ORICHALCUM UNIVERSE: The Crystal Intelligences thread 2...
Johnny1a
Crystallects (Crystal Intellects) were evolved, see the first thread:
As noted in the previous thread, Hermes was using its specially-bred
'strain' of crystalline-vortex life-forms as instruments in its
ongoing effort to break free of the Rival's trap, but matters changed
enormously in the year 4750 B.C. Now we know that what happened in
4750 B.C. was the Great Cataclysm and the downfall of Atlantis, which
had side-effects and ramifications far beyond the bounds of Earth.
When Atlantis fell, the complicated and terrifying events created a
psychic ‘shock wave’ that propagated outward across the Galaxy at an
immense transluminal velocity. This ‘shock wave’ touched the planet
Mercury mere microseconds after it was generated, and the results were
immediate and strange, the various
‘living-crystal’ life-forms began to display more complex behaviors,
the ‘average intelligence’ of those strains of Mercurigen life that
could be said to possess intelligence at all almost universally
rising.
In most cases the change was modest, often barely detectable. In the
case of that ‘species’ which had been evolved intentionally by Hermes
(through artificial selection, mostly) were deeply affected. Already
‘bred’ by Hermes for higher intelligence and greater sophistication,
as well as for a high sensitivity to telepathic instruction and
contact (to facilitate Hermes’ ability to make use of them), they were
exquisitely suited to be affected by the shockwave of telepathic
activity that came pouring in from Earth.
These life-forms, to put the matter crudely, ‘awakened’ when the shock-
wave touched them, gaining in fact what had up until then been merely
a potential, they became free-willed sapient beings. At the same
time, the ‘intelligence’ of these beings rose exponentially, as the
mechanisms of thought in these beings were highly amenable to self-
reorganization, in effect they reshaped their own minds for maximum
intelligence and mental acuity, impelled by the sudden shock of free-
willed self-awareness. The process was not by any means
instantaneous, in fact it required several Terran years to run to
completion, but the effect was quite spectacular, beings that had been
possessed of high animal intelligence were now full sapient beings of
considerable intellectual and perceptual abilities.
Hermes took some time to become fully aware of this transformation.
At the time of the Great Cataclysm on Earth, Hermes was deep in a
trance state, the events on Earth stirred it awake to some degree, but
at that time Hermes was solidly under the hold of the Rival’s misfired
trap, and it rapidly sank back into a stupor.
Hermes did not manage to regain a certain amount of consciousness for
nearly six hundred Terran years, when one of the periodic moments
lucidity came upon the trapped Eldrene, and it attempted to check the
progress of its servitors only to discovery that things were far more
changed than it had ever expected, when last Hermes had observed its
servitors, they had been ‘bright animals’, now they were far, far
more.
The word Hermes had assigned them had not been abandoned...not
_entirely_, anyway. Some of the newly sapient entities had continued
to carry out the work Hermes had set them before they had
‘awakened’, Others had abandoned the work, and still others
continued the work with their own goals in mind, the different groups
did not always cooperate smoothly, Hermes now observed that its
servitors were quite able to fight each other with violent force, and
that they often did so when their goals were in conflict.
Hermes was, to put it mildly, stunned. The Familiar Eldren had, in
half a billion years of study, only encountered _two_ examples of full
sapience, the Helians of Helius and the Homosentients of Earth. These
two examples were separated by almost half a billion years of history
and myriad light-millennia. The discovery of the Homosentients of
Earth had come only a few tens of thousands of Earth-years before, and
had been the event that had precipitated the great clash between the
Watcher and the Rival.
Now, on Mercury, not only had a whole new _kind_ of life come into
being, but in a matters of less than a million years it had produced
full sapience. Hermes was almost unable to process the concept.
Before Hermes could fully bring itself to terms with the implications
of what it had perceived, it slipped back into the involuntary trance
that had become its curse (along with its fellows). Another three
Terran centuries, speaking approximately, would pass before Hermes was
again able to ‘regain consciousness’.
