Flood

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The Flood, otherwise known as Inferi redivivus by the Forerunners and the Parasite by the Covenant, is a species of virulent, savage, parasitic organisms that thrive by consuming sentient lifeforms of sufficient biomass and cognitive capability.

[edit] Introduction and History

The Flood are believed to be of extragalactic origin, and their origins and purpose of coming to the Milky Way galaxy are unknown, but are presumably to infect all sentient life in the galaxy.

Their potential for destruction should not be put in doubt. The Flood are an organism-scale parasitic species, and their sole means of reproduction are by assimilating other sentient species into their fold by neurological and physiological mutagenic means by entering and infesting live bodies or corpses. Their all-consuming nature and their dependence on sentient life means that it would be impossible for the Flood to be a part of any ecosystem.

[edit] Biology

The Flood, a parasitic species, infects individual organisms and causes them to undergo different stages of organized transformation into various "forms". A Flood's chosen form depends on the species of creature infested, and the usefulness of the infected body. All Flood biomass is made up of the differentiable Flood Super Cell.

The sole known pathway for Flood reproduction and survival is by the infestation and assimilation of other species.

[edit] Neurological

Infection forms selectively target other species that possess sentient intelligence and are of sufficient biomass, and can infest living or dead bodies. Infection forms have long tendrils that pierce the skin of the host and find their way to the spinal cord. From here they synchronize with the host, matching frequencies with the host's nervous system and taking over brain functions, completely rewriting the psychology of the creature to the ravenous and voracious psyche of the Flood, although retaining higher-level cognitive abilities, such as combat techniques and technical knowledge which may be useful. However, resistance of the host is completely destroyed, as the original mind's memories are systematically erased, leaving only a simplistic and animalistic hunger to assimilate other species and destroy them. During the early stages of infestation, when the host still retains its original consciousness, there are distinct somatosensory sensations: first the host's extremities grow numb and their lungs feel heavy. Then, the greater Flood intelligence begins to take over the mind, and sensation becomes increasingly indistinct: the host's vision seems to be "a gauzy white haze", but the host can make out shapes and the host can hear a low droning through the ordeal. Finally, once physiological mutilation occurs, the host can vaguely feel dramatic changes to its own body: the limbs feel to the host as if they are made of a spongy liquid and the lungs itch as well.

[edit] Physiological

While baseline neurological assimilation is same regardless of host species, the Flood's infestation includes physiological mutilation, which is species-specific.

Higher-level species capable of combat, such as Humans or Elites, are selectively infected to become Combat Forms. Combat forms retain the general profile of their original species, although they are significantly mutated. Organ-based systems physiology is corrupted, and organ-specific functions are decentralized and body cavities are decayed, making hit box-selective incapacitation impossible: since organ functions are decentralized, decapitation does not down a combat form. Furthermore, highly area-specific munitions, such as sniper rifle projectiles, are completely ineffective, as picking off selective areas of a combat form leads to no wide-scale physiological impediments, and the projectile will punch through the decayed flesh rapidly, punching through and exiting the other side of the combat form without consequence. Combat forms also generate tentacles very quickly without regard for the skeletal structure of the host, with tentacles protruding from the combat form at odd locations, typically localized to the chest axial regions, such as the neck, armpits, or torso. A single arm is often mutated to a claw-like or tentacle-like structure that multifurcates at its terminus, with strange multiple angular hand-like entities replacing the hand. The musculature of the combat form dramatically changes as well, and the combat form is given prodigious arm and leg strength, allowing for heavy blows with its arm-like structures and for incredible speed and jumping height with its legs. Metabolic requirements, however, appear to be extreme on the organism: blood vessels become extremely prominent on the surface of the Combat Form, with thick and distinct bloodred-coloured vessels spawning all across the creature's surface, most prominently so on the head.

[edit] Countermeasures

Because of the millennia of Flood existence, it is believed that the Flood have evolved extensively so that there are little direct countermeasures against infection.

The only currently known way to effectively stop a Flood infection when a host is infected by an Infection Form is to have Boren's Syndrome, a neurological condition where radiological exposure causes electrical anomalies in the host nervous system. The neural frequencies of the host are scrambled, although without negative manifestations to the host. However, during Flood infection, the infection form is unable to rewrite the psychology of the host, and is unable to proceed to large-scale physiological mutation as well for an unknown reason, although Flood DNA is spliced into host DNA, even imparting the host with increased regenerative capabilities.

