Warhead

The depths of Almiashah’s great oceans are an alien world within an alien world, a place where the strangeness of deep sea life is compounded by the strangeness of an alien planet. In this pitch black place, a small metallic sphere glides through the depths weightlessly, propelled by a set of 14 small flagellum like propellers, spaced evenly along its surface, each powered by small biological electric motors. The spherical entity resembles the deep sea submarines and drones used by humans to explore the deepest parts of earth’s oceans, as it reaches its destination, a flow of boiling hot water, smoky water rising from a deep sea hydrothermal vent, the metallic sphere pauses for a moment before slowly entering the plume of ash filled water, and disappearing out of site. One might assume that this device is a probe sent to collect samples of the alien environment. But the truth however, is that it is still many millions of years until intelligent life will walk the surface of Almiashah, much less explore her depths, and the strange spherical device, is in reality, a living creature, the warhead. [Creature design by Sean]

Basic Information

Anatomy

The warhead is essentially a metallic sphere covered in a set of freely spinning electrically powered propellers which are evenly spaced across its surface. This allows it to move freely and with equal force in all directions. It has dozens of evenly spaced mouths, each with a pair of small tendrils extending on either side. There is no other known example of life evolving free spinning propellers in the universe, to understand how this evolved in the war head; we must look into their evolutionary history. The warhead is descended from the feather bush, which was itself descended from the fractal tree. Fractal tree locomotion was incredibly unique itself, instead of using muscles or hydraulics for movement, the fractal tree used a system of biological electromagnets. When current ran through them, the magnets attracted each other and so caused a contraction, similar to a muscle contraction. This is already more like an electric motor than a muscle, which is powered by a series of more complex chemical reactions; however this does not get us to the free spinning motor, for this we must turn to the feather bush. The second stage of the feather bush’s life cycle is a budding form, in this stage, several adolescent forms grow together, conjoined at the center, with their tendril facing out, in this stage they share nutrients with their siblings, before eventually maturing and splitting off into many adult forms. The War head, however, never fully splits apart; instead it stays in this budding form its entire life. Meaning a single warhead is actually a colony of genetically identical conjoined siblings, sharing resources. The war heads grows a shell around its colony made of metal and silicon, with one hole for the mouths and tentacles of each individual, once a shell is developed, some individuals undergo major anatomical changes, losing many organs, such as their digesting and reproductive systems, the body becomes shaft like, the tendrils extend, bend, merge and harden to become spiral shaped, and the system of electromagnetic muscles becomes simplified. These individuals will then detach, they are however, locked in place by the shell. Still held within the super organism, but no longer connected. The greater colony can now use their collective electricity to run currents around the disconnected individual causing them to spin and powering the propeller. It is only thanks to the extremely unique evolutionary legacy of the fractal tree and feather bush that this form of locomotion is possible at all. The propeller individuals are not completely dead, at the base where they once connected to the center of the colony, is a set of pores, these can be used to communicate to the colony through hormone signals, and more importantly, as a way to absorb nutrients, which are pumped into the chamber by the colony, this allows the propeller to heal from minor damage, which it could not do if it fully atrophied all its living functions. The propellers also secrete an oily lubricant to aid in spinning. At the center of the colony is a brain like structure, this originally was a clump of connecting tissue that joined the individuals, but as their functions became more intertwine, more nerves crossed this pathways, until eventually it evolved into a sort of regulatory brain, this brain receives signals from the individual members of the colony through neural connections, interprets them, and issues the response, for instance, the smell of mineral rich waters being signaled by the individuals on one side of the colony, will cause the brain to activate the propellers on that side reflexively, and shut down the ones on the other side, making the colony travel to the resources, assuming that the colony is in need of the minerals. This central brain also regulates the flow of resources and hormones to individuals and the propellers with a series of vessels and a small muscle driven heart within the brain. Each individual is roughly pyramid shaped all pointing in forming the sphere; at the end of each non-propeller individual is a small nerve ganglion that regulates that individual’s function and communicates its needs and sensory import to the central brain. A large “stomach” takes up most of the body space of the individuals, the stomach has two chambers, the first is a chamber patched with spongy tissues that absorb oxygen from the water, as well as absorbing the minerals needed for building and maintaining its metallic components, materials needed for chemosynthesis, and the materials needed for its beta voltaic battery organ. The second chamber of the stomach is used for a more stomach like purpose, digesting tiny food particles in the form of bacteria, plankton and marine snow. This digestion provides most of the calories needed to run the non-electromagnetic functions in the body, while being supplemented by some chemosynthesis. Waste is expelled out the mouth after digesting. The beta voltaic battery organ, which was internalized by the feather bush, has remained mostly unchanged. Each individual also possesses a gas bladder, making the warheads almost neutrally buoyant in calm water, but giving it just enough wait to be stable in the strong upwards current of vents. This means the war heads need to expend little to no energy to float in place, and its equal space propellers covering its body mean it can exert force in any direction immediately to counter abrupt changes in the current, and stay stable in the volatile conditions. Each individual’s shell plate is curved to form the shell, and fuses with its neighbor’s shell plate. The tendrils are used to beat food into the mouth, as well as possessing the chemoreceptors.
Warheads possess a set of proteins in their tissues that allow them not only survive temperatures ranging from the freezing -10°C to boiling 110°C, but also allow them to go from one extreme to the other fairly rapidly.
Warheads, like most Radiotrophes, can be thought of as having two parallel metabolisms, an electric metabolism which powers there motors/ magnet muscles, and is fueled by beta voltaic cells, and an organic metabolism that drives there other functions, and is fueled by chemosynthesis and consuming food.

