In my work before joining the military. I was party to a rather private research project. Considering that my work is for the Union now and not for individual profit any longer, I believe it is in my best interest to share my research and experiments.
My research had a great deal to do with biological technologies, but one of my projects, a rather important one, had to do with a living microrganism that was bred for study in one of the laboratories for Cerentech, a now defunct company, considering most of their military defence contracts were revoked by the Federation and all it's allied governments due to a small infraction of regulations. It seems that the company was developing outlawed psionic weaponry in one of our laboratories on Cestus III.
Anyhow, my duties had to do mostly with research and manipulation of genes in an organism found on an expedition into the Delta Quadrant.
An organism was found in one specific area. At this point and time, I am still unaware of the exact origins of the specimen I was given, I was only informed that it originated from a location in the Delta Quadrant that was not divulged to me. I arrived one morning and found a sealed biological storage contaner at my workstation with orders that I was to study, catalogue and ascertain if the organism could have any valuable properties to Cerentech or any of it's contractors.
Upon opening the container, I found a sealed, plasteel box containing a small, glowing green mass of tissue adhered to a piece of titanium hull plating from a vessel. The box was triple sealed and held a hazard placard upon it. I was used to dealing with biologically hazardous materials, so I took the proper precautions. Placing the box in a sealed, sterile room, and not opening it without wearing proper protective equipment, that of a biohazard suit.
My first order of business, was to obtain specimens from the sample for microscopic study and tissue cultures.
What I did not realize was that the material was a living organism. When I opened the box and inserted a probe in order to move the hull plating in order to get a sample, the mass moved and grasped the end of my probe, needless to say, it was somewhat disconcerting.
I did not get my samples with that first encounter, the next time I opened the container, the hull plating was gone, apparently the mass had consumed it while it was in cold storage. I was concerned, so I refused to do any more work with the mass until I could secure a team of scientists from Cerentech to work with me.
Using a laser scalpel, I was able to obtain the samples I needed. Upon closer scrutiny, the mass had grown by four centimeters after consuming what was one kilogram of hull plating. The original size of the mass was less than 3 centimeters in diameter and one centimeter thick. Upon cutting the mass, I observed that it did "bleed" a small amount of glowing bluish fluid, which I also collected for further examination.
In the microscopic examinations, the material appeared to be comprised of a large celled epithelial like tissue, resembling that of skin tissue. Attached to the underside of it, a layer of tissue not unlike the adipose layer of tissue which most humanoid species have beneath the skin. The bluish liquid was comprised of little more than a few chemicals, mostly that which we would know as neurotransmitters, electrolytes, and various other nutrients. I did not notice any cells in the liquid upon my first examinations, nor on subsequent microscopic examinations of the slides.
After this, I decided that it was not necessary to take extreme precautions when handling the sample, only that eye and hand protection were necessary when opening the container, considering that to metabolize a kilogram of titanium, it would have to secrete an acidic type substance.
I prepared the appropriate tissue culture agar and containers and decided that I would attempt to culture cells from the adipose and epithelial like layers and prepare a culture of the bluish fluid, most likely it would not grow anything, but I have been surprised before, this would not be the first time.
The entire situation puzzled me. The information I could find in the public databases upon it was scant, if any, until I questioned the shipping and recieving staff at the Cerentech facility, who in turn pointed me to the director of the Research and Development department, Keval Tampok, who requested that the sample be given to me to work on due to my family name, being it was so little known, he felt he was helping me by giving me a very prestigious project.
Upon questioning Director Tampok, I was given a box of data solids containing the information I sought. Some of which I will include in this file.
Most of the information was little more than I had learned already, until I found one particular file. One that was marked "Sample 5175, Delta Quadrant".
-------(Restricted)----------------------------------
(video flickers for a moment, then clears, showing a human female standing in front of a laboratory table, scattered with various equipment and implements with a plasteel container in front of her, containing a glowing green mass and a piece of titanium) "Commander Elisa Cook recording," The woman says softly, looking up to the recording device, "Commanding officer, USS Socrates." She sighs softly, looking down at the container, mostly at it's contents, "In the container I am sending you, is one of what managed to destroy the USS Centurion, a galaxy class ship, sent to perform scanner sweeps of a star system near to our position, which I have relayed to you in previous communications. We found this organism attached to what we can only reason to be a piece of the Centurion's hull plating near their assigned route through the system. We're checking subspace relays now to see if her commanding officer sent any distress signals or any other information about what happened. I'm not sure what happened, but I'm certain that these organisms had something to do with it. I haven't taken any samples, because every time I put a probe into the container with it, the thing tries to eat it. Maybe you guys can make more sense of it and maybe get a sample for further study without losing probes. We'll keep scanning, but I don't know if we'll find anything. Cook out."
