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That which remains
(High-res version available for free over on my Patreon!)
https://unitedhelpukraine.org/ https://savelife.in.ua/en/
That which remains
(High-res version available for free over on my Patreon!)
https://unitedhelpukraine.org/ https://savelife.in.ua/en/
Category Artwork (Digital) / Comics
Species Yinglet
Size 900 x 1340px
File Size 2.08 MB
Nothing to see here, just grey goo coded to craft yinglet and yinglet replacement parts. A reasonable thing to have, if one needs to recover from grievous wounds and/or become a yinglet. Don't leave home without one.
I am absolutely pleased at the vindication of "yinglets came from nanomachines seeding the world". Imagine a Captain Holt fistpump.
I am absolutely pleased at the vindication of "yinglets came from nanomachines seeding the world". Imagine a Captain Holt fistpump.
At first I thought the Greater Yinglets must be an ascended form of the Lesser Yinglets, but now I'm not so sure. Maybe the Greater Yinglets were the originals and were bioengineered by whatever advanced civilization left behind all these artifacts, and then naturally evolved into the lesser yinglets. Maybe that's why there are ancient artifacts that can create/turn other creatures into greater yinglets. That, or the Central Enclaves know a lot more about these artifacts than they're letting on and are able to manipulate them them somehow.
My bet is on the lesser yinglets potentially having accidentally become the "template"/target of uplift by poking at the wrong bit of ancient machinery during ratbird activities, eventually figuring out why they can now think the big thoughts and/or this being the source of some of the matriarchs using it to introduce greater intelligence into the yinglet population.
My strong suspicion is that that the advanced civilization was in fact a spacefaring human ship.
One of the biggest mysteries about them in-universe is that there are a whole lot of artifacts, but no real signs /of/ a "civilization" - no ruined cities, no signs of infrastructure. It's like they all just... came from nothing. Combine this with the less easily sourced knowledge-based Antiquities, things like germ theory and orbital mechanics, and it seems very plausible that human civilization on this world is descended from some sort of shipwrecked population from the stars.
I'm not entirely sure what the yinglets have to do with this, but if I was going to wildly speculate, they might be the result of some otherwise abandoned attempt at engineering a workforce?
They reproduce rapidly and are highly adaptive to the native environment. If /I/ were a small group of human survivors stranded on an alien world with powerful technology but a limited ability to reproduce it, well... uplifting some of the locals and enslaving them might seem like a good idea. It clearly didn't play out like that - greater yinglets may never have been properly "deployed" - but it might explain some things.
One of the biggest mysteries about them in-universe is that there are a whole lot of artifacts, but no real signs /of/ a "civilization" - no ruined cities, no signs of infrastructure. It's like they all just... came from nothing. Combine this with the less easily sourced knowledge-based Antiquities, things like germ theory and orbital mechanics, and it seems very plausible that human civilization on this world is descended from some sort of shipwrecked population from the stars.
I'm not entirely sure what the yinglets have to do with this, but if I was going to wildly speculate, they might be the result of some otherwise abandoned attempt at engineering a workforce?
They reproduce rapidly and are highly adaptive to the native environment. If /I/ were a small group of human survivors stranded on an alien world with powerful technology but a limited ability to reproduce it, well... uplifting some of the locals and enslaving them might seem like a good idea. It clearly didn't play out like that - greater yinglets may never have been properly "deployed" - but it might explain some things.
Plus the world clearly isn't Earth. I think everyone's in agreement that the not-too-subtle hints suggest humans, at least, travelled to the planet and subsequently lost most of their technology and ability to preserve history. The other sentients may or may not be native. This species-changing technology is /way/ more advanced than anything you would need to uplift lesser yinglets though. We're firmly into speculation on that angle.
I wrote a story once where a group that was in the process of trying to uplift-subjugate an alien species tried (unsuccessfully) to turn some of the aliens into meat-suit mechs that could be piloted by human operators. Maybe zat zing was designed to help hijack yinglet civilization? Turn humans into potentially-influential yinglets.
Still doesn't explain where they showed up in the timeline though. I'm sure there's a completely different explanation we'll get to somewhere in the next... ten years?
Still doesn't explain where they showed up in the timeline though. I'm sure there's a completely different explanation we'll get to somewhere in the next... ten years?
I might guess the yinglets sudden reappearance is due to either chance encounter with another Zhat Zhing, or because the lesser yinglet was really a regressed form that always had the potential to return to being a yinglet given enough generations.
I wonder... were the Baxxid uplifts too? Their form is perfectly un-suited for intelligence, both due to lacking manipulators and because their natural life is highly solitary. Perhaps the whole planet is a gigantic human uplift project. I'm thinking something like Children of Time. In that novel an uplift project was thrown off track by an sudden outbreak of civil war and the uplift super-tech originally intended for use on monkeys instead adapted to function on invertebrates instead, leading to a civilisation of intelligent spiders. That could explain a lot, if a technology intended to enhance intellectual ability in yinglets mutated and infected baxxid and indrel too, accounting for the near-simultaneous emergence of three different sentient species. Maybe four.
I wonder... were the Baxxid uplifts too? Their form is perfectly un-suited for intelligence, both due to lacking manipulators and because their natural life is highly solitary. Perhaps the whole planet is a gigantic human uplift project. I'm thinking something like Children of Time. In that novel an uplift project was thrown off track by an sudden outbreak of civil war and the uplift super-tech originally intended for use on monkeys instead adapted to function on invertebrates instead, leading to a civilisation of intelligent spiders. That could explain a lot, if a technology intended to enhance intellectual ability in yinglets mutated and infected baxxid and indrel too, accounting for the near-simultaneous emergence of three different sentient species. Maybe four.
baxxid aren't "naturally highly solitary", though. their more solitary feeding-migrations are a periodic thing before they return to a large communal nesting site en-mass and "coalesce", likely forming some form of hivemind. if anything, baxxid seem the most likely to be native, since they're the most similar to all the bug-lizard animals we can generally assume to be native.
