Phoenix Logs/Flood Lore/The Flood

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The great devourer.

The Flood is a voracious hive-mind parasite that seizes, converts, and controls

sentient hosts to perpetuate itself. Infected individuals have their nervous

systems suborned by the parasite, turning their bodies into puppets while their

memories and flesh are assimilated and exploited to further the infestation.

Each infected host is linked to a distributed intelligence, allowing for interstellar

coordination and the formation of increasingly sophisticated consciousness

nodes. If the Flood is not stopped it will eventually manifest a malevolent meta-

intelligence known as Gravemind.

Flood are composed of a highly adaptable and resilient neuron-like "super cell"

that has no analogous structures with other life in the galaxy. These protean

cells are the building blocks of all Flood and can be configured into any shape or

pseudo-organ necessary to sustain the biological and organizational growth of

the parasite.

Encysted Flood cells form spores which can parasitize both sentient and non-

sentient species, rapidly consuming the host and transforming their biomass

into an incubator for larger, more mobile Flood combat and infection forms.

There is no inoculation against infection, no treatment to slow the parasites'

growth, no reversal of its transformation. The only effective countermeasure is

containment and incineration.