Grey

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Grey are a species of vat-grown bipedal humanoids. Little is known of their origins.

Mechanics

• Grey cost 30 karma to unlock as a playable race.

• Grey take more brute damage than most other species.

• Grey have the ability to communicate telepathically over long distances. Unless both parties are Greys, the non Grey will not be able to tell who exactly is speaking to them.

• Grey have darksight and can see further in the dark.

• Grey are immune to sulphuric acid, and take damage from water.

• Grey can psionically communicate with one another station wide and require a free hand to do so.

Grey and YOU

Greetings, esteemed crewmember!

In an effort to encourage inter-species cooperation and workplace efficiency, NanoTrasen has compiled a series of helpful guides on the various species that you may be working with!

(NOTE: If you are a member of the species this guide pertains to, please give it to the nearest crewmember of another species)

This particular guide refers to the species known as the Greys (singular: Grey, Plural: Greys).

Grey Naming Schemes

Greys lack a language of their own, communicating with their kin telepathically. Though their formal names used through telepathic communication lack a written counterpart, many Grey adopt written names for the purposes of interacting with other species or record keeping. Due to their lack of a spoken language, however, these names do not normally follow a scheme or pattern, varying greatly from individual to individual.

Grey Physiology

A typical Grey

Grey physiology is unique in several ways. While they have similar respiratory and vascular systems to humans - breathing oxygen and expelling carbon dioxide - it is important to note that instead of producing hemoglobin to transport oxygen, Greys produce hemerythrin, which causes their blood to take on a violet colour when oxygenated. Hemerythrin is unfortunately much less effective at distributing oxygen throughout the bloodstream, which lead to issues of hypoxemia in the Grey population aboard non-Grey facilities. If you notice one of your Grey coworkers looking abnormally tired, lacking balance, or prone to fainting, it is recommended to immediately bring them to a highly-oxygenated environment.

Greys are physically weaker than many of their coworkers, both due to a significant lack of muscle mass as well as a particularly brittle bone structure. Their bodies are thin and somewhat gangly, standing noticeably shorter than their human coworkers. Due to their unique physiology Greys fare poorly at labour intensive tasks but are far more adept at mentally taxing or stressful work such as research, record keeping, and management. Due to their bone structure and low muscle mass it is posited that Greys may have originated from a planet with low gravity, though this is as of yet unconfirmed.

Grey eyes are almost triple the size of those of most other species, and their sclera, iris, and pupil are completely indistinct from one another. The large size of Grey eyes is believed to be an adaptation to shield the ocular nerve against ultraviolet radiation with their unusually monotone complexion providing a similar degree of protection. This has lead scholars to believe that in addition to likely being low gravity, the original homeworld of the Greys likely had a poor magnetosphere or was unusually close to its star. While Grey eyes are protected against high levels of ambient ultraviolet radiation, they are still susceptible to bright lights such as those caused by welding arcs. Grey crew members are advised to always wear welding protection in the presence of intense light.

Unlike other observed sapient race observed by Nanotrasen the Grey population appears to be wholly sustained via a form of advanced cloning, and due to this abnormality Grey family structure typically consists of a single parent. Greys are often cited as being highly-reserved and independent, and appear to be able to go with little to no social interaction for extended periods of time without suffering any ill-effects. Though Greys are not sexually dimorphic, they often adopt male or female accoutrements for the sake of clarifying communications with other species.

Language

Since the Grey species has always communicated solely telepathically, they lack a written or spoken language. However, Greys employed by NanoTrasen are required to be fluent in Galactic Common. Some Grey are also known to speak in a peculiar and incomprehensible dialect. This dialect is believed to be caused by deficiencies in a Grey's speech organs and the difficulties these typically underused organs pose when a Grey speaks non-telepathically.

