Will add some art later Btw the Tatsukis are aware of all of this and are actively trying to find a cure for the parasite but so far the best they could do was to stall the infection by 2 hours. Tatsuki Rei is not doing well and has begun to believe that there's nothing to be done and that Errorstate is just a lost cause so he is trying to speed up the process. The others know better and specifically Shira Rei is documenting his descent into madness and trying to either slow it down or get him back to normal. (How is Death Contract able to help? He's found a way to send letters and receive them. In these letters Shira Rei sends him research and samples of the parasite.) Before dying GLITCHED was also helping with the research by collecting samples, but as Tatsuki Rei slowly fell deeper into insanity he eventually decided to get rid of GLITCHED. He was just delaying the inevitable. Making the pain last longer. Shira Rei knows better than to trust Tatsuki Rei but GLITCHED didn't. Shira Rei's biggest concern is that other timelines and universes are affected by the parasite which she has labeled Tarda Mortis (Slow Death in Latin) After all the infected did suffer a slow painful death, even the aggressive ones. While she keeps it suppressed deep in her head, she know Tatsuki Rei isn't wrong. After all the parasite cannot be killed and if an infected dies the worm could just crawl toward a healthy individual, making even sleeping a risky task. Unless they get Compile who can kill the worm to cooperate, they'll just have to abandon Errorstate and watch everyone slowly die. After all the worm doesn't spare anyone. It really is Merciless. (Summary: If Compile doesn't cooperate everyone will die, and if Shira Rei makes a small mistake or Tatsuki Rei does something stupid multiple timelines and universes could die.)
Diamond: Impaled in the cheek by infected ARBITESIA and during later stages of infection blood began to pool up in his throat killing him ARBITESIA: Fought Jimbo for multiple hours and eventually got infected by him Star Speaker: During a fight with Jimbo they were grazed on the arm and during later stages of infection his arm became rooted to the ground. Anyone who comes near him is almost guaranteed to die or be infected Jimbo: Was infected by Mercy's "Rotten Panic" skill (not in the game only in this AU). He locked himself in a basement and was eventually found by Evasion. By then he was rotten and bound to that floor and eventually would be able to leave in the form of half sentient mush that could move. Mercy: Technically the first. When found dead by Eventice after the flood he was injected with a mild version of this parasite which brought him back to life but caused him to be able to spread it. However this parasite caused intense pain to Mercy. Before he got used to this pain every second was agony (This Mercy lore is actually cannon btw not just the AU) ₲Ⱡł₮₵ⱧɆĐ: They were sleeping after a long day of hiding from Star Speaker after being forced into their area by an extremely mentally unwell Tatsuki Rei. But were found by Jimbo (He was mush by then) and accidentally injested a small amount of rotten Jimbo mush, causing them to be the fastest to reach stage 3 (zombie ish) in only 12 hours. They were eventually found and eliminated by Lunacrest. However Lunacrest still hasn't completely recovered physically or mentally. (The infected at stage 3 and 4 are extremely strong)