Glossary

A common nomad bacterial strain that is often found among the twisting, serpentine caverns of the BioCosmos’ Intestinal Sector. Most eColi tribes are peaceful and seek only warmth and succor, but some are dangerous and must be targeted and eliminated by the Immune System’s BioWarriors.

The form taken by thoughts, emotions, and sensory information received by the Council of the Mind from the hypothalamic dome. The Council then relays this information by way of messenger nerve cells to points throughout the BioCosmos.

Highly acidic molecules that disintegrate organic matter. Macrophages such as Scathe pull enemies into the gaping maw of their enzymatic abdominal cavities, where the invaders are reduced to genetic soup. During the battles of the Biowars, the fallen are reduced by enzymes and recycled. Enzymes ensure nothing is wasted in the BioCosmos.

The BioCosmos’ outermost boundary otherwise known as the skin. It is the Cosmos’ first layer of protection against dangerous microbes, though some germs have developed the ability to penetrate this barrier. The Z-Kron microbe that threatens to bring about The Eternal Darkness first enters Alex Hawking’s body through his barrier.

The process by which life forms of all kinds—from viruses and bacteria to cells and the BioCosmos itself—adapt to their environments, developing new genetic traits over the course of millennia to become more capable of survival and gaining the abilities necessary to thrive. Few organisms have evolved as successfully as humans, bacteria and viruses—and they’re on a collision course that explodes in the Biowars.

Healing cells of the BioCosmos. These graceful cells use fibrous webs to mend tissue damaged in the course of the Biowars, including fellow BioWarriors. Additionally, they can use their webs to ensnare enemies and seal off escape routes.

The manipulation of one or more organism’s genetic code to create traits or life forms that do not exist naturally. The Combine engages in highly advanced genetic engineering to create the Z-Kron microbe.

The entirety of an organism’s inherited traits, which has been sculpted and refined by thousands of years of evolution. The Combine’s knowledge of the human genome, and that of countless viruses and bacteria, allow them to engineer the Z-Kron Microbe.

The unknowable supreme being whose body encompasses the BioCosmos. Its will and vital life functions are communicated to the rest of the body through the Council of the Mind, who alone among the teeming trillions of cells are capable of comprehending its messages. There is a mysterious connection between the Host’s will and its inhabiting BioWarariors and cells that is manifested through their Biod life forces.

The complex, highly evolved defense forces of the BioCosmos. Spearheaded by T-Cells who utilize intelligence communicated to them by the Council of the Mind, B-Cells, Macrophages, Natural Killer Cells and others are deployed against the myriad invaders who seek to consume, corrupt and conquer the BioCosmos.

An invasion of the BioCosmos by pathogenic organisms that results in the corruption or destruction of the living terrain. If left unchecked, an infection can spread throughout the BioCosmos, even to BioWarriors themselves. These incursions can be bacterial, viral, fungal, or even larger creatures, and can enter the body either through a lesion in the skin barrier or through an opening.

The fabled, ever-pulsating caverns, through which the air of life must travel in order for the BioCosmos to survive. It is one of the Cosmos’ most crucial sectors, and one of its most vulnerable as it is an opening to The Beyond. Its portals are often targeted by pathogens, and its forest-like terrain is aggressively defended by the BioWarriors.

The Immune System’s complex of “satellite bases,” situated at numerous points throughout the BioCosmos. From these strongholds, the Informatory T-Cells gather intelligence sent to them by the Council of the Mind and use it to strategize and deploy the Immune Force, the BioWarriors.

The Immune System’s answer to the Marine Corps. Aggressive, relentless, and ferociously dedicated to the eradication of pathogens, these warriors' bodies enlarge in anticipation of violence, and they have a number of weapons they can deploy in battle. Macrophages have tentacle-like pili that enable them to grasp foes and to pull them into their acid-filled abdominal cavities, which reduce infected cells to recyclable organic pus.

Cells of the Nervous System which transmit information from one part of the BioCosmos to another at the speed of thought, traveling along a vast neural super highway. The warriors of the Immune System utilize this information in the Biowars.