V-S013

Common name: Commune
Memory length: Four Weeks
Danger rating: High

Description:

V-S013, in its basic form, is a highly disfigured humanoid of approximately five feet. Its skin is covered in various splotches and discolorations, but is otherwise a dark gray with a visible texture of melted tar. It is unknown if it is a male or female, as there are too many tumorous growths covering its skin and contorting its shape to tell. The face has only one visible eye not covered by tumors, which is pure black, and has only a faint patch of short, white hair. It is constantly hunched over, and walks with a slight limp, with arms also being badly contorted, though still mostly usable.

Using its main ability, however, this appearance can change drastically. See next section for details.

Combat and Abilities:

V-S013 has the ability to assimilate with any Human it comes in contact with, similar to [REDACTED]. Once it grabs hold of a victim, it will hold on with terrifying strength as its skin begins to bubble and melt, V-S013 itself eventually entirely covering the target whole like a cocoon, flowing effortlessly underneath any clothes or other protective gear as long as it has made the slightest of skin contact. It then assumes full control of the victim’s body, gains the victim’s voice, and the same approximate physical abilities of the victim. It does not gain technical abilities, like learned skills or other special knowledge, which would otherwise make V-S013 a nearly unstoppable threat.

Once the first victim has been infected, V-S013 will attempt to briefly step into their life, using the appearance of the victim to isolate additional people close to the victim. When alone with another unwitting Human, the skin will start to bubble again, and V-S013 will violently attack the person, doing whatever it takes to establish skin contact. It then will follow the previously described procedure to infect the target, with new victims now acting on any orders originating from the first victim of V-S013. It should be noted that V-S013 does not possess telepathic links with additional infected, though the master V-S013 alone can tell if any particular Human has, in fact, been infected. The auxiliary infected also cannot infect new people, but they can bring new victims to V-S013, and V-S013 can also change host bodies among the already infected if it wishes to, but can only hold one body as the main host at any time.

V-S013 usually infects well over a hundred people before it enters its next phase. The main host body will begin to deteriorate, the skin gradually changing from the victim’s natural shade to V-S013’s tar color and consistency, though the original tumors have not been observed appearing. This makes the master host much easier to identify, and thus requires it to take much greater precautions. It can still transfer to other bodies, but the discoloration will reoccur again, with an ever decreasing delay and increasing speed of discoloration once begun.

Those infected by V-S013 can be cured by a variety of methods, though most will also kill the host. Most effective non lethal methods, as well as the most efficient lethal ones, are detailed in emergency procedures, and part of required basic orientation. Those that have been infected, and survived being cured, have been documented as being fully aware of their actions when infected, but entirely unable to control them. Severe PTSD is suffered by anyone infected for a duration longer than an hour, and those infected for longer than a day have their minds irreparably damaged in unpredictable ways. Many that were infected for longer than two days, especially the original host, suffer from acute separation anxiety, usually from other Humans, though the worst cases will have a pathological desire to be reunited with V-S013.

There have been a handful of cases where an infected was cured after a full week, and managed to survive. Psychological damage was extensive, and all cases resulted in hospitalization before eventual [REDACTED].

Conclusion:

V-S013 is extremely dangerous once it has infected a large portion of a city, and grows more dangerous the longer it avoids attention. Though a city will not run as efficiently, due to the sudden lack of specialized skills, it can still keep a city running reasonably well for a time while it waits for unwitting merchants and other travelers to enter the city, while also sending out groups of infected to kidnap new victims from abroad, eventually moving the base of operations to larger cities as needed. Its end goal seems to be complete destruction of the host civilization, rather than replacing or subjugating it.

It is recommended that all large concentrations of people do intermittent checks to verify there are no infected, and if an infected is discovered, a full lockdown be immediately initiated until V-S013 has been found and entirely exterminated.