One major mystery no-one has an explanation for though, the time discrepency. Zhat Zhing is set for yinglet, even though it predates yinglets by an immense amount of time. How is that possible?
Are the lesser yinglets actually diminished forms of the greater, slowly waiting to return to their former sapience? Was the sudden appearance of the greater yinglet a result of an encounter, accidential or orchestrated, with another artefact?
Are the lesser yinglets actually diminished forms of the greater, slowly waiting to return to their former sapience? Was the sudden appearance of the greater yinglet a result of an encounter, accidential or orchestrated, with another artefact?
O_O;;; Well that's disturbing
But also fascinating!
One theory I have is that it was meant to create more female yinglets for breeding purposes, and perhaps convert other beings into them so as to introduce new ideas and/or genes to the population
Very fascinating stuff tho!
But also fascinating!
One theory I have is that it was meant to create more female yinglets for breeding purposes, and perhaps convert other beings into them so as to introduce new ideas and/or genes to the population
Very fascinating stuff tho!
Yep, it is just as I expected! Whatever this chemical concoction touched turned the DNA of most living organisms through a lettuce tumbler, while leaving others unchanged but still affected someway.
And the fact it seemed to attempt to create the same Yinglet that Kass is now? Because apparently the Yinglet and someone named Narklet(referencing from #92) really wanted that little rock back.
So who was it meant for? Another Yinglet of higher power? Or someone in the city of Val Salian, maybe even Viracroix Salia himself? But that's up for speculation. Either way, this Yinglet Alternation Stone is a nasty piece of work!
And the fact it seemed to attempt to create the same Yinglet that Kass is now? Because apparently the Yinglet and someone named Narklet(referencing from #92) really wanted that little rock back.
So who was it meant for? Another Yinglet of higher power? Or someone in the city of Val Salian, maybe even Viracroix Salia himself? But that's up for speculation. Either way, this Yinglet Alternation Stone is a nasty piece of work!
If it wasn't made to convert an entire individual leaving the mind intact, there's no way it could do that. That has to be the purpose - it's not the kind of property that emerges as a side effect. Someone, long in the past, deliberately manufactured at least one item with the express purpose of converting a non-yinglet subject into a yinglet. The big question is why anyone would want to make something like that.
Okay, here's my Grand Unified Theory Of All This Weird Shit:
Humans are newcomers to this planet. Possibly Isher's non-human half too. Yinglets and most likely Baxxid are native. Indrel could be either.
Humans arrived from space, via what is now known as Zhat Weird Zhing In Zhe Sky.
Humanity started to colonize the planet. For unknown reason (infiltration? Adaptation to local ecology?), nanotech capable of transforming a human or other colonist into a yinglet with mind and memories intact was developed.
Greater Yinglets probably evolved naturally, along with the Lesser Yinglet (which is to them what e.g. a chimpanzee would be to us...a relatively close evolutionary "cousin"). Yinglets probably had some level of civilization at this point.
Something went very badly wrong. A disaster wiped out the colony and scattered debris all over the planet. Humanity on the planet was knocked back into the bronze age, the Yinglet culture was essentially wiped out. Some small pockets survived in remote swamplands.
While humans clawed their way back to the current state of things, so did the Yinglets. But there is a key difference between the two species: Some Yinglets know about this history, while humans have forgotten it all. My guess would be that the elders who give Narklet his marching orders are a lineage going back all the way to nanotech-transformed humans that lived among the Yinglets.
Which raises some interesting questions about the "template" used. It might mean that Kass could be recognized if the elders ever saw her, because she's got the exact same combination of traits as the founders of their group did. There might in fact be a whole secret society of kasslets out there...
Humans are newcomers to this planet. Possibly Isher's non-human half too. Yinglets and most likely Baxxid are native. Indrel could be either.
Humans arrived from space, via what is now known as Zhat Weird Zhing In Zhe Sky.
Humanity started to colonize the planet. For unknown reason (infiltration? Adaptation to local ecology?), nanotech capable of transforming a human or other colonist into a yinglet with mind and memories intact was developed.
Greater Yinglets probably evolved naturally, along with the Lesser Yinglet (which is to them what e.g. a chimpanzee would be to us...a relatively close evolutionary "cousin"). Yinglets probably had some level of civilization at this point.
Something went very badly wrong. A disaster wiped out the colony and scattered debris all over the planet. Humanity on the planet was knocked back into the bronze age, the Yinglet culture was essentially wiped out. Some small pockets survived in remote swamplands.
While humans clawed their way back to the current state of things, so did the Yinglets. But there is a key difference between the two species: Some Yinglets know about this history, while humans have forgotten it all. My guess would be that the elders who give Narklet his marching orders are a lineage going back all the way to nanotech-transformed humans that lived among the Yinglets.
Which raises some interesting questions about the "template" used. It might mean that Kass could be recognized if the elders ever saw her, because she's got the exact same combination of traits as the founders of their group did. There might in fact be a whole secret society of kasslets out there...
They have two adaptations that only make sense if they evolved on the planet. Immunity to local plant toxins (and adaptation to actually make use of some of them, see Yinglet "soap") and a strong reaction to a food source specific to the planet's environment. Also their biology is very non-human on several levels. Possibly terran vertebrate evolution could have produced something like a yinglet at some point but it never did and no species currently on Earth even comes close to the halfway point between avian and mammalian that they seem to occupy.
Which is related to another point to consider: This planet has at least five intelligent species, of which only three - humans, yinglets, and one as-yet unnamed - look to share anything remotely like the same general body plan. What are the chances of even two intelligences emerging on one planet? Seems unlikely. I'd think it more plausible that not more than one of them is actually native. Most likely the yinglets, as they are the only intelligent species that has an obvious non-intelligent ancestor present.
Perhaps the ship that brought humans also brought baxxid and indrel to the planet at the same time. All part of the great galactic society, a shared multi-species civilisation. Then something happened that caused the loss of their technology, and with it their ability to preserve history - the three species split, each migrating over the generations to a habitat where they were best able to survive as stone-age savages until such time as civilisation could re-emerge from the beginning.
