Are the novel life forms present in sources of water within nature, actually viruses designed to be beneficial to higher life forms when taken up to become passengers in their cells?

These are virus-like but do have some unique characteristics. They can be thought of as viruses and that puts it more on a rational materialist footing that would be satisfying for many, especially skeptics, because you will be dealing with something familiar and not something like a unicorn that requires belief, totally, in something unconventional. They are, indeed, ultra-microscopic, being quite tiny in size, but are an efficient conveyance of divine energy. That is their purpose and their value. They are a kind of sentinel that keeps an eye on vital signs, in a sense, and alerts the divine when there is an irregularity. So they become in tune with the higher self of a person to act, in a sense, as sensors and a kind of early warning system there might be trouble because they will pick up energetic discord and relay that fact to headquarters, so to speak. Then, the higher self might take action, depending on the status of things, prior history, the belief systems in play, and other rules of engagement criteria that might well support a divine intervention or rule it out, as the case might be. This is also the key to why they are so valuable. It is not they are in possession of tremendous reach and capability for thinking, evaluating, and carrying out healing. They are a natural bridge between a human being and the divine realm as a kind of relay for divine love and healing. That is what makes them not only special, but extremely helpful when people need it most. This is a layer of awareness built into the system so higher intelligence can receive a continual feedback on the status quo and then provide a platform for intervention when needed, to get healing underway.