Do the effects of the Crossed virus depend on your personal notions of good and evil?
In general, it seems like the Crossed are committed to do the most "evil" things they can-- murder, rape, physical abuse, speaking almost entirely in profanity, and so on. In short, they seemingly exist to break taboos. But as we all know, taboos are different across cultures, and even within cultures.
The other day I got into an argument with a hardcore MAGA supporter, who said some horrifically hateful things about transgender people. It was clear the two of us would never see eye to eye on the subject. But it got me thinking. To someone like me, who believes everyone should be tolerated no matter their beliefs (except, of course, those who are intolerant), being transphobic would be breaking a taboo. But to her, accepting transgender people would be breaking a taboo, since she made it clear their very existence offended her.
In +100 we're introduced to Beauregard Salt, a serial killer who was so deranged and sadistic that being infected with the virus barely changed his personality. Salt remains more or less the same as he was before he was infected. But Salt seems like the kind of person who would actively break taboos even without the virus. He'd be fully aware of what he was doing and why it was wrong, and choose to do it anyway, with our without being Crossed.
But that's not most people.
So is there a fixed set of behaviors that the Crossed virus induces in its victims, or does it depend on what the victim considered "evil"?
Posted Feb 15, 2026, 3:08 AM UTC