What would you do in an... Invisible Man apocolypse?

[Randel]

Okay, I recently checked out a manga called Translucent (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Translucent) from the library.

Its premise is that there is a rare disease called Translucent Syndrome which causes a person to slowly become transparent (usually just body parts like arms and legs) and occasionally become completely invisible. It comes and goes (usually brought about by stress) but has no real deadly effect other than this.

Nobody knows how its contracted or how to cure it but it doesn't seem to be contagious to any extent.

So, here's my question:

Imagine if there was a virus or some other pathogen that could infect people and cause them to become increasingly transparent or even completely invisible? No deadly side effects, no real mind-altering properties. Just a disease that could be spread through close contact (I'm thinking something like a cold or something) but it makes its host invisible.

The virus or bacterium itself might be invisible as well, maybe just enough so that scientists can't see it through a microscope or it might have some other invisibility property that helps it evade the immune system.

So, if there was some sort of invisibility bug floating around, what would you do and how long do you think until human civilization flies apart into a million pieces?


And I suppose just for fun... zombie virus starts out in New York and Invisibility flu breaks out in San Francisco (with airlines spreading each all over the world), what would happen?

[thegurullamen]

And I suppose just for fun... zombie virus starts out in New York and Invisibility flu breaks out in San Francisco (with airlines spreading each all over the world), what would happen?

Thermal goggle sales hextadecimaspetanonaquintuple in five minutes as security forces everywhere come to the same conclusion. Normal security camera sales dwindle.

[Boo]

And I suppose just for fun... zombie virus starts out in New York and Invisibility flu breaks out in San Francisco (with airlines spreading each all over the world), what would happen?

If the zombies can contract the virus as well (they shouldn't based on real-life physics, but zombies aren't exactly real themselves) then we'll have invisible zombies too. The smart people will walk around naked.

Shoes would make for a good life-indicator. Shambling shoes = zombie, steady shoes = living.

Crime would break out EVERYWHERE. The zombie threat would be subsided by the invisibility of the population. Minimized food = less zombies = less things to shoot in the head.

[Eldan]

The important questions are:

How can invisible people still be detected? Infrared? By sound and smell (both likely)? Can zombies find invisible people? If not, being invisible is suddenly quite an advantage in the zombocalypse.

[Jahkaivah]

Mr Hyde has the time of his life.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Mr Hyde has the time of his life.Ouch.

Also, unless the virus turns clothes invisible, the world would just be creepy for a while before everyone just got used to it.

[Grommen]

Ouch.

Also, unless the virus turns clothes invisible, the world would just be creepy for a while before everyone just got used to it.

It's always gonna be creepy when something "bumps" into you from behind and you can't see it. Like I'm gonna wear clothes in the summer if I don't have too :)

I give the world a few months, to six tops. Then the president becomes an invisible zombie flesh eating monster, and eats his cabinet and half the Senate. Now initially this will be heralded as a blessing due to the fact that he will target the other party first, but then he/she will turn on the sweet meet and were all doomed! No laws exist for impeachment of an invisible, man eating president, so the vice president (who is circling in Air Force 2) can't take over. He is forced to convince the army to aid in subduing DC and the president. It's seen as a political coo, so the armed forces are split down the middle and begin fighting one another. Canada sensing the instability moves in with their forces, but is repelled by the American Salvation Army and local citizens of Detroit (Hay were tuff buggers in Michigan). This helps to spread the plagues into other countries, where star Hockey Players become infected with the invisibility. No rules exist to prevent invisible players on the ice so perennial 4th liner John Madin becomes the top scoring player in NHL history....EVER! This eventually upsets the "Great One" who attempts to become invisible himself but runs smack into the Zombie plague, and is turned into a Zombie, hell bent on devouring the living Hall of Fame'rs.

Looks folks...Once we loose Hockey....The world as we know it will collapse into a place of darkness that we will never come out of. :smallfrown:

[Raistlin1040]

^
Everyone listen to this man up here. He's got it all figured out.

