Awe. It was something the Yrb had never felt before, but they felt it now. Their brief struggle with the predators in the darkness had come to the attention of a mighty presence, so far above them as to be completely inscrutable. Yet through it, they felt an inalienable connection with the creatures around them. They came to understand the workings of the food chain: how one organism would kill and eat another for its own benefit, and then be killed and eaten by those higher up in the chain. Perhaps more importantly, they also came to realize how low they were on this chain, and how vulnerable. Should other predators appear, the Yrb would essentially be at their mercy.
The entity which had contacted the Yrb set to them a challenge. It saw in them potential, but it was as yet unrealized. Indeed, it was only through luck that any Yrb in the heartwoods had survived the invasion. It challenged them to find a way to defend themselves properly.
The Yrb were practical creatures. It would be difficult to meet the challenge by simply modifying themselves, so they decided to use the most powerful thing they could think of to help them: the Predators. Most of them were still trapped in the heartwoods, their photophobia combined with virtual encirclement by the Yrb preventing them from leaving; if they or their corpses could be captured, perhaps they could be useful. Many Yrb had noted how most creatures moved by signalling their muscles with electricity, and a few had had a radical idea based on that: if a Yrble were to implant itself in a creature's head, it could control its actions.
In a small, otherwise deserted section of wood, the Predators slept. Many were emaciated from lack of food, as there was precious little left to hunt in the area where they had been confined, but each exuded an air of menace even while sleeping. Slowly, but with complete silence, the fungus crept up on the beasts and deposited a cargo of microbes on each monstrous head. They never even felt a thing, and by the time night fell, industrious Yrbles had completely devoured the cognitive centres of their brains. By dawn the next day, the implantation was complete.
The Yrble within the largest Predator lifted its new head and roared at the rising sun. This was the beginning of a new age in Yrben history.
Research a new skill: Nervous System Adaptation. I'll spend six EP on that because to have all this buildup and then get a bad roll would be disappointing.
Also colonize E-15.
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Topic: Evolution - Remastered Turn 3 - WIN!...but mostly fail... - 1 Spot Open (Read 15949 times)