If this is the case, there may well be other intelligent species that are merely geographically distant - perhaps the polar regions are home to something like polar bears or giant penguins.
Perhaps the ship that brought humans also brought baxxid and indrel to the planet at the same time. All part of the great galactic society, a shared multi-species civilisation. Then something happened that caused the loss of their technology, and with it their ability to preserve history - the three species split, each migrating over the generations to a habitat where they were best able to survive as stone-age savages until such time as civilisation could re-emerge from the beginning.
If this is the case, there may well be other intelligent species that are merely geographically distant - perhaps the polar regions are home to something like polar bears or giant penguins.
I feel like the baxxids are the most ancient and probably know the most, maybe thats why they are really set on making things as peaceful as possible now. Also even tho it makes female yinglets with tan brown fur, kass still has some of his old features like his hair color/ type so they might still be distinct
i think greater yinglets are a result of experimentation on lesser yinglets, and whatever caused kass to change is some sort of tech that was originally meant to rewrite lesser yinglet code, but can also rewrite human code, the theory of humans not being native to the planet does make sense, but my theory is "that thing in the sky" is debris from a large ship thats slowly scattering artifacts over the planet, and humans are descendant of a "women and children first" scenario after a colony ship that was studying the planet exploded which would partly explain the loss of history if the majority of survivers were too young to have solid memories, and the adults had to use more primitive survival techniques, possibly needing to fight off baxxid before they became more peaceful, heck, their sentience could have been engineered by these pre explosion humans, possibly by accident in a similar way to the greater yinglets uplifting, one or two experimented on baxxids survived and bred and spread their alterations for example, i also think the yinglet of the past that unified the tribes was a former human, and his "messages from the stars" could have been knowelage of the explosion, and having human intelligence
It might also just be that their history was recorded entirely technologically. The whole civilisation might not have a single printed book, and the only actually written words are signage and labels - knowledge being preserved instead on highly redundant servers and portable tablet devices. So when the capacity to access and maintain their technology is lost, so is almost all knowledge. A few facts would be passed on orally, or carefully recorded by people who re-invent the idea of carving letters into stone, but only that which is essential for immediate survival.
If you assume matter-to-energy conversion, sure. But I was thinking in terms of chemical energy. High energy compounds are plentiful in a human body and an effective chemical "digestion" would render them down to mostly stable gases (CO2 and N2, mainly) and water, which would evaporate or be absorbed into the soil.
Ran, she's doin' her best, she's actively trying to be more forthcoming but knows LESS than you do about what's happening to her.
DELIGHTFUL body horror depiction, and definitely grounds us back into the mystery of *what in the hells Zhat Zhing is*... And how that conversion could have gone HORRIBLY wrong if it didn't happen JUST so.
DELIGHTFUL body horror depiction, and definitely grounds us back into the mystery of *what in the hells Zhat Zhing is*... And how that conversion could have gone HORRIBLY wrong if it didn't happen JUST so.
"Now...and I'm speaking purely hypothetically here, but...just for the record, if you were abruptly confronted by...what the less scientifically-minded might term 'an unholy mockery of life,' that just happened to be composed of malformed bits and pieces of the body you're currently inhabiting, which I'm aware you're still kinda coming to terms with...but if you were, how would you feel? Be honest."
I can't help but wonder if the fact that it splashed on Kass first, and then melted through the floor is the reason most of the things here didn't metamorphose fully (or survive). Stuck halfway because they did not receive a full dose (or, maybe its just a matter of body mass. It would have interesting if suddenly a colony of ants were suddenly very confused identical Yinglets)
My guess was correct! It's partially the added mass Kassen sloughed off as he lost biomass in his transformation, as well as any other biological entities converted to horrible partial-yings.
It has also verified why the Tradesmaster was SO immediately willing to take Kass at her word that she used to be human. THAT thing is pretty indisputable evidence.
It has also verified why the Tradesmaster was SO immediately willing to take Kass at her word that she used to be human. THAT thing is pretty indisputable evidence.
This helps explain why Kass has been "hired" to write detailed accounts about his new mode of existence.
So who would want to forcefully transform living things into female yings? Yings in general would want that (but would the Yinglet ruling class welcome a mass conversion of lady yings, or would that threaten them somehow?).
Also, can't remember if I read this somewhere, or just imagined it, but wasn't the Greatest One similar in appearance to Kass?
So who would want to forcefully transform living things into female yings? Yings in general would want that (but would the Yinglet ruling class welcome a mass conversion of lady yings, or would that threaten them somehow?).
Also, can't remember if I read this somewhere, or just imagined it, but wasn't the Greatest One similar in appearance to Kass?
My best guess to why this was only successful at creating one yinglet is simply that Kass had enough biomass to his body that it didn't burnout all his reserves before the process completed itself.
Everything else just died because whatever the stuff is ran out of stuff to both fuel the change and the things being changed at the time. Everything else besides Kass just ran out of fuel to keep the changes going and alive.
But this does bring up a bit of a question of why a banished and a Patriarch yinglet would both have a connection with it?
Everything else just died because whatever the stuff is ran out of stuff to both fuel the change and the things being changed at the time. Everything else besides Kass just ran out of fuel to keep the changes going and alive.
But this does bring up a bit of a question of why a banished and a Patriarch yinglet would both have a connection with it?
Oh very interesting. So I am beginning to think the Yinglets are something created by a previous 'mad scientist' type. Either from existing humans at the time or whole cloth. Would fit with their weird mutative adaptability.
I'd have to go back and read the notes on the other species to see if there are any hints on them too.
I'd have to go back and read the notes on the other species to see if there are any hints on them too.
Neither of which might know very much. Brakka knows what Narket shared, and Narklet knows what the Elders shared. And I don't think Narklet knows what Zhat Zhing is either, because if he had any idea it would take him about ten seconds to figure out that the sudden appearance of a never-before-seen yinglet female claiming to be raised by humans is related. They are both just pawns - told as much as they need to complete their mission, and no more.