While Boren's Syndrome left untreated leaves you immune to the Flood, leaving it untreated usually equates to death within a couple years. There is said to be a one in a billion chance that research from someone so inflicted with Boren's Syndrome in a way that they cannot be infected could be researched on to produce a cure.

[edit] Flood Forms

The basic Flood form is the infection form, the smallest Flood type of organism and unique in its distinctive spherical shape. The infection form is used to infect organisms of other species, physically adhering to their surfaces and inserting tentacles, forcibly "hacking" into its host's nervous system, completely changing its psychology to that of the Flood's, and eventually physiologically mutating it into one of the various Flood forms.

[edit] Infection Form

The infection form is the most basic and simple Flood form, and is the smallest, although it is believed to be the most essential: it is the Flood's method of infecting and assimilating other species. It is a small, spherical organism, with a small, sagging, brown horn projecting from the top of its back, and tentacles projecting from its spherical surface. These tentacles propel the infection form through sinusoidal motion, and are used to bring the infection form towards its target. Upon reaching its target, it will attempt to infect it by extending its tentacles, penetrating its skin, and contacting the host's spinal cord, bringing about a successive series of neurological and physiological changes to the host. However, energy shielding provides some protecting against an infection form, popping the creature in a small, but damaging, blast of noxious gas.

After infecting combat forms, the infection form resides in the chest cavity. When the combat form is destroyed, the infection form may or may not escape from the cavity.

Infection forms are extremely dangerous to unshielded enemies even in small numbers: a single contact between an infection form and an organism lacking a personal energy shield will lead to a horrible assimilation within minutes. The addition of a personal energy shield is a tremendous advantage in fighting infection forms, making them dangerous only in significant numbers: the infection forms must first explode when reaching the potential host, lowering the shields with repeated detonations before seizing upon the unshielded host's armour, and then proceeding to assimilate, requiring a tremendous number of infection forms to breach the shielding and combat armour.

[edit] Combat Form

After an infection form has successfully latched onto a sentient creature with sufficient biomass and combat potential, it will neurologically and physiologically mutate the host, twisting it into a combat form. Combat forms often maintain the general profile of the original host organism, and possess the original clothing and armour they were wearing before infestation. Infection forms have been seen only mutating humans, Brutes and Elites, not bothering to utilize Grunts or Jackals presumably because of their physical weakness and lack of significant combat capability, instead turning lower creatures into Carrier Forms and possibly because of the fact that it would take a longer amount of time to make a carrier form and the growing infection forms inside.

Combat forms are most damaging at close range, utilizing their whip-like mutated arms to lash out with scourging blows of significant force.

Combat forms can also utilize weaponry or vehicles, although they are poorly proficient with almost all firearms and are clumsy with vehicular operation. Combat forms are rakishly aggressive and lack even rudimentary battlefield tactics, although their sheer numbers can force even powerful enemies to succumb. Infected Elites or humans can be transformed into combat forms within seconds, and corpses of previously infected hosts can be alarmingly reanimated in seconds by other infection forms, making corpse destruction a useful tactic when combating the Flood, and is even recognized by the Forerunner Sentinels, who sometimes burn infected corpses to ensure that they can not be reanimated.

[edit] Carrier Form

The exact origin of Carrier Forms is unknown, although they are theorized to be combat forms too injured or aged to be combative, or smaller and weaker life-forms (like Grunts and Jackals) who have been infected but lack the calcium mass to serve as combat forms, or both. The purpose of a Carrier Form is to nurture and disseminate Infection forms.

Physically, they are a large, bloated sac situated upon a torso and a pair of waddling legs that slowly transport Infection Forms. Their bloated "sac"-like form is a result of the many Infection forms crawling around inside them. In combat situations, once they are within close proximity of a potential host or when their sacs are perforated even with a single projectile, forcing the carrier form to its pudgy knees while the sac exponentially swells with gas for several seconds, then spontaneously detonates into fleshy scraps, hurling infection forms into the air. The detonation itself is extremely damaging, and its gas-propelled dissemination of infection forms facilitates easier assimilation, as it hurls infection forms in all directions, and stuns the potential hosts with the concussive blast.

