|
ZIRIUL  CLASS: UNKNOWN SAMPLE ZRL-912 SPECIFICATIONS: The anomaly exhibits a globular, amorphous mass analagous to a cranium, usually displaying two ovoid organelles and one thinner organelle believed to serve various sensory functions. Suspended in a column above this "head" are one to eight small rings of brightly colored fluid and a large, rotating shard of crystalline material, the functions of which are yet unknown. Hanging beneath the amoebic cranial mass are four thin, jointed appendages draped in a translucent protoplasm, each with forceps-like terminal manipulators. Though the entity's form appears macroscopic, its true physical dimensions are as minute as many unicellular protozoa, between 30 and 400 micrometers. The physics of this magnification effect are poorly understood, particularly the mechanics by which the entity can manipulate organic matter through the "appendages" of this three-dimensional projection. Through contact with either its true or projected body, the Ziriul can analyze and alter the genetic information of individual cells, permitting the instantaneous termination, replication, augmentation or repair of living cells. Inorganic matter is evidently invisible to the entity, but it detects the presence of such through other, unknown sensory systems. BEHAVIORAL OBSERVATIONS: ZRL-912 exhibits a fascination with the cellular processes and biochemistry of terrestrial biota and a compulsive drive to experiment with unfamiliar biota. It is seemingly biased toward the repair of what it determines to be injuries and treatment of malady, but does not consistently recognize what is desirable or undesirable to a given subject, and its augmentations may carry any number of unpredictable secondary effects or even catastrophic errors. Regardless of circumstances, an instance of ZRL has never determined a Fectoid-class monster to require its services. While it does not require an aquatic habitat, it is attracted to water rich with bacteria and protozoa. COMMUNICATION NOTES: A communicative Ziriul commonly expresses an inflated sense of self-importance, regarding itself as a guardian figure from a higher state of existence and a generous savior to the less fortunate. If forced to address any unfavorable consequences of its biomanipulation, it maintains that the process "should" have worked if not for some biological imperfection on the part of its subject. The Ziriul describes its original environment as an infinite space "filled entirely" with "uninhibited" and "uncontaminated" life with mental, but not physical differentiation or specialization other than its own kind. The common name "Ziriul" is a close approximation of the sound the entity gives as its name, and at least one specimen has offered a rough translation of the term as "Their Final Custodians." The Ziriul identifies all nonliving matter as "falseness," and has difficulty understanding why so much of this material exists or how it can be beneficial to known life. BIOMANIPULATION: the Ziriul can "reach" into living things to inflict or remedy injuries, but may trigger unexpected secondary mutation. MAGNIFIED FORM: the monster's visible form is only an image generated by its microscopic true body. Contents copyright Jonathan Wojcik
|