Neural Override Implant

The Neural Override Implant (NOI) is a small device the size and shape of a .30-caliber rifle bullet. It is roughly implanted into brain or spinal tissue by the use of a hand-held piston device similar to a staple gun. The surface of the NOI is riddled with a honeycomb pattern of tiny holes through which numerous fibers extend when the device is implanted. These fibers spread out and latch onto brain tissue. When key neural centers are tapped into, an outside signal can be sent to the implant and take control of the victim's body. The NOI is also a transmitter, sending sensory input from the victim out to be picked up by the aliens, allowing them to see and hear through their converts.

Some of the Grays have exhibited the ability to "mind control" subjects without even touching them, so the NOI seems to be a rapid "low-tech" means of spreading a similar ability throughout their ranks. Non-contact mind control seems to be short-lived and ephemeral; the control provided by the NOI appears to be more instantaneous and binding.

It is not known at this time what effects deactivation or surgical removal of the NOI has on a living victim. The few surviving victims recovered by the resistance who have had their implants removed were severely injured in combat, and none have recovered from their injuries yet. UPDATE: One uninjured victim has had the NOI removed successfully. Long-term effects are still unknown, but to begin with, the victim seems to have made a full recovery. The only side effect noted thus far was complete memory loss for the time that the NOI was implanted.