Tiberium

General Info
Tiberium is the alien scourge of the world's ecosystem. First discovered in 1995 at a meteorite impact site near the Tiber River, Tiberium is crystalline in appearance, normally growing 4 to 8 inches in height. It is plant-like in nature, and is rapidly growing and spreading all around the world. Tiberium flourishes in warm areas such as near the equator. It does not grow as easily in cold or dry enviroments such as deserts or tundra. This has the unfortunate effect of forcing evacuated humans to live in these desolate areas, generally in the cold areas in the extreme north or south of the planet. Tiberium is extremely toxic to all carbon-based life forms on Earth. Various methods are used to protect against the dangers of Tiberium, the most notable of which is the Prototype Assault Suit.

Appearance

 * (For pictures of each individual type of Tiberium, see their respective sections.)

Tiberium is essentially a crystal. They grow in patches, often around a central feature. This can be: Bioluminescence is a noted feature of Tiberium patches (sometimes "fields" if they are larger).
 * A Blossom (Spore) Tree
 * A large Tiberium Cruentus crystal
 * For "Veins", a "Veinhole Monster", though this happens in a slightly different way.

Harvesting
It lives by a particular way of sucking up nutrients from the ground, leaving it bare and unsuitable for agriculture. The end result of this unique leaching process is that the Tiberium crystals can be easily harvested for industrial means with the minimum of mining expense. On the world market it is very valuable, and it is the rich mineral wealth of these crystals that has allowed the GDI and the Brotherhood of Nod to amass such huge armies. It was the Brotherhood of Nod which first pioneered the mining process, and consequentially became very wealthy which gave it the upper hand at the beginning of the First Tiberium War. Harvesting is now carried out by the use of automated, driverless harvesters. One interesting development came about from the Prototype Assault Suit project headed by Dr. Ignatio Mobius and his daughter Sydney Mobius. The suit contained an advanced electro-magnetic radiation detector. This was the basis for Sensor Arrays, but particularly, in this case equipment on board harvesters that can seek out tiberium. Before Dr. Mobius' invention, a driverless harvester could not find Tiberium to harvest unless a person had uploaded visual contact into the EVA database. Now, with the Tiberium radiation detector, a harvester can find any type of tiberium to harvest up to a distance or three miles. The Brotherhood of Nod and the Global Defense Initiative both use very much the same harvesting technology and equipment, as the former sold its technology to the world in the late 1990s, and the Brother hood stole the latter's Prototype Assault Suit for a short period towards the end of the First Tiberium War. Also, as mining operations are so extensive throughout the world, any technological advance made by one faction is likely to be gained very quickly by the other.
 * Harvesters are volatile when holding harvested tiberium, and full harvesters should be avoided unless being attacked by heavy ranged units, such as Titan Walkers and Artillery.
 * Both sides have been rumored to use advanced harvesters, which are amphibious and can carry more tiberium. However, these harvesters are likely to be even more explosive when destroyed.

Riparius
This is the most basic form of Tiberium. Its crystals are small and green in appearance, generally not growing more than one foot off the ground. It is toxic to all known carbon-based lifeforms on earth, and produces very small amounts of the tiberium gas. The Prototype Assault Suit will protect the wearer from 99% of the radiation and gas.

Chemical Composition:
 * Phosphor: 42.5%
 * Iron: 32.5%
 * Calcium: 15.25%
 * Copper: 5.75%
 * Silica: 2.5%
 * Unknown: 1.5%

Green Tiberium was the basic form of Tiberium which came in the meoterites at the Tiber River 1995 and therefore given the name Riparius (meaning growing near a river). This was the first type of Tiberium extensively studied by Dr. Ignatio Mobius. Riparius grows and spreads very fast - about an acre a month in temperate climates.

Vinifera
As Vinifera did not appear until after the First Tiberium War, Dr. Ignatio Mobius did not manage to study it in great detail before he died. Extensive studying of this tricky crystal by scientists of the Global Defense Initiative has shown that after some time, developed Riparius crystals mature into Tiberium Vinifera, which is blue in appearance, and has crystals about the same size as Riparius. Vinifera has some special properties which distinguish it greatly from Riparius. When it explodes, it does not blow up all at once. The crystals in a patch blow up randomly in patches, often with gaps of up to 20 seconds between each explosion. The reason for this is as of yet unknown.
 * 1) It grows/spreads much more slowly than Riparius.
 * 2) It is much better at leaching minerals from the ground, and therefore has greater economic value than Riparius.
 * 3) It is highly combustable and unstable. It explodes violently when brought into contact with fire or other explosives.

Aboreus
Tiberium Aboreus is very similiar in appearance to Vinifera, and shares many of the same properties. It is thought that it is slightly more valuable in minerals and slightly more explosive, but this has not been conclusively scientifically proven yet. Apparently there were enough chemical differences for Dr. Moebius to put it in a class of its own.

