Post by Robert DeVries on May 2, 2019 10:34:42 GMT -5
Periplaneta somna "The Akkalahan Cockroach"
ORIGIN
Somn Fertility Clinic (genetic engineering section)
HABITAT
Almost every known habitat, excluding perhaps volcanoes and anywhere more than 900 meters underwater. Limited viability in space for up to three days before the creature suffocates. Most subspecies are able to survive in arctic conditions so long as there is enough humidity.
FEATURES
Typically a brownish-yellow color. Some subspecies of Periplaneta somna are modified to live underground and underwater are also translucent.
ABILITIES
Periplaneta somna is a dedicated mini-terraformer, able to perform many duties to change the environment around it to better suit its master species, the Akkalahan transhumans. As part of their service, they can survive in many, many environments.
ATTITUDE
Periplaneta somna are naturally pleased when in contact with an Akkalahan, a feature that was bred into them over many (short-lived) generations of testing. They reserve a quieter respect for synthetics, or at least, towards those who smell of Akkalahan cybernetics and robotics. Periplaneta somna are not exactly sentient, though they hold an above-average intelligence. They will eat dead things and attack some other species of bugs, usually those that are much smaller than them, but have also been bred for hostility towards certain aliens.
LIKES
Akkalahans and most things inherent to them
Cleanliness
Laboriousness
DISLIKES
Insects
Isolation
APPEARANCE
((Art by v-e-r-a on deviantart. Do note that quite a lot of their profile seems to be NSFW so I wouldn't go looking around too far.))
BIOLOGY
Periplaneta somna is the result of genetic engineering between a whole host of species that the Akkalahans have found on their travels.
Its DNA is rather odd in that it technically has two different sets of it. At birth, its nervous system is seeded with very specific DNA that excludes tardigrade influences; an in-built autoimmune response ensures that this does not mix with the rest of the body. While this does increase the risk of the immune system attacking gestating larva, it means that the rest of the creature will adapt to local environments using foreign DNA while the nervous system will retain mostly the same behavior. Their brains share the usual flexibility and density of insects, meaning that these creatures have impressive computational power.
It is able to store air inside its carapace and seal its mouth -- great for staying warm, resisting oral parasites, limiting exposure to toxins, floating on water, and staying alive in low-to-no atmosphere. When it is doing this, the Akkalahan Cockroach cannot compress its carapace to 1/4th its size like normal.
Its sensors are phenomenal, giving it a wide field of view and excellent motion detection. Sneaking up on one is unlikely; it sees light better than humans and can taste the air.
Flight is fairly limited. An Akkalahan Cockroach can lift itself up about six meters before gliding the rest of the way back down. This does, however, let them jump from great heights with impunity.
Their joints are well lubricated and have a full two hundred and seventy degrees of motion, allowing for some rather curious acrobatics despite their natural armor. They can climb most surfaces and even hang upside down from ceilings if they use their (usually folded) abdominal legs.
An efficient digestive system lets Periplaneta somna survive for weeks on fairly meager food and water supplies. Typically, they will drop into a coma before they starve to death, lending them a few extra days for another creature to recover them and nurse them back to health.
Reproduction is done in typical fashion, including gender dichotomy and a mere eight days of gestation. Akkalahan cockroaches will sometimes cannibalize larva to prevent reaching an unstable population; the limit gets lower as presence of civilization gets higher.
Perhaps the most impressive ability of these creatures is to storing microbial soups inside themselves. They can vomit several different mixtures of bacteria, from phages meant to devour alien bacteria to lithotrophs looking to convert barren rocks into something more friendly to life. Though this alone is not enough to change a planet in any reasonable amount of time, Akkalahan cockroaches can gradually contribute to a greater standard of living in this fashion, fighting infections and making light adjustments to the ecology.
Akkalahans do not fear keeping them as pets, as they are rather used to having insects around and Periplaneta somna are clean guests.