Terror Bites
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An instance of the object, magnified 5 thousand times; Appears to have developed small, pincer-like knives. Image background has been removed.

Item: Terror Bites
Size: Varies between 10 to 40 micrometres in length, 10 to 50 micrometres in width
Living: Yes
Sentient: Yes
Potential/Current Hazards Cross-contamination and infection with personnel and other living objects
Required Wear/Weaponry Type II Biological Protection Suits
Location: Facility: Cardboard-7

Usage
Prior to activation, all personnel are to be informed of object usage and evacuated to Facility: Haven-19, and all objects/object instances, including instances of this object, are to be temporarily relocated to Base: One until testing has been completed and all instances of the object can be successfully re-contained, or have died. Prior to testing, the room designated for testing is to be sanitized completely and tested for any kind of bacteria or organic matter. If any is present prior to the test, the cleaning and sanitation process is to be repeated until all tests come up clean. During activation the room testing is being performed in is to be remotely vacuum-sealed to prevent any attempted escape of infected test subjects1 or instances of the object. All rooms used for testing of the object are to be cleaned and sterilized by test subjects prior to being returned to normal usage. All bones left by the object during testing are to be kept in cold storage for ten (10) days after testing. If no request has been made to maintain storage of any set of bones, then all bones in cold storage will be incinerated at the end of the ten days.

In the event that any personnel, test subjects or objects are seen with any of the symptoms listed below, a Class-F Containment Breach is to be declared and the facility is to be put on indefinite lockdown until all infected organisms are safely terminated and all unwanted instances of the object are destroyed. In the event that two attempts to disinfect Facility: Cardboard-7 have failed, three (3) on-duty Heavy Strike Teams are to be immediately transported to the facility, and are to be instructed to evacuate all surviving, non-infected items and personnel from the facility. After evacuation the facility is to be destroyed by any means necessary and Facility: Cardboard-7 is to be relocated at least 250 kilometers away from the previous rendition of the facility. All surviving personnel are to be put through thorough physical and psychological examination for a 3-month period. At any point during the examination if any discrepancies or signs of infection are detected in any personnel, said personnel are to be terminated immediately. All personnel surviving the 3-month examination are to be relocated to a facility other than Facility: Cardboard-7.

Symptoms of infection with instances of the object include

  • Pain
  • Nausea
  • Itching
  • Muscle Spasms
  • Seizures
  • Anemia
  • Leukopenia
  • Memory loss/loss of cognitive function
  • Loss of senses
  • Muscle loss
  • Organ failure

All sectors of Facility: Cardboard-7 are to be installed with a Class-9 Industrial Filtration system at all times to prevent the presence of dust in the facility. Five dust sensors are to be placed around the object's containment chamber at all time. In the event of the detection of dust particles in the air of any part of the facility, a Level-4 Containment Breach is to be declared and all instances of the object are to be located and contained and further air filtration systems are to be installed. All filtration systems in Facility: Cardboard-7 are to have their filters replaced daily.

Report
94% (See Appendix A) of all instances of the object appear to be microscopic insects/arachnids varying in size from .2 nanometres in width to 1.5 nanometres in width depending on it's predecessors, location, and method of infection. All instances share a method of cell consumption, exhaust expulsion, and asexual reproduction. Most instances resemble either Acilius sulcatus, a type of water beetle, or Artoriopsis expolita, a species of spider, though some recent instances have shared traits with numerous other species of insect, arachnid and reptile. All instances of the object are entirely mechanical and electronic, with visible processor microchips on their metal exoskeletons and noticeable metal attachments and adaptations in place of normal appendages/organs. All instances of the object contain within their largest central body part at least one stomach, simple motor, battery, cooling system, transceiver2 and black box one fifth of the overall size of the object3. Each of these basic organs is connected to one another through a series of interconnected tubes and pump systems that transfer fluids to and from each organ, including the object's processor. Testing has shown that all instances of the object require some manner of living cells to survive, and are only capable of living for three hours without sustenance.

When any instance of the object finds/is introduced to any organism, all instances of the object within a one mile radius will be notified via the object's transceiver and will attempt to enter the body of the organism. All instances have proven capable of drilling/breaking through most non-anomalous, non-magnetic substances, and are capable of gliding short distances and clinging to dust particles to transport themselves by air. Once they have reached the organism, herein referred to as the subject, all instances of the object will enter the blood stream of the subject via the use of whatever cutting/piercing appendages it has developed. This process takes an average of two to three hours to complete.

Once an instance of the object has entered the blood stream of the subject it will immediately begin eating and dissolving all living cells it finds while travelling through the blood stream of the subject, appearing to favor the cells of vital organs over skin, fat and muscle cells. After a certain amount (currently believed to be entirely random) of cells has been dissolved, the object will expel from its reproductive organ a replica of itself showing similar design and function, excluding one adaptation that allows the object to better exploit and feed on its environment. Average lifespan of any given instance of the object can vary from five hours to twenty-four (24) hours with sustenance, and ten (10) minutes to an hour without sustenance

Appendix A
As of █/██/20██, Insurgency personnel have found the exact frequency of the objects' transceivers. Though Insurgency personnel have not yet decoded the data being sent across this frequency, they have been able to successfully pinpoint any instance of the object with the signals being sent, as well as the exact number of instances into the thousands.

Appendix B
Testing logs recorded from contained samples of the object

Appendix C
Incident Report involving an escaped test subject infected with instances of the object

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