Necrosis is a progressive stage of death completed in the 48 hours following cardiac arrest, where chiral matter begins to infiltrate the body as the subjects soul attempts to return to it. If allowed to progress, a deceased subject becomes a new beached thing.
Overview[]
A corpses body bag with the tar oozing out, one step away from "going necro".
Necrosis occurs when a non-repatriate dies following a cardiac arrest and his body is left unchecked for the following 48 hours. For the Egyptians, humans are composed of two elements: the Ha, body, and the Ka, soul. The Egyptians also believed death is not an instantaneous change of state, but a process where the soul moves from one realm to another: when death occurs, the soul vacates the body and passes into the Seam, from there it transitions to the Beach, and only then on to the world of the dead. But this process is somewhat changed following the Death Stranding because now, a soul that has already made its journey to the Beach may attempt to return to its body in this world. This process, that lasts 48 hours, fill the body with chiral matter, which comes out of the body in the form of tar, until the subject body disappears in the tar and becomes a new BT.
Due to the implications death has now in the world, individuals nearing death are quarantined and put in isolation wards on the outskirts of the cities, so they may be monitored in case they go into cardiac arrest. To prevent necrosis then, Bridges Corpse Disposal is dispatched immediately following a person's death to transport their corpse, in special body bags, to the nearest incinerator for proper cremation, as cremation severed the link between the soul and body. Incineration must be done away from population centers, as the process releases large amounts of chiral matter into the atmosphere, with negative health effects for humans and acting as an attractant for BTs.
Brain death also does not trigger necrosis; stillmothers are evidence of such, failing to enter necrosis despite being brain dead for far longer than 48 hours.
Notes[]
- The 48 hour window of time in which a corpse gradually reaches complete necrosis is informally described as "going necro".
- DOOMS carrier seems able to discern how far along a corpse is in necrosis, as Sam, a level 2, does at the beginning of the game.
- This necrosis is unrelated to natural biological necrosis, which humans no longer experience due to the Death Stranding.