History Fridge / Fallout76

* Some aspects of the Scorched plague actually may make some horrifying sense. A notable aspect of the plague is that it is fungal like in quality. If one looks around, one can discover the original biochemical agent used to mutate the bats that became the scorch beast is noted to be some form of radiation senstive fungi found underground. This isn't that strange as fungi are notorious for their ability to break down resilient substances with some radiation as an aid for metabolizing other agents, as well as break down minerals like iron to release nutrients they can then uptake. The latter still results in byproducts that can be other minerals. This wouldn't be much of an issue if not for a key feature of the setting. A potential danger of fallout is the byproduct of Strontium. Which is a radioactive isotope that is so chemically similar to the calcium in your bones it can and will fully replace it functionally. It is however still radioactive, and considering its been a mere 25 years since the bombs fell, it's entirely likely that most living organisms around have undergone such an effect.
Ultracite deposits notably originate in the same areas that gave rise to the scorchbeast and appear to have spread into previously abandoned mining areas. Taking it all together, ultracite may be the byproduct of the fungi used as the biochemical substance for the scorchbeast, and the scorch plague is essentially the fungi boring down into the host bones to make use of the strontium making them up. It even explains the petrification, as if the host doesn't keep active and eating to make more strontium the fungi continues to feed on what's availalbe, to the point of ultracite replacing the biological tissues of the host.