Fiction:Surivorter Empire

The Surivorter are a collection of various factions and sub-species of the Suriv species, native to the planet Trithen, united under a single Regigin (female royal). Once, they were a single sentient species, but over millions of years of divergent evolution and genetic engineering have resulted in four separate "strains" of Surivorter. The most common sub-group are the Namoriv, followed by the Inoriv, Cirabriv and Groriv sub-species. This article details their history, culture, biology and relationships.

Life Cycle
All Surivorter sub-species have an incredibly unique method of propagation. Instead of fertilizing eggs or producing asexually, Surivorter require a member of another species to reproduce. While there are limits to what species can be used, as only carbon-based life is compatible with the Surivorter, nearly any species can be used for this.

When an adult Surivorter finds a suitable creature, it extends its claws and attacks. Surivorter claws are coated in a mixture of water and single-celled organisms, which enter the bloodstream of the victim during the Surivorter's attack. These single-celled organisms do not naturally have any method of multiplying, so they act like a virus, hijacking the victim's cells' resources to create more of themselves, before killing the cell. During the first stage of infection the only visible signs are flu-like symptoms, along with whatever mark the Surivorter's claws made. The cells can spread via the air or through liquid to other people, where they start the process over.

After the invasive cells have created enough of themselves, they gather together in a small lump at the back of the victim's neck (or any other suitable location in creatures that lack necks), and change into various separate forms. Some change into white blood cells, continuing to attack the victim's cells and protecting the lump. Others bond together and form tissues, turning the lump from a collection of germs into a simple multi-cellular organism. At this stage a primitive spine and brain form, which leads the attack on the host. At this point the victim usually has severe fatigue and fevers, and often never wakes up again.

The final stage of incubation starts when muscles and bones begin to develop in the lump at the back of the victim's neck. At this point the victim has been infected for nine earth-months, and is near-death. Organs, more complex areas of the brain, and the next generation of Surivorter-produced cells begin growing at this stage. Eventually, the organism at the back of the victim's neck is ready to separate from the victim. The creature forcibly removes itself using its new arms and legs, leaving a large wound. The new organism is a Surivorter infant. For the first few days after being "born", the Surivorter has a large appetite, often completely devouring its former host, and can grow to adult size in a matter of weeks. After roughly two earth-months, the Surivorter begins excreting the single-celled organisms that induce Surivorter infection.

While any carbon-based organism roughly the size of a Surivorter will work as a victim, Surivorter instinctively try to infect sentient life. Because of the unique and evolutionarily-unlikely method of reproduction the Surivorter possess, along with their attraction infecting sentients, many scientists theorized that the Surivorter are descended from a biological weapon created by an extinct race.

Appearance
All Surivorter sub-species are green in colour, and humanoid. They have one large eye centered in the middle of their forehead, a small mouth below the eye, and three large tendrils surrounding their face used for grasping prey. Their feet are circular and have no opposable joints in them. All Surivorter sub-species are shorter than the average human, except for the Cirabriv and Groriv.

The most common sub-species, the Namoriv, are five feet tall on average, and their tendrils take up most of their face. The skin of their torso is smooth and slightly moist to the touch, while their arms and legs are covered in a powerful exoskeleton.

The Inoriv resemble the Namoriv, but they are shorter and their spine curves forward roughly halfway up their torso. Their arms are shorter and less armoured. Their tendrils are made of bone, and are serrated. On average they are three feet tall.

The Groriv are nearly exactly the same as the Namoriv, except for the colour of their skin, which is a silvery grey, due to nanobot injections that permeate their bloodstream. They are dry to the touch, unlike their Namoriv counterparts, and their arms have been replaced by robotic prostheses.

The Cirabriv are the tallest of the Surivorter, standing at seven feet tall when standing straight. They have no exoskeleton, and their muscles are naturally much larger than the other sub-species. Unlike the other races, they have large, raptor-like talons on their feet. The infection-coated claws that the Surivorter grow to reproduce are substantially larger on the Cirabriv, often reaching twice as long as the Namoriv's claws.

External
The Surivorter all have a porous skin similar to Amphibians, which they breath through. Glands in the torso excrete a oil that makes the Surivorter's torso slippery and hard for predators to grasp, as well as a toxin that, while not very harmful, causes intense immediate temporary pain for any non-Surivorter exposed to it. Groriv do not excrete either of these substances. The skin of a Surivorter's arms is covered in plates made from bone. These plates have a scaly coating similar to a shark's skin that makes them rough and painful to the touch when felt from the hand to the shoulder, but smooth when felt from the shoulder down to the hand. Cerabriv do not have the exoskeleton, but their arms are coated in these scales.

A Surivorter's head is very unique. Their mouth is small, and is partially covered by their large eyeball. Three tendrils extend from the chin and the cheeks, which do not contain bones(in most Surivorter sub-species). These tendrils are covered by small scales similar to the ones found on Surivorter arms. The scales on an Inoriv's tendrils are thick and fused together, forming a rigid but strong spike out of the tendril. These tendrils are designed to grasp small prey and protect the large vulnerable eye in the center of the Surivorter's forehead. The Surivorter's eye has a special transparent eyelid that automatically closes when a tendril gets close to it to protect it, to stop dirt and grit on the tendril from getting into the Surivorter's eye.

The hands of a Surivorter resemble human's, but much longer and thinner. The back of the hand is coated in scales, but the palm is smooth skin. Surivorter do not have individual fingerprints, each one has a grid-like pattern of ridges on their fingertips that are too similar to tell apart. Surivorter feet are circular and do not have many joints, and are mostly bone. They are considered part of the exoskeleton covering the Surivorter's legs.

Pre-Sapience
All of the Surivorter subspecies are descended from a single species known as the "H'ginkoriv". This creature shared its descendent's reproductive method, but was not sapient nor anywhere near as effective at infecting other species as they were. The H'ginkoriv was a small creature roughly a foot tall, with long, crustacean-esque arms that ended in its large infectious claws. Other than that it was very similar to modern Surivorter species, having a large central eye, three tendrils for grasping prey, an exoskeleton, feet hardened into sturdy bone structures, et cetera. Fossils or other evidence of any creature resembling the H'ginkoriv abruptly stop appearing below a certain point in Trithen-5's crust, leading many Surivorter scientists to theorize that the H'ginkoriv was created when an ancient race manipulated single-celled organisms.

Later in their evolution, sub-species of H'ginkoriv began developing, precursors to the various Surivorter strains. However, just as abruptly as the H'ginkoriv appeared, their sub-species began disappearing, until the only strain of any importance left on Tirthen-5 was the Namoriv. These sub-species were somehow transported to other worlds in the Perseus arm, where they developed into the other races that eventually joined the Namoriv to become the Surivorter Empire.