Jenkins survived infection, and even remained conscious, with short periods of time where he could exert control over his mutated body.Ī Pod infector may abandon its host if the corpse has been heavily damaged, and look for a new one. This aged version of the Pod infector must have been kept in captivity for far too long, thereby reducing its potential of complete transformation of its host into a Flood combat form. Jenkins during the raid on the ' Covenant weapons cache' on Installation 04. This was the fate of UNSC Private Wallace A. In exceedingly rare cases, such as if the Pod infector has been damaged or is incredibly old, it will go through this process without killing the host, leaving them at least partially aware of what is going on, but unable to move or act.

The organism effectively becomes a pawn of the Flood's collective intelligence, to be used in any way it deems necessary. The consequences for the host organism are extreme, as their brains are purged of all traces of their original personality and their bodies are reconstituted into Flood biomatter. The speed and intensity of this process occurs at the same rate as an energetic chemical reaction, often taking mere seconds to accomplish. Even if the Pod Infector is quickly removed from the host body, the injection of Flood cells into the host's system is enough to cause rapid transformation into spore-packed blisters. Having achieved total control over the host, the Pod infector reshapes the body into a form more suitable for attacking enemies - a combat form. At this point, the Pod infector burrows into the host body, moving aside the internal organs and taking up residence within the chest cavity (or any approximate equivalent). These cells interface with the host's cells, 'digest' them and convert their components into new Flood cells.

At this point, the Pod infector has complete control over the body's motor functions.Īs the Pod infector hacks into the host's nervous system, it releases encapsulated Flood Super Cells into the body. Once this is accomplished, the form rewrites the neural pathways of the victim's brain with its tendrils, forcing a resonant frequency match between its neural signals and the host's.

These appendages penetrate deep into the body, tap into the victim's spinal cord, and unleash an attack on the host's nervous system via direct contact with the spine, killing the host almost instantly. Once within range of a potential host, they leap for the victim's chest area, rasping away at armor, clothing and flesh with their numerous tentacle-like limbs. While small (roughly the size of a human torso) and weak, they travel in huge swarms and overwhelm foes using sheer numbers. Pod infectors are the primary vector for the Flood infection.

Halo 1 flood