| Item#36: Fungal Parasite | |||
| Size | 5.10cm | Type | Organic |
| Living | Yes | Sentient | No |
| Hazards | Infection of insurgent personnel | Gear | Standard Protective Equipment, Biological Protection Equipment |
| Location | Chemistry Laboratory, Base-7 | Anomaly | Anomalous Fungus |
| An F1 Instance. |
|---|
Usage
Delta Command has shut down the Anansi Program until further notice. No F1 Instances will be reproduced or used until a new secure protocol is designed and a new containment procedure is adopted to keep the F2 and F3 instances safe.
Any sightings of an F3 instance outside the Base-7 perimeter are to be reported immediately and eliminated if possible.
Report
The Item is a strain of an anomalous fungus-based lifeform by the name of Ophiocordyceps Maligna. It is only capable of spreading through the bite of an F1 Instance. The fungus was the result of cross-experimentation between Item#27 and Item of Interest#76: Neuronal Fungus (See File below for more information)
F1 Instances
The specimens resemble large arachnids with multiple thin, sharp appendages. The instances appear to be incapable of reproducing naturally, their primary goal being individual self-preservation. The instances are completely covered from the top of the abdomen to the head by a white, moldy fungus.
F2 Instances
These are humans infected by the fungus due to the bite of the F1 Instances. The bite is immediate and tends to have an amnesic effect. When a subject is infected with the fungus, they go through several stages of infection.
Stage 1 (1-3 Days): After initial contact, the infected begin to feel fatigue and sleepiness that increases as the hours pass. The subject will remove all clothing saying that "the whole body feels hot"; in effect, the temperature of their body increases to 49ºC. The subject will sleep most of the day and in the meantime will go through a complete internal body reconstruction. The fungus spores attach to the subject's DNA and rewrite the host's genome, turning the appendix, kidney and lungs into an anomalous organ that is responsible for the creation, reproduction and storage of spores.
| A pair of F2 Instance. |
|---|
Stage 2 (3-6 Days): Subjects enter a form of coma, with brain activity and life functions dropping to very low levels. The subject's skin then begins to secrete the white mold-like fungus from all of its pores for the next twelve (12) hours.
This will completely cover the subject, leaving only the nostrils free to breathe and through which various spore particles are dispersed. Over the next twenty-four (24) hours the fungus will harden, assuming a consistency similar to spider webs.
| Instance F2 in its final phase. |
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Stage 2 (6-8 Days): At this point all DNA has been completely rewritten by the spores and physiological reconstruction is complete. Brain activity resumes. MRI scans reveal that most brain activity including the amygdala, cerebellum, and prefrontal cortex are once again active. At this point the instances reach exterior temperatures of 28°C and interior temperatures of 45°C. At the end of the eighth day the "cocoon" breaks and an F3 Instance is born.
F3 Instances
Finally, F3 Instances are humanoids created from subjects infected by F1 Instances. They maintain an appearance of arthropod spider creatures that are capable of walking on both two legs and eight. They maintain certain almost human characteristics while presenting joints and appendages with exoskeletons and covers of chitin plates. All F3 Instances are black in color and disperse spores of Ophiocordyceps Maligna when they breathe, eat, or talk.
Instances are extremely quick to deal with prey, being able to hunt small animals and gather fungi that grow on the ground. They tend to hunt both alone and in packs, and due to their size are able to hunt any kind of mammalian animal, including humans. They seek out their prey by means of their eight developed eyes that allow them 360º vision. They are also able to detect vibrations with their appendages by sinking them into the ground.
They attack by striking the prey with the sharp ends of their spider-like appendages causing lacerations or impaling them. When feeding they will regurgitate a black, viscous liquid that breaks down biological matter into an organic paste that they feed on. This liquid shows similarities to a gastric acid with a high pH concentration.
F3 Instances are capable of speaking to each other by emitting a series of clicking sounds with their mandibles. Communication appears to be limited to feeding, hunting, and, on rare occasions, confrontation and intimidation. Being nocturnal hunters as well, they do not require sleep, but after feeding on the equivalent of an adult human's worth of calories, F3 Instances enter a state of torpor where they will remain motionless.
To do this, the instances will dig a hole or tunnel using their appendages. They have been observed to be able to bore through stone and concrete. Once a nest is established, the Instances will move for eight to nine hours or if disturbed by an outside element.
| Close-up of the head of an F3 Instance. |
|---|
Appendix 1: Anansi Program
Project Arachne or better known as the Anansi Program was a series of research and experimentation created around the discoveries of Doctor ████ █.████ (1978-2019), a prominent Insurgency Entomologist and Geneticist who was best known for his experiments to ████ ███████ █████ ██ ██████ █████ █████ ██████ humans in arachnid bodies.
Based on their work, the Research and Development Department began the creation of the Article through the crossing of anomalies, one of which was Article #27, which was combined with several other minor anomalies. It was not until ██/██/20██, after two years of research, that they found AdI#76: Neuronal Fungus discovered in the LoI-002: Observation and Experimentation Post "The Gardeners".
The development of the program had as its purpose the creation of one or several docile and controllable anomalous entities taking advantage of the qualities of consciousness and intelligence shown by Article #27. It was not until its manipulation with LoI-002 that the first ten (10) F1 Instances could be created, whose care and monitoring would eventually lead to the creation of the first four (4) F3 Instances.
Appendix 2: Discovery of AoI#76
The Neuronal Fungus was discovered after several guards in charge of safeguarding LoI-002 neutralized two intruders who had entered and acquired samples of IC-03/550-9451. Inspection of the bodies showed that the intruders were probationary members of the GoI-571: Polish Association of Anomalous Mushroom Collecting2 that they had stolen at least ten mushrooms. Along with their belongings, some documents were found in the format used by the organization; one that spoke about IC-03/550-945 and another about what would be known as AoI#76.
Days later, during one of their patrols, the guards noticed "a new type of phosphorescent white fungus" that had begun to emerge on the rocky part of LoI-002. Samples were sent to Base-7 where, through experimentation, its anomalous cellular assimilation properties were discovered and it was recognized as the fungus described in the GoI document. The reasons why the intruders planted the fungus in that area or whether it could have arisen naturally from a sample accidentally left behind are unknown.
Appendix 3: Anansi Incident-01
Following the events of the Anansi-01 Incident, the Article's containment and deployment protocols have been modified. The three members of the research team who failed to evolve the Article's learning capabilities have been disciplined and demoted to test subjects, whose incompetence resulted in a breach of several F3 Instances and the casualty of ██ insurgent personnel. Of the █ F3 Instances, two appear to have managed to escape into the open. A sweep of the area as well as the base itself is to be conducted and remaining personnel are to notify their superiors of any outbreak of the Article both within and outside the base.
- Commander ████
Original: Parasito Fungal
Date: 1 Jul 2022
Author: Yorick1
Translator: Yorick1