Kharaa Bacterium
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Structured article for Kharaa Bacterium, including background lore for Architects and Humanity, databank entry, gallery images, and trivia.
The **Kharaa Bacterium** is the name given to a disease that has been central to the combined Subnautica and Natural Selection universe. ## Background ### Architects-The Architects are the first known species to have encountered Kharaa, and did so at least ~1,000 years prior to 2181. Due to a failure of quarantine procedures, Kharaa was spread into the Architect Core Worlds where it ravaged the population, the confirmed death toll standing at 143 billion individuals.+The Architects are the first known species to have encountered Kharaa, doing so at least ~1,000 years prior to 2181. Due to a failure of quarantine procedures, Kharaa spread into the Architect Core Worlds where it ravaged the population, with a confirmed death toll of 143 billion individuals. -In the Architects' attempts to find a cure to the disease, they set up research outposts on planets throughout the galaxy. One such planet was 4546B, where promising research on a species designated the "Sea Emperor" had identified a unique enzyme dubbed Enzyme 42, which was able to temporarily neutralize Kharaa in infected organisms. The Architects captured a Sea Emperor specimen along with its clutch of eggs and housed them in an aquarium; however, the adult Sea Emperor, being of an old age, was only capable of producing a weak form of Enzyme 42. It was thought that a juvenile specimen's enzyme may be able to completely purge Kharaa from the system.+In their attempts to find a cure, the Architects set up research outposts on planets throughout the galaxy. One such planet was 4546B, where promising research on a species designated the "Sea Emperor" identified a unique enzyme dubbed Enzyme 42, which was able to temporarily neutralize Kharaa in infected organisms. The Architects captured a Sea Emperor specimen along with its clutch of eggs and housed them in an aquarium; however, the adult Sea Emperor, being of an old age, was only capable of producing a weak form of Enzyme 42. It was thought that a juvenile specimen's enzyme may be able to completely purge Kharaa from the system. -In order to expedite the hatching of the Sea Emperor Leviathan's eggs, the Architect researcher Al-An acquired a Sea Dragon Leviathan egg with the intention of studying the hatching mechanism. This egg was housed in the Disease Research Facility, resulting in the parent Sea Dragon attacking the facility and succeeding in destroying it, at the cost of its own life. With the Disease Research Facility's destruction, its quarantine systems failed, and Kharaa was released into 4546B's waters, where it spread and seemingly managed to infect all Architects present on the planet, who had their physical bodies destroyed and consciousnesses interred in digital sanctuaries.+To expedite the hatching of the Sea Emperor Leviathan's eggs, the Architect researcher Al-An acquired a Sea Dragon Leviathan egg to study the hatching mechanism. This egg was housed in the Disease Research Facility, resulting in the parent Sea Dragon attacking the facility and destroying it at the cost of its own life. With the facility's destruction, its quarantine systems failed, and Kharaa was released into 4546B's waters, infecting all Architects present on the planet. Their physical bodies were destroyed, and their consciousnesses were interred in digital sanctuaries. -With 4546B infected, planetary lockdown was enacted and the world cut off from the outside for around 1,000 years until the arrival of the Alterran ship, the Aurora in the year 2181.+With 4546B infected, planetary lockdown was enacted, cutting the world off from the outside for around 1,000 years until the arrival of the Alterran ship, the *Aurora*, in the year 2181. ### Humanity-Humanity first encountered Kharaa in the year 2181, when the Aurora survivor Ryley Robinson became infected by Kharaa's pathogenic form on the ocean planet 4546B. After Ryley's release of five Sea Emperor Leviathan juveniles into 4546B's oceans he was cured of the disease and Kharaa was purged from 4546B's waters.+Humanity first encountered Kharaa in the year 2181, when the *Aurora* survivor Ryley Robinson became infected by Kharaa's pathogenic form on the ocean planet 4546B. After Ryley released five Sea Emperor Leviathan juveniles into 4546B's oceans, he was cured of the disease, and Kharaa was purged from the planet's waters. -Later around 2183 an Alterran research expedition to 4546B uncovered a surviving strain of Kharaa in the deceased body of an leviathan that had become frozen solid at an unspecified time within the past 1,000 years. This strain of Kharaa was markedly different from the infectious form of the disease that had been previously identified, instead having evolved into an insular strain with low potential for infection that slowly fed on the frozen leviathan's body. This strain of Kharaa was eliminated by Robin Ayou who, following her sister's wishes did not want the disease to fall into Alterra's hands.