I'm sorry, but this comes as a huge disappointment. I thought we were dealing with competent ancients leaving relics, but this...this is just shoddy workmanship! If propagation of yinglet females was the goal, Zat Zhing should have been able to get three, maybe four yinglets from one Kass-mass alone. How inefficient!
I assume that the nano was expecting to have a proper controlled environment to work in, but having to do nanoassembly while coping with oxygen radicals in the air and gravity, because it's acting like parts of the swarm lost contact and kept performing their last instruction in perpetuity until they burned out.
It's also possible that the transformation "machine" was attempting to create a second life-form, a yinglet den, which is itself a life-form, in the form of a self-maintaining safe place to sleep.
It's also possible that the transformation "machine" was attempting to create a second life-form, a yinglet den, which is itself a life-form, in the form of a self-maintaining safe place to sleep.
I am fascinated, I am disturbed, and I am experiencing a vicarious existential crisis. The idea that you might not only have lost yourself but not even be unique to your previous form, some kind of bioengineered template, is immensely horrifying.
Kass, I hope can do their best to consider their new body theirs, but I fear what such a revelation might do to any nascent sense of self, that is, assuming that the alterations to the surrounding area aren't somewhat based on equivalent-Kass-Ying-DNA from what sloughed from their changing form..
I have so many questions. I am so intrigued, so horrified. Amidst it all I yearn for Kass to be okay in the end..
Kass, I hope can do their best to consider their new body theirs, but I fear what such a revelation might do to any nascent sense of self, that is, assuming that the alterations to the surrounding area aren't somewhat based on equivalent-Kass-Ying-DNA from what sloughed from their changing form..
I have so many questions. I am so intrigued, so horrified. Amidst it all I yearn for Kass to be okay in the end..
This is an amazing page and awesome body horror/lovecraftian existential stuff that lifts yet a little more of the veil of mystique around yinglets.
Makes me think yinglets were engineered during the age of antiquity, but are unstable lifeforms as they mutate a wee bit too readily. Lesser yinglets are as such simply evolved or rather a degraded form from greater yinglets of old, and the only reason greater yinglets are around again "today" is because of goo baubles like what hit kass re-establishing new "fresh" populations... until supply lasts i'd wager and that's exactly why yinglet leaders search so frantically for new artifacts. They know that without these that their peoples days are numbered... Ah well that's just a theory, a yinglet theory!
I also wonder about the "relocated and reasonably settled" part for kass here. I think we readers are in for quite a wild ride, especially since we're dealing with yinglets here and i'm all for it. Go go gadget: instant yinglet! "Ping!"...
Heh, I Bet my main oc would make for a fine floofy yinglet lass lol.
Makes me think yinglets were engineered during the age of antiquity, but are unstable lifeforms as they mutate a wee bit too readily. Lesser yinglets are as such simply evolved or rather a degraded form from greater yinglets of old, and the only reason greater yinglets are around again "today" is because of goo baubles like what hit kass re-establishing new "fresh" populations... until supply lasts i'd wager and that's exactly why yinglet leaders search so frantically for new artifacts. They know that without these that their peoples days are numbered... Ah well that's just a theory, a yinglet theory!
I also wonder about the "relocated and reasonably settled" part for kass here. I think we readers are in for quite a wild ride, especially since we're dealing with yinglets here and i'm all for it. Go go gadget: instant yinglet! "Ping!"...
Heh, I Bet my main oc would make for a fine floofy yinglet lass lol.
This does give the idea that this has one time been a seeded world of sorts.
There's the idea of a worker race, a warrior/guard, builders, servants...
Not saying that the humans living there were the ones doing the seeding once upon a time, but it does feel logical. One would then assume that the artefact was part of some science to build the servile workforce either through volunteering or as punishment. Which is perhaps why Kass survived the process as it's specifically made to affect human genetics.
It might be hard to find the truth but I feel that of all the various species, the Baxxid might have the oldest racial memory going to prod at.
There's the idea of a worker race, a warrior/guard, builders, servants...
Not saying that the humans living there were the ones doing the seeding once upon a time, but it does feel logical. One would then assume that the artefact was part of some science to build the servile workforce either through volunteering or as punishment. Which is perhaps why Kass survived the process as it's specifically made to affect human genetics.
It might be hard to find the truth but I feel that of all the various species, the Baxxid might have the oldest racial memory going to prod at.
Something to keep in mind, with regards to this perhaps not being the first object of its kind (the G-13 designation, how Ran talked about it in the previous page): Transformation into a yinglet was an established enough concept among Ivenmoth leadership, and taken seriously enough even prior to Kass's incident, that they had standing orders to arrest and bring in for questioning anyone who asks about it at the library.
Stuff like this makes me wonder at what point these details were realized in the world's development. How much of this did you, as the author, know before starting the project VS how much did you come up with/realise during it? One of the more bizarre parts of being a creator of stuff like this is when you do something without having a proper explanation for it, and then suddenly realize one way down the road.
Kass's transformation was spurred by an outside force. Things like that aren't likely to just happen.
For a transformation like this to happen, it would take a lot of energy. Kass isn't likely to transform more or again without another outside stimulus.
The genetic variance in yinglets happens through genetic quirks and breeding. It's not something that occurs while they're alive which would affect them. That's not how genetics work.
For a transformation like this to happen, it would take a lot of energy. Kass isn't likely to transform more or again without another outside stimulus.
The genetic variance in yinglets happens through genetic quirks and breeding. It's not something that occurs while they're alive which would affect them. That's not how genetics work.
Being alive is an organic chemistry reaction. In the case of humans, the reaction takes decades to complete. But the reaction is always ongoing. From the remains in the pit, it's obvious that the reaction can go horribly wrong.
In humans, introduction of a foreign reactant to the chemical process of life can result in horrible and destructive transformations to the body that might take years, even decades to manifest. With this reactant, the changes are extreme and rapid, but is the reaction complete? What happened to Kassen is "not how genetic works," either.
In humans, introduction of a foreign reactant to the chemical process of life can result in horrible and destructive transformations to the body that might take years, even decades to manifest. With this reactant, the changes are extreme and rapid, but is the reaction complete? What happened to Kassen is "not how genetic works," either.
