Sunday, September 4, 2016

The Story - Worm's Nest I.

Dimly illuminated ice crystals, barely visible as they lay scattered on the ground, began to stir due to underground movements. The shifting soil revealed an elongated, many-legged, insect-like creature, resembling a colorless spiny worm—an unnamed species distinguished only by its genomic entry in a catalog. Roused from its lethargic energy collection underground by warm gusts of wind, the creature awakened. The wind originated from the ever-present crimson horizon, occasionally obscured by clouds.

The creature had started to breathe deeply fresh air from the atmosphere, an atmosphere low in oxygen. The fresh air had filled its body through its many noses, located throughout the body. While just standing, its two pairs of wings, relatively small in comparison to its body, started to appear on its back.

A slightly brighter red dot stood out in the sky—the red dwarf, twin to the planet's home star and part of this binary-star system. Though currently alone, it was sometimes accompanied by planets wandering the outer reaches of the system. The creature saw the star more brightly, as its vision is shifted further into the infrared spectrum, where red dwarfs emit most of their electromagnetic energy. This type of vision was more useful here, aiding in foraging and locating shelter, typically warm spots emanating from underground where most animals resided in the colder regions of the planet, a short distance from the terminator.

The male creature instinctively moved further from the terminator and toward the colder parts of the planet in search of a mate. The females, larger and more resilient, lived in the coldest habitable areas, deterring predators and forcing males into a lifelong performance that led to the natural selection of the strongest individuals. They recognized each other in the vast frozen wasteland through infrared flashing, partially visible in visible light as well. In the end, the male would be consumed—but the same fate awaited the females. They would return closer to the terminator, where their offspring would eventually devour them. In the best cases, nearing the end of their lives, the females would sacrifice themselves to a predator or scavenger, transferring their young to the new host as parasites.

However, this particular male's journey came to an abrupt end. A remotely controlled avatar's leg crushed the creature, eliminating it from the planet's gene pool. The avatar continued its rapid journey, venturing deeper into the darkness towards the far side of the planet.