-------(End Recording)----------------------------------
Needless to say, that left me with further questions, but I continued plodding along, through the materials I was provided with. Until I found one more file of information that proved significant, marked USS Centurion.
--------(Level One Security Clearance Required)----------------------------------
USS Centurion, Delta Quadrant.
Ship's Log Compilation From Materials Salvaged By The USS Socrates.
Captain's Log, Stardate 54123.54
This morning's watch reported something strange near the last point we took scans of the stellar corona of (data truncated to preserve security). My Chief of Science hasn't figured out what it was yet from the data we collected, we passed through a cloud of some material last night, no hull damage, but whatever it was penetrated our shielding and did something to our hull. Engineering is looking into it as well, it doesn't seem to have caused any damage, but I'm not so sure we're unaffected. I'm having maintanance run full diagnostics on all systems. If anything's wrong, it'll turn up there...
Captain's Log, Stardate 54123.59
We were affected. Systems are operating at minimal efficiency. Engineering and Sciences aren't sure what it is yet. All systems are operating as if something is in control of them, nothing will respond to commands given by crew or by myself. My science officer noticed something odd on the computer core diagnostics report, so took an engineer and went down to physically inspect the data nodes of the core, just as they opened the access hatch, something....(his breathing changes, a bloodcurdling scream is heard and the recording ends abruptly)
Chief Engineer's Log, Stardate 54124.61
I'm not sure what the hell's going on here. All I know is that whatever it was got the captain and has either taken control or killed most of the ship's crew. It hasn't gotten me yet or the rest of those on the bridge with me. If the situation progresses any further, I'll jettison the logs and activate the self destruct device. Hopefully someone finds them intact. Whatever has affected this ship and her crew must be stopped, and it must stop here.
(screams and various small explosions are heard in the background of the recording)
This may be my last recording, whatever the hell we've found, may God have mercy on our souls and may it never find it's way out of the Delta Quadrant.
--------(End File)----------------------------------
I do not know how this material was obtained. Perhaps I shall never know.
I then decided it was necessary for me to have a bit of time to myself to consider my next step in the study of this creature. I took a few days and went home, to visit my family and do some other research at the library on Cardassia Prime, when I returned, I found a surprising development.
My cell cultures, the first two, the "adipose" and "epithelial" cell cultures did little if anything in the containers I placed in storage, but the last, that of the "blood", the bluish material, had grown very rapidly into a mass of green cells, resembling the composition of the organism I took the sample from. Within days, it began consuming titanium similar to what the original organism consumed in the container it was presented to me in.
Subsequently, I presented my findings to the head of my department, he instructed me that other testing was required. I was presented with a test subject, one that I identified as Joran, a prisoner obtained from the detention facility on Cardassia IV. He was instructed that this experiment could be potential dangerous, but nothing more. Primarily because Cardassian regulations state that prisoners do not have the right to be informed as to what will be done to them.
I was given a chamber, more of a cell, in the hazardous materials wing of Cerentech's facilities on Cestus, in it, I placed my test subject and various inactive electronic devices. According to the information that I had been presented with, the organism apparently has an affinity for electronic devices, especially those that have a great deal of metal used in their construction.
I placed the devices on the floor of the cell then informed my subject that he was to take a seat in a chair behind them. After getting all my subjects settled, I took a seat behind a one way glass outside the chamber in order to watch the proceedings and ordered that my creatures be transported in.
Their behaviors were extremely different than what I had seen in the laboratory setting, as if they were communicating. Their color began to flash and flicker into many different shades of green, in a sequence that I could not describe as anything but code. Then one, the larger of the two, split into three parts, as if it were a single celled organism dividing, reproducing, each part taking one of the devices I had placed on the floor in front of my living subject.
Each organism attempted to find a way to get inside the devices, once that was achieved, the organisms apparently set up some kind of control over the device, in order to use it for their own purposes. The other creature had other ideas.
I did not wish to watch, but for the interests of science, I had to.