Hiya, OOPs fanciers! I'm here to remind you yet again that there's a place called "Top Web Comics" https://www.topwebcomics.com/?home=3 that compiles comics from various places. There's a bunch of cool stuff there. They have monthly votes, so you can support OOPs there. You can vote once a day per device, so your PC, laptop, tablet, phone, etc.
I've noticed that you can sometimes even get in extra votes from different IP addresses, or if you're disconnected from your IP and open up again later.
It closed out last month (Yesterday, when this was posted) at 1167 votes and 50th place. It's currently at 16 votes and 57th place. The highest it's reached is 36th place, and the top vote getters seem to end up with something close to 20,000 votes.
Vote early, vote often! Help OOPs get noticed!
I've noticed that you can sometimes even get in extra votes from different IP addresses, or if you're disconnected from your IP and open up again later.
It closed out last month (Yesterday, when this was posted) at 1167 votes and 50th place. It's currently at 16 votes and 57th place. The highest it's reached is 36th place, and the top vote getters seem to end up with something close to 20,000 votes.
Vote early, vote often! Help OOPs get noticed!
Hypothesis: "Zhat Zhing" was a yinglet seed.
The question then is who, what, when, where, why, how did it come about?
There's a lot of interesting speculation on this here, but I'm amused how many people are jumping to the idea of nanotech.
I don't think that this would require anything like that at all. Whatever this mutagenic liquid was, it wouldn't require nanotechnology, but biology, and possibly a grasp of genetics. That brings up the interesting idea that the yinglet Kass is a clone of some previous yinglet, which then poses the question of how or why Kass retained his human memories.
The question then is who, what, when, where, why, how did it come about?
There's a lot of interesting speculation on this here, but I'm amused how many people are jumping to the idea of nanotech.
I don't think that this would require anything like that at all. Whatever this mutagenic liquid was, it wouldn't require nanotechnology, but biology, and possibly a grasp of genetics. That brings up the interesting idea that the yinglet Kass is a clone of some previous yinglet, which then poses the question of how or why Kass retained his human memories.
TLDR = This comment is mostly just rambling. I don't know if there is much sense to it. I feel like, going into it, I was going to have lots of interesting discussion and some definitive conclusions, but didn't.
Ran brings up a good point about the possible correlation between the sudden appearance of Greater Yinglets and the antiquity (a.k.a. artifact, a.k.a. Zat Zing). It calls into the question of whether Greater Yinglets naturally evolved from Lesser Yinglets or were solely created by the antiquity(s) or both.
According to the first Regional Field Guide about yinglets, Lessers had been around for centuries, but their population has declined. When a Greater and Lesser were put in the same room, the Greater killed the Lesser without explanation. If this is presumed to be a common occurence between the two species, then this could explain Lessers diminishing in number. It would seem from this information the Greater Yinglet was designed for the purpose of replacing the Lesser Yinglet. If that's the case, then why?
The main character who currently has the most interest for these antiquities is Narklet. Why, I still haven't been able to figure out. However, on page #119, there's something weird about him saying "We were not meant to be as humans." before adding "..to live as they do." Given what's been made important to him by The Elders, he means it in a cultural perspective. Had he emphasized "humans" then I'd be more inclined to believe a Sauron inspired "But I don't want to cure cancer, I want to turn people into yinglets!" level of cartoonish villiany.
In regards to the italicized "meant", it does make me think of the purpose for their species possible creation, much like when the baxxid He-Who-Knows-What-He-Did was preaching about thier purpose, which led some people to speculate their species was created with the intentions of being a weapon. Although, I unfortunately fail to see how yinglets would be of great benefit to humans other than I suppose their scavenging and entertainment as silly lil' rat-birds.
One thing I'd like to talk about is the timeline from page #136 Field Guide. From the year zero to 650 years, it is called the Silent Ages because seemingly no one knows what happened during this period and that the end of the period was ended by some supposed environmental catastrophe. Now, others have suggested a colony of technologically advanced humans travelled to this planet, which could explain the starting year, and would explain the antiquities shown in that Field Guide (the solar-powered disco light and cattle prod). The thing is, on page #134 Mr. Craylor mentions why there are no roads or buildings, just smaller items or scraps. If humanity had been here 1400 years ago, surely they would've built all kinds of shit during the first 650 years. I can't imagine it's a Planet of the Apes scenario where total nuclear decimation occured then followed by several thousands of years of erosion and land-shifting for one of the few remnants of human infastructure being a half-buried Statue of Liberty.
Lately, I've been thinking about the amount of importance that has been placed on the sky. Specifically, by Narklet where he believes the guiding spirits reside. He focuses so much on listening. But could he in fact be seeing? Like, I don't know, some uknown material falling from space in which he makes note of where it lands, hence why he knows where to look? Only problem with that is that surely someone else would be noticing such phenomenon, if they happen to be paying attention at the time to see a tiny fireball in the sky coming towards the planet. Yet somehow I feel this is completely ignoring the question of why it is so important where Brakka found his "sample" as quoted by Narklet on page #121, indicating that there could be more yinglet-transforming rocks and possibly in Narklet's current possession. Or he could be generally referring to a sample of another antiquity.
I've also thought about the nebula. One way a nebula is formed is by a supernova. I'm not sure how devastating a supernova can be on just the very outer tips of its blast radius, but I can't help but wonder if the "unprecedented destructive environmental catastrophe" as quoted on page #136 could have been the supernova which hit the planet and almost wiped out all of humanity. The thing is is how could humanity forget something like that and how would the world recover in just over 600 years to now? This is why it feels like a strecth to me. However, I may not be fully appreciating how long a century is and how much can happen in that time.
Maybe the space colonists is the wrong route. Maybe humanity has alwasy existed on this planet. I'm not sure why or when we picked a year 1, but it's so weird how there's no knowledge for such a long period of time in the Silent Ages. What reason would humans not keep records during this time other than keeping track of the year? I will say I do like the concept of an advanced human civilization returning to primitive times with little knowledge of just how advanced they were and are slowly climbing back to where they once were. Kind of like the theory that Aladdin takes place in a far dystopian future based on the fact Genie makes pop culture references.
