[MH] CDC National Center for Supernatural Diseases

[RyanW]

Just a thought about a very different take on the Monster Hunters formula. The Secret is out, and many of the "monsters" are considered victims of diseases that call for quarantine and treatment.

There are plenty of factions that want to eradicate them. Both people who feel they are genuinely too dangerous to be treated so kindly, and people who feel they are unholy abominations that must be destroyed to save our souls.

[evileeyore]

A nice alternative to the Evil CDC I usually see in most supernatural hunter style games.

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by evileeyore

A nice alternative to the Evil CDC I usually see in most supernatural hunter style games.

I haven't seen the CDC portrayed as "evil" very often. Uninformed (due to not understanding the true nature of the beasts), misguided (quarantine and study the zombie "murder virus" rather than just wiping them out), and skeptical ("it's gotta have a medical reason!"), yes, but not evil. Here, I'd count "evil" as "actively turning an entire town into zombies/vampires/lycans/etc." for a mad scientist type, not just well-meaning blundering and incompetence.

Just my $0.05 worth.

[AlexanderHowl]

Evil applications are more likely for the CIA and/or DARPA. In the former case, the CIA may be attempting to exploit the disease as a weapon of assassination, using the collateral damage to disguise the true target (or just not caring). In the latter case, DARPA may be trying to create a defense and/or a weapon that could be used on the battlefield (turning enemy soldiers into vampires may be beneficial to a prepared military).

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by Phantasm

I haven't seen the CDC portrayed as "evil" very often.

And thinking about it, I've only come across it twice*. I suppose I'm leaning more towards "I like the idea of CDC Hunters who are charged with contain, study, cure" rather than "contain, study, oops the situation got out of our control and it's worse".


* Both in Mira Grant series, and I might be misremembering the villain in the second as the CDC when it might have been 'the government' in general.

[The Colonel]

Originally Posted by Phantasm

I haven't seen the CDC portrayed as "evil" very often. Uninformed (due to not understanding the true nature of the beasts), misguided (quarantine and study the zombie "murder virus" rather than just wiping them out), and skeptical ("it's gotta have a medical reason!"), yes, but not evil. Here, I'd count "evil" as "actively turning an entire town into zombies/vampires/lycans/etc. for a mad scientist type, not just well-meaning blundering and incompetence.

Just my $0.05 worth.

I've seen them (or expies thereof) portrayed as brutal - the Agency in Dreamcatcher tasked with containing the Ripley contagion springs to mind.

Agencies dealing with the Supernatural, on the other hand, always seem to be at best a bit on the grey side unless entirely powered by theurgy (always assuming that the author doesn't inject antitheistic tropes).

[Michele]

Originally Posted by RyanW

Just a thought about a very different take on the Monster Hunters formula. The Secret is out, and many of the "monsters" are considered victims of diseases that call for quarantine and treatment.

There are plenty of factions that want to eradicate them. Both people who feel they are genuinely too dangerous to be treated so kindly, and people who feel they are unholy abominations that must be destroyed to save our souls.

I suppose that might have half a chance if some scientists had already actually proved that you can come back to normalcy from zombiehood or vampireness or werewolfdom. Otherwise, what would be proposed would really be quarantine and research, not "and treatment" - and my guess would be that the popular or institutional support for such a policy would be in the range of... below the statistical margin of error.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Michele

I suppose that might have half a chance if some scientists had already actually proved that you can come back to normalcy from zombiehood or vampireness or werewolfdom. Otherwise, what would be proposed would really be quarantine and research, not "and treatment" - and my guess would be that the popular or institutional support for such a policy would be in the range of... below the statistical margin of error.

"Treatment" doesn't have to mean "cure." Perhaps a steady diet of pig brains keeps a zombie content, as well as letting the original personality come back to the surface. For vampires, perhaps donated blood (or pig's blood, if you can get away with it) can help sate their hunger. For werewolves, perhaps aconitine (the active ingredient of wolfsbane) can be administered to make shifting less painful, preventing them from becoming a raging monster each full moon.

Naturally, research will also be involved, to try to find more effective means of combatting symptoms - and, ideally, to find a more permanent solution.

[tshiggins]

Originally Posted by Phantasm

I haven't seen the CDC portrayed as "evil" very often. Uninformed (due to not understanding the true nature of the beasts), misguided (quarantine and study the zombie "murder virus" rather than just wiping them out), and skeptical ("it's gotta have a medical reason!"), yes, but not evil. Here, I'd count "evil" as "actively turning an entire town into zombies/vampires/lycans/etc. for a mad scientist type, not just well-meaning blundering and incompetence.

Just my $0.05 worth.

I've not seen them portrayed as evil very often, either, although I have seen them portrayed as unrealistically incompetent.

The TV series, Containment portrayed them so badly that I couldn't make it through the first season.

(If the virus -- no matter how lethal -- has a gestation period of only about 12-16 hours before it becomes symptomatic, and kills 99-plus percent of its victims within three days, then you evacuate everybody in the infected area and hold them in quarantine for no more than a week. If blood samples show they're not asymptomatic carriers, and they're still alive, then they're not infected. Now, go find the incompetent bad guys who engineered the thing.)

[AlexanderHowl]

Yes, a more effective contagion would have an asymptomatic period of one month, with the carrier being contagious during that entire time. A genetic modification or spontaneous mutation of a disease could cause such asymptomatic carriers. Deliberate modification will also likely include antibiotic resistance and improvements in contagion and/or lethality. For example, imagine creating a weaponized form of C-Diff that was as lethal as cholera and antibiotic resistant.