Remnants of the Earth

__________________QUICK STATS
Name Mortis
Age 100+
Gender None, uses he/him/they/it pronouns
Species Ophiosinensis
Height 40' (12.19 meters)
Occupation
Residence
Voice SAM (Software Automatic Mouth) for the Commodore C64
Themesong Salvation Code - Scandroid, Makeup and Vanity Set Remix

__________________IN-DEPTH STUFF

Physical Description
Something between these two purple people-eaters. (Will design and draw later.)

Personality
A bit neurotic, chaotic and high-stress with a tendency to hyperfixate. At one point in time Mortis was just a very anxious bug full of dread and worry that it wouldn't find a good host, that it would end up as ornamental decor on some rich person's necklace. Now, though, those fidgety tendencies have been turned towards other things.

It is always thinking, overthinking, rethinking, and planning. Permanent access to computer analysis and calculations have allowed it to try and account for every possibility in every kind of scenario to ensure its best odds of survival. Mortis most certainly relies on its data a little too heavily however, as it is incapable of processing its own basic emotions, wants and desires. Like a computer that has been gifted with sentience, the personality of the bug has completely integrated with that of the mech it inhabits, leaving it to excel in matters of critical thinking and problem solving, but failing miserably at having any kind of relatability to other creatures.

Currently, its become fixated on pursuing a strange hobby--capturing and studying the creatures it comes across on Edanith, both sentient and non. It keeps its specimens in constructed chambers within an abandoned Edani military base forgotten after the war. Mortis has outfitted it with impressive defense measures, connected it back online hidden behind numerous cloaking mechanisms, and powers it all via solar power panels. It studies these creatures, looking for... Something.

Magic/Abilities
-Interfacing: Mortis is able to connect to almost any modern technology and interface with it. No digital secret is safe with them around.
-Super Intelligence: With direct access to all information found anywhere online hooked right up to their brain, Mortis has vast knowledge of just about everything. This also includes near-fluency in almost any known language.
-Morphability: Mortis can stretch and control their host body seemingly without limits through extensive genetic modifying that it has done, so watch out for surprise tentacles.
-Telekinesis: The original fleshy host body possessed the power of telekinesis, which was then passed to Mortis as it took over. It can lift most objects with the weight limit of a tank (60 tons.)
-Telepathy: An inherent ability found in their species, it can communicate with anything with a brain and the ability to understand speech.
-Transformation: Mortis has modified its outer shell and host body to be able to transform between a few different shapes, from that of an all-terrain vehicle to a jet. It cannot break through the atmosphere on its own... Yet.
-Body swapping: Mortis's initial vessel is a bit... Big. So, over time and with its growing knowledge of machinery and computers it has built itself several alternate robotic bodies that it can connect to through a direct wireless signal and pilot (like how we can control bodies in video games through VR.) One of these bodies is permanently stationed in Comodore and is often believed to be Mortis's main body. There are a few others, like an all-terrain four-legged body and a drone, as well.

Relationships

History
In the height of the Edani war, Mortis found itself in the middle of conflict. What it had hoped might be prime hunting ground--a battlefield full of all kinds of species of potential host bodies--became a living nightmare as they simply tried not to get squashed. Perhaps hopping on that weapon shipment transport from The Cancer hadn't been such a good idea after all.

Right as they were severely regretting their decision to get on that godforsaken dusty planet, the rocky outcropping they were hiding under was nearly squashed as the body of a fallen Edani mech warrior fell on it. Terrified for their own little life, Mortis jumped ship--literally--and integrated with the VERY freshly deceased body of the one who'd been piloting it.

This particular Edani mech was of a series that physically integrated with their pilots through a series of IVs and a neural crown that allowed the pilot to control the mech with their mind as well as their physical movement of the controls.

Through the connection this pilot had with their mech, Mortis was able to integrate with not just the original host body--but the mech itself.

As it lay there, eventually forgotten after the battle ended and the war moved elsewhere, covered in the sands of time, Mortis was able to stretch and and command its host body to become one with the machine in every sense of the word; at this point the host body is entwined with the mech, hooked up to it by wires and tubes made of synthetic materials as much as biological matter.

The mech is fully operational as it's powered now not only by solar power, but also by the fleshy body that's grown around, inside and sometimes outside of it. Whatever you do, don't open that hatch.

Since then, it has set up its residence in an abandoned Edani military base, and has established a variety of other locations scattered throughout the frontier that it can access through remote robotic bodies to ensnare and capture specimens to bring back to the base for further study. One of these bodies is stationed in Comodore, where Mortis was able to aid in setting up higher defense and security systems and has worked its way up to be one of the city's main high security officers. After all, wouldn't a bustling city be one of the best places to pick and choose future targets for study?

