Zilda Marn's Research Notes

Zilda Marn is a Vusinor researcher that wrote many thousands of pieces of research during her long life on a large number of subjects. Her influence in the advances of sciences have lifted the Kuna Empire and made them equal to any other civilization in the galaxy in scientific advancement. Nearly all of her research notes are readily accessible from the Research Corps database. If you come across a green screen panel labeled as a research log, it is almost a certainty that is was written by her.

Do note that translating her vast body of knowledge into an understandable human language takes a significant amount of time. Because of this, the information presented here is only a fraction of a fraction of Zilda's work. For now, feel free to browse through the few that are translated and ready for human consumption. Each Research Log is separated by the world it was written on. Most planets only have one or two pieces written on them.

Portrait of Zilda Marn, in her 615th Clone

Planet Renthia

Parent System: Garetia
Planet Type: Fungal
Sentient Species: Sherenth

Distance from Star: 0.81 Au
Diameter: 8,887 km
Species Diversity: Abundant

First Visit: 25,000 years ago

This was the very first planet Zilda visited after becoming a researcher. Like any low ranking scientist, she was assigned to a mundane job, gathering data on a mushroom colony while other researchers were doing more important tasks.

This turned out to be a lucky assignment for Zilda because she ended up discovering the Sentient species of the planet Renthia and she quickly got promoted to a higher rank based on this. The other researchers kept overlooking the strange pulsating mushroom colonies and not realizing they were actually intelligent hive minds.

A001

A001.2

A001.3

Research Log: A-001

When there are so many Vusinor scientists, I guess it was more than possible I would get a dumb job. There are three thousand researchers combing the planet Renthia for any and all possible scientific knowledge. I got assigned to a patch of mushrooms, and was left here with a week of food, shelter, and little else. This was going to be boring, or maybe not...

These mushroom patches seem to grow all over the planet. Most are tiny clusters a meter or so across. The colors vary, but this one is blue and white and pulses like a mass of ooze. I plucked off a chunk for genetic analysis and the entire colony seemed to move slightly. It grew blackened pits that looked around the area and once it saw me, it started approaching. In surprise I dropped the sample and it was quickly reabsorbed into the oozing mass.

Research Log: A-001.2

Turns out I discovered the intelligent species of this world! I'll call them the Sherenth until the research heads figure out a better name. Getting a sample without being attacked was difficult, but once I got one, I learned quite a bit about them. Each Sherenth as we know them is actually a colony of several hundred thousand individuals, each with the brain power and ability of a jellyfish. When linked together, they share neural networks and individuals become specialized, some aiding in digestion, others aiding in vision, movement, or defenses.

The mass communicated with me by flashing different colors and the colors were arranged in prime numbers. I held up my fingers in front of the creature's eyes in sequence to see if it understood: 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, then it repeated the flashing.

Research Log: A-001.3

By the time the other researchers came to pick me up, I had taught the Sherenth several complex equations and got it to write letters on itself to communicate with me. I had to tell it I was leaving, and it offered a piece of itself to "Integrate" with me. I accepted the piece but bottled it up to be studied later. I offered the Sherenth a piece of my hair. It's literally just algae but I do wonder how they will "integrate" it in their mass?

-Zilda Marn, Class Y Research Agent

Research Log

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Planet Ablabok

Parent System: Siltauxen
Planet Type: Frozen
Sentient Species: Maenor

Distance from Star: 1.4 Au
Diameter: 4,654 km
Species Diversity: Abundant

First Visit: 20,000 years ago

Planet Ablabok is a frozen world located in the Siltauxen Star System, currently undergoing a Snowball Planet scenario where nearly the entire world except the equator is covered in Ice. Back when Zilda first visited the world around twenty thousand years ago, the planet was in an interglacial period, and the oceans were more exposed.

The research team assigned to the world was having trouble contacting the Maenor, an amphibian species that lived in coastal villages just under the water. Zilda decided that the best way to get information was to barter with them. She tried offering everything she could, but the most unlikely thing she offered, a packet of jelly, is what ended up working.

FS117

FS117.2

FS117.3

FS117.4

FS117: Making Contact

Grrr, these creatures are infuriating! I've tried everything to get them to cooperate! I offered them my knife, they got offended. I offered them my flashlight, they got really offended that I would offer them the sun! I offered them food, they get offended at the taste. Sometimes, I wish we were more like the Sseterri researchers that take tissue samples without asking, just so my research could go a little more smoothly!

You know what worked? I had a metallic packet of Jelly in my pocket. I saved it from my rations the day before and was going to eat it with todays lunch. That's what worked! I tore off the corner and put some on my finger, licking it to show it was food. Then I offered the Maenor the packet. It went into a frenzy slurping every last drop of what they called the 'heavenly slime'.

