Nucleation
This article contains content which is no longer in the Paradise Codebase, this page has been kept for archiving purposes.
Nucleation (new-klee-ay-shun) is a human that has been exposed to enough v-radiation for small supermatter crystals to begin to form on their bodies.
A sub-race of unfortunates who have been exposed to too much supermatter radiation. As a result, supermatter crystal clusters have begun to grow across their bodies. Research to find a cure for this ailment has been slow, and so this is a common fate for veteran engineers. The supermatter crystals produce oxygen, negating the need for the individual to breath. Their massive change in biology, however, renders most medicines obsolete. Ionizing radiation seems to cause resonance in some of their crystals, which seems to encourage regeneration and produces a calming effect on the individual.
Nucleations’ bodies grow a biological laminate over the supermatter, rendering them mostly harmless to fellow crewmembers. Nucleations are highly stigmatized, and are treated much in the same way as lepers were back on Earth.
Mechanics
- Can directly handle supermatter
- Their biology has changed dramatically, making them immune to all known pathogens. However, most medicines also no longer have an effect on their physiology. They are also much more susceptible to all forms of damage.
- They do not need to breath or feel pain, the latter of which is because most of their nervous system has been supplemented by a fiberous strands conductive supermatter. How this unique formation of supermatter develops is still unknown. Robotic limbs, MMI's, and cloning pods are unable to interface with Nucleation physiology because of this barrier.
- Radium also seems to promote a regenerative process in the supermatter growths, healing wounds. Their bodies also seem to produce radium in the presence of radiation.
- One a nucleation has taken too much damage, the crystalline structure of their supermatter growths degrades too far and they explode with a small supermatter burst.
Overview
Naming
Nucleations typically keep their human name, though some adopt new names as part of their new identity. These new names vary wildly, from some being simple names like :John Smith" to some totally outlandish names such as, "Zarp Norqual".
Biology
Nucleation biology, while based on human physiology, changes drastically as a Nucleation ages. A Nucleation has three major phases in their development.
The first stage is the namesake stage, the "Nucleation" phase. This stage lasts for a period of a few months, when visible supermatter growths begin to form on the host body. As the supermatter begins to replace the host's nervous system, they will begin to experience tremendous pain. The pain continues to grow in intensity until all of the nervous system has been converted. Many Nucleations do not make it past this stage due to the tremendous shock of the experience.
The next stage is marked by the development of the organ called the "macle", which seems to develop from the kidneys. The macle is the organ responsible for a Nucleation's ability to generate radium. Study of the macle shows that it creates small crystals of supermatter and then uses an unknown technique to transform the crystals into liquid radium. Larger crystals also begin to form across the Nucleation's body in this stage, and some begin to experience difficulty with mobility. An organic laminate begins to form in this stage as well, which seems to keep the surrounding environment safe from v-radiation. This stage is the longest stage of a Nucleation's life, expected to last for several hundreds of years.
The final stage of a Nucleation's life is the "Ossification" stage. No known nucleations have yet entered this stage, as it is expected for it to take nearly 300 years for a Nucleation to transform fully into supermatter. As such, there is only speculation on what this stage entails. The Nucleation would be entirely immobile, due to it's body having turned into a solid supermatter mass. It is hypothesized, however, that a Nucleation's mind would continue to live. It is unknown how long a Nucleation could survive in this state, but if the crystalline structure is as stable as any other supermatter crystal, it would be on the scale of millions of years.
Behaviour
Most Nucleations are heavily stigmatized, due to misinformation about the hazard they pose. People commonly misbelieve that being in the presence of a Nucleation will cause them to become a Nucleation as well. Because of this, many people shun Nucleations and refuse to interact with them. Because of this, there are some remote Nucleation colonies, where Nucleations flee in order to live a life of relative peace.
Some Nucleations also follow a new form of religion where they worship supermatter as a god. They believe that the supermatter is a conscious intelligent entity which has much control over the universe. They believe that the hallucinations caused by supermatter are actually visions or messages from the supermatter. They also believe Nucleations are the chosen ones, hand selected for some great purpose.
NanoTrasen does not condone or formally recognize this religion, despite protest by major Nucleation rights groups.
Attribution
The following article was pulled from Apollo station.
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