#chronic code corruption

What we know and what we don’t about this once-invisible killer

In times before we began investigation on this degenerative disorder, the cause behind the illnesses and ultimate deaths of hundreds of players were listed as unknown, or acute organ failures with no known cause. This disease became known to the Fighters, the most vulnerable group of players, as Fading Disorder, or Fading Syndrome.

After years of investigation, encouraged by the Parkour God Himself and headed by the Champion, we have managed to isolate the root cause of the symptoms associated with it.

Code Corruption is the onset of a player’s code beginning to break down. It can be easily diagnosed by identifying the presence of broken, glitchy, misplaced, unreadable, or unreliable strings of code. The severity of the illness depends entirely on how much of the code is affected, and where exactly the infection point is originating.

Here is what we do know.

Two forms of Code Corruption have been discovered- an Acute Variant and a Chronic Variant.

There are three stages, all with identifiable symptoms and prognoses.

Stage One is early onset, also known as Code Instability. Code Instability presents differently in Acute and Chronic cases and should be treated based on this information. Further information will be provided below. This is noted by the appearance of unstable or corrupted code, in small quantities and often in unimportant areas.

Stage Two, also known as True Code Corruption, is rarely seen in Acute Code Corruption, and when it does present in this context, the underlying cause should be treated immediately to prevent development into Stage Three. This stage is marked by the widespread advancement of Corruption, originating from the infection point. Vital areas can be hit, but it is extremely rare.

Stage Three, also known as Total Code Deletion, Total Code Failure, or Total Code Breakdown, has only been noted to happen in Chronic Cases, outside of extreme circumstances. Once Stage Three has presented, the case has become entirely fatal, and there is no known recovery. This stage is marked by a complete shutdown of the player’s mental state, often leaving them comatose or ‘empty’. Large portions of the player’s code have been deleted by the advancing Corruption, and it is now spreading faster than it can be replenished.

Acute Code Corruption is a form of Code Corruption that happens due to an underlying cause. Such cases have been identified in players after severe injury, severe illness, puberty, and pregnancy. What we know is that onset is normally caused by a sudden change in the body. During Acute Code Corruption, the player is expected to show minor symptoms such as fatigue, irritability, minor muscle weakness, sensitivity to light, and paranoia. This has been identified as symptoms of Stage One of Code Corruption.

Acute Code Corruption oftentimes does not advance past Stage One, and notably can be cured by treatment of the underlying condition. When caused by injuries, players have shown complete recovery from this disease after the injury has healed, and similar results have been shown after underlying illness has been treated.

In cases when it is caused by the onset of puberty or the beginning of a pregnancy, care should be taken to ensure it does not advance past this stage. It will often move slowly enough for the code to replenish and repair itself, especially when the body is already replacing old code with new code due to the rapid changes happening. However, in extreme circumstances when the corruption is advancing faster than it can be replaced, it may be necessary to take further action to prevent these processes from taking place. Take note that it may be rough on the patient to make these decisions, and to use care when discussing options with them.

Acute Code Corruption has been known to leave traces behind, with the mangled code rarely disappearing on its own, but it rarely has any long-term affects on the player. It is treatable and curable, and often has a positive prognosis.

Chronic Code Corruption is both much rarer and much more difficult to understand. This variant of the disease is not caused by an underlying condition, but rather it is something that the player is born with. This happens in both spawned and born players, often due to a glitch that occurs when the player’s code is formed, or passed down from a parent, most commonly the mother.

In Chronic Code Corruption, a Dormant Phase has been observed. The Dormant Phase is the period of an infected player’s life in where they do not show symptoms of Corruption. This phase can last anywhere from only a few days after birth to years, and has been observed to last even decades at a time.

During the Dormant Phase, a player may act completely normal, with nothing to indicate an underlying disease. Patches of the player’s code may present damaged or broken, but it is often in such small amounts that it causes no side effects. In this phase, the Corruption does not spread, though it does not heal. It is widely accepted that most of an infected player’s life will be spent in this state. It is considered incurable, though there is the possibility of a Champion-led treatment in the near future.

Players with Chronic Code Corruption should avoid having children, if possible, as it can easily be passed down if an infected string is inherited. However, players rarely know about their affliction before it becomes symptomatic, and as such it is easy to pass it down before becoming aware of its presence.

When the disease becomes active, the stages progress as observed in Acute Cases, though it should be noted that once the player leaves the Dormant Phase and enters Stage One, nothing else can be done to prolong or prevent the development.

Each Stage has been observed to last a two to three weeks before advancing, and as such once Chronic Code Corruption advances into its first active stage, the expected life span is reduced to approximately one and a half to two months. The first two stages present as previously noted, with a key difference being in the inevitable development into Stage 3.

In Stage 3, or Total Code Deletion, the player shuts down entirely, leaving them what others have referred to as a ‘husk’. These players become unable to perform basic functions such as eating, drinking, or using the restroom, and need assistance with even basic aspects of life. Their emotions and personality are often destroyed, and they rarely speak or interact with others.

Death occurs when the Corruption spread to vital processes, often happening when it spreads to the code that controls breathing or the heart.

There have been a few notable case studies on Chronic Code Corruption, though it should be noted that we know much less about it than its Acute variant due to its variability and fatality.

In both cases, the players were not born with the disease, but extenuating and extreme circumstances caused it to develop into this specific variant.

The first player remained in the Dormant Phase for several decades. Upon entering the Active Stages, his life expectancy dropped, and he was unfortunately lost. During this case, his code was carefully studied as the Corruption advanced, providing us with much of our knowledge of how quickly and efficiently it spread. While a significant portion of his code was already damaged before reaching Stage One, there were very few notable symptoms. It is through this case that we also learned an unfortunate side effect of Total Code Deletion, in that sufferers cannot respawn by any means.

The second case was observed in a Parkour Fighter, who survived after the destruction of the Fighter Layer. We have reason to believe that most, if not all, of the deaths caused by this destruction were the result of damaged and broken code, developing into Chronic Code Corruption. They provided us with a sample of their code before it advanced, allowing us to learn more about the Dormant Phase and how it worked. Ultimately, the player was lost after their disease progressed, and we were not able to get any more information about this. It can be assumed that every player who survived the initial fall suffered from this death.

There is still much we do not know about this terrible disease, but our knowledge has expanded greatly due to the help of these players, and our Parkour God and Champion. There are hopes for a cure, though the road to reach it will be risky and may involve many years of trial and error. Still, the knowledge we do have has helped tremendously in learning about the death of the Parkour Fighters, and may one day allow for us to find the ultimate cure for Fatal Code Corruption.

Until then, please request to have your code read at your earliest convenience, to catch early onset of this disease before it advances. This is especially important if you or a loved one are currently experiencing any major bodily changes or illnesses. It could make all the difference.