Valsalia, if you actually took the time to read this, then I apologize. I know I'm spittin' out whatever comes to mind, but I feel like over the years when I theorized, I started close but just proceed to get farther and farther away and it's like "Oh my God, this guy just keeps going the wrong way." If I sound foolish in any way, I'm just gonna be like, "Ha, I meant to do that."
Ran brings up a good point about the possible correlation between the sudden appearance of Greater Yinglets and the antiquity (a.k.a. artifact, a.k.a. Zat Zing). It calls into the question of whether Greater Yinglets naturally evolved from Lesser Yinglets or were solely created by the antiquity(s) or both.
According to the first Regional Field Guide about yinglets, Lessers had been around for centuries, but their population has declined. When a Greater and Lesser were put in the same room, the Greater killed the Lesser without explanation. If this is presumed to be a common occurence between the two species, then this could explain Lessers diminishing in number. It would seem from this information the Greater Yinglet was designed for the purpose of replacing the Lesser Yinglet. If that's the case, then why?
The main character who currently has the most interest for these antiquities is Narklet. Why, I still haven't been able to figure out. However, on page #119, there's something weird about him saying "We were not meant to be as humans." before adding "..to live as they do." Given what's been made important to him by The Elders, he means it in a cultural perspective. Had he emphasized "humans" then I'd be more inclined to believe a Sauron inspired "But I don't want to cure cancer, I want to turn people into yinglets!" level of cartoonish villiany.
In regards to the italicized "meant", it does make me think of the purpose for their species possible creation, much like when the baxxid He-Who-Knows-What-He-Did was preaching about thier purpose, which led some people to speculate their species was created with the intentions of being a weapon. Although, I unfortunately fail to see how yinglets would be of great benefit to humans other than I suppose their scavenging and entertainment as silly lil' rat-birds.
One thing I'd like to talk about is the timeline from page #136 Field Guide. From the year zero to 650 years, it is called the Silent Ages because seemingly no one knows what happened during this period and that the end of the period was ended by some supposed environmental catastrophe. Now, others have suggested a colony of technologically advanced humans travelled to this planet, which could explain the starting year, and would explain the antiquities shown in that Field Guide (the solar-powered disco light and cattle prod). The thing is, on page #134 Mr. Craylor mentions why there are no roads or buildings, just smaller items or scraps. If humanity had been here 1400 years ago, surely they would've built all kinds of shit during the first 650 years. I can't imagine it's a Planet of the Apes scenario where total nuclear decimation occured then followed by several thousands of years of erosion and land-shifting for one of the few remnants of human infastructure being a half-buried Statue of Liberty.
Lately, I've been thinking about the amount of importance that has been placed on the sky. Specifically, by Narklet where he believes the guiding spirits reside. He focuses so much on listening. But could he in fact be seeing? Like, I don't know, some uknown material falling from space in which he makes note of where it lands, hence why he knows where to look? Only problem with that is that surely someone else would be noticing such phenomenon, if they happen to be paying attention at the time to see a tiny fireball in the sky coming towards the planet. Yet somehow I feel this is completely ignoring the question of why it is so important where Brakka found his "sample" as quoted by Narklet on page #121, indicating that there could be more yinglet-transforming rocks and possibly in Narklet's current possession. Or he could be generally referring to a sample of another antiquity.
I've also thought about the nebula. One way a nebula is formed is by a supernova. I'm not sure how devastating a supernova can be on just the very outer tips of its blast radius, but I can't help but wonder if the "unprecedented destructive environmental catastrophe" as quoted on page #136 could have been the supernova which hit the planet and almost wiped out all of humanity. The thing is is how could humanity forget something like that and how would the world recover in just over 600 years to now? This is why it feels like a strecth to me. However, I may not be fully appreciating how long a century is and how much can happen in that time.
Maybe the space colonists is the wrong route. Maybe humanity has alwasy existed on this planet. I'm not sure why or when we picked a year 1, but it's so weird how there's no knowledge for such a long period of time in the Silent Ages. What reason would humans not keep records during this time other than keeping track of the year? I will say I do like the concept of an advanced human civilization returning to primitive times with little knowledge of just how advanced they were and are slowly climbing back to where they once were. Kind of like the theory that Aladdin takes place in a far dystopian future based on the fact Genie makes pop culture references.
Valsalia, if you actually took the time to read this, then I apologize. I know I'm spittin' out whatever comes to mind, but I feel like over the years when I theorized, I started close but just proceed to get farther and farther away and it's like "Oh my God, this guy just keeps going the wrong way." If I sound foolish in any way, I'm just gonna be like, "Ha, I meant to do that."
Interesting,
This is pure conjecture, but given that this isn’t your standard fantasy world in which Humankind has always been there, and that signs point to them having come to the planet for unknown reasons, were they colonists, refugees fleeing some intergalactic conflict or another, a remote research station that met with a catastrophe of some sort, who can say? But as stated, the lack of tangible artifacts and evidence of long, sustained civilization reaching far back into antiquity, and given the current medieval level of technology and civilization, it could be surmised that the reason why Humans came to the planet was not out of choice, thus eliminating the colonization theory. Unless the colonists were carried some manner of beliefs that eschewed the greater use of technology and of the use of advanced building materials, there would be greater evidence of an extraterrestrial origin. Afterall, on Earth we have historical evidence ranging the gamut of knowledge about our forebears. It doesn’t get magically erased. which would lead to the possibility that the Human ancestors on the planet did not come there by choice, but out of survival and necessity.
Perhaps they were crew and personnel of an orbiting scientific station or spacecraft which met with a calamity that claimed the ship / station. forcing the survivors to man escape pods and make it to the planet’s surface. Running with this, it can be assumed that due to the nature of the emergency no distress signal had been sent, and for whatever reason, nobody ever checked up on them, so they became just another lost ship or station. The survivors, given little in the way of resources would have to survive off of the land, establishing new societies on their new adopted planet, it would stand to reason that as a people they would devolve in learning and culture being as a good majority of what they had would be lost over time. So it would stand that they would establish themselves at a lower, more primitive level of society and technology, with what scant remains of the old becoming valuable artifacts which could never be replicated. Well, mostly. One remnant would seem to have survived and thrives to this very day with them.
