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Kinesians
Presophont xenobionts on Tournesol (YTS 8825-43915670) | |
 Image from Steve Bowers | |
| Tournesol (From the old Earth French word Sunflower) is a star system located in the Periphery, first explored by Terragens in 8789 AT. The primary is a yellow K-type Main Sequence star, and is orbited by six planets; most notable among these is Vert, a Chlorogaian world which supports an indigenous xeno-biosphere and mechosystem. | |
Tournesol - Data Panel | |
| System | Names: Tournesol, Sunflower, YTS 8825-43915670 Location: -Distance from Sol = 5433 ly -Constellation: Cassiopeia |
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| Star | Names: Tournesol, Sunflower, YTS 8825-43915670 Physical Characteristics: -Mass: 1.69E30 kg (0.85 x Sol) -Spectral Type: K1V-type Main Sequence Star -Luminosity: 0.4 x Sol (bolometric) |
| System: | Tournesol and its planets received their formal names from the members of a survey team sent to the system by the Archimbault Xenological Society (New Carcassonne Orbital, Lavoisier System). 1) Marron, Hermian 2) Vert, Chlorogaian -Radius: 7,016 km (about 1.1 x Earth) -Gravity: 10.8 m/s^2 (about 1.1 x Earth) -Atmospheric Composition: 75.5% Nitrogen (N?), 15% Oxygen (O?), 4.5% Chlorine (Cl?), 4% Argon (Ar), 1% Carbon Dioxide (CO?) and other trace gases -Average Surface Temperature: 323° K (50° C) -Axial Tilt: 15° -Natural Satellites: None 3) Rouge, Arean 4) Doré, Eujovian 5) Bleue, Cryojovian 6) Argent, Cryojovian |
 Image from Steve Bowers | |
| The storms of Doré, seen here in an image taken by one of the initial probes | |
| Reached: | 8789 AT by an unaligned automated colony swarm, followed by a survey team from the Archimbault Xenological Society in 8874 AT, and later by a Caretaker God emissary vessel in 8951 AT. |
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| Governance and Administration: | System Polity: None Transapient Overseer: As of 8953 AT, the Tournesol system has been under the protection of an S3 Caretakerist entity, who alternately refers to emself as The Second Tide of the Ocean or The Heterogeneity of the Bivalves. To date, it remains unclear whether this entity represents a singular transapient or two transapients sharing the same processing substrate. Overseer Affiliation: Caretaker Gods |
| Travel | Wormholes: None Spaceports: None Freedom of Movement: Restricted; as of its appropriation by the Caretaker Gods in 8951, the system is off-limits to all visitors except for approved xenological research personnel. Information about the system comes mostly from the initial surveys by the colony swarm and the decades-long survey by the Archimbault Xenological Society during the 162 year period before access was restricted. Information about later conditions originates from telescopic observations and the small number of approved research teams who have been permitted to explore the surface with probes, drones, and temporary bodies provided by the caretakers. |
Vert
Vert (Old Earth French "Green") is a Chlorogaian world in the Tournesol system, notable for supporting an indigenous xeno-biosphere and mechosystem.Planetology
Like other Chlorogaians such as Chorus and Doreen, Vert's chlorine-rich atmosphere gives the planet a greenish tinge when seen from space. Most of the planet's surface is covered by ocean, which appears deep teal in color as a result of the atmosphere. Much of the surface is obscured by clouds at any given time, which produce frequent rains of water and hydrochloric acid. Surface temperatures vary with the seasons but average around 323 degrees Kelvin (50 degrees Celsius) during the daytime, dropping to below freezing in higher latitudes during the winter; the planet has no permanent ice caps, but the poles transiently freeze over in a yearly cycle.Vert is highly geologically active and experiences widespread volcanism, resulting in numerous volcanic island chains across the global ocean. The planet's crust also exhibits an unusually high metallicity, and in particular is extremely rich in radioactive elements like Uranium and Thorium. Many xenoarchaeologists suspect that this may be a result of the Halogenics' activities in terraforming the planet, although it is unclear why they would have made this specific change to Vert's composition.