Cruentus
These are large crystals, similiar in appearance to the above two strains of tiberium, except they grow in clumps of approximately 1 square metre to a height of one to two metres. They spread patches of Tiberium Vinifera and Aboreus around them. These crystals are extremely explosive and quite rare. When exploded they shower crystals around the landscape up to 600 metres. This is thought to be a method of spreading Tiberium.

Gases
Tiberium gas is highly corrosive in nature and will damage vehicles and buildings. Soldiers without a special suit will die as soon as the gas enters their lungs or when the gas is absorbed into the blood stream as it usually causes mutations, turning them into visceroids. Fortunately, the concentrations of Tiberium during the First Tiberium War were relatively low compared to what followed.

Chemical Composition:
 * Methane: 22%
 * Sulfur: 19%
 * Naphthalene: 12%
 * Argon: 10%
 * Isobutane: 6%
 * Xylene: 2%
 * Unknown: 29%

Dangers of Tiberium
As said above, Tiberium is highly toxic to all lifeforms. Prolonged exposure to the crystals will cause illness. Since the 1990s, communities worldwide have been blighted.

Causes of Mutation
Basically, the typical dangers of a patch of Tiberium fall into five groups:
 * Direct: Danger from the actual patch. Small particles of Tiberium crystals entering the body by actually walking through it.
 * Atmospheric: Tiberium gas will contaminate up to 200 metres around the patch, more in the case of "Veinhole Monsters". Global atmospher poisoning is also taking place: experts conclude that 90% of the Earth will become completely uninhabitable by 2100. In dry conditions, wind can also carry small shards of crystals, like dust, quite large distances. Woe betides anyone who gets it in their face and eyes.
 * Food Chain: Tiberium can get into the local food chain, especially the water supply. This is especially dangerous, but can be brought under control with filters and tests.
 * Somewhat Indirect: Danger from beings mutated by the tiberium. If a being becomes mutated, turning into a visceroid, then the visceroid has a chance of exploding when reaching life. This in turn will spread more tiberium, which will cause more mutation, and may even cause lifeforms to mutate into deadly adult visceroids.

Process of Mutation
The Process of Mutation, while mainly unknown, appears to occur in stages. A massive amount of Tiberium Toxin is likely to turn a human directly into a Visceroid, killing it in the process. It is believed that this has to do with Tiberium concentration in the tissues.

More moderate exposure to Tiberium will corrupt only certain tissues, turning the person into a mutant. Only over time will the patient go insane, and, it is presumed, turn into a visceroid. Due to Tiberium's continued status 1.5 percent unknown compounds, the exact process of mutation has yet to be revealed.

It is hoped that the Tacitus will explain both the process of mutation and a way to reverse it.

Flora

 * Trees: There have been reports of strange trees that have black "bark" and green splotches in the "bark", and may have little green "leaf" things dangling from tentacles that extend from the top of the "tree". These trees are most probably results of trees mutating from tiberium.
 * Other: There have also been sightings of "tiberium bushes", or little bushes that have been mutated to create tiberium sludge, which will just slow down anything that walks through it.
 * Blossom Trees: These are most likely trees that have been mutated to spread tiberium. They are basically spore trees, and every few hours, will release spores into the air. These spores will root into the ground and become tiberium, therefore spreading the tiberium. The trees are invincible.

Fauna
See Tiberium Creatures for more details on Tiberium fauna.
 * Visceroid: There are two types of visceroid, baby and adult. Baby visceroids form when an infantryman wanders through tiberium for too long, and mutates into a visceroid, which is basically a blob of flesh. Adult visceroids are born when two baby visceroids fuse together, and these visceroids are very deadly, consuming anything in its path. These heal in tiberium.
 * Tiberium Fiend (Canus Tiberius): These dog-like creatures are most likely the result of animal mutation, and grow tiberium on their backs. They throw shards, which have been dubbed Fiend Shards, and are typically deadly against all units that attempt to attack it. These also heal in tiberium.

Humans
The long-term effects of Tiberium on humans are equally radical. It causes growth of Tiberium crystals on the entire body of the individual. Most people 'infected' by Tiberium are part of an alliance known as the Forgotten.

Uses of Mutation (Military or Otherwise)

 * This section only has more biological aspects of cyborgs. For more strategically orientated descriptions see the Cyborgs page.

Origins of Tiberium
The origins of Tiberium are unknown, except that it it came from space, and possibly from the Scrin, although the exact origin is still unknown. What is known is that in 1995, a meteorite deposited Tiberium near the Tiber river in Italy. That was the first Tiberium anywhere on earth, although since then numerous other meteorites, laden with Tiberium, have impacted the earth. Again, Tiberium's ultimate whereabouts are unknown.