Hecatoncheires
un jour je serai de retour près de toi
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"To call the organism 'fungus' is akin to calling a quantum computer an abacus. Though it certainly bears a significant resemblance to the mycological forms known to man already, the difference is in the sheer scale of it. The mutability. Preliminary tests have yet to discover what, if any, chemical structure it is not capable of grafting itself on to. The scientific ramifications of this fact alone would be enough to send a Nobel Prize committee into hysterics, and that is before one even considers what this organism does once attached to another structure.
In my time studying mycology, I have encountered all manner of fungal infections. Ones that alter the host. That break down the host. That influence and warp the mind of the host.
But this organism is capable of all of that, and more. I believe we are only just scratching the surface of what it is truly capable of.
Truth be told, it terrifies me. Our containment procedures are holding firm for now, and the Project continues apace, but these nights I find myself lying awake. Wondering what might happen if it ever escaped.
They will not tell us where the Alpha Sample was acquired from. At this stage, they do not need to. The whole team has heard the rumours, and based on my own observations? I believe them. We have taken to calling it "the Mould" informally, but the Project has accepted the official designation that I suggested. 'Xenomycilia'.
If nothing else, I will be the man that named the organism that killed us all."
- Journal Entry, Dr Jonas Carter -
EARHART-13A: This is Earhart-13A, approaching drop zone.
CONTROL: Be advised, AV equipment on your jet is currently receiving interference. Please describe what you see when passing over the drop zone.
EARHART-13A: Am I reading these co-ordinates right, sir? The marker would put us over--
CONTROL: You're reading them right, Earhart-13A. Stay your course.
EARHART-13A: ...understood, sir. Coming into visual range of-- Jesus fucking Christ…
CONTROL: Earhart-13A, please describe what you see. In detail.
EARHART-13A: Sir, whatever on God's earth that thing is, I don't think Hellfires are gonna be enough to stop it.
CONTROL: Describe it, Lieutenant.
EARHART-13A: It's like… a tower, sir. Six hundred metres at least, comprised of some sort of black substance. Sir, it's moving.
CONTROL: Earhart-13A, please repeat.
EARHART-13A: It's expanding. Growing. I can make it out even from here.
BANDSAW-3E: Weapons coming into range, ETA ten seconds.
EARHART-13A: [panicked breathing]
CONTROL: Earhart-13A, what else do you see?
EARHART-13A: ...I was wrong, sir.
CONTROL: Repeat last?
EARHART-13A: It's not a tower.
CONTROL: Earhart-13A, take a breath and please tell me what you see in detail--
EARHART-13A: --It's not a tower, sir. It's a tree. And it's alive. God help me, it's alive, and it knows we're coming. It--
- Blackbox Recording of EARHART-13A, United States Air Force
GREAT HOLES SECRETLY ARE DIGGED WHERE EARTH'S PORES OUGHT TO SUFFICE
AND THINGS HAVE LEARNT TO WALK THAT OUGHT TO CRAWL -
With respect, sir, why in the hell are the three of them even still alive?
Your objections have been noted. Several times. Now please update me on the status of the patients.
Patien-- sir, they are walking time bombs! You saw what the rest of the lab staff did after they were exposed--
Kristen. The report.
...very well. At present time, none of the three are exhibiting any strange or aggressive behaviours. They've cooperated with attending medical and research staff fully.
Any unusual signs?
All three are running a high temperature.
How high?
50 degrees Celsius, sir.
Without any indications of fever or delirium?
None. Emma-- that is, Patient #02 actually complained her room was too cold.
Consistent with heat generation recorded in other exposed matter, yet somehow the host is adapting… fascinating. Go on, please. Did you perform the tests I requested?
We did. Results were… concerning, but consistent with what we expected.
So you have confirmed the presence of Quorum Sensing behaviour in the patients?
A fresh sample of the Mould was brou--
--Xenomycilia, please. This meeting is being recorded.
Apologies. A fresh sample of Xenomycilia was brought into all three patients' rooms during tests. We have video footage of the infection in all three of them manifesting. These strange, purple colours flaring up across their skin, like veins...
Or like a network. Anything else to report at this time?
Sergeant Echols, Patient #01, kept asking why we haven't liquidated him yet. He knows, sir. And I don't know what to tell him. By all accounts, we should have. We--
--Have you ever wondered what it would be like to speak to an infection, Kristen?
...Sir?
Most pathogens and diseases are silent entities. Insidious. Unknowable. But what we are dealing with in this Project is different. You saw what it did to most of the research staff exposed in Linnaeus Lab. Yet it seems to have spared these three patients. Infected them, yes, but still permitted them to retain their faculties. Why do you think that is?
I'm hardly qualified to answer that, Director.
It's reaching out. All fungal lifeforms do it, so it is only natural that this organism would do it on a grander scale. I believe it is trying to speak to us. And it has chosen these three souls as it's medium.
...Infections don't communicate, sir. They consume. I would like my opposition to this course of action to go on record--
--I assure you, your concerns have been noted. And I will keep them in mind. In the meantime, begin scheduling patient interviews. Let's see what the organism has to say to us.