Homeworld

Greys are believed to originate from outside the Milky Way. Due to this their origin world is unknown and is a point of speculation for many scholars. From observing the anatomy of various Greys, xenobiologists have come to the conclusion that Greys likely did not go through a natural process of evolution, but were instead engineered, likely by another master species, in a similar fashion to the Vox Primalis commonly found aboard Nanotrasen stations. The true origin of the species appears to be unknown to even the Greys themselves, who are believed to have arrived from a distant galaxy cluster after a long period of extended cryosleep. Due to these peculiar circumstances many Grey have elected that Mauna-b, which has a high population of Greys, act as a stand in for their home planet.

Mauna-b is a relatively small exoplanet with a close orbit to its sun within the Mauna system. Much of the planet is a sprawling and desolate tundra, with scorching deserts on its southern and northern poles. However, the equator of Mauna-b contains a long, temperate strip of land with relatively stable temperatures and seasons. Various enclosed colonies dot the surface of this ring of habitability, connected by high speed transportation networks. It's interesting to note that Mauna-b is almost completely devoid of standard communications equipment, due to the Greys ability for limitless psychic contact with one another. While advanced methods of data storage, computation, and transportation do exist these communications equipment present on the planetary surface has largely been established by various corporations operating on Mauna-b’s surface. The Greys have been observed to excel at scientific research, with many of the latest breakthroughs in bluespace technologies originating from Mauna-b.

It is important to note that unlike many planetary governmental systems, Mauna-b is governed by an appointed meritocracy known simply as The Technocracy. A panel of the brightest minds with the most psychic and mental potential are the decision makers for the entirety of the planet's policies and research direction. There are no known term limits in this system, and it is believed that the Grey appoint new members to this council via the importance of their scientific contributions or the breadth of their existing research. While Mauna-b acts as a base of operations, most of the Grey population lives in space - either inside space faring vessels or facilities. Grey fleets are known to vary in size, ranging from large collectives of ships to solitary vessels deep within unexplored space.

A Brief History

Unknown

As briefly stated before, the Grey species originated outside the milky way, and any history prior to their first appearance is completely unknown. Though with the remnants they had, some theories have been pieced together. Grey legend and mysticism may give us insight. Their stories tell of how the first Greys descended from another Galaxy, roughly one thousand years ago, transported by their "masters", to settle, given only the instructions to "Study the sentient species of your assigned galaxy, and guard bluespace within it.". It has been lost to time what they arrived in, who their masters were, or how they managed to set up an advanced, FTL society with knowledge of bluespace in under a decade, however to this day, the Grey species follows these commands to the letter. Though some individuals do choose to interpret them in different ways. It appears the Grey species was at least at the post-nuclear technological stage at their very first appearance, which would not be possible without outside aid.

The current Grey governmental system emerged roughly 100 years ago. Prior to this, Greys operated under a direct democracy, where every individual member of the race would vote among themselves, telepathically, on important decisions, however due to the growing Grey population, this system became unmanageable, and the current technocracy, after much debate, was adopted.

While humanity was only making its first steps into space, the Greys had already met multiple spacefaring species, and made massive advances in bluespace technology. Their first contact, as has been documented well, is with that of the Vox. A small Grey scout ship, searching a region of deep space for sentient life began their drive, preparing for a bluespace jump, when abruptly, their systems shut down. The crew complained of splitting headaches, jumbled communication when attempting to speak with one another telepathically, and night terrors. After roughly two days stuck in the middle of nowhere, awaiting rescue from a larger, military vessel, quite unexpectedly, the small ship found itself in the middle of a huge swarm of Vox skipjacks, as well as the prominent, moon sized Arkship the vox themselves call "First", that had seemingly appeared from nowhere, in the blink of an eye.

First contact with Nanotrasen was an interesting development, having occurred only fifty years ago. Unlike first contact with the Vox, first contact with humanity was on a much larger scale, on the Greys side at least. The NSV Violet, a large, cruiser sized bluespace research vessel, happened upon odd readings in their bluespace equipment. Attempting to track the source, they happened upon Mauna-b itself. Immediately Nanotrasen was informed, and soon ambassadors were arriving in their hundreds to set up communications. While contact was at first a difficult affair, with the two species having completely different communication methods, it wasn't long until The Greys figured out how to telepathically speak to the Nanotrasen personnel, and in turn, Nanotrasen personnel back.

