Substance - 128

Not to be confused with the Cure or something to do with the infected.

Substance - 128
Main Information
Creator	Mr. P (funding) Bunny (involved) Sheepy (involved) Badgy (presumably involved) Beary (possibly involved) Possibly other unknown researchers
Known Carriers	Penny Piggy Mother Father Mrs. P Poley Rash Sheepy Doggy Teacher Beary Zompiggy Bunny Clowny Foxy Elly Grandmother Mousy Soldiers Torcher Badgy Dessa Zizzy (formerly; Hidden Ending) Raze Alfis Kolie Dakoda Archie Kenneth Bobby Pepper Markus Spidella Delta Mary Porter Ben Eloise Daisy Peter Decaying Infected Many other unseen infected
Other Names	The Virus The Infection
Viral Information
Causes	Being attacked by an infected Coming into contact with Substance - 128
Symptoms	Losing control of one's body Aggression Enhanced strength Glowing pupil(s)
Treatment	The Cure

Substance - 128, also known as the Infection, is an extremely contagious disease. It was created by several researchers and funded by Mr. P in an attempt to cure Linnaeoma, a disease that Mr. P's wife was diagnosed with.

History

Creation

Mrs. P, wife to billionaire Mr. P, was sick with a disease called Linnaeoma and became extremely ill, so Mr. P funded a project to find a cure. He presumably worked with Badgy, Bunny, Sheepy and a few other researchers to create the supposed cure for Linnaeoma. When the supposed cure was supposed to be tested, however, the doctors said that it was unstable. However, being stubborn, Mr. P tested the cure on most of the members of the Piggy Family, with the exception of Georgie and Grandmother. The Piggy Family subsequently caught a new virus that would eventually spread throughout the city of Lucella, and soon to other cities such as Doveport.

Testing

During the True Ending, Mr. P mentions that the potions gave the Piggy Family strength, so Mr. P was overjoyed and gave the potion to Mrs. P. Everything was going well until, much later, Mr. P heard on the news that the Piggy Family is becoming hostile. He shrugged it off, thinking it had nothing to do with his cure, but Mrs. P started acting aggressively too, and her eyes turned red. Mr. P knew he had to stop her, but he didn't have the heart to do it, so he let her go. Mrs. P then broke out of the Hospital. Afterwards, Mr. P began testing more potions to try and get back Mrs. P, but none of them succeeded.

Formation of Survivor Factions

After the initial breakout of the virus, many people went into hiding to avoid being infected. An example of this are Zizzy and her sisters who hid inside (and later fortified) an abandoned apartment block, and formed a group conformed of the three sisters, as well as Pony and later Mimi and Giraffy.

Another faction that formed during this time was The Silver Paw, owned by Willow, a faction with the mission to aid survivors during the infection, with various settlements with a team of guards as their main mean of protection. Despite the group's generally kind nature, the group's leader is not very fond of betrayal, and is seen to get out of the way of the mission to take revenge, as seen in multiple occasions, making them a neutral faction.

Stolen

Sometime between the events of Gallery - Chapter 3 and Forest - Chapter 4, The Silver Paw broke into the hospital, and stole a bottle of Substance - 128. The leader of the group, Willow, then ordered one of her group members, Pony, to give the potion to two officers, Doggy and the Player. Pony managed to force the officers to drink it in their sleep, resulting in Doggy turning infected, while the Player did not. This also led to Pony leaving The Silver Paw, and joining The Safe Place.

Rescuing Others

After the breakout, Mr. P and Bunny decided to search for survivors at the School, but Bunny had to hide after the Teacher became infected after drinking a potion. After the events of Chapter 5, Mr. P and Bunny head to the Hospital to treat the Player because the Player passed out in the school sewers. However, a bunch of infected raided the hospital, infecting the doctors and attacking Bunny. Mr. P tried to help Bunny by giving her one of the potions, but the potion would eventually turn Bunny infected at the end of Metro. Mr. P regretted this, and fled the Hospital out of shame. The Player would go on to being found at the carnival by Zizzy and Pony, and later Zizzy and the Player would find Georgie Piggy in the mall, adding two more members to the Safe Place.

Containment and Spread

During the later chapters of Book 1, it is shown that the military was actively fighting to contain the infection in more than one way, they placed large walls surrounding the main cities of Lucella , with a large gate presumably acting as some sort of checkpoint. It was also mentioned that they evacuated survivors further north.

Meanwhile, after fleeing from the Hospital, Mr. P decided to continue his research from the Plant. However, one of the researchers became infected after coming in contact with Substance - 128. Eventually, all the researchers were infected, and Mr. P went into hiding until being found by The Player and Georgie at the end of Chapter 11.

