First Hope Project
As the Infection consumed the world, pre-fall humanity launched two final desperate programs to preserve the species. Both were housed in bio-dome facilities at Disko Bay in North Greenland, under the names First Hope and Second Hope.
The cryogenic program placed humans showing early signs of Infection into freeze pods, suspending them in hopes that a cure might someday be found. For a time, the pods held. Then, one by one, they began to fail. Most were eventually destroyed or scrapped for parts by scavengers who did not understand what they contained. Others suffered seal breaches that allowed the Infection inside. When two separate forms of viral fungus interacted with the frozen subjects, the result was something no one had intended: the Semper Mort.
Natural Ones of West Greenland were the first to discover the remains of the facility. They found fields stretching across the interior, thousands upon thousands of rows of metal and glass tubes wired together by technology beyond their comprehension. The tribes attempted to salvage the metal as Scrap and give proper burials to the frozen bodies within. They called the small camps they established "First Hope." Then the glass tombs began to open. Semper Mort clawed their way out with jagged hands and teeth, and the Natural Ones fled, calling them ancient demons awakened by sin. Once free, the first Semper Mort set about finding and reviving their tube-mates from the remaining pods, then sought provisions to sustain their continued existence.
Separate from the cryogenic effort, pre-fall scientists also attempted to escape the Infection through space. Humans were launched in a suspended state with calculated slingshot trajectories around a distant planet. The majority of these vessels crashed into the oceans upon return. Nothing from space survives the landing; impact destroys technology, people, and resources alike.
Humanity's most advanced survival strategies proved futile. The cryogenic program birthed a new horror. The space launches returned only wreckage. Every attempt to outrun the Infection ended the same way: in failure.
The cryogenic program placed humans showing early signs of Infection into freeze pods, suspending them in hopes that a cure might someday be found. For a time, the pods held. Then, one by one, they began to fail. Most were eventually destroyed or scrapped for parts by scavengers who did not understand what they contained. Others suffered seal breaches that allowed the Infection inside. When two separate forms of viral fungus interacted with the frozen subjects, the result was something no one had intended: the Semper Mort.
Natural Ones of West Greenland were the first to discover the remains of the facility. They found fields stretching across the interior, thousands upon thousands of rows of metal and glass tubes wired together by technology beyond their comprehension. The tribes attempted to salvage the metal as Scrap and give proper burials to the frozen bodies within. They called the small camps they established "First Hope." Then the glass tombs began to open. Semper Mort clawed their way out with jagged hands and teeth, and the Natural Ones fled, calling them ancient demons awakened by sin. Once free, the first Semper Mort set about finding and reviving their tube-mates from the remaining pods, then sought provisions to sustain their continued existence.
Separate from the cryogenic effort, pre-fall scientists also attempted to escape the Infection through space. Humans were launched in a suspended state with calculated slingshot trajectories around a distant planet. The majority of these vessels crashed into the oceans upon return. Nothing from space survives the landing; impact destroys technology, people, and resources alike.
Humanity's most advanced survival strategies proved futile. The cryogenic program birthed a new horror. The space launches returned only wreckage. Every attempt to outrun the Infection ended the same way: in failure.
