Green Poison

Template:Simple InfoboxSmallpox Variola Chimera (commonly known as the Dollar Flu or Green Poison) is a genetically engineered super-virus based on the disease Smallpox, created with no functional vaccine or cure. This genetically augmented virus was manufactured by Dr. Gordon Amherst, a delusional and genocidal environmentalist and gifted virologist as a means of population control. The disease was unleashed in New York City during a Black Friday by contaminating US currency with the virus and spending the money in several retail stores across Manhattan, most notably in Abel's Department Store. 

Description of the Green Poison Virus

Green Poison is a weaponized super virus. Based on the original smallpox, not only does it incubate faster, it is also infectious during the short incubation period, meaning it spreads between people with no initial symptoms and takes effect much more quickly. People infected with the Green Poison after the incubation period usually initally start to show symptoms similar to common influenza so as to decieve the population and medical professionals into not realising the danger until it was too late then the virus progresses rapidly with infected dying quickly thereafter. As noted by Dr. Jessica Kandel, the virus contains traces from six separate pathogens: Dengue, Ebola, H1N1, Hantavirus, Marburg and Swineflu. (Note: Swine Flu is a strain of H1N1). Which made it clear and obvious that this virus was not naturally occuring but artifically created. Also the Green Poison was designed to survive for longer on non-organic surfaces such as the currency he used to spread the disease much more effectively as a Second Wave Division Agent was able to recover still contaminated currency from Abel's Department Store in the Garment District of Manhattan.

Due to the virus' ability to rapidly mutate, it is highly difficult for conventional drugs or antibody to identify and exterminate the virus as well as creating a proper vaccine to the disease, it also allows the virus to adapt to a diverse population range such as New York City. There are some people who are naturally immune to catching this virus, but they are largely in the minority and as the virus is not symptomatic at first, people who could be immune are left to survive in quarantines and Dark Zones. Also it is revealed in Amherst's notes that he delibrately meant for the virus to have a mortality rate of 80-90%, allowing some of the human population to survive.

When people die of this virus, it is known as "cashing out" due to it being spread by money. The virus is also referred to as Dollar Pox, Money Pox, Wages of Sin, Buck Flu, Dollar Bug, Cash Pox, Small Bill and The Legal Tender.

Later, by the time of The Division 2, it is believed that Amherst programmed the disease to "burn out" after a certain amount of time, therefore rendering areas contaminated to be clear of the disease. Although there are exceptions such as former quarantined clinics and laboratories where bodies and samples have yet to be disposed of properly, making a second outbreak a huge risk.

Also, it is discovered that Emeline Shaw, the leader of the Outcasts in Washington D.C. is a asymptomatic carrier of the disease, meaning she can infect other people in close proximity with the Dollar Flu but it does not harm or kill her. It us unkown if this was intended by Amherst to happen.

History

Engineering the Virus

Believing in his volatile darwinistic delusions about radically reducing the human population, Dr. Gordon Amherst engineered a super virus using a homemade 3-D protein printer. The Green Poison is an amalgamation of various lethal diseases. Not only are they mixed up together, Dr. Amherst even genetically modified their incubation and infection rate, accelerating its rate of infection. Owning up to his delusions, Dr. Amherst even infected himself and accepted that if the virus decides to kill him, he will gladly let himself die and "see everyone in Hell".

The Outbreak of the Virus

Dr. Gordon Amherst distributed the virus to the human population via infected dollar bills during the Black Friday shopping sales ensuring a massive initial dispersement. Before people realized that it was a lethal disease, people took the epidemic for a particularly potent version of the annual flu season. When the threat of the pandemic became realized, CERA, the newly minted Joint Task Force, and the First Wave of activated Strategic Homeland Division agents, intervened and attempted to stabilize the crisis. Unfortunately efforts from all three organizations proved to be inadequate. The quarantine zone in Central Manhattan, where the virus and the brunt of the ensuing anarchy originated, proved too much to handle, later becoming the NYC Dark Zone, and the worst of the virus is currently contained there. The infection eventually spread out from the United States of America, infecting 147 countries around the world in every continent becoming a global pandemic, this was due to the quick infection rate along with New York City being one of the countries biggest tourist destinations and international travel hubs thus before the whole of New York City was quarantined, infected persons had already traveled across the globe and was likely part of Amherst's plan.