Developing a Cure

Presumably after the infection got all the way to Doveport, the military started to research the infected and attempt to develop a cure. At first, they searched for Patient Zero, who was given the potion of Substance - 128, but they never managed to find them. They ended up finding Penny Piggy, one of the three test subjects. They rushed her back to the military as fast as they can to do as much research as they could. A few days after studying, the military has finally finished developing a cure. They gave it to Penny Piggy, seeing if it worked, and Penny started to display less and less aggression. That is when the infection broke into Outpost Echo, abandoning the place.

Symptoms

Stage 1

There are currently two known ways to get infected: Drinking a bottle of Substance - 128 or being attacked by an Infected. Drinking a bottle of Substance - 128 presumably causes the virus to circulate through the hosts respiratory system, beginning stage 1. Being attacked by an infected will cause the infection to transfer to a new host via any possible open wounds touched by an infected, also beginning stage 1.

Stage 2

The potion bottle that holds the substance, seen in many chapters. (Typically seen empty)

The virus starts by altering the host's nervous system, making them stronger and to significantly enhance their pain tolerance, making them incredibly endurable. On other subjects, such as Bunny, the virus weakens the infected, causing them to pass out until they fully succumb to the infection instead.

Stage 3

The virus slowly seizes more control over the host's brain and nervous system, causing them to slowly lose feeling in their bodies starting with their legs going upwards. As time goes on, the infection removes the ability to see colors. This stage also causes the host to hallucinate and to display aggressive behavior when in the same room with an uninfected, even the ones they love.

Stage 3.5

It's presumed the virus temporarily deactivates the host's mind, causing them to pass out as it "reprograms" certain behaviors in the mind. As the virus begins to take control, the host is reawakened so the virus can spread. This is evident in Decay when we see Bunny presumably wake up after resting, along with Pony needing to rest (and presumably later pass out) in Lab.

However, this stage is sometimes skipped, as seen in Distraction.

Stage 4

The virus finally takes control over most of the host's brain areas and nervous system, and disables the ability to speak. When in the same area as them, the host will confuse survivors with Infected and attack them out of fear, as shown with Bunny in Decay. Additionally, they still have some form of free will, being able to feel emotions and move around. On top of this, the host may see certain people as their loved ones, causing confusion and hesitation within them. However, when there are no survivors in the area, the infected presumably stop attacking.

Additionally, it is heavily implied that the infected remain conscious of their surroundings and actions by multiple notes scattered across multiple maps. However, these notes are encrypted with a variant of the Caesar Cipher, leading to the belief that the virus makes the host confuse letters with one another, making it harder for them to write a coherent sentence.

Stage 5

By this point, it's believed that the infected will presumably lose all control over their body, whether they see survivors or not. Although some subjects are shown to have signs of mild lucidity and resistance to the virus in the form of quick head twitches, the host doesn't really have any real free will at this point, fully succumbing to an animalistic behavior. This stage erases most personality traits they had prior to their infection. Stage 5 Infection also causes the host to become fully aggressive to anyone who isn't infected with the virus. It also changes the host's sclera and pupil color depending on their personality or role prior to their infection.

Stage 6

In rare circumstances, such as with Zompiggy, Archie, the Decaying Infected, and Mrs. P, the host's body will presumably begin to deteriorate, with their bones beginning to show and their skin beginning to mold. Overall, they will become much more zombie-like over time. It is unconfirmed if this is the case for all infected.

Trivia

• Mr. P confirms that he's only made seven potions. which went to Penny, Mother, Father, Doggy, Teacher, Mrs. P, The Player and Bunny.
  • A potion was shared with Doggy and the player since Pony attempted to infect them both using it. However, out of the 2, only Doggy became infected, as the player is immune to Substance - 128.
• It is unknown what the number "128" means in the name.
  • According to the novels, Badgy says this means there were 127 previous versions that didn't work.
  • Another plausible theory could be that the number could be referencing the date the game was launched to Roblox (1/28 or January 28th).
• It's possible that the infected have better vision in the dark. This is seen when playing a map with low visibility (such as Forest) as Piggy, though this could simply be a game mechanic to have an easier time finding players.
• MiniToon has stated that if half of a cure is given, it will not fully work. With this in mind, it's possible Substance - 128 works this way.
  • One potion of Substance-128 was shared with Doggy and the player. It is possible that he wasn't fully infected as he doesn't chase you in Forest.
• Coincidentally, The 100% Official Piggy Survival Manual contains 128 pages, the same number that Substance-128 uses.

Gallery

Substance-128 as can be seen in Heist.

Pony being forced to infect Doggy using Substance-128.

References

The discussions tag for Substance - 128 can be found here.