Rise of the Nadir: Algol Arc

Twelve years ago a mysterious virus began to spread rampantly throughout the Algol Sector within the Flavian Trade Federation. The virus, dubbed IN-fection, turned the people into undead monstrosities and caused the collapse of a number of sky islands, including the Lost November Tragedy. The Eviyon Consortium had enough and spent considerable efforts to contain the outbreak. SHUGO, the most prominent researcher of the virus, proposed the DoLL Resolution, a plan to create artificial DoLL Beads that would link with the real ones within DoLLs, this would allow them to create DoLL Partners that would use DoLLs to fight the IN-fection.

Characters

 * Shugo Hanley - A DoLL Contractor linked with the DoLL Robin. He became obsessed with the infection after his fiance' Liley succumbed to it five years prior. Through an accident he was able to revive her as a DoLL and became her contractor. Believing that the DoLL would one day become a second Liley he raised her, but becomes conflicted as he begins to see Robin differently from a replacement for Liley.
 * Liley - SHUGO and Shugo's fiance'. She died of IN-fection five years prior to the story, but was reborn as a DoLL thanks to a DoLL Contract with Shugo. It is later learned that she was the younger sister of Rem, who was SHUGO's original fiance'.
 * "The Masked Man" - Believed to be the "Source of IN-fection", he helps Shugo escape the Corpse Core when they capture him early on and reappears throughout the Arc giving Shugo assistance. It is shown to Shugo that he can control the IN-fected.
 * SHUGO - Shugo's older twin brother and Liley's original fiance'. He lived happily with Shugo and Liley until he discovered that he was a Missing Rebound patient. He overcame it and remembered Rem his real fiance' and the girl that everyone forgot. He could not forgive himself or anyone else for forgetting Rem and manipulated events to revive her by making her a Corpse Princess. He introduced the DoLL Resolution and founded the Corpse Core and is assumed to be dead after an explosion in the headquarters during Imperial Year 9984.
 * Rem - Liley's older sister and the original fiance' of SHUGO. She died fifteen years ago causing SHUGO to go into Missing Rebound. When he overcame it, he turned her into a Corpse Princess which directly led to the Lost November Tragedy.
 * DoLL Hunter - A mysterious man that hunts DoLLs for their beads. Not much is known about him, though he was confirmed to be human and not an elder IN-fected.
 * Azusa - One of the DoLL Princesses involved in the Lost November Tragedy. is her Corpse Keeper and she is modeled after his mother Levie that died during Imperial Year 9979.
 * Mihli - A girl that arrives on Algol in the midst of the Corpse Core murders.
 * Varnish - A retired DoLL Partner, he and his DoLL Resie were pulled out of retirement when the DoLL Hunter kills 4 DoLLs and their partners.
 * Resie - A DoLL contracted to Varnish. She is retired and is called back into service with her partner after the DoLL Hunter kills 4 DoLLs and their partners.
 * Yato - Levie's son and the first known Corpse Keeper. He befriended SHUGO early on and was the one that taught him about the Corpse Princesses.
 * Kipi - Robin reborn as a Corpse Princess.
 * Wilcox - A former first-generation DoLL Partner, he lost his DoLL five years prior and the use of his legs. He serves as the base commander for the DoLL Partner teams. It is later revealed that he is slowly suffering from IN-fection.
 * Hanogi

Timeline

 * Imperial Year 9979 - Levie and Rem's death by IN-fection, SHUGO goes into Missing Rebound. The spread of the virus is first noticed.
 * Imperial Year 9980 - SHUGO contracts IN-fection, overcomes it and regains his memory about REM that he forgot during Missing Rebound. He begins madly researching IN-fection
 * Imperial Year 9982 - Lost November Tragedy, SHUGO with blessings of the Eviyon Consortium, proposes the DoLL Resolution. It is approved and he creates the Corpse Core.
 * Imperial Year 9984 - SHUGO is presumed dead after an explosion at the Corpse Core headquarters. Liley becomes Shugo's fiance'.
 * Imperial Year 9989 - Liley contracts IN-fection and is turned into a DoLL by Shugo.
 * Imperial Year 9994 -
 * The DoLL Hunter begins hunting and murdering DoLLs and their partners.
 * Mihli Lilty arrives on Algol.
 * Robin is killed by the DoLL Hunter, "The Masked Man" teaches Shugo a way to revive her.
 * Corpse Core detain Shugo under suspicion of IN-fection.
 * "The Masked Man" causes an IN-fection reaction inside the Corpse Core headquarters, creating hundreds of newly [[IN-fected].
 * The DoLL Hunter breaks into Corpse Core headquarters during the confusion.
 * Shugo escapes confinement thanks to Mihli.
 * "The Masked Man" leads him to the DoLL Hunter.
 * The DoLL Hunter helps Shugo and Mihli escape.
 * Four DoLLs and their partners try to stop Shugo from leaving, but are killed by the DoLL Hunter, he collects their beads.