Genetics and Reproduction

Warheads will travel outside the plumes of hydrothermal vents to spawn in huge swarms of hundreds of colonies, once every few decades, all non-propeller individuals in a colony will spawn.

Growth Rate & Stages

After the gametes meet, they fuse and form the microscopic larval stage, which accumulates nutrients and begins to grow immediately. This larval stage is essentially identical to the first stage of feather bushes. It eats and grows outside until it is big enough to reach a budding stage. The bud is still identical to a feather bush bud, lacking propellers or a shell, and needing to use its tendrils as paddles. At this point it will into the plumes of the vents and spend its time absorbing minerals, however its chemosynthesis is not able to generate enough calories to run it's none electronic bodily functions, such as the brains, and so every few years it must leave the plumes to top up its fat supply buy venturing out of the vents to feed on marine snow and plankton. It is at this stage it is most vulnerable to predation, lacking a shell, or the protection of the plumes. This back and forth process will repeat for about 100 local years before the creature finally has enough minerals to finish its shell and develop its metal propellers, at which point it will be an adult.

Ecology and Habitats

Warheads live around volcanically active arrears. Adults will spend their lives moving back and forth between eating in the open water, and feeding on minerals in the plumes to maintain their metallic parts, spawning every 3rd or 4th time it visits the open water. It may also need to travel to different plumes over its lifetime; as warheads home vent might cease activity over the long lifetime of the warhead. Dwelling in hydrothermal vents much of their lives, they rarely interact with other creatures that can't stand the heat; the few that can stand the heat, or the occasional predator that crosses their path outside the vents, is presented with an extremely unappetizing entity, covered in metallic armor and sharp spinning blades, any predator would find its mouth torn apart trying to eat them. Not to mention a good portion of the War heads body is completely inedible. The only regular form of integration warheads have with other organisms is the interaction with the microorganisms they filter feed on.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Warheads need mineral rich waters and migrate from vent to vent to obtain these minerals.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Warhead form swarms above and around hydrothermal vents, but do not have any active social structure.

Average Intelligence

Warheads behavior is extremely simple and pre-programmed, their entire minds could be simulated with a few dozen lines of code. The advantage of this is that it uses less of their precious, none electronic calories.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Warheads are totally blind. They can sense chemicals in the water through their chemoreceptors, as well as touch, temperature and vibrations, and a sense of up and down. They also have an instinct to begin wildly spinning all propellers at full speed should they feel a pressing force on opposite sides of their body simultaneously, as this sensory input correlates with being in the mouth of a predator.

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• Feather Bush

Scientific Name

Apparatusviventem kachowus

Origin/Ancestry

Radiotropha

Lifespan

250 local years

Average Height

10cm

Average Length

10cm