I haven’t played Arknights, but I’ve researched enough OG lore to raise an eyebrow at Endfield’s premise of corpos terraforming a planet with evil space cancer rocks, all the while the narrative and surrounding characters/npcs diligently partake in what is essentially unchecked colonialism.

They’re the good guys, btw.

EDIT: Observations and opinions seem to be divisive amongst OG Arknights players, from the comments to this post to further research on what long time players are saying everywhere else.

"This is a fresh start, your waifu is dead, fuck you, keep up."

Trying to imagine any other game "like this" pulling the same thing and laughing. "Here Lies Saber Forever. RIP Ayaka Kamisato. Insert any Raid Shadow Legends character who totally has a name anyone knows here whom is also dead and will probably by some definition be missed"

If Endfield weren't still a gacha with the Male Gaze clearly in some of its female characters' DNA, we'd be so much more compelled to read into it as some kind of mission statement.

Not to mention how within the first several hours of gameplay, characters talking basically directly confirms the fate of the as-of-yet-unfinished former game's plot; Oripathy doesn't get cured, but properly medicated and fully destigmatized.

Maybe less of a surprise to others, and of course there's still plenty of mysteries unspoiled (eg, Doctor) but we still find ourselves appreciating the direction that Endfield has decided to hit the ground running with.

One of the things that have been nagging my mind lately is some very specific topics that I didn't find, that being said. I'm on a question of the immune system of Terrans and blood types (and as a future writer, I needed that knowledge).

Like, does their immune system have something more or less than what we have? And their blood types? Does it even exist due to the Originium, or do they have more variants?

The capabilities of the Terran immune system seem so far identical to real humans. Originium doesn't interact with the immune system very much, if at all.

We know blood transfusions are a thing, but I don't remember any real blood types (AB+, O-, and everything in between) being mentioned yet. There's one Warfarin line that references blood type, but that could just be a translation thing. Either way I think it's fairly safe to assume the blood works the same way as real blood.

Pretty close.

I'll immediately address the Turn You Into A Beast thing: Not really, it takes very specific use of Originium, with the intent to do so, in order to beast someone up. For example, with Ifrit, who has a severe case of Oripathy, doesn't ever go beast mode until a freak accident (born from unfortunate circumstance, even) send the dangerously implanted fragment of an old, powerful Sarkaz clan into her into a berserk rage, and even then, it could be controlled. In other words, It's possible for Originium to do that, but Oripathy doesn't do that normally.

As for the others, pretty much. Oripathy is terminal, but not necessarily a swift exeuction, and its notoriously degenerative if not treated early. For example, Schwarz' Oripathy is, compared to that of others, mostly a non-issue due to her having received excellent and timely treatment, even before joining Rhodes Island, as noted by Warfarin.

Which is why Schwarz, despite having a degenerative illness like this, lives otherwise a normal day to day and is even noted to be incredibly athletic and strong. Compare and contrast with Eyjafjalla, whose Oripathy has degenerated her body to the point of being near blind and deaf, as she didn't have the same luck as Schwarz.

When it comes to "giving you superpowers", it's more like it "augments superpowers". Originium Arts are named as such because they use the residual Originium in the users bloodstream and body to cast them; One doesn't need to suffer from Oripathy to have Originium in their body. Just like how boomers are full of lead and us more recent generations are full of microplastics, the average Terran has Originium in their body, in safe quantities. Oripathy is a high concentration of Originium in one's body, which also translates to "Oh, I have more Magic Catalyst Rocks in my body! Therefore, my magic is stronger!" That's why the strongest Arts users also tend to have the worst cases of Oripathy, such as the selfsame Eyjafjalla, Ifrit, and Amiya, whose cases are very, very grave. Likewise, it's also why it is considered very impressive when an individual doesn't have Oripathy but still possesses very strong Arts, such as the Nearl family. In the same token, it is also why it is impressive, in a different way, when an individual has very grave Oripathy and yet has no proficiency with Arts, such as Specter.

It is important to note that Originium Arts are a specific form of 'superpowers'. Skadi and the Sui, for example, puzzle the RI medical team for this exact reason: The first hypothesis anyone would make to explain Skadi's insane strength or Dusk's reality warping powers is that they are advanced applications of Originium Arts, and thus, their Oripathy must be severe and they wouldn't be special in that regard: Blaze is known for her immense strength as well, but hers is explicitly a result of her Originium Arts, which quite literally burn her blood as fuel in order to grant her said strength, and Angelina just so happened to win the superpower lottery and have an affinity for the rare gravity Arts, one of the fundamental forces of the world. However, Skadi and Dusk are completely devoid of Originium in their bodies, which not only shocks the RI medical team because, well, that's like you or I not having any microplastics in our body (ie: impossible), it also means you can't explain their insane powers with Originium Arts. So, if one were to use the term "superpowers" in-universe, then Originium Arts wouldn't be it, "superpowers" would be whatever the hell the Abyssal Hunters and the Sui have going on (unexplainable by science, defying common logic and specialized knowledge).

