Blade: The Series - Aurora Project

Aurora Project

The Aurora Project is a virus engineering program. Ten years ago, the pureblood vampires from the House of Chthon contracted with Marcus Van Sciver, head of their Detroit operations, to produce a vaccine that would eliminate the vampires genetic weakness to garlic, sunlight and silver. The result of the project was the creation of the Aurora Virus.

During the experimentation and testing phases, Aurora was tested on hundreds of vampires from the House of Armaya. Armayans were kidnapped, shrink wrapped in plastic, and forcibly injected with Aurora. They were then subjected to injections of garlic. The test subjects almost all died. Under pressure from the purebloods, Marcus finally developed a viable vaccine that was tested on the vampire Fritz. Fritz developed an immunity to garlic, silver, and sunlight. Fritz subsequently fought Blade to a draw. Marcus ordered Fritz to Prague to display his newfound immunity to the purebloods, instead Fritz went to find Blade and finish their battle. Fritz lost, and was beheaded by Krista Starr before Blade could capture him and find out what Aurora was.

In the meantime, Damek (last pureblood from the House of Armaya) discovered that Marcus was using Armayans for experimentation. He used this knowledge to blackmail the House of Chthon into giving Armaya their seat back on the vampire council and getting a portion of all profits from the venture, plus first access to the vaccine. Growing impatient, Charlotte from the House of Chthon began to put pressure on Marcus to deliver the vaccine. Marcus finally told her it was ready, and a vampire conclave was organized to present the vaccine to the purebloods.

At the same time, Blade was attempting to get a sample of Aurora. Blade was concerned that if vampires made themselves immune to all of their weaknesses, they would rise up and try to rule the humans. Blade attempted to secure a sample through Krista, but she failed to retrieve a vial from the lab at Chthon. It was then that Marcus revealed to Krista that the vaccine didn't work, and that if Fritz hadn't been killed by her he would've died anyway. The vaccine was a ploy to cover for Marcus' true project, the Aurora Virus. Finally, Blade tracked down a woman named Vanessa who had been impregnated by Dr. Vonner. Blade kidnapped the woman and took her to a doctor of his own, who revealed she was not pregnant but actually incubating a strange fluid. Blade took a sample of the fluid and had it analyzed, and it was determined that it was a keyhole virus designed to attack pureblood vampires. Blade quickly learned that Marcus planned to betray the purebloods at the conclave and kill them all to seize control of the House of Chthon.

Marcus kidnapped a pureblood vampire named Alex and used him as the final test subject for Aurora. He was placed in a chamber with Chase and subjected to the Aurora virus. The virus caused Alex to die horribly, but Chase was spared. Satisfied that the virus worked, Marcus made his next move and attempted to assassinate Charlotte. Marcus' plot failed, partly due to a betrayal by Chase, but Charlotte was killed anyway when Blade found her. Using her death as a catalyst, the conclave was convened. Marcus attempted to deploy the virus but it did not work, it was then that he learned of Chase's duplicity. Blade eventually killed the purebloods with a canister of the virus that he threw into the air and shot.

Marcus left the conclave still in possession of the Aurora virus.