When it did, it was able, partly by the luck of a particularly ‘lucid’
period of waking and partly by virtue of high levels of motivation, to
stay ‘awake’ for nearly three Terran years, though this is a relative
term. Even in its most lucid periods, Hermes, like the other trapped
Eldren, was never much more than half-awake and only a shadow of its
natural state of awareness and power. It could barely influence the
physical world, and its thoughts were slow, ‘sleepy’ and unfocused at
best.
This did not prevent Hermes from making contact with the newly ‘aware’
Crystallects, which came as something of a shock for the new beings.
They had, of course, often felt the touch of the mind of Hermes during
the long period before they were ‘awakened’, and the Crystallects of
that first generation had some memories of the time before their
‘Awakening’. Now they felt that vast, albeit mostly drowsy and
trapped, mind with full consciousness, and a mixture of awe, fear,
wonder, and confusion.
Hermes managed to regain half-awareness several times over the course
of the next century, sometimes for only a brief period, sometimes for
weeks or even months, and during that time it and the newly aware
Crystallects ‘got to know each other’. No Homosentient could readily
understand all the details of that encounter, Hermes and the
Crystallects were both utterly different and intimately connected.
Hermes, after all, though not strictly the creator of the
Crystallects, had made possible both the existence of the entire
Mercurigen life-type, and the species of sapient Crystallects. Hermes
was, if not the parent of these beings, certainly a very intimately
involved midwife and godparent rolled into one entity. The
Crystallects, though now free-willed beings, had Hermes’ plans and
desires and motives stamped deeply into their essential nature, in a
way neither the Helians nor the Homosentients ever knew.
The relationship was...complex, but not unfriendly. Hermes was
fascinated by these new beings, but he still needed them to work to
free him, and they now had a choice about doing so, and ‘arrangements’
had to be made, and over time, arrangements were made.
A new society came out of these contacts, a society shaped by the
alien basic nature of the Crystallects, the constant presence, albeit
often an unconscious one, of Hermes, and perhaps most odd of all, the
fundamentally _human_ imprint left on the Crystallects by the potent
impulse of the first telepathic shock. The initially Awakened
Crystallects had personalities and outlooks that had a certain ‘human’
tinge to them, and this they passed on to all their descendants as
those first sapient Crystallects began to reproduce.
In many ways, from the point of view of Hermes, the Awakening of the
Crystallects had made them more useful, their native psionic abilities
were magnified by orders of magnitude, and they also displayed an
instinctive ability as fluxons, the combined power to these two
abilities made any given Crystallects a very potent entity, and
working in groups they had tremendous abilities.
MORE LATER.
Johnny1a
The 'life cycle' of the intelligent Crystallects can be divided,
roughly speaking, into three stages.
The Crystallects are ‘asexual’, imprecisely speaking. They do
exchange ‘genetic’ information, but there are not divided into genders
in any sense, _physically_ speaking. [1]
Any Crystallect can and usually does produce offspring, assuming that
individual reaches sufficient age. The ‘newborn’ Crystallects begin
life within liquid ‘baths’ of highly mineralized fluids that resemble
mineral oil more nearly than any other familiar Terran substance, in
the underground labyrinths within which most of Mercury’s native
civilization exists. [2] [3]
The Mature Crystallects exchange ‘genetic’ information in a rather
literal sense, any physical contact between any two Mature
Crystallects enables a piezoelectric reaction which transfers a great
deal of information, as well as a physical contact by means of which a
small amount of an electrically-charged liquid is transferred from
each Crystallect to the other.
Within the crystalline body of a Mature Crystallect are
‘inclusions’ (for want of a better term) containing pockets of dense,
complex, highly mineralized and highly electrically-charged liquids.
These inclusions are usually small, no more than a few cubic
centimeters, and there may be several dozen scattered through the body
of a Mature Crystallect. These are the ‘wombs’ of this species. They
are linked together within the body of the Crystallect by thousands of
very tiny ‘channels’ within the solid matter of the Crystallect, and
in places those tubules approach the surface. These points are the
‘mating sites’ on a Crystallect, contact with any other Mature
Crystallect on these sites (assuming one mating site meets with
another) enables the exchange of the basic ‘genetic’ data and
material.
