Space Hurps



Space Hurps is an affliction plaguing some residents of Veins of Helios, in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, turning Hyperion employees into various kinds of Infected. Vault Hunters entering the Quarantine Area can develop symptoms of Space Hurps, though the effects will disappear after a short while once the area is left

History
Space Hurps is caused by a type of brain parasite, introduced to Helios by Colonel Zarpedon in an effort to cripple Helios Station with the infection, thus preventing Hyperion from searching for Elpis' or Pandora's Vaults. Zarpedon provided a colony of Brain Bugs to Lazlo, a worker on the station, and convinced him that the brain bugs would be somehow beneficial. Upon releasing the bugs, however, the maintenance personnel were quickly taken over and Lazlo put the area into voluntary quarantine, in an effort to prevent its spread into the rest of Helios. Infected personnel continue to live outside of the explicitly quarantined area, but do not appear to be infectious after being separated from the influence of the Brain Bug colonies.

Brain Bugs
A collection of five Brain Bugs can be found deep in the Quarantine Area, and are the primary source of the Space Hurps infection. They are green, spiky blobs with a skull on the top. When they take damage (whether through weapons, melee, gravity slams, etc), they will temporarily dissolve down to the floor, but will slowly re-form within a few tens of seconds, at which point they revert to their usual state.

Interaction
Vault Hunters who enter the Quarantine Area in Veins of Helios will start to develop visual symptoms of Space Hurps infestation, starting with subtle green veins around the edges of the screen, eventually escalating to orange boil-like graphics along the edges, with transparent green spots floating across the full range of vision. The final stage of Space Hurps cannot be reached without actually executing a melee attack on a Brain Bug -- weapon damage will not cause it.

Space Hurps does not actually affect the Vault Hunters in any way, apart from the visual changes, and the effect will eventually dissipate after the Quarantine Area has been left.