Biosphere
As with many other Chlorogaian worlds, Vert was artificially seeded with life by the extinct xenosophont civilization known as the Halogenics, who are thought to have last been active in the system around 780 million years ago. Vert's life-forms share the same genetic code and core biochemical pathways as those found on all other life-bearing Chlorine Worlds to date, attesting to their common origin; as with life on these other worlds, Vert's organisms are composed of aqueous lipid membrane-encapsulated cells which utilize various organic biopolymers for structural support, enzymatic catalysis and genetic information storage. In addition to the tolerance for heavy metals seen in most Chlorogaian biota, Vert's life-forms are for the most part also exceptionally resistant to damage from ionizing radiation, possessing robust cellular repair mechanisms comparable to certain Earth extremophiles such as Deinococcus radiodurans. Many organisms incorporate radioactivity into their biology in various ways, with numerous species across multiple lineages being at least partially radiotrophic.Despite their high innate tolerance for radiation, multicellular eukaryote-equivalents on Vert do occasionally develop cancer-like neoplasmic growths as a result of compounding mutations in their genetic material due to radiation damage, albeit at a reduced frequency compared to Earth multicellular life-forms of comparable size and complexity. While the majority of complex organisms on Vert possess immune systems that are capable of targeting and destroying such malign neoplasms when they arise, one prominent lineage of animal-equivalents has evolved to co-opt this phenomenon as an auxiliary mode of reproduction, their bodies automatically sequestering, excising and ejecting the growths while imprinting them with development factors that cause the masses of dividing cells to grow into newborn offspring.
Vert's modern biosphere is very sparse, with many species having died out during a mass extinction event in the relatively recent past. Although tunneling activity from the local mechosystem sometimes extends kilometers into the crust, xenopaleontologists have managed to uncover thousands of sites where fossil deposits have remained undisturbed. The fossil record indicates that a series of dramatic climate shifts took place during the last ten million years, before which biological life (mainly plant- and simple animal-equivalents) appears to have been more widespread both on land and in the ocean; fossil evidence has confirmed that the mechosystem has been in place as well throughout the past few hundred million years.
Today, the vast majority of Vert's complex life-forms are found in the oceans, with terrestrial environments supporting a relatively small number of sessile autotrophs and animal-equivalents. The local plant-equivalents are predominantly mixotrophic, utilizing purple-black pigmented leaf-like structures for photosynthesis while also bio-accumulating radioactive minerals from the soil for radiosynthesis. The largest class of local animal-equivalents consists of soft-bodied creatures with hydrostatic "muscles" and a flexible cartilage-like internal skeleton, which take on a wide variety of forms comparable in diversity to those of native Earth vertebrates. One common feature found in many animal-equivalents are organs termed "radiophores", which contain nodules of radioactive material that can be used to produce modulated flashes of alpha and beta radiation for communication or display purposes.
One native biont taxon of particular interest to xenologists is a species of aquatic presophont animal-equivalents labeled "Kinesians," which exhibit rudimentary tool use and signs of early cultural development.
Mechosystem
In addition to its indigenous biosphere, Vert is unusual for also having a large and extensive feral mechosystem, which overlaps and coexists relatively harmoniously with the planet's biological life-forms. It is believed that this mechosystem was also initially engineered by the Halogenics, likely having originated as an artificial support system for the planet's biosphere, or perhaps as a means to mine the unusually high quantities of radioactive minerals within the planet's upper crust.Vert's mechosystem consists of a diverse array of botforms, ranging in size from paramecium-scale microbots that inhabit the soil to towering solar energy collectors hundreds of meters in height. The majority are found on land, as the high acidity of Vert's aquatic environments rapidly degrades the structural integrity of most botforms. In many regions, bots outnumber biological organisms at the macroscopic level, but there is rarely competition between the two groups for space or resources; indeed, many bots exhibit behaviors which seem explicitly designed to promote the growth and proliferation of biological life-forms. Many species of radiotrophic organisms have formed symbiotic relationships with various types of bot which specialize in harvesting, accumulating and refining radioactive minerals found in the environment.
 Image from Steve Bowers | |
| A Kinesian responding to the presence of an observer drone with a gesture signifying 'greeting/acknowledgement' | |
Kinesians
Kinesians (Loquimanus aedificator) are presophont xenobionts native to Vert, a Chlorogaian world in the Tournesol system (YTS 8825-43915670). First described in 8875 AT, they have attracted considerable interest from various xenological institutes in the time since their discovery, as they exhibit several behaviors that suggest that they may be in the process of evolving toward sophonce.Kinesians are broadly similar in overall form to Terragen cephalopods, having a round central body with eight flexible tentacle-like arms arranged around a central mouth. They are primarily aquatic, but are capable of breathing air as well as water, and can survive on land for extended periods as long as they do not become dehydrated. They exhibit a similar level of terrestrial mobility as baseline Terragen octopi, using their muscular tentacles to drag themselves across the ground. They have a keen sense of hearing below water, but are nearly deaf out of water, only being able to pick up vibrations transmitted through the ground. They also are extremely sensitive to the acidity or alkalinity of their environment, as their biology can only function within a narrow range of pH values.
