Chryssalid autopsy
The Resistance encountered its first Chryssalid during its investigation of Westport. This specimen appears to have gestated within a Coast Guard diver, and when field agents made first contact, it was still in that form. When the specimen began taking small arms fire, it burst out of the body of its host. The Chryssalid is an interesting and terrifying specimen because of its multi-tiered life cycle. It may be possible that the specimen we have is not the final stage of their twisted evolution.
Multiple sighting reports have been recorded from amateur radio operators all across the country. Their appearance is uniform, which suggests a specific gestation period. This is supported by the fact that some aspects of the Chryssalid's chemical makeup is an exact match to "spoor" samples recovered from the Westport meteor sample.
While research is ongoing, it appears as though the meteors were an interstellar bio-weapon delivery system, and that the Chryssalid is the destructive vector of that weapon. The spoor is released into the air during atmospheric entry, and further spread during the explosion at the meteor's impact site. The spoor is a form of extremophile. It is unaffected by extremes of pressure, so it is able to survive in vacuum, or able to withstand the barometric spikes that would be experienced while punching through the atmosphere or the explosion on impact. The spoor can also survive extreme temperatures, though ironically, prolonged exposure to something in our atmosphere seems to break them down. Spoor samples were recovered from the meteor presumably because it was underwater all this time.
These spoor samples appear to be what is mutating wildlife all around the world. The infection take-up is sporadic, suggesting that the spoor is not a very efficient initial transmission vector. However, when spread wide enough, all it takes is one patient zero...
The spoor blankets an area and begins the cycle of infection. When it takes root in a host that meets some criteria that we do not yet understand, the Chryssalid begins to form inside the host. After a gestation period, the Chryssalid consumes the host from the inside and takes its new form.
Within the recovered specimen was an "egg sag" that contained dozens of parasites. Laid in a host through an ovipositor, it is presumed that one Chryssalid can make dozens of copies of itself in a short time. Without the time required for a spoor cell to find a host and metamorphose into the parasite state, these second-generation incubations may transform a host into a full-blown Chryssalid even more rapidly than the 14-17 days we have seen with the first generation of the infection.
When the first specimen was brought to the labs, artifacts gathered from other aliens activated, and proximity to these devices triggered activity in the severed Chryssalid head. Further investigation revealed that the artifacts were some kind of transmitter, and they propagated a signal that triggered something inside the Chryssalid's brain. Since the neural tissues of the creature are composed largely of the original host's, mapping of the affected area was possible. The current theory is that the signal would effectively repel the Chryssalid, which begged the question, "why would the aliens need to keep the Chryssalids away from them?" If field reports are correct, and the Chryssalid is a mindless, ravening monster, such a precaution by the aliens might be the only way to keep their troops safe from these terror beasts in the field. Further research is required to understand the signal and how it is propagated. The devices worn by the aliens were not the source, just transmitters intercepting and blasting out the parent signal that is undetectable at this time. It is one thing to hear the broadcast from a radio, another to be able to pick it up on your own or send out your own signal. It is likely that such a device can be found in an alien spacecraft or facility.
One thing is readily apparent to all researchers involved in this study: If left unchecked, the Chryssalid thread could easily end all life on Earth. The voracious appetite and aggressiveness of these creatures ensures they will leave no stone unturned in their hunt for prey and hosts. They will rapidly conquer and ultimately wreck any ecosystem into which they are introduced. They will not stop until the entire surface of our world is crawling with no other form of macro-scale life except Chryssalids. In addition to the greater alien threat, the Chryssalid menace cannot be ignored for long.
