How does 115 work?

[TheKingOfToast]

I know it turns people into zombies and makes wonder weapons, but how does it turn people into zombies.

Is it like classic zombies where when you get bit you turn into a zombie, regardless of whether you died or not? Or is it more of a "once you're dead, it brings your body back to life"?

Do certain people get powers from it? i.e. George Romero, Napalm Zombie, Astro-Zombie.

Does direct exposure with 115 allow you to be contacted by the Aether? (The O4 all had some experimenting done on them with 115) thus explaining Stuhlingers ability to hear Richtofen. Or perhaps you had to have teleported via the MDT or something similar, to possibly travel through the Aether.

Just some random thoughts; if anyone has any answers I would appreciate it, if not, then food for thought.

[AntJac]

Element 115 reanimates cells.

Element 115 not only reanimates cells, but entire bodies.

Element 115 also has the ability to control minds.

Consuming 115 leads to schizophrenia?

If you die, and your body is in contact with 115 you will reanimate.

I assume 115 allows you to be contacted from the Aether.

[Flammenwerfer]

Well, the thing is, we don't have any concrete information. There are few things in Zombies that we can say is irrefutable evidence and fact, and this is not one of them.

My personal theory is that it re-animates the dead cells, tissues, muscles, etc. while still keeping intact the most primal instincts of the mind.

However, there are several beings that do not abide by these completely. The Napalm zombie is similar to a regular zombie, however it is capable of being a fire monolith. Perhaps the 115 had a much bigger impact on these particular zombies.

George, on the other hand, seems to have selective parts of his body and mind change. This could be a result of him still being alive when being infected.

What I'm saying is that 115 affects most bodies the same, but others have "special" and situational cases.

[MysteryMachineX]

Element 115 was found to restimulate dead cells and then entire bodies.

If you left a petri dish of dead cells and exposed them to 115, the cells would come back to life.

If you left a human "ham" and exposed it to 115, the ham would begin biological processes again.

If you left a corpse and exposed it to 115, it would become a Zombie.

Note though that these effects only apply to primates. 115 can only react within the Order of primates, i.e. rats and bats cannot become Zombies. Also, they don't truly come back to life. The cells begin life processes again, but the corpse has already been decaying.

So if you wanted to become a Zombie, you would have to die. If 115 was exposed near your body, you would then become a Zombie and attack people. You can only "infect" by killing someone. The 115 that raised you, as well as the 115 you carry with you, would then turn that dead body into another Zombie.

Also, Zombies want meat, but only dead meat. It's strange. Also, Zombies have short life spans. Without close observation, they always end up dying somehow.

Each type of Zombie we have found have reasons for their founding. The regular Zombie is obvious. H*llhounds were a freak accident due to the tele porters; they are the exception to the primate rule. Gas Zombies are mutated Zombies with Nova 6. The Pentagon Thief is a Zombie that somehow retained part of his mentality, like Subject Two-Six, another smart-ish Zombie. Space Monkeys are mutated chimps that reanimated just like the humans. George Romero had some weird electric side effect; I'll get into that momentarily. Shrieker Zombies are ancient Zombies that have lost most of their mass but preserved by some type of mummification. Napalm Zombies simply had napalm in their systems when they reanimated (very short life expectancy). Monkey Zombies are just monkeys that reanimated; their behavior is strange for Zombies, though. Phasing Zombies are Gas Zombies even more mutated. Astro-Zombies are Zombies wearing spacesuits at the time of reanimation.

Element 115 also has electrical properties. This is what made it so useful. In fact, the Zombie thing was merely the side-effect. The reason 115 was so great was because of its electrical properties that could be utilized in MANY MANY ways. This is where we get Wonder Weapons, Teleporters, George, etc.