The creature began to move up the subjects leg, apparently looking for a viable opening in which to enter his body. He began to scream, not only out of fear, but out of surprise, this creature did not appear to be something that would be harmful. It found the opening it sought, the subjects right ear, where it entered and moved as quickly as it could to the subject's brain, beginning a mutation process, one that I recorded in my notes. The subject's right hand mutated into a claw type appendage, his left hand, into a suction device. His body began to expand as this creature that made it's way into his brain, began to make it's way into the rest of his body, creating a monster, mutating it into a very strong form, muscular, taller and no doubt stronger than his original body. Needless to say, it was quite difficult to incapacitate him so that vivisection could be performed. I wanted to dissect this animal that was once a cardassian and see what caused this transformation.
With the help of four other scientists, after completely incapacitating this new creature, we strapped him to a standard vivisection table and began to carefully explore the transformed subject.
What was remarkable was that once this creature found it's way into the brain cavity, it split into pieces, pieces that migrated to each area of the body, almost similar to what one would call a Metastatic Cancer. Cells of the creature were found in all the major organs and limbs, but these cells were much different than the original creature that I had taken samples from, it was almost as if they had matured, as if they had gone from a type of larval stage to a mature state. Each cell, even though the thought seemed rather strange, could act of it's own volition and cooperated with the others in taking over the subject's body. Had this subject been allowed to survive, I believe he would have met a painful death some hours later, due to the fast growth of the organism's cells in his body. Organs had begun to show signs of stress, his heart, liver, lungs, all showed signs of immense stress and strain, which could only have been due to the creature forcing his body to develop at an alarming speed.
Similar changes took place in the devices that the other three creatures infected.
They managed to develop an interface with the electronic and computerized components of the devices, in order to use them for whatever purposes that they wished. In essence, creating a biomechanical interface, something that could possibly be deadly in the right situation. Such as if it were to take over an entire starship and it's crew.
I worked quickly and after my studies were finished, I took the appropriate samples of the organism and the changed cells of the test subject. I was unsure as to what could destroy the organisms, as I did not wish to leave the devices or the remains of my test subject somewhere where the creatures could possibly breed and become a severe nuisance, if not cause an incident similar to the loss of the USS Centurion. I was able to dispose of them cleanly by incineration and pouring the ashes into the matter/antimatter power generation systems on the planet surface, which is, incidentally, how we destroyed all of our "mistakes".
What I did not know, was that one of my assistants had been "infected" by our creatures. Particularly, during the vivisection procedure. I was angry because she was one of my best assistants, she pricked her finger on one of my "old fashioned" metal scalpels that I like to use for procedures such as this one, a few hours later, she was found dead in her quarters, due to infection by mature cellular material from the primary test subject. I performed the autopsy procedure myself, my findings concurred with the findings obtained from Joran.
Needless to say, her corpse was also incinerated and it's ashes disposed of in the same way as the others.
I was still puzzled, these incidents proved to me that this organism was a formidable weapon, if used correctly. My assignment after presenting my final findings was to attempt to genetically alter it, in order to tailor it to be used, potentially, as a weapon.
Genemapping of the cell samples was impossible, even with our advanced equipment. The cells appeared to have few, if any chromasomal structures. What I did find, was that all cell division and growth was controlled in the cells by a type of mitochondrial structure. These structures not only metabolized nutrients, they also, through a highly complex process of chemical and physical changes, controlled what type of cell that it would become. Skin cells of the creature could become blood, blood could become skin, depending upon the needs of the creature.
The key to controlling these creatures for our own uses, was in the mitochondrial structures. Before I had a chance to finish my research, Cerentech lost it's funding for this project, as well as all it's contractual obligations due to the aforementioned incident. I am still attempting to find any information upon them, but I have found nothing aside of the recordings that I had access to at Cerentech. I am not even certain if the Federation knows of it. I do not believe so, as the sample I received was apparently misdirected by illegal means to Cerentech's facility and to my desk.
I still believe that these creatures could pose a formidable threat, if one were to stumble upon them. I also believe that they could prove valuable in the future, if one could find them and learn to control them. In my studies, I dubbed them "Leech Larva" considering that is what they were, larvae that matured when they had access to an electronic or living being and used their hosts for their own means. I have no doubt that they are malicious and are still out there, no Cardassian has stumbled upon them yet, if they have, I can only hope that their end was quick and merciful.
