
>> superstrength, so that now it can fight the antibodies in Mohinder's
>> blood and not get killed by them.
I'm not sure I can see how a virus could "steal" a mutant's power. Or
how superstrength would cause make the virus able to fight off
Mohinder's antibodies. It's not like antibodies physically restrain
the virus the way a Nikki would grab a by the throat. They attach
themselves to the virus so it can't attach itself or enter the host
body's cells and signals the body's white blood cells so they can
consume the virus. Now when the virus mutates in a way that the
antibodies can no longer attach themselves to it, the virus becomes
immune to the antibodies. There's no need for the virus to "steal"
anything.
What the virus can do is inject its own genetic code into the genetic
code of its host so that future hosts are born infected or highly
susceptible to infection. I believe (IANAB so I could be wrong) it
could also incorporate genes from the host into its own genome so that
people infected by future strains of the virus also gain superpowers.
>>
>> If it enters Adam or Claire, the virus will become regenerating -
>> impossible to kill off. If it enters Nathan or West, it will get the
>> ability to fly - effectively becoming airborne.
Viruses AFAIK are effectively airborne because they're small and can
be carried by the wind.
>> If it enters Hiro, it
>> will be able to teleport, or even travel through time. I'm not sure
>> what happens if it enters Alejandro - he might be the key to stopping
>> it.
>>
The mutant's powers are genetically encoded -- we've been told that
over and over. And they appear to be controlled through the mutant's
brain. The virus by itself isn't a complete living organism. Even if
it could "steal" a mutant's power, the virus itself wouldn't be able
to do the things its victims can do. The virus could infect people and
give them superpowers but it shouldn't be able teleport or travel in
time all by itself.
>> I'm not sure whose power would give the Shanti virus the ability to
>> infect "normals". Maybe someone we haven't seen yet.
>>
There is no need for it to steal someone's power to infect normals. It
can simply mutate on its own to be able to infect normals.
>> It is possible that the Haitian was infected with the modified version
>> of the virus, but he automatically blocked its power to "steal
>> powers", and once he received Mohinder's blood it was able to cure him
>> immediately.
>>
>> Well - What do you think?
>
>It's a nice theory but way too complicated for the general public to
>be able to accept.
Needlessly complicated theories are part and parcel of science fiction
but they make it much harder to suspend disbelief. I can accept that a
man can fly or travel in time simply because I don't know any way for
someone to do that -- thus I can't pick it apart. But it's harder for
me to accept a virus which acts in a way that no other virus acts in
order to the same damn thing that every other virus does.
--
"Actually, the Medium Point Bic Round Stick is the preferred
pen for emergency tracheotomies."
-- ER doctor from Wonderfalls
Roberto Castillo
roberto...@ameritech.net
mlauenstein
On Nov 11, 2:48 am, notarealu...@wireless.co.il wrote:
> I'm not sure whose power would give the Shanti virus the ability to
> infect "normals".
>
Mrs. Petrelli. The virus can talk people into thinking they have
it. :)
> Well - What do you think?
Cool idea.
Zombie Elvis
<DELETEMETOREPLY...@ameritech.net> wrote:
>>>
>>> 4) The "apocalypse" virus in the future appears to be quite different
>>> from the original Shanti virus, capable of infecting "normals" and
>>> spreading rapidly despite quarantine protections.
>
>Viruses mutate. It's what they do. There is no reason to believe that
>it could have mutated on its own and begun to attack normals.
>>>
And by "could have" I meant "could not have." Sorry about the typo.
--
I go on-line sometimes, but everyone has really
bad spelling. It's depressing.
-- Tara MacClay
Roberto Castillo
roberto...@ameritech.net