Log Entry #061

Log entry #061

"I've done it. I've figured it out for sure. These creatures are actually symbiotic with a virus on their world. The instructions for the single entity body plan are in their genes like any other species, but the trigger for the second entity is a virus found all over the planet. It's literally in every living thing on the planet. Everyone is infected from conception, as the virus is easily transmitted through various modes of spreading among different species.”

"Once the right age is reached, the virus springs into action, kicking off the process like an avalanche. Or maybe more like... well, it's hard to compare it to anything we know. The point is, it's rapid and inevitably leaves one either an adult member of their species or genitals.”

"The virus likely has no effect on any other creature and seems to only hijack the cellular machinery of this one life form. So, I believe the crew would be safe from contamination if an encounter were to take place. It would need to be some sort of super retrovirus with all the instructions for the 'switch' coded to work in humans, which is impossible.”

"Given this, I plan to propose we capture one of them for more intense study on board the Chance Encounter."