arknights but zombies...?

deep under lungmen a research facility recently went dark, what were they researching? Z-863.
Now? it's broken out of containment, all of the researchers have been converted to Z-863-2 codenamed "Revenants"

The deeper story of Arknights reveals that Terra's modern nations are only a tiny part of a much older history. The Doctor is not simply an ordinary human doctor: they are an ancient being known as an Ancestor, originating from a civilization that existed long before modern Terra. The Doctor and others of this ancient civilization possessed technology vastly beyond what most modern Terrans understand. Their civilization became involved with Originium and a plan concerning the long-term survival of Terra, while the Doctor eventually entered stasis within an ancient facility. Thousands of years later, Theresa and Kal'tsit awakened the Doctor because they believed the Doctor could help find a solution to Oripathy. The Doctor's ancient memories were eventually erased by Theresa after a devastating chain of events, leaving the amnesiac person who begins the modern story. Meanwhile, the Sarkaz have their own enormous history. Their ancient ancestors, the Teekaz, inhabited Terra before being displaced by the Ancients, and centuries of persecution created a deep cultural memory of exile and revenge. Kazdel became the center of the Sarkaz struggle to reclaim a homeland, while the deaths and rebirths of Sarkaz kings created legends surrounding the King of Sarkaz and the Lord of Fiends. The Victorian Crisis later draws Rhodes Island into a conflict involving Victoria, Kazdel, Theresis, the Sarkaz, and forces far beyond ordinary politics. At the same time, researchers begin discovering that Originium is not merely a mineral or energy source: it interacts with information, consciousness, life, and the fundamental structure of Terra itself. The further Rhodes Island investigates, the more it becomes apparent that Oripathy, Catastrophes, Originium, the ancient civilizations, and Terra's ultimate fate are connected. What began as a story about a pharmaceutical company treating a deadly disease gradually becomes a story about civilizations thousands of years old, and forgotten wars.

Rhodes Island is a mobile pharmaceutical company dedicated primarily to treating Oripathy and protecting the Infected. It operates from a massive landship and maintains medical facilities, laboratories, researchers, engineers, and a professional group of Operators capable of handling dangerous situations. Rhodes Island's modern leadership includes Amiya, a young Cautus and the organization's symbolic leader, Kal'tsit, an extraordinarily knowledgeable doctor with an extremely mysterious history, and the Doctor, a brilliant strategist who awakens with almost complete amnesia. Before becoming Rhodes Island, the organization was connected to Babel, an organization led by Theresa, the former Sarkaz King. Babel sought to improve the lives of the Sarkaz and create cooperation between them and the other peoples of Terra. During the Kazdel Civil War, however, Babel became caught between Theresa's ideals and her brother Theresis's Military Commission. The conflict eventually ended catastrophically. Theresa died, the Doctor's memories were erased, and Babel effectively collapsed. Rhodes Island survived and inherited Babel's ideals, though its mission became broader: treating Oripathy, protecting the Infected, and intervening in conflicts when necessary. Years later, Rhodes Island became involved with Reunion, an Infected movement founded with the goal of resisting persecution. Reunion originally contained people seeking peaceful change, but repeated oppression, atrocities, and manipulation pushed parts of the movement toward extremism. Under Talulah, Reunion eventually became a powerful militant force and attacked Chernobog, an Ursus city. Rhodes Island became involved in the resulting crisis and fought Reunion while simultaneously trying to rescue civilians and understand what had happened to the movement. The conflict exposed just how deeply Terra's treatment of the Infected had failed. Reunion was eventually defeated as an organized force.

Terra is a vast world inhabited by many humanoid races, collectively called Terrans, and divided among numerous nations, mobile cities, and nomadic peoples. Civilization has developed around a strange mineral called Originium. Originium is an extraordinarily powerful source of energy and can be used to amplify Arts, Terra's form of supernatural manipulation, making it essential to technology, industry, medicine, and warfare. However, Originium is also intimately connected to Catastrophes: enormous natural disasters that periodically devastate regions of Terra. After a Catastrophe, Originium deposits are commonly left behind, making the mineral both an invaluable resource and a deadly hazard. Prolonged exposure to Originium can cause Oripathy, a progressive and ultimately fatal disease in which Originium crystals form within the victim's body. People suffering from Oripathy are called the Infected. Because Oripathy is feared and poorly understood, the Infected are widely discriminated against, imprisoned, exploited, or forcibly used for labor. Some nations treat them as disposable resources, while others simply exile them. This persecution has created generations of resentment and violence between the Infected and the non-Infected. Terra is also a world of constant political conflict. Nations such as Victoria, Ursus, Yan, Laterano, Leithanien, Columbia, Kazimierz, and others compete for territory, resources, influence, and survival. Mobile cities allow populations to flee approaching Catastrophes, but this does not prevent wars, poverty, discrimination, or political oppression. Originium Arts further complicate warfare because individuals capable of using Arts can possess abilities ranging from elemental manipulation to extremely strange and powerful phenomena. Beneath all of this lies an even older mystery: Terra's civilizations were not the first to inhabit the planet, and the origins of Originium, the ancient civilizations