(Note that this is a two-stage process, both physical matter in the
form of the specks of crystalline material in the liquids _and_ raw
data in the form of electrical contact impulses must be exchanged to
produce a successful ‘mating’. Also note below that mating is not
_strictly_ necessary for reproduction to occur.)
Within these ‘inclusions’, new ‘infant’ Crystallects begin to grow,
starting from the tiny specks of crystalline material from all the
‘parent’ entities. Any number of Crystallects, up to thirty-six, can
‘mate’ to contribute ‘genetic material’ to a new Crystallect, which
will inherit traits from all the ‘parents’, both physical and mental.
The specks of crystalline material lock together and form the ‘seed’
for the new growing body of the new entity, the information stored
within the structure of the material _and_ the information transferred
electrically during ‘mating’ goes into the emerging new ‘field-vortex’
that will animate the newborn Crystallect. The process, once it
begins, requires about one Mercurian ‘year’ (roughly 88 Terran days)
to reach completion.
A Crystallect can ‘store’ the ‘genetic’ contributions of its mates
indefinitely, and trigger reproduction at will, with an exception to
be noted momentarily. When the process is triggered and runs to
completion, after about one Mercurian year an ‘embryonic’ Crystallect
has been created within the inclusion. At this point the new entity
is about millimeter in diameter and is by no means conscious. It will
grow within the inclusion until it is about one centimeter in
diameter, a process taking about another Mercurian year.
At this point a special channel permits the newborn Crystallect to be
ejected into one of the vast mineral baths that the Crystallects use
as ‘breeding chambers’. Almost all the life-forms of Mercury use such
gathered masses of synthetic liquid (they can synthesize the liquid
‘biologically’ from raw materials), but the sapient Crystallects use
vast pools of liquid at carefully and perfectly maintained composition
and temperature, enabling superior results.
Within these baths of fluid the infant Crystallect grows, a process
requiring about ten Mercurian years (or roughly two and a half Terran
years), on average. This can vary widely, though, depending on the
individual Crystallect, some spend as long as one hundred Mercurian
years in this stage. The general view among the Crystallects is that
individuals who grow more slowly tend to be more intelligent and
impressive as adults, but this is only a general sort of observation
with many case by case exceptions.
Eventually, when the young Crystallect is about two meters in
diameter, it ‘awakens’ to full sapience and at this point emerges from
the mineral bath for the first time, though it will return
periodically to rest and ‘feed’ until it reaches the normal size for a
Mature Crystallect (usually about six to eight meters in diameter), a
process that generally takes very roughly six hundred Mercurian years
(about one hundred and fifty Terran years), though the time can vary
either way by as much as fifty percent.
This period from first conscious awakening to full growth is the
Childhood of a Crystallect, during which it is taught, learns, masters
its physical and mental abilities, and grows (Crystallects grow by a
process akin to true crystal growth, assembling themselves from inside-
out along enormously complex patterns). During Childhood a
Crystallect operates under a second-class citizenship and the
authority of other Crystallects charged with raising the offspring of
a community, which may or may not be a ‘genetic’ parent in any given
instance. Note that all ‘related’ Crystallects can easily recognize
each other by sensory information.
When the Crystallect reaches full physical growth, it enters the
Mature life-phase.
MORE LATER.
[1] Mentally is another matter, as we shall see.
[2] The term Crystallect is the most common English appellation for
these entities, short for ‘Crystal Intellect’. Other terms sometimes
used meaning the same thing are ‘Crystal Intelligence’,
‘Crystalligence’, and ‘Glassies’. The last is considered
disrespectful.
[3] ‘Mineral oil’ is a _very_ loose approximation, though the liquid
does have a complex-hydrocarbon base, it is _highly_ mineralized, a
suspension of microscopic crystalline particles of complex structure
and high molecular weight, as well as a slurry of very fine copper and
gold particles. Hydrocarbons are rare on Mercury for obvious reasons,
making their synthesis a vital ‘biological’ process of the
Crystallects, and making their use in ‘biological’ processes a
premium.