[edit] Proto-Gravemind

One of the rarest types of Flood is the Proto-Gravemind, or Brain Form. This form is unlike all other Flood forms since it lacks any sort of mobility and is passive. It is believed to be the product of syntactical fusion of several combat forms, merging all of its subordinate forms into a massive, bloated spherical organism with spindle-like outgrowths that adhere to the surrounding environment.

Proto forms are unique in that the consciousness of the original host organisms are still vaguely maintained, greatly unlike most combat forms, allowing for slight manifestations of mental resistance to Flood assimilation. However, the Flood is able to, with high intuitive perception, sift through the individual memories of the original hosts, deleting erroneous ones while seeking memories that are of great importance to the overall Flood species. Once such a memory is found, it is incorporated into the general consciousness of the Flood species.

[edit] Combat Behaviour

While possessing an unusual sentient intelligence and Combat forms still retaining extremely high-level cognitive functions such as vehicular operation, lower level cognitive abilities, such as precise dexterity and overall battlefield tactics, are notably lacking in the Flood, in their psychology and combat behaviour.

The Flood follow a zealous, ravenous strategy, with little target selectivity, aggressively attacking all hostiles in range. Furthermore, Flood tactics are based primarily on asymmetrical warfare: the Flood employ swarms of creatures, often outnumbering enemies by horrendous factors, compensating for their individual weakness with massive numbers in an attempt to overwhelm enemies and then reanimate their corpses afterwards.

The Flood have a strong preference for close-range combat: combat forms possess abnormally strong melee attacks by whipping their tentacles. Carrier forms cause tremendous devastation at close ranges, and their explosions are extremely devastating to friends and foes alike at close range, with the added benefit of disseminating infection forms in the immediate vicinity of enemies. Infection forms are capable of attacking only at point-blank ranges, exploding in damaging bursts when meeting a shielded opponent's personal energy shields or instantly grabbing hold of an unshielded enemy organism and infecting it. Combat forms can also use firearms, and have been seen clutching firearms in one of their hands (regardless of whether it is one-handed or two-handed). However, combat forms are extremely poor warriors at range with ranged weaponry: it is believed that the neurological ramifications of Flood infection significantly decrease accuracy, as well as weapon recoil if held in only one hand. The Flood are mostly only dangerous with heavy weaponry, such as the M19 Rocket Launcher or the M90 Shotgun, and are curiously ill-skilled with close-quarters weapons such as the Energy Sword.

However, as aforementioned, the Flood demonstrate a curious higher intelligence despite their poor combat aptitude and coordination. The Flood collectively learn the intelligence of any species of which even one member is assimilated, and selective hosts with particular knowledge, such as vehicular/starship operation, are still imparted with that intelligence after being infested. The Flood, however, reflect unusual knowledge in the individual psychologies of its individual species in processes facilitating increased infestation: the Flood were sighted gathering bodies in the corners of the Covenant CCS-class Battlecruiser Truth and Reconciliation, perhaps making it easier for Infection Forms to find hosts to reanimate.

Flood Combat forms have been sighted crudely operating Ghosts, Warthogs, Wraiths, and Scorpions in ground operations, although with slow deliberation and clumsy driving and accuracy. The Flood can instantly absorb knowledge from an infected host into their collective mind.

The Flood's millennia of existence are believed to have made the assimilation process unusually brief: creatures killed in a short firefight can be reanimated within seconds to minutes by an infection form, and live creatures can be mutated into fully-grown and mentally devious combat forms. At times, the mutations can occur randomly and uniformly and can sometimes develop into engorged combat forms notably larger than the normal combat form or can alarmingly grow thick shells within minutes, indicating that the Flood can facilitate tremendous and exaggerated metabolic activity during the physiological mutilation. Furthermore, in rare cases, the physiological mutations can constantly shift.

[edit] Trivia

• The first known human to be infected by the Flood was a UNSC Marine, Private Riley.
• Blowing off a Flood combat form's limbs in would cause the form to trail the shooter, as it would want to attack, but would not possess the appendages to do so.
• Part of the Flood's Binomial nomenclature, Inferi, is Latin for "The dead", and could be a reference to roman mythology, as this was their name for the Netherworld and it's inhabitants.
• Inferi means 'The Dead' and Redivivus means 'renovated, reconstructed, rebuilt or recycled' so literally Inferi Redivivus means 'The dead reconstructed.