The Virus is a mechanic in Desynced.
Viral Infection
The Virus is first seen on Glitch Bots found on Plateaus. These bots are shut down and sparking with viral energy. Any bots or buildings brought within a 1-tile radius have a chance each second for the Virus to spread to them. Infected units can then further spread the virus.
When affected by the Virus a bot or building will randomly shut down every few seconds, requiring a manual restart by the player. Bots will also have move speed reduced by about 75%, presenting a clear danger when trying to clear out Bug hives on the Plateau.
Virus Cures and Benefits
When a player faction first discovers the virus, either via infection or by picking up an Infected Circuit from a destroyed Glitch Bot, ELAIN will provide them with the recipe for the Virus Protection component. When installed the bot or building will no longer have the Virus and cannot be infected. Further protection can be gained from the Virus Cure component which provides the same effect over an area.
Any time a unit receives a Virus cure, whether a Glitch Bot or player unit, all units with Virus inventory slots within 2 tiles will capture one Viral Source Code. This item is required to use the teleportation functions of the Anomaly Resimulator and Virus Simulation Core. By deliberately infecting and curing your own units it is possible to generate large amounts of Viral Source Code.
Upon completing the Total Protection research, infected units within the faction no longer suffer random shutdowns. The slowdown penalty is reduced from 75% to 50%. Infected units also begin generate 35 power each.