Tears then rolled down the creatures eyes and it said I had to be a messenger from the gods to have such a food! Yeah...I went along with it. I asked them who their god of life was, and was told Fregula in response. I said that I was infact a messenger of Fregula and my research team has descended to the mortal plane to study them! The Maenor was overjoyed at hearing this and told me the research team could study to their heart's content, as long as they had more heavenly slime to offer!

Mission Success! HQ is going to be angry I told a primitive species we were messengers of the gods again, but who can argue with results?

FS117.2: Maenor Biology

Now this is interesting! The Maenor have both gills and a set of lungs, and they are able to seamlessly switch between the two! In the water, their throat clamps shut and their lungs act like an air bladder, keeping the creature buoyant. Water flows through their gills freely, which are expanded outwards from their necks. On land, their throat opens up and they breath freely. Their gills collapse and form a tight seal against their skin, preventing air from entering and any fluids from leaving.

Despite the countless diversity of life in the galaxy, Maenor are the only sentient species that can breath both in water and on land and are adapted perfectly for either environment. They can even live in Salt, Fresh, and Brackish water with no worry. This is perhaps one of the most significant discoveries I've ever made!

FS117.3: Maenor Beliefs

So that's why they got offended when I offered a flashlight. In Maenor mythology, the Sun is called Grabul, and is a vicious hateful being that wants to dry the world and kill everything on it. Maenor generally avoid open sunlight because they believe that Grabul is going to dry their skin out and suck their soul into the eternal fire to be tormented for all eternity.

I may be an amphibian myself, but my biology requires sunlight so the symbiotic algae in my skin can grow and produce food and air for me. I do feel kind of bad for shining my flashlight on one of them...

FS117.4: Parting Gift

I recieved a large seashell before I left with writing on the inside. I was instructed to give it to Fregula as a gift from the Maenor. I sent a small sample of the shell to HQ for analysis. The shell itself is just going to be one of a hundred other gifts I've recieved from primitive species. I really should do something with all of these.

-Zilda Marn, Class F Research Agent

Research Log

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Planet Earth (1st Visit)

Parent System: Sol
Planet Type: Temperate
Sentient Species: Humans

Distance from Star: 1.0 Au
Diameter: 6,378 km
Species Diversity: Overflowing

First Visit: 2,500 years ago

Blue Marble by NASA (Various)

While most of the Vusinor were looking at the Solar System's Ice Giants to expand their Switchboard World network, Zilda led a team of researchers to Earth. Even from the outer solar system, scans showed a great abundance of life and evidence of an intelligent civilization.

Zilda landed her ship in what is known as Thessaly. There were arguments among the crew on how they were going to make contact with the people of this region, but they themselves were approached by several hunters.

HV009

HV009.2

HV009.3

HV009: That was easy...

It wasn't my fault this time! On this world (called Gaia by the locals), there is a robust religion with gods and all manner of mystical beings. Due to our greenish skin and algae hair, the locals started calling us Nymphe.

After spending a few days learning their language, we asked them why they thought we were these Nymphe? The Anthropos (that's what they call their species) assumed we were from the tribe of Meliae from deep in the mountains, and asked us why we were aproaching the town of Larissa? Was the huntress Artemis angry?

I know, I know...stop saying we are messengers of the gods, but it is way easier to conduct our research this way! So, for what has to be the thousandth time, I'm breaking protocol again!

HV009.2: Strange Anomaly

The Anthropos of this area call themselves Hellenes. We conducted several genetic tests on several of them and found no genetic markers from the Asperi or Sarlar. These Elder civilizations are known to have messed with the genetics of every planet in the Galaxy at some point in the distant past. Even the Vusinor have genetic markers of this tampering.

We went across the sea to another group of people, who called themselves the Romani. Their DNA also contained no markers of the elder civilizations. This is interesting and actually somewhat unsettling, because a Black Gate is built in this sytem and it is how we got here.

HV009.3: Atlantis

One of the Hellenes told us a story about an elder civilization that had ships similar to ours. They called this ancient civilization Atlantis, and they were so powerful they could challenge the gods themselves. They have stories about how the armies of Atlantis left Gaia to fight a war. They angered a something that was too powerful for them. They fled back to Earth with it following behind them. This greatly angered the Gods of Gaia who passed judgement on Atlantis. Zeus then called on his brothers Poseidon and Hades to remove Atlantis from existence, sinking it into the sea and locking all the dead into the lowest pits of tartarus.

Yeah...doesn't match up with anything I know. If this world ever supported a spacefaring civilization, there would be great metal structures and ruins of large cities, evidence of technology and more.

This world shows a few larger stone ruins and that's it. The civilizations here have figured out how to smelt bronze and make meteor swords. They do seem to be great storytellers though!

- Zilda Marn, Class C researcher

Research Log

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