Events of Tom Clancy's The Division

Dr. Kandel is a CERA Virologist who was deployed to New York during the initial outbreak. After being saved by the Second Wave of Division agents dispatched to the city, she takes over the Medical Wing of the Base of Operations and manages to research and write various reports on the Green Poison. After receiving viable samples of the original pathogen, she was able to conclude that it was indeed a manufactured weaponized disease created from Smallpox.

Meanwhile Vitaly Tchernenko, a Russian virologist trapped inside the Russian Consulate in NYC, decided to use the available resources to conduct extensive investigations on the Green Poison suspecting that it was made using techniques that he had developed and to research all of its properties to find methods of combating the virus. This research was eventually recovered by the Second-Wave Division Agents when they picked up his distress signal, however during a gun battle between the Second Wave and Rogue Agents, Tchernenko was kidnapped by Aaron Keener. 

During the Second Wave's attack on the LMB's main stronghold at the United Nations Headquarters, Aaron Keener abandoned Lt. Col. Charles Bliss and the remaining Rogue Agents and escaped. After the LMB were destroyed and their leader killed, Agent Faye Lau of the Division started picking up a strange signal in an abandoned building near Camp Hudson.

Events of Tom Clancy's The Division 2

By now, most of the virus had either burned itself out and a potential cure had been developed. However, in an attempt to eradicate the virus, when it had spread to Washington D.C. the federal government launched a chemical weapon called DC-62 to destroy the virus and sterilise any contanminated areas. However, it turns out DC-62 not only burned out the virus, but is also extremely toxic to the point where even standing near to it in the closest proximity would cause lethal burns and even spontaneous death breathing in the toxic fumes. DC-62 became the reason why Washington D.C. has Dark Zones.

Meanwhile when the pandemic broke out in Washington D.C., the people who were infected by the Green Poison were quarantined on Roosevelt Island with Colonel Ridgeway, a colonel within the JTF being entrusted with the administrative responsibilities of making sure the entire quarantine ran smoothly and the infected people had medical attention. Seeing that the virus will eventually kill the infected despite all the medical care in the world and that the federal government cannot resolve the situation, Colonel Ridgeway decided to take matters into his own hands.

As a strong believer in the need for authority and discipline, Colonel Ridgeway, in frustration and fear for the city's future, deployed armed guards around the quarantine with the order to not let anyone out and even open fire on the infected who try to escape. He even started to redirect resources coming into the quarantine, letting people starve to death and withholding medicine in an strategic attempt to accelerate the mortality rates of the infected on Roosevelt Island.

Ridgeway's actions were tainted by his willingness to do whatever it took for the well-being of his soldiers, the healthy citizens of D.C. and his absolute disregard of the lives of the infected, whom he viewed as dying no matter what. Due to the chaotic state of the city, he was able to abuse his authority for a long time before the commander of the JTF found out and he was imprisoned. However, it did not take long until loyal members of his unit freed him. By now, having recruited most of Washington D.C.'s mercenaries, JTF personnel, some civilians and even some rouge agents into his cause, the True Sons were formed with a goal to kill all of the infected and re-establish order and peace within D.C., even if it meant through radical authoritarian methods.

Meanwhile Emeline Shaw, a woman who is somehow an asymptomatic carrier of the Green Poison, desired vengeance for the horrible treatment she and her family received during the Roosevelt Island quarantine. She riled up the remaining quarantined people to persuaded them to use the remaining Green Poison within her blood to spread the Green Poison to the uninfected as a means of attaining vengeance for the treatment they received during the quarantine of Roosevelt Island. Due to this, the Outcasts were formed who religiously devote themselves to Emeline Shaw and her cause.