Johnny1a
The Mature phase of existence for a Crystallect is far longer than
Childhood. For the early generations of Crystallects, Maturity lasted
about four thousand Mercurian years (slightly under one Terran
millennium), but this rapidly increased because of the intelligent
Crystallects' work on improving the growth phase during childhood,
thus producing 'higher quality' adults.
(The nature of their life-cycle makes it possible to optimize the
Childhood of a Crystallect in much the same way a manufacturing
process is optimizable). Also, as the knowledge of these beings grew,
they learned ways to reorganize their own mental and (to some degree)
physical processes in such a way as to make themselves more efficient,
and longer-lived.
Theoretical models indicate that a Mature phase Crystallect could
remain in this phase of life for as long as twenty-five thousand one
hundred thousand Mercurian years (about twenty-five thousand Terran
years).
During the Mature phase, a Crystallect does not need to ‘eat’, that
is, return to the ‘breeding pools’ to add more raw material to their
bodies, unless it needs to replace damaged parts of its body, in which
case that is necessary. For energy, Mature Crystallects draw upon
several sources, including ambient light. The intense natural
Sunlight of Mercury is well-suited to their ‘photosynthetic’ life
processes. [1]
Other energy sources also exist, including a ‘nuclear option’. One of
the components of a Crystallect is a certain amount of low-level
radioactive material, with long half-lives. This produces a trickle
of energy that that a Crystallect can draw upon to sustain itself for
long periods in the absence of sunlight, albeit at greatly reduced
level of activity and thought. [2]
When simply surviving on the inner energy of its radioactive reserve,
a Crystallect goes dormant, in a deep unconscious state, all the
available energy going to staving off death. In such a state, a
Crystallect can endure in total darkness for centuries, but it is
helpless and highly vulnerable until it is able to recharge on higher-
quality sunlight (or the equivalent energy).
Though ideally adapted to the spectrum and intensity of Sunlight on
Mercury, Crystallects can certainly draw useful energy from Sunlight
on Earth, though longer exposures are required to make up for the
lower intensity and less-than-ideal spectrum on Earth. [3] In fact,
Crystallects are very efficient at converting solar energy into useful
'biological’ energy, more efficient than any photovoltaic device
available in the entire twenty-first century. On Mercury, their
conversion efficiency runs at about 45%, on Earth it drops to about
25% because of the less-than-ideal spectrum, though if a Crystallect
is above the atmosphere at Earth’s distance the efficiency goes back
to about 45%. Crystallects are in fact able to make effective use of
Sunlight out to about the orbit of Neptune. [4]
Artificial light will also work, if the spectrum is sufficiently
similar to that of Sol and the intensity is sufficient. Crystallects
_prefer_ the ‘taste’ of natural sunlight, however, and can discern the
difference unless the spectral and intensity match of the artificial
light is _very_ close to that of the Sun.
A Mature Crystallect is one of the most physically self-sufficient
life-forms known. They do not require food in the usual sense (other
than Sunlight), nor any sort of gaseous support. A Mature Crystallect
is equally at home in a hard vacuum, at sea level on Earth, or for
that matter the depths of the Earth’s oceans or the interior of
Jupiter’s upper atmosphere. They can thrive in a temperature and
pressure range beyond that of the most hardy Solarigen extremophile,
and are highly resistant to most forms of radiation. The surface of
Io is quite ‘clement’ to a Crystallect, other than the heart of a
volcano and discounting the far from desirably intense levels of local
Sunlight. [5]
There _are_ environments and situations that can damage or destroy a
Mature Crystallect. The key to their endurance is rooted in their
considerable psionic power. Any Mature conscious Crystallect is
surrounded at all times by a reflexively-maintained psychokinetic
shield, protecting the entity from many dangers by preventing direct
contact between the matter of the Crystallect and the potentially
threatening environment.
Should something render a Crystallect unconscious, or exhaust its
psychic energies, then the resistance of the Crystallect hinges on the
physical strength of the ‘crystal’ that makes up the body. This
material is strong and stable, but not infinitely so in either
respect, and an unconscious Crystallect can not endure either the full
range of pressures nor the full range of temperatures that a waking
Crystallect can endure.
