A Chimera or Chimeric virus is a virus that by its basic definition contains genetic material derived from two or more distinct viruses.
While throughout the 20th and 21st century Chimeric viruses were experimented as for bio weaponized uses then mostly for civilian medical treatment purposes.
Within the early 2250s medical researchers within the Terran Empire had discovered a form of sub atomic life that had existed within the quantum vacuum that existed as a form of particle and wave based viral material.
By combining several viral elements they discovered that the new quantum virus could effect the mental and physical capabilities of Humans and some animal life.
The virus was experimentally injected into several Imperial military subjects and it was found that the virus after attaching itself to a hosts stem cells that aggression, strength and instinctual sensory awareness was dramatically heightened to the point of near inhuman levels.
After the discovery Terran Empress Philippa Georgiou orders the virus be administered to a significant portion of Imperial fleet personnel.
However little known to her and to her own averice and underestimation of the capabilities of the pathogen, the virus over heightened their anti social tendencies and sense of danger to the point of paranoia. Also the fleet desire for ambition and power rivaled that of warrior culture based species such as Klingons (mostly those similarly exposed to the Augment virus), Andorians and Nausiccians.
The virus also created a near severe visual sensitivity to light. Medical researchers in Starfleet by the 27th century had seen biological reports of encounters with virus effected individuals from the Mirror universe and had surmised that this was somehow a naturally occurring trait within mirror humans and not synthetic or artificially derived.
However by the 24th century Chimeric augmentation may have been genetically passed down through generations as after the virus may have no longer been injected into humans artificially, the virus may have been passed down through reproduction due to the virus being so fundamentally attached to the host stem cell. So centuries later this viral trait could have been naturally occurring.
External Links[]
- Chimera (virus) Wikipedia article