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When it was first noticed that the aliens seemed
to be modifying themselves over the course of
a prolonged engagement – growing more resistant
to gunfire, or becoming utterly silent – it was
assumed that they were reacting to our actions,
and developing immunities much like a virus does.
The truth is more complex.
Just as a marine structure contains coded information
that allows a ship or base's nanotech to perform
new, military grade, functions, so do the aliens
begin with base-level resources, and construct
structures to increase their combat abilities.
The difference is, a Kharaa defensive tower (for
instance) is less like a computer, and more like
a time capsule. It contains information similar
to a Hive's, but more specific – this information
describes variations of creatures from the Kharaa's
history: a genetic family tree. When a Kharaa
gains a new ability, it is evolving from its base
form, down some specialized branch of that tree:
growing more sophisticated, and without fail,
deadlier. This fast-forward evolution allows for
dozens of variations of alien: each supposedly
suited to some environment, lost in the Kharaa's
past. Similar to Earth species that may have arctic,
desert and jungle variants, that while all the
same kind of animal, have evolved into unique
sub-species.
Multiple chambers appear to also offer more and
more information, improving the effectiveness
of each evolution. Once more than three chambers
are active, this improvement plateaus.
Since the Kharaa have probably never seen man-made
environments like ours, and since humans don't
always attack the same way twice, they don't choose
just one variation. They tend to evolve a wide
range of species types – ranging from brawlers,
with increased speed and armor, to assassins,
with silent movement and enhanced senses.
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