The Ankhanum Handbook

CONTENT WARNINGS: gore, body horror

THE ANKHANUM HANDBOOK

FOREWORD

I am Dr. Herbert W. Sanderson.

In November of 1998, I encountered a most extraordinary lifeform; a sentient virus. It has risen and fallen with our civilizations, and lived within our homes and bodies since ancient times.

It calls itself Ankhanum.

While my field of expertise traditionally lies in wildlife research, I’ve been compiling notes, observations and recordings for some years now to bring this information to the public. Additionally, I am assisted by my colleague Winters and her associate Mr. Nguyen (at his request, I have omitted his given name).

You may be wondering, “If they’ve lived alongside humanity since the dawn of it, how on Earth have we not encountered them before?! Surely this is nothing but hogwash fueled by supposed cryptid sightings!”

Similarly to ‘cryptid sightings’, the Ankhanum are often subtle – when they aren’t living silently inside our bodies, they are remarkable shapeshifters, able to blend in seamlessly. How much ancient folklore has alluded to the Ankhanum? How many ‘demons’, how many ‘cryptids’ have actually been the Ankhanum?

Who can say for sure?

But I digress – without further ado, I am pleased to bring but a piece of the long and rich history of the Ankhanum to you.

WHAT ARE THE ANKHANUM?

At their simplest, the Ankhanum are a conglomerate of sentient viral cells, born within the body of an immortal being known as Arksonne, a member of a species I have taken to calling the ‘Godkind’. The Ankhanum were explicitly designed by Arksonne to bring death to the immortal Godkind – the motivation behind this decision are not well understood to this day.

While the true origins of the Godkind are lost to time, my research has suggested they were once ordinary planet-dwellers. It was scientific advancement and biological tampering that would allow them to overcome death, their bodies shedding and rapidly regenerating damaged or aging cells.

However, once exposed to the Ankhanum, those cells broke down faster than they could regenerate – the infected simply melt. The ‘remains’ are bio-hazardous and must be disposed of properly, lest more of the Ankhanum emerge; in the past, the Godkind would gather up the leftovers and dispose of them via star¹. Although the Godkind have devised methods of combating the Ankhanum, infection is ultimately fatal².

Ankhanum’s reign of terror ended after being torn apart and abandoned on a barren asteroid...until that asteroid began to support life.

In time, its cells bled into water sources and crept onto land masses, where they would make contact with living things. The first Entities discovered a remarkable compatibility with the humankind in particular; though mortal lifeforms are curiously immune to the virus’ deadly properties, those infected were irreversibly changed by the process.

The Ankhanum have been living alongside, as well as inside, humanity since.

Due to their ongoing war with the remnants of the Godkind, the Ankhanum have experienced periods of near extinction, seeming to die out and disappear. This appears to be the cause of their fabled status in human history. Yet against all odds, they continue to persist with roach-like tenacity.

What’s in a name, anyway? What exactly does ‘Ankhanum’ mean?

In the context of the Godkind’s language, a name was rather a two syllable title that indicated the role of that individual in their society.

Anzr was the original title of the Ankhanum, given to them by their maker and posthumous host Arksonne. Simply, Anzr means ‘red end’, as in death.

It would later take on the three syllable title we are familiar with: Ankhanum (lit. Red Rot).

According to one of the Entities I’ve interviewed, three syllable titles were a sign of reverence when assigned by others (an example being a figure titled Unelvar, thought to be a deified figure even to the Godkind!).

When such a title is assigned by oneself, however, it is considered an arrogant mockery of the custom; the Ankhanum spit in the eye of the Godkind at any given opportunity, it seems.

THE VECTORS OF TRANSMISSION & HUMAN-ANKHANUM SYMBIOSIS

Infection can occur in a myriad of ways and display in as many more. The first layers of skin, the hair, bodily fluids and other byproducts are not infectious, ex. contact with the saliva of infected organisms will not result in exposure¹.

Overwhelmingly exposure occurs when the blood of the Ankhanum enter another organism’s bloodstream, such as through open wounds, direct injection or the consumption of contaminated flesh or blood. Ingestion has proved an effective method of infection; the Ankhanum have even evolved over time to resist gastric acid.

When the blood is allowed to dry on a surface, it changes properties in a curious way. It may become moss-like, or- rather, mold-like - inhaling the spores of which can lead to exposure.

The Ankhanum have a preference for warm-blooded organisms, though they can live well enough in the cold-blooded. Interestingly, infection is prone to making the cold-blooded more sluggish – perhaps to make them more easily preyed upon by a warm-blooded organism!

Although the Ankhanum can and do lead fulfilling lives outside other organisms, it appears living inside is not only preferred, but more beneficial for the Ankhanum and its host: in exchange for shelter and sustenance, infected organisms are inoculated against what I’ll call a type of ‘divine intervention’, as in, the Godkind are unable to biologically alter lifeforms carrying the virus.

Note that this does not protect said lifeform from physical violence at their hands…unless the hosting organism is infected enough to defend itself.

Carriers

Carriers are otherwise regular human beings carrying the virus². The Ankhanum cells attach themselves to and merge with the hosting organism’s blood cells (or equivalent). These combined cells divide rapidly in one large ‘burst’ of activity...and cease.

At this stage, the altered cells are few enough in number they won’t affect the host. Nor is the Ankhanum within a mere carrier capable of ‘true’ sentience - not unlike the bacteria & microorganisms living on and within our bodies already.

The only notable physical change carriers undergo is an increase in blood pressure and viscosity. This can prove fatal if the individual is already prone to heart problems or clots.

Carriers also appear unable to tap into the abilities unique to the Ankhanum, putting them at a distinct disadvantage against the more advanced infected, or the Godkind themselves.

Curiously, there’s no advancement of the infection in carriers unless they’re further exposed to the virus. I have to wonder if humans developed a level of immunity to the Ankhanum over the millennia…?