The Surgeon Matriarch (Patreon)

This art piece was created as a reward for the winner of a writing contest held in October of 2021. It depicts a now contained and controlled Surgeon Matriarch and one of the form ORD personnel that she converted into a drone stopping an intruder and adding them to hive.

The Entry:

Designation: PMORD-5331{The Surgeon Matriarch}
THREAT ASSESSMENT ANALYST: RCDS-F137|
SUBJECT DESIGNATION: PMORD-5331
SUBJECT CLASSIFICATION: Corporeal Sentient
SUBJECT DESCRIPTION: Subject appears from a distance to be a non-descript human, standing 5’10”, with brown hair and wearing entirely brown clothing. Subject appeared to be shrouded in mist from a distance despite fog not appearing in local meteorological reports (see Threat Encounter Report PMORD-5331-A). As the subject is approached, limbs appear to elongate and thin and torso shortens and hunches over, revealing what appeared to be arms from a greater distance to be forelegs. Subject movement revealed sharp, chitinous protrusions at the joints of its limbs which lie flush against its skin when the joint is straight. These protrusions can be ejected at a high velocity similar to a porcupine’s quills, demonstrably capable of incapacitating hunter drones. At a closer vantage, the subject’s brown clothing is revealed to be an exoskeleton, though this does not extend to the limbs, apart from the aforementioned protrusions. Subject’s head continued to appear human, though with far greater freedom of movement. Subject’s mouth distended as much as twice the amount typical for a human and was dripping with a black, gooey substance. This was collected at the scene of Encounter PMORD-5331-A, and determined by analyst to be eggs. Sample was then incinerated. Encounter recordings supplementing PMORD-5331-A show a sentient-level intelligence in the subject’s demeanor and decision-making. However, communication was not achieved. As the subject escaped, the illusion of its appearance from a distance was gradually restored.
RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION: Neutralizing PMORD-5331 as a threat should be considered a high priority. It has already incapacitated multiple hunter drones, and demonstrated a recognition of Praxis iconography. Analyst must repeat recommendation that hunter drones under PMORD NOT carry Praxis branding. While the subject’s humanoid head and sentient intelligence would facilitate pacification and integration as a Praxis drone, this analyst recommends that the use of deadly force be authorized. Live capture would risk far too many drones.

Designation: ‘Surgeon Matriarch’ Announcement Annotated Transcript 10/31/2021

Incident Report:

[12:00 AM]: Hello members! We are currently under siege! Please keep an eye out for an eight foot tall, naked, faceless creature prowling the halls of our facility. She is light pink in color, with white marbling across its body, with a pure white bone faceplate and armor pieces, and has a lithe build. Be advised, she appears to have wriggled its way in via the air vents and is attacking nearby staff in the west wing.
After detaining the creature it was noted that musculature was visible where the bone plates did not grow, without skin this allowed an easier intake of biomass when entering her rapid growth stage. Creature is also seen to be somewhat malleable in its form hence why it was able to fit into the air vents. Adjustments to the architecture of our vents is strongly encouraged to prevent this from happening in the future.

[1:30 AM]: The west wing has now been quarantined. The assailant has been surgically inserting eggs in the aforementioned west wing staff, using its retractable claws and ovipositor. The creature has now been classified as dangerous to our compound. Do not engage with the creature. Report to your superiors immediately upon any sightings of the entity. Please standby as the acquisitions team secures the creature.

The Surgeon Matriarch’s claws are akin to large knives in which it can use with unnatural precision. It's been documented that it will paralyze a target through a fluid secreted through said claws before carefully cutting open the victim and placing ‘eggs’ near the outer wall of the large intestine.

[2:00 AM]: Please be warned, a victim of what has been named the ‘Surgeon Matriarch’ has escaped the quarantine despite having been previously thought to be sedated and to be picked up for medical assistance. The victim can be recognized  by the pink bioluminescent lights, which are glowing from within their abdomen. The victim has been sighted wandering the halls, and has been attempting to escape the acquisitions team. It appears to be unresponsive to commands given through their headset, and only responds with gurgling, and moaning. Other victims appear to be gathering around the Matriarch Surgeon, and are helping fend off the acquisitions team. Reinforcements have been issued.

After a short incubation period the victim is considered to be unconscious for a brief period of time (approximately one to hours) before the ‘egg’ takes control of the host's body. This is the first step of the ‘eggs’ transformation cycle. These ‘eggs’ appear to all be a part of a hive mind. In the early stages of incubation their directives are theorized to be protecting the Surgeon Matriarch, and to bring victims back to her.

[3:15 AM]: The monster and her horde have begun to wreak havoc upon other wings of the facility. The glow affecting the victims' abdomens is spreading through the blood vessels of their bodies. Ovipositors akin to the Surgeon Matriarchs are protruding through their mouths. Their new directive appears to be ‘spreading the infection.’ The life cycle of the horde appears to be moving rapidly, and is being studied from a safe location.

Our enforcers and acquisitions staff are working together to manage resources and contain the breach. Please secure yourself in a nearby bunker or pod in order to slow the spread of the horde's infection. The second transformation cycle of the afflicted notes the protrusions of three foot long ovipositors coming from where the hosts 'egg’ is located. These are then used against opposing forces by crudely placing eggs indiscriminately on, and in them; this paralyzes the target quickly. This allows the victim to be either brought back to the Surgeon Matriarch, or for them to be orally subjected to eggs, making a lesser form of the afflicted which do not enter life stages two or three of transformation.

[5:00 AM]: Upon heavy resistance from acquisitions and the enforcers, the Surgeon Matriarch has taken bodies from the hoard. She has begun to devour the bodies through a gaping mouth that has split open from the center of her chest, and appears to be increasing in musculature and size with each body it consumes. The rest of the hoard appear to be sprouting plates of bone armor, similar to those of the Surgeon Matriarch. They appear to be turning into lesser forms of the entity. Other assets and options are being considered.

The third and final life cycle of the afflicted is caused by a distress signal noise that comes from the Surgeon Matriarch akin to loud chirping. The afflicted adapt one of two ways; they either grow bone plates and focus on defending their Matriarch, or they submit themselves as biomass. The Matriarch's rapid growth stage slowly deteriorates over time and tires her out. This allows for easier detaining of the creature.

[10:00 AM]: Good news fellow staff! The creature and its horde has been captured. A cure is not yet available for the afflicted victims, but methods for reclaiming our assets are being researched. Heavy damage and losses have occurred to the facility, but we are still holding strong! Repairs are to begin immediately and staff now have permission to leave the bunkers and see where they're needed.

Although the attack has caused considerable losses, good progress is being made in adapting and curing lost personnel. The eggs that the Surgeon Matriarch lay are to be experimented on for their assimilation abilities. Communication efforts however have so far failed.