Terminology and Locations

 * Algol - Sky Island where the majority of the arc takes place.
 * IN-fection - A mysterious new virus that began to spread rampantly in the Algol Sector fifteen years prior to story. It turns people into IN-fected and causes those around them to lose all memories of said person. There is no known cure at this time.
 * IN-fected - Mindless zombie-like creatures that hunt humans for prey. They kill by sucking out the brains and eating it, thus gaining access to memories their primary source of nutrients. When a person becomes infected their mind will slowly degrade within a period of 72 hours until they become zombiefied and begin to instinctively hunt humans for their brains. Those who survive this 72 hour period becomes DoLLs.
 * DoLL - The Otherside of IN-fection, infected that have died and reborn with mind intact. They begin as children but grow at an accelerated rate. They need to "eat" memories to maintain themselves and do so by eating other infected. DoLLs have a black-circular bead within their brain that allows them to function normally. These "beads" degrade slowly as they fight infected, eventually breaking, which causes them to succumb to IN-fection themselves within a few hours after the bead breaks. T
 * IRF - Imaginary Reality Field, A semi-reality marble that are unconsciously generated by IN-fected, it renders them immune to conventional weapons and allows them to regenerate their body until their brain is destroyed.
 * IRF Breakers - Weapons or tools created by DoLLs which help them to bypass or break IRFs. IRF Breakers further IN-fection degradation on DoLLs whenever they are used, this is theorized to occur because it is the DoLL consciously using its own IRF offensively.
 * Missing Rebound - A mental disorder that occurs in individuals that survive watching someone close turn into IN-fected or DoLLs. The individual loses memories of said person but the mental trauma experienced breaks the mind. "Recovery" is possible, but will take 6-12 months. Complete recovery however, is impossible. Symptoms after "recovery" are similar to PTSD. Missing Rebound can reoccur in the same individual if they are forced to recall memories of IN-fected/DoLL hard enough. This does not occur in DoLL Partners.
 * DoLL Partners - Someone, usually a close friend or relative, of a DoLL from their former life. This person embeds an artificial DoLL Bead into their body, which allows them to keep their memories of the DoLL's former life and also forms a close link with the DoLL. The special bond between DoLLs and their partners also helps to slow the rate of IN-fection degradation. Partners that are killed cause the DoLLs to accelerate toward IN-fected status, but can be stopped by forming a new DoLL Contract with another person within 24 hours.DoLL Partners require the use of artificial DoLL Beads.
 * Corpse Core - An organization created by SHUGO, with blessings of the Eviyon Consortium, to deal with the IN-fection. They control all major institutions in the Algol Sector including the media and communication services. Corpse Core also employees DoLLs and their partners to purge IN-fected and are the creators of the DoLL Contract.
 * Corpse Princess - The true origin of IN-fection. No one is sure of how or where they came from. They are created from the corpse of an IN-fection victim combined with the corpse of a former Corpse Princess through a ritual. The IN-fection victim is then revived as a Corpse Princess through a process similar to that of a DoLL. They will regain all memories of their former life combined with new memories of their master throughout the accelerated aging process. Corpse Princesses number the same amount of sky islands as there are in the Algol Sector. Throughout the ten years of research, only two have been known to exist, though both are considered destroyed after the Lost November Tragedy.
 * Corpse Keeper - Caretaker of the Corpse Princess. They are usually the one that made the IN-fection victim into a Corpse Princess. They serve as guardian, lover, and master of the Corpse Princess until she matures.
 * DoLL Bead - A term for the black bead-like object inside of a DoLL's brain that stops the IN-fection process. The name also refers to the artificial ones created by Corpse Core from fragments of Azusa. The beads are used to perform DoLL Contracts to make eligible people into DoLL Partners.
 * DoLL Resolution - A proposed plan by SHUGO that was approved. It mainly called for the creation of artificial DoLL Beads, which lead to the creation of DoLL Partners.
 * Lost November Tragedy - An event that takes occurred twelve years prior to the story that details the fall of the sky island of November through the awakening and subsequent "death" of two corpse princesses.