Sapiosmall | |
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Sapiosmalls under a microscope. | |
Classification | |
Family: | GenetiPet |
Genus: | Sapiosmall |
Type Species | |
Sapiosmall | |
Found In | |
Any quality petshop! | |
Tamability | |
Erchius ghosts are unstable, erratic beings, following only the will of the Erchius Horror that created them. When captured and stored, they will try every possible method of escaping and killing their captor. Whether this is from instinct or animosity is unknown. | |
Products | |
Existential dread. | |
Rarity | |
Found commonly in petshops throughout the Fringe. |
Erchius ghosts appear as faint and eerie apparitions of purple energy, phase matter, formed into an almost worm-like shape with two long arms with several 'joints'. Its face appears as a large cracked hole with eyes that seem to lead into a black void, as the ghost itself emanates with the purple energy of erchius sparking off of it. They are entirely constructed of phase matter Erchius fuel, feeding constantly off of the radiation the erchius gives off and allowing it to phase entirely through solid material, allowing it to attack unsuspecting miners that dare to carry too much erchius on them.
Sapiosmalls are tiny creatures, standing at only 2 mm tall, and a highly scientific weight of practically nothing. Their flesh is gel-like, translucent, and patternless. They have two arms, two legs, 8 nailless fingers and 8 nailless toes. Their bite is behaviourally and biologically nonexistent, and their bark is nothing beyond annoyed babbling. On their head are two large cellular black eyes, and if eyes are windows to the soul - no thoughts, head empty. On their head is a little tuft of colourful hair.
Erchius Ghosts will idly wander around their habitats, drifting towards concentrations of erchius, searching for people to kill and infest. When a target is spotted, the ghost will approach, weakening it with the radiation emanated akin to gamma radiation. Then, when it is close enough, it shunts itself into the target, forcing the erchius phase matter to tangle with the target's matter, infesting it with the mutating erchius while bursting out in a lethal dose of high-energy radiation. The target will turn into a Moontant within time from the ghost's attack, leaving the ghost to wander off again in search of a new victim.
With each kill, the erchius it shunts itself into is absorbed, and the ghost grows in size and mutating power, up to a maximum of 100 kills in which the ghost is nearly the size of a small building, slowly wading through rock to infest; ghosts as large as these are powerful radiation sources, able to be detected though nearly hundred feet of rock. Erchius mining is a dangerous business. Erchius Ghosts will protect its horror always, even if it means sacrificing itself.
Their ‘houses’ are simple and mono-roomed, built for rest and rest alone. They don’t actually have a roof, mainly so that onlookers can watch them even inside their homes. The sapiosmalls make beds for themselves our of their hair, providing a soft surface to sleep on. Sapiosmalls are not against moving into empty houses.
Their reaction to people is somewhat peculiar, their tiny brains unable to comprehend what exactly it is that they’re faced with. They do not understand how dependent they are on their keeper, because they do not understand its existence to begin with. When faced with a finger or hand invading their lands, they will run from it screaming their heads off - hiding for a bit until the danger has passed.
Occasionally though, a Sapiosmall will live up to its name. Through whatever flaws in the infernal science used to create the creature, a Sapiosmall will develop sapience. It will continue as normal, before one of two things happen. On one side of the coin, it breaks down from isolation and the crushing realisation that nothing matters, after which it will do the only thing it can do - die. It will walk itself to the corpse pile and simply sit there, until its time comes. On the other side of the coin, the realisation that it exists in a society without consequences, the sapient may turn to violent crime in a desperate attempt to give some form of meaning to its life, eventually either dying of natural cause - or returning to the first option and walking itself to the corpse pile to die.
The biology of Sapiosmalls is fairly simple, with few organs - a brain, the sensory organs, and everything else. Stomach, heart, lungs - package deal. All they need in one grey mass of flesh, roots emanating from it as needed to act as veins and the like, carrying the creature’s grey blood. The creature is has two large black eyes on the front of its face and earholes on either side. Ignoring the ears, there are only two holes - one for in and one for out.
Sapiosmalls food of choice is the Sapiosmall Nutrient Solution, a bottle of which is included with the box they come in (more can be purchased at genetipets.nex). It is placed into a dish and the Sapiosmalls will come and drink as they please, simple really.If one chooses to add colouring to the mix, the flesh of the Sapiosmall will take on the hue after enough doses. Waste is excreted as liquid.
Sapiosmall reproduction is sexual. They are hermaphroditic. Reproduction goes as follows: one Sapiosmall approaches another and attempts to court them, doing a little song and dance and waiting to see the response of the courted - they will either join in with the dance or yell at the courter and walk off. Once dancing fully commences, they will test for compatibility by attempting to match the other’s actions, if it is not a match then they will simply move on. The mating ritual itself mostly consisting of arm flailing, some arbitrary foot movement, and ‘singing’ that is mostly just nonsensical babbling. However, if it is a match, they will conclude the dance by exchanging reproductive fluid via a ‘kiss’ - held tight together by a hug. Once this is done, hopefully, fertilisation will occur, the reproductive fluid travelling down into a ‘womb’ of sorts where it will wait for an egg to be released - eventually splitting off into three distinct lifeforms once fertilisation has occurred. The children are birthed after only three days, being placed by their parent into the nutrient-water dish at centre of the village and kept in the nutrient-water, where they float in a starfish position until they are mature enough to leave, after four days - reaching sexual maturity at the same time - the whole cycle taking only a week.
Sadly, live fast die young holds true. Sapiosmalls only living for around three weeks, although more than enough time to reproduce at least 5-6 times. Death itself is a bit of an odd topic for the Sapiosmalls, who take the remains of the deceased (their organs, the flesh dissolves into goop) and stick them into a pile far away from the village, seemingly hoping the bodies will just go away - and they do if their owner is caring for them properly.
When it comes down to it, Sapiosmalls are good at three things: building houses, dying quickly, reproducing quicker.
Brought to you by GenetiPet, the Sapiosmalls are just like you and me! Watch them live, watch them laugh, watch them love. Specially designed by our scientists here at GenetiPet, the Sapiosmalls are the perfect pet for a passive keeper - being easy to care for and fairly low maintenance. All they need is a terrarium, a gentle substrate, materials to build their houses and our special Sapiosmall Nutrient Solution in a dish. Set them up and watch the miracle of civilisation unfold before your very eyes! Pick up a starter set at any quality pet store near you!