Page 268 (1/1)

Are these the "virals" that our forebears warned us of? And if they are, how did these draes come about? To this there appears to be an answer

Next slide?

On the left we see the EU-1 strain of the GC virus, taken from the body of the so-called "frozen man," a polar researcher who succuo This virus, we believe, was the prianism of such robustness and lethality that it was able to kill its human host within hours and virtually wiped out the world’s population in fewer than eighteen ht, which was extracted froeles basin We now believe this to be a precursor to the EU-1 strain Whereas the virus on the left contains a considerable quantity of genetic material from an avian source--more specifically, Corvus corax, known as the coht does not In its stead we find genetic h our teaenetic author, it bears soe-eared horsehoe bat We are calling this virus NA-1, or North America–1

In other words, the Great Catastrophe was caused not by a single virus but by two: one in North America and a second, descendant strain that subsequently appeared elsewhere in the world Froy of the epide the huh in all likelihood a species of bat; at so avian DNA; this new, second strain, far ressive and lethal, subsequently made its way from North America to the rest of the world Why the EU-1 strain failed to bring about the physical changes caused by NA-1 we can only speculate Perhaps in soe, the consensus of opinion is that it simply killed its victims too quickly

What does this mean for us? Put succinctly, the "virals" of "The Book of Twelves" are not fiction They are not, as some have claimed, a mere literary device, a metaphor for the predatory rapaciousness of North American culture in the BV period They existed They were real "The Book of Twelves" describes these beings as a hty deity’s displeasure with h in the privacy of his or her own conscience So, too, is the story of the man known as Zero and the twelve criinal vectors of infection Speaking for myself, the jury is still out But in the meantime, we knoho and what the virals were: ordinary men and women, infected with a disease

But what of humanity? What of the story of Amy and her followers? I turn now to the matter of survivors

Next slide?

As everyone here certainly knows, it has been an exciting year in the field--very exciting, indeed Excavations of several newly discovered hu froun to bear fruit Much of this work is still in its infancy Yet I think it’s no overstatement to say that e’ve uncovered in the last twelveof the period

Our understanding of the early Quarantine Period has long presupposed that no human inhabitants remained in North America between the Equatorial Isth the year zero The disruption to the continent’s biological and social infrastructures was believed to have been so co huanized culture

We no--and once again, the last year has been extraordinary--that this view of the Quarantine Period is incomplete Indeed, there were survivors Just how s of the last year,think it possible, indeed very likely, that they nu in a nuhout the Interuration of these settle just a few hundred inhabitants to a city-sized coive evidence of huht to have been depopulated These conificantly a culture that was both classically survivalist and, paradoxically, deeply attentive to the social practice of being human Within these protected enclaves, the enerations of their descendants, went about their lives, as overned in trade They built schools and places of worship They kept records of their experience--I a, of course, about the docuhout the settled territories, as "The Book of Sara" and "The Book of Auntie"--and, perhaps, even sought contact with others like themselves, beyond the walls of these isolated islands of humanity