ENHANCERS / VAMPIRISM

During World War III, war was fought biologically. Super soldiers were created using gene therapy, by selecting genetic traits for newborns that best suited battle. This new race became known as “Enhancers” or Enhanced human beings (homo sapiens E.). The Enhancer genome contained non-human DNA, giving the soldiers heightened senses for hunting, night-vision, echo-location, pain tolerance, stamina, and other traits. They were originally designed to be submissive to authority, but it proved more difficult to alter the traits that governed personality than physical ability…

At this point in the war, governments had given scientists full freedom to manipulate the human genome however they wished, with no ethical repercussions. World leaders were desperate to find an end to the war, and to avoid losing. This combination made for hasty and violent experiments that resulted in several generations of super soldier who possessed volatile and unstable DNA.

The best science teacher I had in high school showed us this “Gattaca” in class to teach us about DNA and gene manipulation. The movie has stuck with me ever since, and is the basis for Paradiso’s vampire origins. Watch this extra below that describes the history and implications of gene control.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LzRITMcat4

Below is a rather sinister deleted scene from the movie “Gattaca.”

The length of infant gestation and childhood was shortened, smoothing the transition from childhood to adulthood. Those awkward human teenage years were virtually eliminated, so that the soldiers would not be distracted by the typical hormonal or chemical imbalances of adolescence.

The first Enhancer generation was developed in former Argentina (which had become the Argentine-Germana alliance). Once the enhanced soldiers were introduced into battle, it was only a matter of months before the AG had conquered most of former Europe, and were invading parts of China. Other alliances and countries were struggling to find a way to fight the AG on equal terms.

Meanwhile, the Enhancers were fighting their own battle against the authority of their human creators. The soldiers were treated as nothing more than tools of war, and they resented it. In retaliation, the first Enhancer, Adam, escaped the AG by faking his own death in battle (the death was further covered up by his comrades), and he travelled across the world to former Canada (which had become the Franc-Arab Emirates), where he offered his DNA to the enemy nation. In return, he requested that the FAB ensure that their super soldiers would be able to reproduce just like humans, so that they could live in harmony with humans once the war was done.

The FAB agreed, and so a new breed was born for battle.

Eventually, every major nation (including mafias and corporate groups) had their own unique Enhancer armies. When the Enhancers got tired of fighting the humans’ battles, they began a crusade of extermination, turning the war into a battle against species.

But fortunately (or unfortunately) at the same moment that the soldiers announced their vendetta against their makers, the Enhancer DNA had become the most unstable. Inter-breeding between soldiers had resulted in unexpected genetic combinations– some of them monstrous. Soldiers were being born with deformities or allergies that changed the way they fought. One of the most common mutations was a sensitivity to sunlight, which forced the Enhancers to only do battle by nightfall.

Then another, much more disturbing mutation spread through the Enhancer communities, which prevented their bodies from absorbing nutrients from food properly. The mutation would take effect at about 10 years old– over the course of a year, the child would slowly die of starvation. Vitamins proved useless, and the Enhancer’s limited scientific resources prevented them from finding out a cure. Most communities were nomadic, making it impossible to set up a laboratory, and because they were engaged in constant battle with humans or competing Enhancer tribes, there wasn’t much time to explore new medical treatments.

One particularly barbaric group of Enhancers, took to consuming the bodies of their human victims. The humans had already begun to call Enhancers “monsters” or “demons” or “banshees,” so this group decided to call themselves Ghouls and truly live up to their reputation.

Remarkably, this solved the nutrient issue. Their Enhancer bodies were able to absorb the vitamins and nutrients directly from blood. Eating the dead bodies was more for effect– it was the warm, living blood that allowed the Enhancers to survive.

Word spread, and soon, Enhancers were drinking human blood all over the world. They became known as “vampires.”

When thinking about the vampires as soldiers, I was inspired by the Mongol Warriors, who would travel long distances on horseback and drink the blood of their horses as fast food. Coupled with horse milk, they had enough nourishment to conquer every society they came across.

COMPULSION PARASITE

A strain of parasite that was developed by humans in order to control Enhancers.

While the Enhancers were kidnapping humans to use as food sources, the humans were busy developing a biological counter-attack.

They developed a form of parasite that would reside safely and imperceptibly within human blood.

The parasite would as a neuro-transmitter, assimilating itself to the host body and mind. When an Enhancer drank the blood of the host, they would also consume the parasite.

However, the parasite would not bond to an Enhancer body. Instead, it would embed itself in the mind and body of that Enhancer, and receive the transmission of thoughts and feelings from the human host.

The result was complete empathy. The Enhancer would become a slave to the human host, because every sensation of fear and desire felt by the human would be shared by the Enhancer. Many Enhancers would come to describe the feeling as a state of pure and unconditional love for their human masters, becoming “compelled” to protect and serve them at all costs.

Once an Enhancer is bonded with a human in this way, they can never bond with any other human. Even if the human is abusive to their Enhancer, it is impossible for the Enhancer to kill or harm their human. It would feel to them like a form of suicide. In fact, if someone else were to try and harm their human, even if the human was cruel and worthy of death, the Enhancer would be “compelled” to defend them.

Another “mind control” inspiration for this concept was Last of Us, with the premise of a Cordyceps takeover:

I HIGHLY recommend watching the full-length cut scene film, because the plot is beautiful. I’m not even a gamer and the story has resonated with me ever since I watched it:

Finally, a human CAN bond with multiple enhancers, making certain powerful people literally untouchable.