Cepamorphs

Cepamorphs are the result of a mutation that occurs in mammals who's nervous systems are exposed to to the pathogenic effects of spores spread by Myrtu fungi, a cordyceps family of mushroom thought to be unique to the planet of Hartika Rita. When the spores are introduced to a mammalian biology they latch on to various T-cells and other immune system actors, reprogramming the host's immune response in approximately 12 hours. Once reprogrammed, the immune system begins to see the natural DNA of the host's biology as a hostile virus and begins attacking the foreign cells.
During this process of incubation, the spores then use the natural occurrence of cellular mitosis to duplicate infected cells, repurposing matter from dead cells the virus has killed. At this phase, approximately 19 hours after infection, the host generally dies from cascading organ failure. Over the next 10 to 12 hours the host's body continues to be infected until the infected cells can access and reconstitute the motor systems of the brain. At this point, using the pre-built electrical pathways of the brain, the spores reanimate the targets body driven by the base biological needs to feed and reproduce.
The host's digestive system is too complex for the spores to reactivate, and so the spores continue to devour the biological material of the host, using that matter to reproduce more and more cells. Eventually, the hosts body begins to decay and external growths of the spores begin to break through decaying fleshing allowing for the dispersal of more spores into the air to infect living hosts. The entire timeline from infection, to death and eventually to aerial dispersal of new spores varies from host to host, but averages at about 72 hours. After approximately two weeks the biological structure of the host has been completely consumed by the spores, and begins to break down. After another 72 hours the host's remains will collapse, and the spores will germinate to grow new Myrtu fungi.