Kousekibyou or crystallization disease, is a condition where the person grows crystal all over their body until they are fully consumed.

It's strongly believed that Kousekibyou is based on oripathy from arknights.

A condition picked up when coming into contact with Originium shards, ingots and Originium particles in the air. A hard black substance starts growing on their body, which is part of the crystlization proces.

The crystallization will continue to spread through the Infected's body, causing pain and discomfort and inhibiting their ability to respirate and properly intake and distribute nutrition, which eventually causes organ failure. Upon the Infected's death, their body will eventually disintegrate in a way similar to spontaneous combustion — the crystals on their body start to glow, leaving behind Originium particle dust that can cause secondary Oripathy infections if the Infected's body is not isolated properly

While there are some issues on which I'll defend Laterano, or at least argue that people should consider their perspective, I can't defend them on this one.

Laterano has no apparent reason to be ignorant to how hard it is for the Infected to infect others.

The only knowledge their government seems to suppress is anything related to the nature of The Law as a machine (which no one but the pope seems to know anyway), and anything related to their origins as Sarkaz (which I can't remember if even the pope suspected), and possibly the full details of what a Fallen Sankta is.

With freedom of information exceeded only by the Durin, with internal security and societal trust matched only by the Durin, with a lack of monetary corruption, with all the wealth they have, and with a survival-based incentive to stay ahead of the academic curve on Terra, Laterano MUST have one of the best primary and secondary education systems on Terra.

And Terra's medical science has already determined there is little to no risk for the Infected spreading Oripathy until their corpses disintegrate.

Additionally, building and maintaining public facilities and services to accommodate for the death and impending explosions of the Infected should be extremely easy for the well-oiled bureaucratic machine of the Lateran state.

[Guiding Ahead] actually showed us how efficient they are at handling the untimely death of a total social recluse. Handling the corpse of a monitored Infected should be simple in comparison, especially given the level of cooperation Lateran citizens show with their civil servants.

The moral absurdity of the exile is only slightly mitigated by the fact that the exiles remain full legal citizens, with the government checking in on them to make sure they're not being oppressed wherever they've made their home away from home. But paying to monitor and protect citizens in exile should be just as expensive as accommodating them at home; probably more so.

Laws

There are three kinds of laws in Laterano:

"The Law" itself. The secret machine that enforces its own unspoken, unwritten dictates.

The law chosen by the state, which the majority of the people accept without revolt.

And the law that the people demand the government enforce.

The Sarkaz ban could easily be either the second or the third. The highest levels of the original state wanted to keep any Sarkaz from accidentally revealing the true origins of the Sankta, but the modern people also hate and fear the Sarkaz.

But I don't see why the Infected ban would be either.

The People

The Sankta do not fear feeling the emotions of other Sankta suffering from injury and disease; they maintain public hospitals. They have funeral homes and mourning practices.

Also, Laterans show no discomfort at all with authorized, scheduled explosions. They regularly blow up public property with Originium for fun. Controlling for the explosions of the dead Infected would be far less fun, but no less safe.

The continued existence of their civilization depends on the mining, refining, and consumption of Originium. Everything from maintaining Laterano's mobility as a nomadic city, to fueling their factories, to serving as the accelerant for their explosives and the ammunition of their precious Guardian Guns.

Even with the world's best safety practices and protections for miners and gunsmiths, accidents happen. That's how Arene became Infected and exiled -- his parents either made a lapse in their safety practices or something completely unexpected happened in the course of an experiment.

The Secret

We have at least two Infected Sankta at Rhodes Island -- Adnachiel and Arene.

Neither one of them show any sign of Sarkaz heritage because of their Oripathy. They haven't Fallen, they retain full halo-empathy, they could use Guardian Guns if they asked Executor to conduct the test for them, they haven't grown horns or tails...

And on top of that, Ambriel shows absolutely no signs of discomfort in their presence. But then, she joined Rhodes Island in the first place, and no Sankta would do that if they were afraid of Oripathy.

The Law

The Pope suggests that if the Law has a goal or agenda, it is to ensure the survival of the Sankta.

Could the Law be the reason that the government exiles the Infected? Perhaps it sees their proximity as too much of a threat?

But the Law apparently does nothing to punish or discourage the Sankta from accepting Liberi as fellow citizens.

(I doubt the Law is actively refusing to transform Liberi into Sankta. Because if the Law truly wanted to ensure the survival of the Sankta, there would be few better ways to do that than to transform as many willing converts as possible into Sankta, or at least to allow non-Sankta to have Sankta children.)