[note]Discussions on the main page please.here (http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?27243.last)[/note] The horde started (ostensibly) as an attempt at terraforming the fourth moon gone terribly terribly wrong. Developing a whole new ecosystem capable of surviving the new environment from scratch was infeasible, so scientists looked for ways to speed evolution and biodiversity, with the goal of later using a virus to alter the DNA for gas-exchange in the evolved organisms. Their plan to speed evolution was fairly simple: a few species were created, each succeptible to mutagens, and each with a somehow parasitic reproductive system.
The entities in the lab grew rapidly, and made the unexpected development that proved the beginning of the system's horde woes. They became able to infest humans and other earth-origin life. After a few generations, air-breathers and social behavior developed. No one knows just how the infestation spread, but the horde now has a sizeable presence on the surface of the fourth moon, and it is rumored that it has or will spread.
This sounds interesting and potentially dramatic...but what ARE they?
The horde aren't all the same. Their succeptibility to mutagens and their DNA being based in part on whatever they infect, they are (to say the least) diverse. They're like the Zerg, the Flood, the Grey Goo... they're the things that happen when evolution goes wrong. And they intend to infect all living things as part of their imperative to survive.
so if the borg were biological instead of technological, this is what they'd be?
Pretty much, lol. Although think less hyperintelligent. Less logic, more bloodlust.
Borgreavers!
Parasitic reproduction? As in tentacle monster reproduction? Great idea.
I think the horde are getting a slight revamp in the new iteration of my setting (yes, I'm going to finally post the revised coherent and centralized moons of megillot in a bit).
The horde are parasites. They attach themselves to a host and alter the host's DNA so that the host starts producing more parasites inside itself. They have a unique ability to augment the host with genes they've picked up in prior generations from other hosts (they do this more or less automatically as part of their reproductive process). They can also manipulate brain chemistry on a gross level if they sense a threat. For example, they can trigger fear or rage or euphoria in their host if they see fit. Nothing complicated like actually communicating with or controlling the host or making the host see things that aren't there.
The parasites themselves aren't intelligent, but if the host was intelligent it usually stays that way (barring negative impact from altered genes or a brain flooded with some messed-up hormones, which happens).
Some mutants achieve a truer synthesis because the mutter genome actually affects the transcription protocol of the parasitic DNA, which thwarts the eventually fatal reproductive process and allows some mutants to actually self-modify using the parasite until the parasite exhausts itself. Such cases are extremely rare, and the end result isn't pretty.
Anyway, the back story may be similar or I may say this is some unique form of biological weapon gone horribly wrong.
Can the parasites be removed surgically? If a PC is infected, has he any hope? Radiation treatment?
Do they do any of that SG goa'uld stuff like repair cancer or anything that might sometimes make them almost desirable?
If they are not intelligent, how do they know when to stimulate hormone production in the host?
Quote from: PhoenixCan the parasites be removed surgically? If a PC is infected, has he any hope? Radiation treatment?
Do they do any of that SG goa'uld stuff like repair cancer or anything that might sometimes make them almost desirable?[/quote]If they are not intelligent, how do they know when to stimulate hormone production in the host?
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Unintelligent like a dog or a snake... not like a tree. They've got senses and some instincts as to what a threat is. They might occasionally misjudge though... for example, surgery might seem nonthreatening while anything with eyes in the front of its head (a common trait in predators) will register as a threat for some parasites.
I might consider the phrase, "non-sentient" over unintelligent, then; it feels like it expresses your meaning more clearly.
I know this is for a sci-fi setting (right?). Could doctors with the patients original DNA on file repair the genetic damage once a parasite is removed?
Quote from: PhoenixI might consider the phrase, "non-sentient" over unintelligent, then; it feels like it expresses your meaning more clearly.
I know this is for a sci-fi setting (right?). Could doctors with the patients original DNA on file repair the genetic damage once a parasite is removed?
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Gene therapy is a tricky thing for me. Honestly, I'm not sure how far along I want to put it in my setting. Modifying things after they've fully developed is heavy stuff. The very existence of the horde proves it's possible, but is probably just as much evidence that technology isn't capable of doing it or doing it well. Still, in a couple of years...
...and for the record this is exactly why I included those rules for inventing stuff (incidentally lifted somewhat from Mutants and Masterminds).