Grey Culture

Grey culture on the surface of Mauna-b is not too varied, however spaceborne life contrasts greatly. The castes or classes observed in kidan and human culture are a completely foreign concept on Mauna-b. The population is, to a degree, equal in terms of wealth and living conditions. Of course the rich exist, but poverty and homelessness are somewhat nonexistent, mostly due to the strictly controlled population growth. On Mauna-b, Greys themselves occupy themselves with mental labor, involving the study of specimens brought back from long deep space ventures to other planets, or the research and control of bluespace, and due to this intellect and the pursuit of knowledge are greatly appreciated and applauded. Difficult physical labor, such as farming, the upkeep of sanitation systems, and construction, is done by primarily synthetic worker units. (lacking the sapience of IPCs). Some rights movements have sprung up vying for the freedom of these workers, however they have not gained much a foothold as of yet.

Life on the many spacefaring vessels, searching for sapient life in the milky way, is quite different. Multiple fleets, split into smaller squadrons, patrol the galaxy. A strict command structure is enforced within these fleets, starting with a Research Director, heading the fleet, all the way down to the lowest, Grey manned job, defence officer (with about 5 present on each individual ship. Jobs that involve maintenance are too manned by synthetic units, due to their high physical needs. This structure is as close as Grey culture gets to caste or class, and in many ways is treated similarly, with the highest ranking personnel receiving the best general quality of life. Due to this strict naval, almost militaristic way of life, most Greys are incredibly accustomed to receiving and dishing out orders, and make excellent command staff. At times, they can be a little unforgiving of their subordinates, though it's often for the best. Due to the Greys appreciation of formality and order, they may come off as being aloof, stuffy, humourless or robotic at times, but they can be just as emotional as all of us!

Grey family structure consists of only one parent, and typically, only one child. This is because Greys do not, and have not ever in their recorded history, reproduced without the aid of stem cell cloning. This is typically the used explanation for why Greys appear extremely similar, with their only true variations being in eye colour. The difference between maternity and paternity is an entirely foreign concept for the Greys, and the single parent will take on the roles that both figures might fill in other societies. Greys will often not take time off their standard work to care for their young, and because there is no second parental figure to fill in for them, huge nursery complexes housing and educating thousands of young are common and necessary, and a staple of Grey life. Greys grow to full maturity after roughly twenty years, at which point their average lifespan will last seventy to eighty years longer.

Grey architecture and communication has striking resemblances to the abductor teams that have terrorised some Nanotrasen run stations. Some Nanotrasen Xenoanthropologists have theorised that due to these cultural resemblances (and many various biological resemblances too) that the Abductors may in fact be close relatives to the Grey species. They do seem to have similar objectives in mind, those being the study of sapient life and the upkeep of bluespace, however, the hostile abductor teams go about it in a drastically different way. It's possible that both Greys and the abductor teams had the same master race at some point, however this is only theory, and isn't backed up by any hard evidence.

Present Day

Currently the Grey species is one of the leading civilizations in bluespace technology. While Greys have rarely been seen to actually settle in foreign systems, their presence is one of the most widespread in the galaxy due to their continued exploration efforts. The Grey government has also acted as a peacekeeper in multiple important intergalactic peace deals, due to their extremely widespread, friendly contact with many important species. Many Greys have seeked employment with companies outside their own government. Currently Nanotrasen employs the most Greys out of their competing companies, primarily in our bluespace research sector.

Remember, crewmember, mutual respect and cooperation are the cornerstones of success and productivity!

Species on Paradise Station

Dionae

Grey

Humans

Kida

IPC

Plasmamen

Skrell

Slime People

Tajara

Unathi

Vox

Vulpkanin

Drask

Nian