[Johel]

The population would be divided as followed :

Living Visible Non-Naked (LVNN)
Your average human before apocalypse. Had a dog, loved his wife, made kids, bought big cars, did a boring job.
FOOD
Living Invisible Non-Naked (LINN)
Same average joe, only infected by the Flu. He's a lucky bastard somehow,
because he got more chances of survival than his visible sucker.
FOOD
Undead Visible Non-Naked (UVNN)
Same average joe, only he's dead and attack LVNN to eat his brain. This transform LVNN into UVNN. Also, UVNN sometime get their hands on a LINN.
ZOMBIE
Living Invisible Naked (LIN)
That's the consequences of UVNN getting their hands on a few LINN. Smart LINN got rid of their clothes and took their chances with the cold rather than with the Zs. They aim for the tropics for obvious reasons.
HUMAN
Undead Invisible Non-Naked (UINN)
Another consequence of UVNN killing LINN. This also led to worldwide paranoïa against any walking suit, as there's no safe way to know wheter what's in the suit is alive or not. At least not without revealing YOU are alive.
ZOMBIE
Living Visible Naked
Unfortunate and usually short-lived consequence of people witnessing the Zs not attacking LIN. Most LVN think they are invincible because they are naked. They aren't. And if they somehow survive walking proudly among the Zs with their junk out, they freeze to death.
FOOD
Undead Visible Naked
Logical outcome of LVN. These are sacry, especially the eldest specimens...
ZOMBIE
Undead Invisible Naked
Now, those are rare. And that's for the best. Silent, invisible predators that creep on visible preys. For one to exist, a dumb LIN must have crossed the path of a Zombie.
ZOMBIE

Fast forward a few years.
99% of Humanity is now invisible and naked, living under the tropics. Most industries and services have been relocated there.
A few fortified outposts dot the countryside of the temperate area, where agriculture is done on a massive scale. From these outposts, the Reconquista is launch, sector after sector.

Fast forward twenty years or so.
Zombie Plague has been eradicated.
Humanity found a cure to invisibility.

[Jahkaivah]

This thread is awesome.

[chiasaur11]

The population would be divided as followed :

Living Visible Non-Naked (LVNN)
Your average human before apocalypse. Had a dog, loved his wife, made kids, bought big cars, did a boring job.
FOOD
Living Invisible Non-Naked (LINN)
Same average joe, only infected by the Flu. He's a lucky bastard somehow,
because he got more chances of survival than his visible sucker.
FOOD
Undead Visible Non-Naked (UVNN)
Same average joe, only he's dead and attack LVNN to eat his brain. This transform LVNN into UVNN. Also, UVNN sometime get their hands on a LINN.
ZOMBIE
Living Invisible Naked (LIN)
That's the consequences of UVNN getting their hands on a few LINN. Smart LINN got rid of their clothes and took their chances with the cold rather than with the Zs. They aim for the tropics for obvious reasons.
HUMAN
Undead Invisible Non-Naked (UINN)
Another consequence of UVNN killing LINN. This also led to worldwide paranoïa against any walking suit, as there's no safe way to know wheter what's in the suit is alive or not. At least not without revealing YOU are alive.
ZOMBIE
Living Visible Naked
Unfortunate and usually short-lived consequence of people witnessing the Zs not attacking LIN. Most LVN think they are invincible because they are naked. They aren't. And if they somehow survive walking proudly among the Zs with their junk out, they freeze to death.
FOOD
Undead Visible Naked
Logical outcome of LVN. These are sacry, especially the eldest specimens...
ZOMBIE
Undead Invisible Naked
Now, those are rare. And that's for the best. Silent, invisible predators that creep on visible preys. For one to exist, a dumb LIN must have crossed the path of a Zombie.
ZOMBIE

Fast forward a few years.
99% of Humanity is now invisible and naked, living under the tropics. Most industries and services have been relocated there.
A few fortified outposts dot the countryside of the temperate area, where agriculture is done on a massive scale. From these outposts, the Reconquista is launch, sector after sector.

Fast forward twenty years or so.
Zombie Plague has been eradicated.
Humanity found a cure to invisibility.

Don't conventional Romero zeds use senses other than sight more than living folk?

Seems a mite silly to assume being invisible is surefire protection from the undead, while standard human assault patterns will inevitably fail.

Also, wouldn't being invisible make you blind?

Make the not invisible a lot more viable.

[Manicotti]

Don't conventional Romero zeds use senses other than sight more than living folk?