For example, a conscious, fully-rested Crystallect could endure the
pressures and temperatures on the surface of Venus for some time. An
unconscious Crystallect would be destroyed in a matter of moments in
that same environment, as the pressure, heat, and corrosive atmosphere
attack the ‘crystal’ in the body. [6]
Any Mature Crystallect possesses enormous psionic abilities _and_
natural, instinctive Flux skills. This is partly the result of their
nature and origins, and partly the result of Hermes’ ongoing influence
and teachings. The result is that Mature Crystallects are, by
Homosentient standards, _very_ powerful entities.
MORE LATER.
[1] Actually, they way they tap ambient sunlight is more akin to
photovoltaic processes than chemical photosynthesis.
[2] These radioactives _do_ make a Crystallect very mildly radioactive
externally, at a level far too low to represent any danger to Terran
life-forms. It _does_ have, make them detectable to sensitive
instruments.
[3] The absorption of the atmosphere alters the spectrum of the Sun’s
light as compared to Mercury’s surface, which is for practical
purposes a hard vacuum.
[4] Though in the outer Solar System, they need _much_ longer
exposures to be useful.
[5] During Childhood Crystallects are much more vulnerable.
[6] The material of a Crystallect’s body is not a genuine crystal, it
is a far more complex and heterogeneous substance. The ‘crystal’
description is derived from the translucent, faceted, crystalline
_appearance’ of this substance.
Johnny1a
> Theoretical models indicate that a Mature phase Crystallect could
> remain in this phase of life for as long as twenty-five thousand one
> hundred thousand Mercurian years (about twenty-five thousand Terran
> years).
Sorry, typo, that should be 100,000 _Mercurian_ years, equivalent
roughly to 25,000 Terran years.
Johnny1a
advantage of their _nature_ to give themselves certain advantages.
Every Mature Crystallect in later 'generations' has what amounts to a
solid-state computer built into its 'crystalline' structure,
duplicating some of the abilities of a true electronic computer. This
gives all Mature Crystallects the equivalent of the Lightning
Calculator, Eidetic Memory advantages. Though a Crystallect can not
match the full speed of a computer, they are far faster 'calculators'
than any Homosentient. With time and experience, this natural
computer also gives a Mature Crystallect tremendous spatial awareness.
Crystallects can 'see' across the entire spectrum of light visible to
most Homosentient species, and beyond it well into the deep infra-red
and somewhat into the ultra-violet. They can detect far infra-red and
high ultra-violet, but they can't actually 'see' with these
frequencies. [1] They can, when in a gas or liquid environ, detect
sound by vibrations against their crystalline surfaces, which is
sensible by piezoelectric means, and they can reverse this process to
produce sound. With practice and skill, some Crystallects are able to
duplicate Homosentient voices and even high-quality sound systems,
though this later requires a level of skill mastered by very few
individuals.
The sensitivity to sound is extreme, though again this depends in part
on the _skill_ of the Crystallect in interpreting the piezoelectric
impulses sound waves generate in their bodies. The most skilled
Crystallects have developed a ‘sense of hearing’ matching that of high-
quality surveillance systems, complete with parabolic analysis
abilities.
An even more challenging skill involves the manipulation of light.
Any Mature Crystallect can emit a brilliant flash of white light at
will (assuming it has properly ‘fed’ of late on Sunlight), intense
enough to blind Homosentients, or damage sensitive instrumentation.
With practice and skill, a Crystallect can manipulate that light-
emitting ability to generate crude images, or with still more skill
precise, life-like holographic images equal to those produced by late
twenty-first century audiovisual technology. These can be projected
outside their physical bodies and can be used a weapon by skilled
Crystallects.
Also, that level of skill can enable a Crystallect to focus its
reserves of energy into a laser beam of some power, the frequency and
intensity of which can be varied at will (subject to the reserves of
energy available). Intensities can range up to weaponized levels,
though this rapidly drains energy reserves.
Crystallects are, in appearance, crudely spherical masses of ‘crystal’
covered in sharp, often in fact razor-sharp, extrusions and facets.