The Greater Yinglet.
Running with the supposition that the Greater Yinglet is in fact a genetically engineered Yinglet subtype, created by human scientific researchers, this explains much and leads to speculation as to how and why they came to be.
As stated, it could be arguably conjectured that the Greater Yinglets were artificially created, more than likely using Lesser Yinglet as a baseline and perhaps given a bit of Human DNA were genetically uplifted to be bigger, more intelligent and stronger than the Lesser Yinglet.
It could be further theorized these genetically engineered subjects got loose, or were set loose to establish themselves into a dominant order
Given how they instinctually destroy the competitive Lesser Yinglet upon sight, with the species survival imperative of nature as given to other terrestrial creatures, one to remove its competition and presumably to prevent the two species from interbreeding, thus establishing the Greater Yinglet as the said dominant species of the two.
But while this all seemingly wraps up the story in a nice, pretty bow, it does not answer the big question.
What about the mutagen? It is too specific in what it does and what its effects are when it comes into contact with other organisms to even remotely be thought of as having been created by chance in nature, it screams of genetic engineering, but for what purpose? Why would anyone want to create a Greater Yinglet?
Interesting,
This is pure conjecture, but given that this isn’t your standard fantasy world in which Humankind has always been there, and that signs point to them having come to the planet for unknown reasons, were they colonists, refugees fleeing some intergalactic conflict or another, a remote research station that met with a catastrophe of some sort, who can say? But as stated, the lack of tangible artifacts and evidence of long, sustained civilization reaching far back into antiquity, and given the current medieval level of technology and civilization, it could be surmised that the reason why Humans came to the planet was not out of choice, thus eliminating the colonization theory. Unless the colonists were carried some manner of beliefs that eschewed the greater use of technology and of the use of advanced building materials, there would be greater evidence of an extraterrestrial origin. Afterall, on Earth we have historical evidence ranging the gamut of knowledge about our forebears. It doesn’t get magically erased. which would lead to the possibility that the Human ancestors on the planet did not come there by choice, but out of survival and necessity.
Perhaps they were crew and personnel of an orbiting scientific station or spacecraft which met with a calamity that claimed the ship / station. forcing the survivors to man escape pods and make it to the planet’s surface. Running with this, it can be assumed that due to the nature of the emergency no distress signal had been sent, and for whatever reason, nobody ever checked up on them, so they became just another lost ship or station. The survivors, given little in the way of resources would have to survive off of the land, establishing new societies on their new adopted planet, it would stand to reason that as a people they would devolve in learning and culture being as a good majority of what they had would be lost over time. So it would stand that they would establish themselves at a lower, more primitive level of society and technology, with what scant remains of the old becoming valuable artifacts which could never be replicated. Well, mostly. One remnant would seem to have survived and thrives to this very day with them.
The Greater Yinglet.
Running with the supposition that the Greater Yinglet is in fact a genetically engineered Yinglet subtype, created by human scientific researchers, this explains much and leads to speculation as to how and why they came to be.
As stated, it could be arguably conjectured that the Greater Yinglets were artificially created, more than likely using Lesser Yinglet as a baseline and perhaps given a bit of Human DNA were genetically uplifted to be bigger, more intelligent and stronger than the Lesser Yinglet.
It could be further theorized these genetically engineered subjects got loose, or were set loose to establish themselves into a dominant order
Given how they instinctually destroy the competitive Lesser Yinglet upon sight, with the species survival imperative of nature as given to other terrestrial creatures, one to remove its competition and presumably to prevent the two species from interbreeding, thus establishing the Greater Yinglet as the said dominant species of the two.
But while this all seemingly wraps up the story in a nice, pretty bow, it does not answer the big question.
What about the mutagen? It is too specific in what it does and what its effects are when it comes into contact with other organisms to even remotely be thought of as having been created by chance in nature, it screams of genetic engineering, but for what purpose? Why would anyone want to create a Greater Yinglet?
Perhaps it was an experiment in colonization, to transform those who would go to the planet into the form with the maximum survival capability, perhaps it was to be administered to prisoners who would be dumped upon the planet as its own Botany Bay or Devil’s Island type penal colony in which those sent there could never escape from, nor ever want to return from. Whatever the reason originally, in the here and now of the story, random samples of this genetically engineered mutagen, would appear to have survived, but very few and at random. Perhaps the majority were destroyed over time, or perhaps they are yet to be discovered this way or that. We shall have to see as the story unfolds.
This is pure conjecture, but given that this isn’t your standard fantasy world in which Humankind has always been there, and that signs point to them having come to the planet for unknown reasons, were they colonists, refugees fleeing some intergalactic conflict or another, a remote research station that met with a catastrophe of some sort, who can say? But as stated, the lack of tangible artifacts and evidence of long, sustained civilization reaching far back into antiquity, and given the current medieval level of technology and civilization, it could be surmised that the reason why Humans came to the planet was not out of choice, thus eliminating the colonization theory. Unless the colonists were carried some manner of beliefs that eschewed the greater use of technology and of the use of advanced building materials, there would be greater evidence of an extraterrestrial origin. Afterall, on Earth we have historical evidence ranging the gamut of knowledge about our forebears. It doesn’t get magically erased. which would lead to the possibility that the Human ancestors on the planet did not come there by choice, but out of survival and necessity.
Perhaps they were crew and personnel of an orbiting scientific station or spacecraft which met with a calamity that claimed the ship / station. forcing the survivors to man escape pods and make it to the planet’s surface. Running with this, it can be assumed that due to the nature of the emergency no distress signal had been sent, and for whatever reason, nobody ever checked up on them, so they became just another lost ship or station. The survivors, given little in the way of resources would have to survive off of the land, establishing new societies on their new adopted planet, it would stand to reason that as a people they would devolve in learning and culture being as a good majority of what they had would be lost over time. So it would stand that they would establish themselves at a lower, more primitive level of society and technology, with what scant remains of the old becoming valuable artifacts which could never be replicated. Well, mostly. One remnant would seem to have survived and thrives to this very day with them.