The Kinesians' primary mode of communication is a form of rudimentary sign language, for which they utilize the hand-like manipulators at the tips of their arms, as well as the arms themselves. This sign language is the origin of the Kinesians' common name, from the term "kinesics" (denoting body language and other forms of nonverbal communication). The Kinesians' gestural repertoire contains over 300 distinct signs, and even includes a compound sign that refers to themselves as a species, which roughly translates as "Hand-Sign Beings". This in combination with other observed complex behaviors, such as tool use for hunting and a primitive form of underwater agriculture, has led some xenologists to suggest that the Kinesians may achieve full sophonce within the next million years or so, provided that their current evolutionary trajectory remains uninterrupted.
Kinesians are eusocial, with three castes determined by sex: males, females, and a third, sterile caste labeled "drones". Like eusocial species native to Earth, they live in "hives" consisting of a single female which occupies a matriarchal "queen" role, who is attended to by up to around a hundred drones. The queen resides within a dome-shaped structure built out of rocks, which are cemented together by glue-like secretions produced by drones. After the dome is constructed, it is decorated with sessile plant- and animal-equivalents, which the drones cultivate and harvest for food; as the hive's food requirements grow over time, the surrounding seabed will gradually also become used for "farming," with mature hives eventually being surrounded by concentric circular "fields" of cultivated food organisms enclosed by short rock walls. These are jealously guarded by drones against predation by local animal-equivalents, or by raiding parties of drones from neighboring hives. Smaller dome-shaped enclosures are also built around the periphery of the central chamber, to provide shelter for sleeping drones.
Except in the case of severe food shortages, males are freely accepted in the hive, especially at the queen's chamber. However, males do not obey the queen as drones do and will leave the hive to search for a more hospitable hive if it becomes unable to provide for their living requirements. Contented males willingly tend for the hive, help to educate its young members and seek mating opportunities with the queen. In fact, the mark of a well-developed hive and a successful queen is the ability to attract and maintain many male consorts on the royal chambers.
As with other related animal-equivalent species on Vert, Kinesians exhibit both sexual and asexual forms of reproduction. Interestingly, the latter mode of reproduction is an outgrowth of their bodies' response to radiation damage: whereas most of Vert's complex eukaryote-equivalents exhibit robust cellular repair mechanisms and immune systems to prevent the occurrence of cancer-like neoplasmic growths caused by radiation exposure, Kinesians and their relatives have instead evolved to co-opt these growths when they arise, their bodies automatically sequestering, excising and ejecting the masses of rapidly-replicating cells while imprinting them with growth factors that will cause them to develop into newborn Kinesians. Female Kinesians exhibit specialized classes of somatic cells which are especially prone to tumorigenesis, ensuring that they asexually produce offspring at regular but infrequent intervals; their rate of reproduction can be accelerated by increasing their exposure to radioactivity, leading Kinesian "hives" to primarily be built atop deposits of radioactive minerals (either naturally-occurring or having been purposefully gathered by drones). Most of the offspring produced by a female Kinesian will be drones, with males being produced only intermittently; upon maturation, males will seek out other Kinesian colonies so that they can mate with the queen, who will in turn produce a generation of females that will leave to establish their own colonies. This system serves to maintain genetic diversity and prevent the accumulation of deleterious mutations, which is of particular importance given the high levels of ambient radiation.
Remarkably, despite their lack of advanced cognition and sophisticated technology, the Kinesians nonetheless have learned to utilize nuclear fission, gathering radioactive minerals and piling them in a heap until they reach criticality. These primitive "reactors" are typically built within the brood chambers of hives so as to increase the reproductive rate of queens, with the queen resting directly atop the pile so as to absorb its radioactive decay products; the heat they give off also helps hives in higher latitudes to withstand the colder temperatures of the winter months.
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Development Notes
Text by initial draft by Immanuel, written by Andrew P. , with contributions from The Astronomer ,Todd Drashner, Steve Bowers, Dangerous Safety, ProxCenBound, Worldtree, MiyuwiAuthor, Rakuen07
Initially published on 28 February 2025.
Initially published on 28 February 2025.