The shapes of these extrusions varies from individual to individual,
while the actual crystalline material of their bodies is usually
highly translucent, resembling fine clear quartz crystal more than
anything else, though with a greater refractive index. When
illuminated from within by their own light (as they often are) or
sparkling in bright external light, they can be fantastically
beautiful to most Homosentients, like immense free-floating faceted
gemstones six meters across.
The normal state of being for a Crystallect is floating several meters
above the local surface, suspended psychokinetically. They can
levitate against any attraction up to three Earth gravities, more or
less, and in lower gravitational fields they can fly, though they are
slow in most atmospheres and hydrospheres. A Crystallect can maintain
levitation even when mostly unconscious, and only comes to rest on a
solid surface under extreme circumstances, it is a situation they find
extremely uncomfortable and also undignified. It can also be
dangerous on some surfaces, since no Crystallect is shaped to rest in
such a way, it can produce undo pressures on their strong but
shatterable bodies.
This ability is sufficient to enable a Crystallect to reach orbital
and escape velocity from most planets, though it takes a great deal of
effort and time. It is perfectly possible for a Mature Crystallect to
travel from Mercury to Earth, or vice versa, entirely on its own
power, though the voyage will take many Terran years to complete. By
making use of low-energy ‘transfer orbits’, a Crystallect can travel
all over the Solar System using only its own, innate psychokinetic
power for propulsion.
Crystallects do not have a sense of smell or taste, as such. They can
detect the presence of various chemicals in their environment,
however, and with experience and skill this ability can become quite
refined.
Crystallects are sensitive to magnetic fields, as well. This is an
advantage and a disadvantage at once, because too-intense magnetic
fields can overload this sense, in a way comparable to a bright light
blinding a Homosentient, and still more intense fields can produce
intense discomfort in any Crystallect. At still higher intensities
magnetic fields can actually be damaging to a Crystallect, and their
psychokinetic shield has very little effect on this danger, it reaches
through the shield without interacting.
MORE LATER.
[1] This is somewhat comparable to Homosentients, who can not see
infra-red light, but can sense it tactilely as a sensation of heat
above a minimum threshold.
Johnny1a
The standard means of intraspecific communication between Crystallects
is a combination of high-level psionic telepathy and visual
communication using intricate patterns of flashes and pulses of light,
across a spectrum ranging from the high infra-red to the middle ultra-
violet. The pulses of light can last as long as minutes or be as
short as milliseconds, and can consist of simple glow from the entire
body or tiny flashes of brilliant intense monochromatic light, or
anything in between.
While it is perfectly possible for Homosentient telepaths of
sufficient Power and skill to ‘tune in’ on the telepathic element of
the conversations of the Crystallects, the optical element of their
‘language’ is also crucial, and without it the telepathic speech is
slower, less nuanced, and less subtle. Some elements of their
intraspecific language are simply not possible to express by telepathy
alone, which means that a Homosentient wishing to ‘listen in’ on a
full conversation must be able to actually see the Crystallects in
question, and further instruments will be needed to perceive the intra-
red and ultra-violet signals.
Of course Crystallects must be able to visually perceive each other to
use this means of communication as well, so for longer-distance
messaging they restrict themselves to telepathy, which is adequate,
albeit less than fully satisfactory, for most purposes. It should be
noted that Crystallects have extended range for a given level of
telepathic Power, with each other only. All known Mature Crystallects
are able to converse telepathically with each other from any two
points within the Kuiper Belt. They can also communicate two-way over
the same distance with Hermes...assuming that entity is awake at the
time. [1]
With other beings, however, their range is the standard range of a
particular entity’s telepathy Power.
Crystallects, when they are not protected by their psychokinetic
shields, are particularly vulnerable to certain types of trauma.
Their crystalline bodies, though made of a very strong material, are
also very hard, and under heavy impacts can fracture or shatter. This
can easily be lethal. Sudden very sharp temperature changes can also
potentially do this, though less often.
Also, certain strong acids and bases can, if allowed to make actual
contact, rapidly dissolve, pit, corrode, or weaken the material of
their bodies, and the Crystallects are naturally cautious about
environments containing such, especially if for some reason their
psychokinetic protections are weakened or inactive.