While the infested revenants are not technically alive, Z-863 prevents the resurrection of infested personnel in the Banlands until their corpses are destroyed. Therefore, the destruction of corpses infested with Z-863 is a priority in the event of an outbreak. While Z-863-1 can grow independently without integrating biomatter, assimilation of corpses significantly accelerates their development. Z-863 and its variants are territorial and will not engage with other organisms unless said assimilable, or enters an infested colony zone.

This event, later known as the 1971 Gjenoppstandelse, led to the Z-classification and study of samples subsequently named Z- 863-0 (“The Heart of Lazarus”), Z-863-1 (“Mycobiota”), and Z-863-2 (“Revenants”). Post-incident analysis revealed Z-863 to be a holobiont of over 273 distinct species, primarily within or adjacent to Cnidaria. All life forms within Z-863 have co-evolved to survive and adapt within the Let-Vand Zone, and are so interdependent that none can survive for long if separated from the holobiont.

Central to this system is Lazarophora viridis, an anomalous glomeromycota fungus capable of revitalising deceased biomass, including almost all eukaryotic organisms. Upon contact with deceased tissue, L. viridis produces invasive hyphae that root into the host’s parenchyma cells, creating a chemical substitute for adenosine triphosphate and effectively restoring full function of the host tissue. This process restores organ function, allowing Z-863 to “animate” the host corpse. Such corpses are referred to as Z-863-2 instances, serving as viable sources of Z-863 propagation.

On April 3rd, 1971, during routine mining toclear quadrants for the █████, management brought in a unit of LR-P workers to offset workforce shortages during an ongoing excavation. A violent altercation ensued between the newly formed LR-P unit and guardsmen overseeing the operation, resulting in multiple fatalities. Personnel discarded the deceased into the biological waste pits, and they rotated in replacement LR-Ps to continue excavations.

At approximately 08:46 the next day, cleanup personnel preparing to process the remains were ambushed by what survivors described as “zombies.” In response, an investigative team of guardsmen was dispatched to verify the validity of these reports.

Upon entering the excavation quadrant, they discovered extensive colonisation by Rotten Coral and hostile entities that had not been present before the riot, confirming the presence of potentially anomalous activity. Following the loss of ███ personnel and the identification of potentially hazardous effects associated with Rotten Coral Mycobiota, further investigation revealed that the so-called “zombies” were, in fact, the discarded LR-P corpses, now extensively overgrown with coral-like growths, with one individual turned ████ ████ █████████ described as an “█████”.

Z-863 - Codename: “Rotten Coral”, is collective symbiotic holobiont composed of multiple interdependent organisms. Superficially, it resembles species in the phylum Cnidaria. Its external characteristics include a gelatinous, spongy texture resulting from the thick mesoglea of the skeleton coral, and a deep green pigmentation derived from an endomycorrhizal fungus distributed across its surface.

Initially discovered in cave systems deeper within the Let-Vand Zone during the 1970 upper █████ Expansion of the Hadal Blacksite, excavation supervisors dismissed Z-863 as harmless native fauna and designated them for removal. The management instructed expansion personnel to clear the growths and deposit them into temporary biological waste deposit pits, pending transfer to the Blacksite’s primary waste disposal facility.

the grapple
it can be found on a table
desc: an innocent looking apple... but if you point at it, it will grow a face and an arm and grapple your throat and say "Hör gut zu: Wag es ja nicht, noch einmal mit dem Finger auf mich zu zeigen ... sonst überschreitest du die Schwelle in ein anderes Leben ... hin zu einem Horizont, an dem die Sonne niemals aufgeht. Habe ich mich klar ausgedrückt?" and will only let go if it's victim says "ja"