Alien ticks are a truly fascinating species of small arachnid ectoparasites (or external
parasites) encountered by the Destiny expedition after crossing into the second galaxy,
when Lt. Scott's away team picked them up during a previous offworld excursion on, presumably,
the last planet they visited. What's fascinating is that these Alien ticks seem to possess
stark hallucinogenic properties, able to manifest in their host crisp hallucinations indistinguishable from reality.
In appearance they actually bear a remarkable resemblance to the many ticks one may find
back on Earth, all of them part of the suborder Parasitiformes-- which, together with mites,
constitutes the subclass Acari.
Earth ticks feed upon the blood of mammals, birds, sometimes even reptiles and amphibians,
distributed wildly about the world, but especially in warm, humid climates.
Alien ticks, on the other hand, appear to feed upon the neurotransmitters & hormones produced by their hosts,
the brain chemistry associated with the process of feeling emotions.
It's on the back of their host's neck they attach themselves, and whereupon release an
unknown toxin which targets the Limbic System, wherein is the emotion centre of the brain.
"[T]hey inject a venom," TJ surmised, "some kind of toxin that affects the brain's chemistry."
This toxin has the uncanny capacity to elevate negative emotions, a process by which conjures
the most vivid hallucinations. Often they manifest as the worst fears held by any given host.
What's more, these Alien ticks also appear to possess a rather mighty defence mechanism,
triggered by any attempt to physically remove the specimen. Not only does this cause the
specimen to burrow deeper into the dermis, being driven possibly by pure instinct;
it causes them also to release a far larger dose of the unknown toxin.
"[J]ust...when I tried to pull it off," TJ explained, "it must have released more toxin."
This added jolt appears to cause one's vitals to start crashing, such that it may potentially even kill the host.
It's shortly after this point, however, the attached specimen then moves on to parasitize
anyone else who happens to be nearby, and if that someone who just, by chance, happened to be nearby
also had a specimen already attached, it'd stand to reason that their hallucinations would likely intensify.
"More than one tick attached to you would explain," Eli hypothesized,
"why some of the hallucinations were more...intense than others."
Simply trying to remove them with a pair of thumb forceps is, as TJ learned, a procedure
far too dangerous to attempt again. "I'll just have to figure out another way," as she put it.
Which she did. "The venom we extracted from the jungle planet creature," TJ mused.
"It worked as an anesthetic on Rush during his surgery," she explained.
"I think that if I apply it topically to the tip…"
The hope was that, if the Squiggler venom was strong enough to sedate an adult human,
it should be enough to anesthetize that tiny Alien tick, allowing it to be safely removed.
In the end, TJ's idea to apply topically the Squiggler venom worked exactly as advertised.
It's rather ironic, though,
how this venom has probably saved about as many lives as the species from which it came has taken.
So what did you think about these crazy hallucinogenic Alien ticks? It's really too bad we don't
have anything like it here on Earth. I can only imagine the sorts of medical technologies
from them we could derive and invent. It'd probably revolutionize how we deal with and
treat mental illness. But let me know what you think down below in the comments section,
and don't forget to subscribe for more Stargate related content.
This is Destiny's Computer logging off.