If a Crystallect is slain, an interesting side-effect follows. Though
their crystalline bodies do not ‘decay’ in any meaningful sense, part
of the force maintaining the structural integrity is derived from
their ongoing living processes. The corpse of a deceased Crystallect
will generally begin to crumble within a few hours of death (exactly
how long varies with conditions), eventually leaving what appears to
be a mass of fine translucent gravel, the chunks no more than a
centimeter across, usually less, and usually razor-sharp.
(In a microgravity environment, this can lead to interesting side
effects.)
Crystallects are highly resistant to attacks by lasers at thermal
intensities, their translucent, alternately transparent and reflective
nature, and the intricate facets of their structure, are very good at
scattering and deflecting laser light at ordinary intensities. High-
intensity rapid-pulse lasers are quite another matter, and can
actually make their tendency to shatter a very serious vulnerability
because they inflict primarily _mechanical_ damage, rather than heat-
based damage. The psychokinetic shield can repel laser light, even at
extreme intensities, but with far greater difficulty than most
threats.
Bullets, also, can inflict considerable damage on a Crystallect if the
psychokinetic shield is inactive or can be overcome, again the
‘shatter’ tendency makes these entities very vulnerable to such
mechanical shocks.
MORE LATER.
[1] Modulo special case conditions, such as telepathic screens,
natural phenomena that interfere with telepathy, etc. The Kuiper Belt
limit is a rule of thumb about their extended range, it has nothing to
do with any particular property of the Kuiper Belt (though the
heliopause _does_ have telepathic influence).
Johnny1a
As mentioned above, any Mature Crystallect can reproduce, even without
'mating'. This is not the preferred approach, however, because the
resulting offspring of a lone Crystallect can only reshuffle the
genetic data already extant, and in accordance with the basic rules of
information theory, the results over time are not optimal. Generally,
the more different 'parents' a given Crystallect can claim, the more
physically, mentally, and paranormally viable that entity will be.
Since any Crystallect can 'store' genetic data from its various
'mates' indefinitely, the usual practice under normal conditions is
for a Crystallect to wait until it has accumulated input from a number
of other Crystallects before opting to begin growing an offspring. In
the twenty-first century, the usual practice is to wait until at least
ten 'parents' have contributed before starting the growth cycle.
Furthermore, an additional reason to reproduce with discretion is that
once a Crystallect does produce an offspring, it must wait quite some
time before doing so again. The usual latency period is about two
thousand Mercurian years, or approximately five hundred Terran years,
and a Crystallect can only reproduce a few times in the course of its
Mature existence. This provides an incentive to produce only the
highest-quality offspring possible in the few opportunities available.
[1]
Regarding ‘gender’, as noted above Crystallects have no _physical_
gender. However, because of the role played by the humans of Earth in
their racial ‘awakening’, their psychology _does_ display a set of
tropes that are in some ways analogous to gender as known to
Homosentients. Mentally, most Crystallects tend to think of
themselves as more ‘male’ or ‘female’, in a sufficiently human-like
way that most humans have no hesitation in applying the pronouns ‘he’
or ‘she’ to these beings, and furthermore, _they do the same_.
Note again that this is purely a psychological/mental tendency, it has
no reproductive role at all. It is a side effect of the wave of
telepathic thought that ‘awakened’ the first generation of
Crystallects, and this mental tendency has been passed down to all
their descendents since because of the psychic element of their
reproductive system. This is why such utterly alien beings, not even
of the same _kind_ of life as Homosentients, display personality
traits recognizable to Homosentients as typically ‘male’ or ‘female’.
One quirk of this process that not even Hermes or the Crystallects
themselves can explain is that the offspring of any given Crystallect
are always the opposite ‘gender’ from the parent. Various theories to
explain this have been proposed by various Mercurians and Terrans, but
nobody really knows why.
Though concepts like ‘marriage’ or ‘nuclear families’ are meaningless
for Crystallects, the imprint of the Human thought-wave that awakened
the race has left its psychological mark, ‘male’ and ‘female’
Crystallects _do_ sometimes for life-long pair bonds. These
situations are not always ‘monogamous’, but that is the general trend
(about 80%). Some very familiar emotional tendencies have been
observed in these very alien beings with regard to these
relationships, including such reactions as jealousy or bitterness over
rejections and ‘breakups’.