Seems a mite silly to assume being invisible is surefire protection from the undead, while standard human assault patterns will inevitably fail.

Also, wouldn't being invisible make you blind?

Make the not invisible a lot more viable.

I go by the Max Brooks conventions, and Zacks typically use all of their senses (other than touch) pretty equally.

Also, being invisible is more likely to make you nearsighted than blind (evidenced in the Harry Potter books repeatedly, commented on by Dumbledore in The Sorcerer's Stone), due to the unspoken sense of security that invisibility gives you, cranking your situational awareness wayyyy down. Unless you're referring to a possible side effect of the invisibility virus?

[Eldan]

Well, a translucent eye couldn't see. I guess that's what he was talking about. Amongst other things, translucent pigments can't really absorb light, can they?

[Leliel]

Just invisibility?

I would say the world flies apart on...the 12th of Never.

Sure, the rate of crime goes up-not because there are more criminals, but because the now see-through ones have an easier time getting away (the average security guard doesn't have thermal goggles)-but for most people, it's just something both cool and useful. Particularly since it gives someone superpowers, the "ghosts" probably won't have the stigma of AIDS, since they can kick anti-invisibles in the groin as soon as they start their screed.

With zombies?

Bit more scary, but many zombie movies assume the scientists are idiots. More likely that New York is quarantined and a vaccine is developed. The zombie apocalypse is eradicated, the people responsible sued, and scenario goes back to number one.

[BerryBlaster]

I would all sorts of unspeakable acts.

No get your mind out of the gutter.

ok those too

[averagejoe]

Same average joe, only infected by the Flu.

Aw. :smallfrown:

Everyone knows that being invisible still lets yous see normally. The only potential problem is you wouldn't be able to sleep because you'd see through your eyelids, but you can just get a mask or something.

As far as the Zekes, even the ones from Brooks could probably hear/smell you or something. Plus, even if the invisibility virus doesn't affect the Zazas, a few invisibled people would eventually turn. Considering that Zordons probably don't generate much heat, it would make detection near impossible.

[chiasaur11]

Aw. :smallfrown:

Everyone knows that being invisible still lets yous see normally. The only potential problem is you wouldn't be able to sleep because you'd see through your eyelids, but you can just get a mask or something.

As far as the Zekes, even the ones from Brooks could probably hear/smell you or something. Plus, even if the invisibility virus doesn't affect the Zazas, a few invisibled people would eventually turn. Considering that Zordons probably don't generate much heat, it would make detection near impossible.

Well, the moaning would be a bit of a giveaway.

A spooky, not very accuracy aiding giveaway, but...

And the inability to see?

I think totally transparent irises, cones, retinas, etcetera don't work right. Don't quote me, but, it's what I've read.

[Randel]

Well, suppose the Invisibility Virus doesn't give 100% invisibility. It just makes people get really transparant, so there might be some vague outlines or maybe the sight of two hovering semi-transparent retinas floating in the air.

An invisible man would have some trouble seeing, but lets say the virus is trying to be more or less symbiotic with its host and doesn't want them disabled to the point that they die.

An invisible person might see everything more in black and white, somewhat dim, and maybe a bit out of focus at first (due to their retinas being semi-transparent so that it feels as if they are wearing sunglasses since only a fraction of the light actually gets picked up. They might be a bit near-sighted due to the lenses in their eyes not bending light the same way so that they may actually need contacts or glasses to have 20/20 vision).


As for invisible zombies... once someone dies and their physiology gets messed up by zombification then I'm sure the invisibility virus would either die or get messed up. At worse, the zombies might stay invisible for a while after being revived but their decaying flesh and lack of hygiene would result in alot of muck, blood and dirt on their bodies to make them visible.

Plus, if zombies do rely on sight even a bit to find prey, then their zombie eyes would be out of focus or messed up. So zombies have poor eyesight and even if a semi-transparent invisible could be seen by a normal person, a zombie might miss them. Invisible zombies would have their eyesight doubly messed up and would be effectively blind.

[averagejoe]

I think totally transparent irises, cones, retinas, etcetera don't work right. DOn't quote me, but, it's what I've read.

I think I have seen enough television to know that this is absolutely not true.