0027 [gangri] drene
nekro zaikaney
This infamously unpleasant strain is made up of loose piles of human tissues (muscle, fat, lung, nerve) that lack the organization and function of living flesh, and that does not carry out metabolic activity. It's as though frozen in a stasis of freshness, but any disturbance to its body causes it to quickly begin decomposition. The clear liquid in its body cavity is similar to intracellular fluid, filled with broken down proteins, lipids, and amino acids. These are accompanied by bacteria commonly associated with decomposing human corpses, which also appear to be in stasis until the integrity of the stranger is broken (such as through a punch, puncture, or rough yank). The internal intestines of the gangridrene are similarly composed of human intestinal components in an arbitrary arrangement. They are held in shape by a thin lining of tough fascia.
above: clear fluid & black opaque fluid.
When a gangridrene eats a corpse, it dissolves it into a thick transparent goop using a combination of sped-up decomposition* and human digestive acids. Meanwhile, the black sludge that it generates when eating a sensitive is a combination of its digestive slime and a huge, black protein called ortho-gangrinarxelone-XX**. When this protein is ingested, it gives the subject intense hallucinations of the life of the sensitive from which it generated. This protein also acts as a prion or virus, and will change portions of the subject's body into copies of the sensitive's own through modifying existing DNA and cellular components. We hypothesize that ingestion of enough ortho-gangrinarxelone-XX could transform someone completely.
*it is entirely unclear how this process could possibly be controlled. Perhaps it generates some sort of optimal environment (in heat, salinity, humidity, and pressure) for bacteria?
** Variant code (“XX”) is needed in each instance, as each chemical is slightly different with each individual sensitive.