__________________THREAD TRACKER
Current Threads

Complete Threads

______V. Reproduction

Ophiosinensis reproduce via parthenogenesis, which is a natural form of asexual reproduction in which growth and development of embryos occur without fertilization by sperm.

Essentially, they produce their own unfertilized egg cells in clutches of typically 150-300 eggs which then form embryos on their own. In this regard, their species does not have defined genders but often tend to take on preferred pronouns after exposition to other species that use them. They all have the same basic organs and there is no sexual dimorphism in their species.

Eggs take only 3 months to hatch in ideal conditions, often being carried within the host body of the parent Parasite in a sack they have created for their offspring. So maybe be careful next time you tap someone on the shoulder or slap them on the back or chest--you never know when a flurry of tiny zombie parasites will burst out right at you.

They grow at an alarming rate, reaching full maturity after about 6 months. In this time they stick close to their parent Parasite, learning everything from them and learning the ways of their people as well as how to function, before they finally leave their parent to pursure lives of their own and find their own hosts.

Ophiosinensis have no set breeding time and choose when to do so.

______III. History

Ophiosinensis come from a distant galaxy where they are looked down upon, thought of as vile and disgusting creatures, and generally considered to be dangerous and abhorrent pests. They barely manage to scrape by, their home planet having long since been overtaken by invaders, and tend to fend for themselves as best they can; when someone sees a zombie bug, they try to kill it. The only ways to survive are by killing and parasitizing host bodies bigger and stronger than their own to protect themselves. Infection of other creatures is always how they've survived and is a part of their natural life cycle, which is something that many other species find incredibly offensive and morally wrong.

They can't help the way they were created, the way they evolved. It's just how they function.

Many are tired of the treatment but there is little they can do to stop it; little they can do to organize when so many are spread across the galaxy with no way of uniting to fight for any kind of rights or a cause. But there are some of their kind working to rectify this.

Due to their horrific nature, they are one of Aedolis's best kept secrets: the government knows of their existence, but does their absolute best to keep word of them from seriously spreading on the streets. Imagine the panic the public would fly into if they realized any of their precious or beloved Pilots could become a zombie!

This isn't to say they aren't found in Aedolis--they definitely exist there, but they do so in secret to avoid being... Snuffed out.

The separation of their species is only a few generations old, so many Ophiosinensis stress upon their children to do their best to find and reunite with as many others of their kind as they can find. They are the only ones who can truly understand each other after all, and because of this feel strong senses of kinship and protectiveness when they do find each other by chance "out in the wild." They maintain connections with each other and tend to be very distrusting of other species.

Regardless of what host they've ended up in, no Ophiosinensis forgets what it truly is, and that blood bond it shares with others of its kind is far stronger than any other.

______I. Introduction
As if those in the heavens look down upon us and laugh, it seems these Parasites were created as a joke to the divine, themselves, and on all mortal creatures.

Most have common fears--fear of death, of zombies, of bugs, of horrific and grotesque deaths. Ophiosinensis are all of these things wrapped into one! These Parasites can be found just about anywhere in the universe, and exist solely for the purpose of finding host bodies of any species to devour the brain of and take control over the host body. This is considered their final metamorphosis: a sentient parasitic space bug that took over the body of your loved one and now roams the world wearing their skin suit.

   'That mercy would have been better spent on someone else.'

   For a long moment, Ren just stood there, hands on his knees and bent to ease his panting, all the adrenaline and the physical exertion and terror leaving him feeling like a trembling kitten. With his hearts thudding as hard as they possibly could, with every synapse poised to respond lightning-quick to danger, there just really wasn't room to understand the Aedolian language.

   It was like his entire brain was screaming at him, 'we are at CAPACITY, sir!'

   So for that long moment, all Ren could do was stare dumbly at the drowned rat of a man before him, until finally the air-raid-sirens of his own mind quieted just enough for him to hear the rough thanks. And then, all at once, everything caught up, like a tape being fast-forwarded and full of jittery motion.

   "Mercy? Were you trying to die out there?" Ren asked incredulously, eye wide as he finally straightened up, already regretting his life choices as the cold seeped in. The crash would be coming soon, and he was not looking forward to the soggy slog home. "Far be it from me to critique anyone's death plan, but mate there are simpler methods that won't end up with you traumatizing beachgoers in the morning."