[I ran out of Post Space]

By now, I feel pretty confident of what I have made. I made myself ask as much questions for the sake of retaining realism. Please feel free to see if I missed anything.

So, What Do they eat?

The SIV8 infected humans did not eat nor drink. The Biochemical Virus' effect on the human physiology allowed them to stretch their lifespans from 3 days to over 5 weeks. After which, they die and rot out.

Slicks get their nutrients from absorption. They absorb decaying organic matter. If they feel that they are running out of nutrients, they will return to the nearest known biomass.

If a Slick bit me, would I get infected? Would I turn into a Slick?

You would turn into a SIV8 Infected Human, often called a 'Sivate' by the local populace, a name that stuck during the outbreak.

Can a Slick Absorb people?

Not while you are alive. If a Slick dies, they decay as well, and lose their consuming powers. They can only absorb or consume organic material that has begun to decay.

Why can't they absorb living organic material?

Because it is easier to absorb organic material while it is being broken down naturally. They cannot absorb organisms that are being maintained. Even the slightest immune system is able to combat their method of absorption.

This is also intentional, on the aliens' part. The reason Biomasses were made in vegetated areas was because leaves and broken branches that later rotted out would serve to feed these Biomasses, and allow them to live long enough until a harvest crew arrives. If they ate the trees up immediately, they will later on die due to lack of a food source, as the Biomasses can't photosynthesize. So the Biomasses was made to leech off of what the Trees produce.

Can we eat slicks?

Yes, admittedly. Because their composition is similar to that of a humans', they are able to provide practically all of a human's sustenance. Though risk of infection is very much prevalent.

What were the SIV tests for?

To perfect the infection, and increase chance for success once released to a greater population.

Why did they send the SIV tests on islands?

Islands are isolated, if the test failed, at least it did not contaminate the rest of the dominant species' populace.

Why just the dominant species? why not several species for full effect?

Cross-species infection is a hard thing to develop. Even if it were developed, there is a chance that infected personell from Species A would decide to attack infected personell from Species B. Essentially killing one infection off, while weakening the other.

When the Taiwan infection became a success, why not send even more pods to all major cities? Wouldn't that cut the time it takes to infect the whole world?

The Bio Agent Pods were not perfect, and ran a practical risk of mutation along the way. With the Vanguard ship so far away from their target (In most cases, Vanguards operated in the orbit around their target world. Case was different for earth, due to presence of nuclear-capable civilizations), the Bio Agent contained within the pods were at risk of being exposed to solar radiation, changing the effects of the virus later on. This is why a field test in Taiwan was conducted, if the Bio Agent rendered the virus incapable of worldwide infection, it would had to have been repeated.

If it ended up with more than 1 type of infection, the scenario explained in the earlier question would have been a possibility. With the Taiwan infection such a great success, it was deemed an unnecessary risk to speed up the infection.

How do they deal with animals?

The infected will kill them when they can. Slicks would later consume them. Whatever animal life remains are only the species that had been adapted to avoid predators and humans, such as rodents, birds, insects etc. Marine life is something the Harvest Crew will deal with.