ataraxion | 001

[ ENCRYPTED 75% TO MEDICAL AND XENOBIOLOGY/GENETICS STAFF + BRUCE BANNER: ]
I took the liberty of checking out the blood samples we were able to get from the creatures at the end of the maze. Some of them seemed to have bacterial infections, which isn't surprising, but I also checked them against known DNA samples from Earth.

I don't want to alarm anyone, which is why I've encrypted this for now, but so far the results are all coming back in essentially the same manner. The DNA of these creatures is a mix between Earth creatures -- the lion is a large component, and there are also what appears to be genetic material from the Australian dingo and some sort of crocodile. However, at the present time it appears as though the largest genetic contribution comes from human beings.

Obviously the samples may have been compromised, as I've really only been able to work off their blood and some hair. I'm going to request a larger sample, preferably an entire specimen -- dead, obviously. Hopefully we can get more answers, and hopefully the human genetic material was just cross-contamination.

[ OPEN: ]
I've heard a few things about people returning to the end of the maze to clear out the rest of the creatures, in addition to a possible salvage operation. My name is Elizabeth Ross -- I'm a cellular biologist and university professor back home. If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to request a mostly intact -- though definitely dead -- specimen of the creatures. I'm sure there are a lot of people who are wondering just what they are and how they got here, not to mention how they've survived the jumps, and I'm hoping that an entire specimen might be able to give us some answers.

How is everyone feeling?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You do not wish one living?

Considering the damage I've seen them do to people? No, not particularly. The last thing we need is one getting out in a heavily populated area of the ship.

But you could learn more from one living than from one dead. Correct?

That depends on what I want to learn. I'm not interested in there behavioral patterns, I'm interested in what they are. I'm not going to put the people on this ship at risk by asking for a live specimen.

...I can't say I bring myself to play devil's advocate with too much fervor in the face of such priorities. But I do quite want some answers about these things.

Good, because I don't have time for it.

Once we have answers, we'll let everyone know. Someone on this ship has to.

[When Miles speaks again, there's a new, rather chilly note in his voice.]

Deepest apologies for wasting your time by making you think about the path you're on. I'll remember from here on out the considerable limits of your curiosity. I presume you also don't have any desire to know about the creatures' behavior such as I observed?

[ Oh hell no. ]

It's already been thought about. Maybe instead of trying to play devil's advocate, you could bring your findings forth immediately.

And here I thought you weren't interested in their behavioral patterns. Because obviously, how a creature acts is completely irrelevant to figuring out what it is, correct?

As I said, I'm a cellular biologist. I'm interested in what makes the creatures up. Now are you going to continue wasting my time or are you going to pass on information that may or may not be useful?

They're blind. So far as I can tell, they navigate by scent. And they are highly, highly intelligent. Do any of those terms need definition? I tried to keep them simple, since you're a cellular biologist and therefore evidently incapable of thinking about anything else.

[ None of the DNA points to blindness, or even low vision. High intelligence makes sense, though. ]

The blindness -- how could you tell?

[ And she's ignoring that jab because if she doesn't, she might Hulk out. ]

We restrained one. When I got near it, it tilted its head up - directing its nose towards me to sense where I was, not its eyes.

Did it have eyes?

Yes. I believe so for the one I encountered. They were hard to make out - that area was more scar tissue than anything else. Something had done it injury.

Scar tissue. [ Hmm. ] It could be that was the reason it relied on scent, of course.

Perhaps. All the more evidence, then, pointing to the creature's unusual intelligence.

Animals using scent is hardly a matter of intelligence. It just means they have a good sense of smell.

Animals adapting to using another sense after having previously relied on a different one is, however. What species are able to survive without the use of one of their major senses? I can think only of humans and the animals for whom humans care.

It's natural adaptation. Considering their environment within the ship, they didn't have natural predators and they likely didn't have to hunt very hard -- they certainly didn't have to chase prey down until the search parties arrived. With the lights out, their sight may not have been of any use at all, and their sense of smell was likely the stronger sense anyway.

A natural adaptation over presumably a single generation? I am not, of course, a cellular biologist like your vaunted self, but what you're describing sounds like evolution. Do you see evidence that these creatures have lifespans of merely a few months?

It's not evolution. It's adapting to their environment, the same way a human being who may be blinded during their lifetime would adapt and rely on their other senses or the services of a guide animal.

[Dryly:]

Thank you for parroting back the point I was just making.

Natural adaptation doesn't have any relation to their intelligence. It's instinct. I'm not arguing that the creatures aren't intelligent, but this is a very poor way to try and say that they are.

Instinct is part of something that develops because of evolution. You have two options: either assert that they've evolved new instincts, or acknowledge that they have consciously made allowances for disability. There's no third choice, and even if there were, it certainly wouldn't be "I'm going to snivel some weak insults that make me sound unintelligent and immature."

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soothing - 2012-06-21 00:55 (UTC) - Expand

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