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Description
Sample 14-1a: When injected into a fan thrax, the substance paralyzed the creature immediately and liquefied it within the hour.
Specimen 14-2 – Recovered from the victim’s clothing: Broken thorn with two fluid-filled sacs and 11 cm of tether. Minor tissue damage at site.Samples 14-2a and 14-2b: 2.5 mL and 1 mL extract from the large and small chambers respectively. Currently stored in separate containers; may react when mixed. Chemical analysis pending return of crew.
Specimen 14-3 – Recovered from the victim’s clothing: Untethered thorn, 15 cm in length. No tissue damage at site. Report suggests a reproductive purpose. Contains one fluid-filled chamber and multiple eggs.
Sample 14-3a: When injected into a hognose thrax, the creature was not paralyzed nor digested but displayed altered behavior and a strong attraction to the scent of archer venom. Venom likely contains a neurotoxin.
Guinea Pigs (excerpt)
Bringing live animals into the tent is a violation of protocol. On paper, this one entered the wash-down room on its own accord, ostensibly through the pipes. The rat-sized thoracostome was unexpectedly swift on its stubby legs. Alex restrained the animal while I administered 0.5 cc of the venom solution. At a 1:2 dilution, I wasn’t expecting much to happen, but the effects were dramatic.
The creature no longer feared the three aliens surrounding it. Instead, our guinea pig went into a raw panic that ended in a mad clamber for the trees. The closest approximation of a tree trunk was the legs of one of its captors, rooted to the floor, afraid to budge. Erin made no attempt to remove the animal until it buried its double snout in her sling.
“Hey, hey, you’re scared, I know. But that hurts.” She picked it up by the hind feet and set it down on the floor, but it climbed back up.
“Any theories, Alex?”
“I don’t think it’s scared. I think it’s attracted to something…a smell. An irresistible odor.”
“A taste for blood?”
“Our blood? No, not likely. This sample came from a quill that had no cable attachment to the archer that launched it. It would be useless for hunting because the target would just run away. Unless…unless it ran to another tree. Then it could pollinate other archers.”
- Luo Ping, medic, Odyssey I (Day 15)
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