Dr. schwan’s Research and Development Team/Les Produits du Textile de Médecin Schwan

Les Produits du Textile de Médecin Schwan

During a particularly violent time in the history of the D.S. R&D, the group came under fire by an organization called the Heathers. This group, composed of narcissistic, fashion-crazed women and their indentured manslaves, set Dr. Schwan to thinking that perhaps there was another way in which he could improve the quality of life for those within the Malton quarantine zone. He began to look at those around him, seeing a cornucopia of tattered and bloodstained cloth. He reasoned to himself “these survivors have been living in Malton for years, and surprisingly, their number has only grown. The supply drops include necessities but not very many luxury items like clothing. The malls, being the largest repository of goods (including clothing), have become such a popular target for the zombie hoards that none have escaped being ransacked. Add to this the bits of folk wisdom by which we live including ‘dress for success’ and ‘every girl’s crazy bout a sharp dressed man,’ it stands to reason that the demand for quality clothing must greatly exceed the present supply. Perhaps there is a way to rectify this issue…through science”

Excited at having identified a problem, he turned his attention to the resolution. “But what do people wear?” He looked around, noticing a mix-mash of trench coats, T-shirts, practical clothing, and costumes, and quickly decided that there was no unifying sense of style in Malton. The answer then must lie not in the production of clothing but in the production of quality textiles out of which people may make or have made their own clothing.

With no local livestock or cotton crop, the problem of designing such fabrics at first appeared daunting. Dr. Schwan briefly considered the idea of using products derived from discarded zombie material but decided that such fabric would be little better than bloodstained cloth. More ingenuity would be required. The result…a new line of products from Colglough industries…Les Produits du Textile de Médecin Schwan

Médecin Schwan’s Self Mending Silk

The first product in the textile line, Médecin Schwan’s Self Mending Silk is a marvel of cutting edge rot science at work.

As he set out to introduce quality textiles to Malton, Dr. Schwan was puzzled as to where to begin: while leather is practical, its relative durability makes it still somewhat obtainable. Cotton, as a plant product, presented other difficulties. These thoughts and others crossed his mind as he lay prone on the street in Woolley Grove waiting for the revivification serum to finish repairing his broken body. He was continuing in this vein, sensation slowly returning to his body, when—conscious though unable to blink due to the residual influence of his patented optical paralytic—he became distracted by the presence of an uninvited guest. A spider, who had just climbed from the mouth of a nearby corpse, had made its way to Dr. Schwan and begun to build a web from his eyelashes to the ground. He compartmentalized the nettling itch of the spider’s legs to a different portion of his brain and observed.

As the spider spun, the Dr. observed certain peculiarities in the design of its web. The newly made web seemed damaged: places that should be connected into an organized repeating pattern loosely governed by Fibonacci‘s sequence, were left empty. As the Dr. continued to watch, he observed one of the many flies that inhabit revive points fly dangerously close to the web, swerve directly into it, pass through a gap in the web design and fly off uninjured. This event did not seem to perturb the spider at all. Curious. He continued to watch as the spider finished the web, adding strange secretions along it that appeared to mimic the effect of dust and decay. Its work complete, the spider retreated behind the doctor’s left ear.

Little time had passed before another spider happened by and spotted the web. Taking it for abandoned, the second spider advanced towards the doctor’s still open eye to examine the find, but no sooner had it set foot on the curious web, than it was stuck fast to the dust-like secretion. There was movement behind Dr. Schwan’s ear and the first spider was upon its snared victim, ripping it from the web and consuming its head and abdomen. In the place where the second arachnid had been, the web began to mend itself. The Dr. blinked in amazement, suddenly realizing that he had been able to move for some time and was merely transfixed with fascination. This action collapsed the web on top of the first spider. As it struggled, Dr. Schwan scooped it up in his hand and dropped it into one of the many sample jars he carries on his person.

Studying it later, using what equipment he could scavenge while hiding in the ruins of Colglough, the Dr. confirmed his original suspicion: the spider was indeed infected with the rot virus. Further study revealed that the web coating contained elements of the same digestive enzyme the zombies use to regenerate wounds by feeding on corpses, explaining the web’s regenerative properties. To make a long story short, 15,000 infected spiders, three chemical treatments, one fully automated subterranean spinning facility, and a series of chemical dye applications later, and the first bolt of Médecin Schwan’s Self Mending Silk rolled off the loom.

This fabric, available in every color of the litmus paper ph reaction spectrum, can be made into shirts, dresses, or undergarments. Exposure to blood causes each strand of the fabric to mend itself making sure that, though your body may be battered, your pride may remain intact. (warning: do not let fabric bunch during exposure to blood as bonding between layers will occur)

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