//------------------------------// // Project Report: Changeling Drone - Short Chapter // Story: I Am a Pet Changeling // by Queen Sanguine Dreams //------------------------------// Date: Redacted Location: Redacted Redacted Codename: Phone Home Subject: Changeling specimen recovered from conflict in India Project Lead: Dr. Richard Tygan Project Assistance: Dr. Klaus Bergmann, Dr. Claudia Schneider Preface: I can only relay my pure astonishment with the specimen brought to my table for examination. A more viable means of neutralizing this creature must be found for both the sake of our soldiers on the front lines of this invasion, as well as the future of our species. Subject: Changeling Drone Classification: Caretaker - As per Doctor Moira Vahlen's identifying report. Coloration: White carapace with greenish-teal wings, eyes and shell Height: 1 Meter Weight: 40 Kilograms Gender: Female Cause of Death: Starvation, Exposure The subject of this report appears to be far more malnourished than its counterparts in North America. Noticeably thin and shorter, the subject's internal organs appear to be limited in both size and function. What I can only assume to be the stomach of this creature has become vestigial with practically no benefit to the drone itself. This development is most likely to be a result of its preference for 'love' as a sustaining force rather than the metabolisms of more common creatures. In place of a functioning stomach appears to be some sort of organ that would normally hold large amounts of the chemical that our alien advisers refer to as a 'love storage' were the subject not starved. Further traces of this chemical compound can be found in the creature's lungs, as it appears to not breathe the same air we do. The lungs of the drone appear at my best guess to be the center of chemical production as it held the highest remaining amount of the chemical that sustains the drone's body. How the drone is able to produce this chemical is guesswork at this point in time, though from traces of human DNA within the chemical it is highly likely that they cannot produce this chemical without a host. Whether this sharing of DNA is gained through 'love' as reported or by some other means will require additional study. The creature is cold-blooded, more specifically the variant known as Poikilothermic. The body was able to withstand temperatures of two thousand degrees Celsius without becoming damaged, though temperatures exceeding this number rapidly began to cause stress fractures in the subject's exoskeleton accompanied by rapid expansion of the tested limb. The procedure was halted in time to prevent catastrophic loss of the subject and further degradation of the subject was narrowly avoided. A far more interesting discovery was the creature's intolerance to lower temperature environments. Cold storage of the body presented far more serious fractures in the carapace when the autopsy was continued in the following morning, leading to the practice of keeping the corpse heated to at least room temperature to prevent further damage. Further temperature stress tests were undertaken with an unaffected limb, and it was discovered that super-cooled liquid had the most visible effect on the exoskeleton of the test subject. The carapace of the caretaker was brittle to the touch, often chipping in areas with soft contact. The viability of using these liquids must be investigated further if we are to develop weapons in order to defend our planet against these invaders. This vulnerability to lower temperatures may explain the sudden halts of conflict in the Chinese and Indian theaters when a storm rolls into the area, followed by moments of quiet before the temperature rises to more habitable conditions. It also explains the alien's disinterest with an invasion into Russia with their predominantly arctic climate as well as the mountainous regions of India and China remaining largely untouched. It should be noted that a pressure washer was used to break through the carapace of the changeling for further study. Before this vulnerability to colder temperatures was discovered, several diamond tipped industrial saw blades were used to cut the chest open. Another interesting discovery about the subject was the lack of fluid that we would normally associate with blood within the creature's body. Only a few droplets of liquid were found within the heart and brain of the drone with a greenish coloration. When examined, the blood was revealed to be a heavily concentrated form of the chemical stored within the large pools reported to be housed in the Caretaker's Spire of a hive. Whether this refinement of the chemical is inherent to this particular discolored drone or to the larger hives of changelings remains to be seen, however it appears that this harvested 'love' appears to replace the blood of their bodies, leading to a distinct need to collect more of this chemical compound in order to survive. It is unknown if the subject is able to be revived with a dose of the chemical 'love' compound, as our love for science was understandably not suitable for the revival of the deceased. This causes a great deal of concern for the reported incapacitation of an allied Changeling Queen currently residing in the United States as a complete lack of love will cause the Queen to undergo the same starvation state as this drone, leading to her eventual death. More subjects will be needed in order to establish a base-line level of changeling biology, yet with the different colored drones and the stark contrast from a single hive to the next, it may be impossible to determine more similarities and vulnerabilities shared between hives without further cooperation from non-hostile changeling Queens and their hives. Recommendations: For now, I would advise our forces to commandeer any vehicle or system of highly pressurized water to counteract the extreme conditions that these changelings are capable of surviving. Kinetic force in the form of standard munitions seems to injure the carapace and cause fractures, but is not reliable in passing through the shielding ever present on the battlefield. More development will be necessary to create weapons capable of consistently defeating the alien threat posed to our planet, and a greater understanding of each hive's weaknesses will need to be investigated. It is highly likely that different sub-species of changeling will have weaknesses and strengths relative to their native environments. For now, we humans must use cold water to defend our planet. There must be a better way. -Doctor Richard Tygan