"Initially encountered by a submarine crew in 1953, the black oil re-emerged when a French salvage team came across a submerged B-51 Mustang, and again in a piece of martian rock. The black oil is a sentient viral extraterrestrial life form which can control its human host. It is uncertain how exactly it travels from host to host, but those infected with it exhibit a floating black film over their eyes. It now appears that, under the correct conditions, the black oil can also transform its host into an extraterrestrial being which may represent the black oil's original form."