+Later, around 2183, an Alterran research expedition to 4546B uncovered a surviving strain of Kharaa in the deceased body of a leviathan that had become frozen solid at an unspecified time within the past 1,000 years. This strain was markedly different from the infectious form previously identified, having evolved into an insular strain with low potential for infection that slowly fed on the frozen leviathan's body. This strain was eliminated by Robin Ayou, who, following her sister's wishes, did not want the disease to fall into Alterra's hands. -Some time after the year 2183, a vastly different form of Kharaa was unearthed in a Mongolian mining facility named Neo-Caligo in the Ariadne Arm, operated by the company Apex Industries. The first recorded outbreak took place in a colony on the moon Freya IV. This form of Kharaa functions entirely differently to the initially encountered strains and spreads by forming advanced biofilms and mutating lifeforms it encounters into aggressive disease-spreading organisms.+Some time after 2183, a vastly different form of Kharaa was unearthed in a Mongolian mining facility named Neo-Caligo in the Ariadne Arm, operated by Apex Industries. The first recorded outbreak took place in a colony on the moon Freya IV. This form functions entirely differently from the initially encountered strains, spreading by forming advanced biofilms and mutating lifeforms it encounters into aggressive disease-spreading organisms. -Up to around the year 2200 humanity fought against Kharaa's spread, the events of which are seen in the Natural Selection series.+Up to around the year 2200, humanity fought against Kharaa's spread, events depicted in the *Natural Selection* series. ## Databank Entry | Field | Details | | :--- | :--- | | **Name** | Kharaa | | **Source** | Found on a platform in the Shallows east of the Digestion Angel Comb | | **Author** | Zygimantis "Mantis" Tarvydas |-| **Entry** | Kharaa. Yes. There were rumors Alterra and the TSF let it spread, so they could take over the Steppes. I don't know about that. But it it hit us so fast. Did it really ride on the outside of our ships? Or do the spores just...fly through space?<br><br>We called it kharaal, the curse. Not all of us spoke Mongolian, but we knew that word. It started with the carpet, toiruulga. Then monsters would grow. If you didn't have nanos, they would grow in you too. We had to leave everything.<br><br>Now this. The virus that fills this ocean, and fills our blood. We thought it was kharaa at first, but it's not a bacterium. How can a virus cross between alien species? Nahema tries to explain it to me. I cannot understand how such a gifted young woman carries such anger. Or why she seeks me out. |+| **Entry** | Kharaa. Yes. There were rumors Alterra and the TSF let it spread, so they could take over the Steppes. I don't know about that. But it hit us so fast. Did it really ride on the outside of our ships? Or do the spores just...fly through space?<br><br>We called it kharaal, the curse. Not all of us spoke Mongolian, but we knew that word. It started with the carpet, toiruulga. Then monsters would grow. If you didn't have nanos, they would grow in you too. We had to leave everything.<br><br>Now this. The virus that fills this ocean, and fills our blood. We thought it was kharaa at first, but it's not a bacterium. How can a virus cross between alien species? Nahema tries to explain it to me. I cannot understand how such a gifted young woman carries such anger. Or why she seeks me out. | ## Gallery ### Subnautica Series -*Kharaa seen on the hands of Ryley Robinson*- - *A Kharaa infected Peeper.*- -+ *The second strain of Kharaa identified on 4546B seen on the body of the frozen leviathan*+ ### Natural Selection Series -*A Kharaa hive seen in Natural Selection 2*- - *The mutant Kharaa lifeform known as a Skulk*- -+ *The mutant Kharaa lifeform known as a Gorge*- -+ *The flying Kharaa mutant known as a Lerk*- -+ *The mutant Kharaa lifeform capable of teleportation, the Fade*++*The largest and most deadly of the known Kharaa mutants, the Onos*+ --*The largest and most deadly of the known Kharaa mutants, the Onos*+## Trivia+ +The Chinese translation of Kharaa Bacterium is "卡拉病毒" (which means Kharaa Virus). Due to the differences between virus and bacterium, this translation is a mistake that has been circulating in the Chinese community.
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