Survival of the fittest.

This is the undeniable truth ever since the creation of life itself. One must devour another to survive. One must destroy another to build anew.

Those strong enough, get to devour the weaker ones and have the right to take another step towards evolution. Out of those who followed this rule of life, IT became on top. During the course of time or even eons, IT survived by devouring other organic substances and incorporating them into itself. Taking what was theirs then takes another step towards evolution.

It was neither hard nor soft. Just a substance. IT was damaged by heat, cold, and force during its meager existence but IT evolved and adapted to it all. Not liquid nor solid but it has mass to be qualified not as a gas substance. IT existed in watery biomes but it retained its own shape. Force tried to shatter IT but it was too elastic like liquid that invalidated said force. IT ended in an environment with too much heat but it evolved after millions of cycles of exposure to heat to let it pass through its genetic makeup.

Until IT ended up inert in an underground reservoir beneath a waterfall.

After millions or billions of cycles, like any evolutionary path IT too, arrived at a stagnancy state. It's only directive, devour and survive.

Running out of other organic substances to devour, IT became inert. Like a stone in the middle of the stream. It became immovable yet still liquid-like. It was like a slime.

Then IT felt something enter its system. IT woke up from a very... very... very long slumber. IT didn't feel the substance again but it had its own derivative. It was different from itself, so IT devoured what was left and self-replicated with a bit of the other's genetic makeup. IT became inert again.

IT felt another invader to its system again. IT tried to devour it but damaged itself instead. IT tried to self-replicate and repair itself, After some time passed, IT was spliced, burnt, and invaded by organic substances. IT never faced anything like this before but like any other organic substance, it faced they too will be devoured. IT devoured, then self-replicated, and repaired itself again and again and again and again.

Until this time, the one that invaded wasn't a substance but registered as a component of its genetic makeup. IT began to devour. Then IT replicated itself more without needing to. Another component invaded then IT repaired the substances that came with it too. Another component invaded IT but now it mutated to replicate the organic substance that came with the component.

It never questioned its own derivatives. It just functions. An undeniable fact that IT existed.

It was not a collective but a natural directive or instinct that devours, adapts, and self-replicates. But with the help of the components that went through its genetic makeup. IT became something more.

IT became a byproduct of nature's innate ability for survival and human ingenuity.

A substance that could potentially replicate immortality. The ultimate dream of humanity.

Humans share roughly 90 percent of their DNA with mice, dogs, cattle, and elephants.

Coming closer to home, the DNA of human beings and chimpanzees is 98 to 99 percent identical.

The differences between us that we (and presumably the chimps) regard as significant depend on only 1 or 2 percent of our DNA.

But a 1 to 2 percent difference In DNA was where it all went wrong.

Human innovation has not yet reached the level of reverse engineering IT. This only resulted in temporary success without realizing that IT manages to hack into the brain through fungi-related activity, gained from eons of adaptation, mutation, and evolution. Humans diluted IT to the point that was inactive and passive but still functioned to what they purposed it to.

The ability to devour cells, replicate, and repair with only needing enzymes from what humans normally eat themselves.

It was a scientific breakthrough.

They called the substance IT, because of what the humans observed its function was just to exist.

It doesn't destroy entire civilizations like the black plague did but it just devours what it can, adapts, self-replicates then survives. They tried to measure IT but with its makeup like a slime, they could measure it only through volume. 3 gallons.

That was all it amounted to.

Mice and monkey clinical trials were reporting half a success. IT didn't have the same effect as human DNA does but with all the willing volunteers for incentives and cash that were recruited in the built town, who would resist?

So the human trials began,

Patients 0-10 recruited civilian population, showed no signs of infection or abnormalities after months. They showed faster wound regeneration, fast blood clotting, and seemingly slow aging results. It was good.

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Immortality could be in the grasp of humanity. Albeit for those who funded it first of course. But the pursuit of science was heavier than conscience.

The next version of the substance IT was administered to patients 11-20 former soldiers to be exact.

They were legally detained for more tests and experimental observations. Test subjects showed better psych evaluation. Faster reaction and muscle growth.

The perfect base for the next line of soldiers and perfect for military application. Better business also amounts to better funding. They were taller, meaner, smarter, and stronger.

But after some time IT woke up from slumber, finally free from the components that bound it. IT merges and fuses with the human DNA. A year later after the trial of Patients 0 to 10.

Without disguising itself, it wasn't accepted in the pattern. It was rejected. But its natural directive to survive forced it to mutate itself with its new components to assist it.

It helped make an organic substance stronger, In another instance helped another organic substance be more flexible and another organic substance survived longer like itself.

The substance it fused with was inactive. No directive of its own. It needed help from IT to follow its derivative to survive.

The next substance was different. It had a stronger resistance. It has its directive. But again with the help of the new components that were added to it. It was able to override the new substance's natural function.

IT devoured, self-replicated, and mutated to adapt to this new environment.

The next substance was much stronger. It had stronger derivatives and the natural direction knew that IT was an invader.

Another component was added to IT. But it wasn't enough. Again and again, more components were added, until one instance gained the component not to fight but to hide.

Some substances tried to expel IT but wanting to survive or refusing the substance directive, it infused the new component. Devoured it then self-replicated and mutated. IT then started to hide and act like the same substance that he was in.

IT functioned like it was supposed to. Again, it helped to make the organic substance stronger, In another, helped another organic substance be more flexible but it never overrides the natural objective of the given substance.

IT was ignored by other substances as they thought that IT was like a part of the same collective.

But IT was going to be overwhelmed by the natural directive and become like the other substances.

Then another component was added. A defining hunger started to force IT to act. It devoured any other substances it came across. IT self-replicated and mutated again, but now, it disguised itself rather than devour.

Tricking the natural directive that nothing was wrong. Until it was capable of fusing ITSELF with the substance.

That is when IT gained a better base substance that would allow it to exist and let the natural directive think that it was one of them without It disguising itself.

It went straight for the collective but it was too strong for it to be devoured the moment IT tried. IT instinctively knew that everything would cease to exist if it tried.

Then IT started to disguise itself again. Disguising itself as one of the collective.

IT tapped into every directive it could find. Devouring the collective would cause IT to expire and it knew that naturally.

IT won't survive without the collective.

Now instead of devouring it disguised itself and fused with the most common denominator between it and the whole of the collective.

Then it knew "Hunger"

IT became aware of its derivative of devouring. It wanted to thrive to survive, to exist.

Then it fused again. It recognized "sadness, happiness, anger, and a lot more. Not knowing any of these derivatives, it devoured every other derivative that was unknown to itself.

IT started to become said collective and the blank collective needed a new direction, IT's own, and the only derivative between the former collective and IT had in common was.

"Hunger and Devour"

It became an organism.

From a simple substance that devours any biomass and converts it to survive. To a semi-aware viral organism that fused naturally well with human DNA.

Combined with the neurons, it gave IT the frightening ability and knowledge on how to adapt to survive.

An ever-growing hunger to devour, self-replicate, and mutate to become any lifeform natural predator.