These pair-bonds serve no _direct_ reproductive role, but they can
sometimes increase the social and thus the reproductive success of the
pair, which helps reinforce the tendency in some cases. Also, the
mental linkage in such cases is suspected by some Crystallects to
boost their cognitive and psionic abilities to some extent (though
this is disputed by some other Crystallects). [2]
Crystallects can recognize ‘kin’ by sense alone, and though they raise
their young collectively, close ties can and do exist between a
‘parent’ and its various offspring and grand-offspring. Crystallects
count only the specific entity that ‘birthed’ them as the parent,
though they recognize their other ‘parents’ as secondary figures of
respect (and Crystallects recognize their offspring through other
Crystallects similarly). The complex ‘mating’ webs that stitch
Mercurian society together form the foundation of the complex (and
very alien) Mercurian social system.
MORE LATER.
[1] For any given Mature Crystallect, roll 1d, that is the number of
times that it can reproduce before its reproductive system is
exhausted. A _very_ few exceptional individuals can do more, for
these (no more than one in one thousand) roll 2d for the number of
possible offspring. This ability to produce ‘extra’ is not itself
hereditary, so it doesn’t outcompete the others evolutionarily.
[2] One thing that has been documented is that such long-term ‘male/
female’ pairs have displayed the ability to communicate telepathically
over even vaster distances than other Crystallects, the record case
being a pair able to consistently communicate over a distance of about
thirty light-hours.
Johnny1a
This is a _typical_ Mature Crystallect, circa ~2075 A.D... (using my
house-version of GURPS 3e)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IQ 14
DX 15
ST N/A
HT 16/100
Since Crystallects are nearly equivalent to 'solid objects', it makes
little sense to speak of their Strength. PK is heir primary means of
manipulating the world, and also provides their mobility.
ADVANTAGES
Appearance [Gloriously Beautiful]
Absolute Direction
Acute Hearing [5]
Acute Sight [5]
Alertness [3]
Eidetic Memory [2]
Immunity to Disease
Intuition
Lightning Calculator
Mathematical Ability
Night Vision
Amphibious
Damage Resistance [base DR 20]
Infravision
Parabolic Hearing
Radar Sense
360 Degree Vision
Vacuum Immune
Innate Attack [Flash]
Innate Attack [Optical Illusion]
PATRON(s)
Hermes (appears rarely, very powerful, limited reach)
DISADVANTAGES
Vulnerability [common Acids and Bases]
Vulnerability [Intense Magnetism]
Dependency [Sunlight]
(assume -50 points of specific social/other Diaads)
QUIRKS -5 points
PSIONICS*
Antipsi [12]
ESP [15]
Telepathy [15] (extended range, Sol System wide, Crystallects/Hermes
only)
Teleportation [10]
Psychobioetics** [10]
Psychokinesis [27]
+75 points of psionic skills (including Telereceive, Telesend,
Telescan, Psi Sense, Psi Static, Clairvoyance***, Telekinesis, and
Precognition all at IQ as a _minimum_).
* Using my house version of GURPS 3e psi rules.
** This is actually the Mercurian _equivalent_ of Psychobioetics.
*** Again, actually a Mercurian equivalent, using other senses.
FLUX ABILITIES*
Flux Awareness [25]
Flux Mastery [20]
100 Flux Points
* The biological/evolutionary nature of Crystallects makes them
'natural' fluxons, Flux skills are Mental/Average for them.
+150 points of ‘conventional’ skills (modulo certain skills available
only to a Crystallect, or unavailable to a Crystallect)
This is a very _typical_ Mature Crystallect, one well out of Childhood
and possessed of some experience and learning, and it runs out to a
round total of 1245 points(!). While considerable variation can exist
around this average, there is no getting around the fact that a
typical Mature Crystallect is a _very_ high-point character. Further,
some Crystallects have considerably _greater_ power and abilities.
The GM is recommended to use Crystallects with extreme care.