The Greater Yinglet.
Running with the supposition that the Greater Yinglet is in fact a genetically engineered Yinglet subtype, created by human scientific researchers, this explains much and leads to speculation as to how and why they came to be.
As stated, it could be arguably conjectured that the Greater Yinglets were artificially created, more than likely using Lesser Yinglet as a baseline and perhaps given a bit of Human DNA were genetically uplifted to be bigger, more intelligent and stronger than the Lesser Yinglet.
It could be further theorized these genetically engineered subjects got loose, or were set loose to establish themselves into a dominant order
Given how they instinctually destroy the competitive Lesser Yinglet upon sight, with the species survival imperative of nature as given to other terrestrial creatures, one to remove its competition and presumably to prevent the two species from interbreeding, thus establishing the Greater Yinglet as the said dominant species of the two.
But while this all seemingly wraps up the story in a nice, pretty bow, it does not answer the big question.
What about the mutagen? It is too specific in what it does and what its effects are when it comes into contact with other organisms to even remotely be thought of as having been created by chance in nature, it screams of genetic engineering, but for what purpose? Why would anyone want to create a Greater Yinglet?
Interesting,
This is pure conjecture, but given that this isn’t your standard fantasy world in which Humankind has always been there, and that signs point to them having come to the planet for unknown reasons, were they colonists, refugees fleeing some intergalactic conflict or another, a remote research station that met with a catastrophe of some sort, who can say? But as stated, the lack of tangible artifacts and evidence of long, sustained civilization reaching far back into antiquity, and given the current medieval level of technology and civilization, it could be surmised that the reason why Humans came to the planet was not out of choice, thus eliminating the colonization theory. Unless the colonists were carried some manner of beliefs that eschewed the greater use of technology and of the use of advanced building materials, there would be greater evidence of an extraterrestrial origin. Afterall, on Earth we have historical evidence ranging the gamut of knowledge about our forebears. It doesn’t get magically erased. which would lead to the possibility that the Human ancestors on the planet did not come there by choice, but out of survival and necessity.
Perhaps they were crew and personnel of an orbiting scientific station or spacecraft which met with a calamity that claimed the ship / station. forcing the survivors to man escape pods and make it to the planet’s surface. Running with this, it can be assumed that due to the nature of the emergency no distress signal had been sent, and for whatever reason, nobody ever checked up on them, so they became just another lost ship or station. The survivors, given little in the way of resources would have to survive off of the land, establishing new societies on their new adopted planet, it would stand to reason that as a people they would devolve in learning and culture being as a good majority of what they had would be lost over time. So it would stand that they would establish themselves at a lower, more primitive level of society and technology, with what scant remains of the old becoming valuable artifacts which could never be replicated. Well, mostly. One remnant would seem to have survived and thrives to this very day with them.
The Greater Yinglet.
Running with the supposition that the Greater Yinglet is in fact a genetically engineered Yinglet subtype, created by human scientific researchers, this explains much and leads to speculation as to how and why they came to be.
As stated, it could be arguably conjectured that the Greater Yinglets were artificially created, more than likely using Lesser Yinglet as a baseline and perhaps given a bit of Human DNA were genetically uplifted to be bigger, more intelligent and stronger than the Lesser Yinglet.
It could be further theorized these genetically engineered subjects got loose, or were set loose to establish themselves into a dominant order
Given how they instinctually destroy the competitive Lesser Yinglet upon sight, with the species survival imperative of nature as given to other terrestrial creatures, one to remove its competition and presumably to prevent the two species from interbreeding, thus establishing the Greater Yinglet as the said dominant species of the two.
But while this all seemingly wraps up the story in a nice, pretty bow, it does not answer the big question.
What about the mutagen? It is too specific in what it does and what its effects are when it comes into contact with other organisms to even remotely be thought of as having been created by chance in nature, it screams of genetic engineering, but for what purpose? Why would anyone want to create a Greater Yinglet?
Perhaps it was an experiment in colonization, to transform those who would go to the planet into the form with the maximum survival capability, perhaps it was to be administered to prisoners who would be dumped upon the planet as its own Botany Bay or Devil’s Island type penal colony in which those sent there could never escape from, nor ever want to return from. Whatever the reason originally, in the here and now of the story, random samples of this genetically engineered mutagen, would appear to have survived, but very few and at random. Perhaps the majority were destroyed over time, or perhaps they are yet to be discovered this way or that. We shall have to see as the story unfolds.
As McCoy and Spock would say.... :D ( Don't worry, perfectly G-Rated )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEwm0fv7OBA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEwm0fv7OBA
Interesting.. this implies that if anyone else was nearby to Kassen when the artefact dispensed its formula, others could have also been turned into Yinglets. More over, anything biological in nature could be converted into yinglets.. I wonder what would happen if a Yinglet had been exposed to it.
Perhaps the substance the container was created from is inherently non-reactive to Greater Yinglets. Afterall, it was Lopin that originally had it, and who presumably initially found it. So it would follow that if it were to burst, as it did with Kassen, it would have done so while still in Lopin's possession. Afterall, Greater Yinglets, it would seem possess neither the fine touch, nor demeanor to handle extremely delicate objects with the utmost care. * Taps chin *
I am still of the opinion that there was a relatively small number of humans who teleported or landed or crashed or were sent here and they infact are not native to this planet especially considering they seem to be the only ones that are actually mammals. I now suspect that goo might have been something protomateresq that was used to terraform the planet or something to that extent
Hmm. This makes me wonder if Yinglets are not actually a natural species. But rather a species that was "created". The fact that Kass turned into something so mundane in their species makes that seem likely. Or. The Yinglet population was dying out due to a lack of females (which seems to still be the case.) And this unknown group of people decided to help them out with this "artifact".
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