Well-Known Member
- Intent: Create a specific breed of Arkanian Offshoot.
- Image Credit: Eos of DawnSphere. Miss Universe. Vote like!
- Unable to find exact credit.
- Canon:
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: N/A
- Name: Arkanian Offshoot 202
- Designation: Sentient
- Origins: Arkania
- Average Lifespan: 500 GSY
- Estimated Population: Rare - ~5,000
- Description: Luxury products of Arkanian genetic engineering, Arkanian Offshoot 202s are eerie, unnerving, yet delicate creatures of precision and inhuman grace. Possessing wide cheekbones, long, slender necks, and deeply hollow cheeks, their appearance is that of feline grace, gaunt elegance, and serpentine inhumanity. They excel in roles where precision, aesthetics, emotional sensitivity, and intellect are paramount, making them nigh-indispensable within Arkanian high society.
- Breathes: Type I
- Average Height of Adults: 1.4-1.9 meters
- Average Length of Adults: N/A
- Skin Color:
- Alabaster
- Pale
- Tan
- Brown
- Hair Color:
- Alabaster
- Blonde
- Black
- Brown
- Red
- Distinctions:
- Four Digits on Hands and Feet
- Retractable Micro-Serrated Pads
- Each finger / toe has retractable micro-serrated pads for sheer-force adhesion. In practice, this allows for scaling smooth surfaces and ultra-precise tool adjustments.
- Retractable Micro-Serrated Pads
- Elongated Cervical Vertebrae
- Although not present in all Offshoot 202s, a number of individuals have a subtly extended neck, lending their appearance a serpentine aspect.
- Hybrid Muscle Fiber Composition
- Superfine Myofibrils
- Ultra-dense, slow-twitch fibers with 0.000001mm contraction precision, allowing for the adjustment of force in nanogram increments. These also function to suppress micro-tremors, even after long periods without rest.
- Elastomeric Biopolymers
- Artificial protein strands woven into muscle tissue, acting as self-tightening "living cables" that automatically adjust tension and recoil while stretching. Notably, these biopolymers serve an additional purpose in preventing muscle fatigue.
- Neural-Filament Bundles
- Dedicated nerve clusters in each muscle fiber bundle, allowing for direct synaptic muscle control and instantaneous correction without conscious thought.
- Superfine Myofibrils
- Enhanced Visual Perception
- Dynamic Iris Aperture
- Their pupils can dilate / contract instantly, optimizing light intake.
- Enhanced Flicker Fusion Threshold
- Owing to their high-speed optic neurons, they can process visual data at ~1000+ frames per second.
- Tetrachromatic Cone Cells
- Allows for a wider range of color perception, including ultraviolet light. Their color vision extends beyond the standard visual spectrum.
- Thermochromatic Rods
- Rods are laced with thermoreceptive proteins, allowing for infrared and temperature-sensitive vision.
- Adaptive Pupillary Shutters
- Semi-translucent membranes in the eyes slide horizontally to block excess IR / UV in bright environments or to dilate in darkness. The latter function notably creates a reflective glare.
- Optic Neural Processing
- Their lateral geniculate nucleus has dedicated channels for processing IR / UV stimuli, preventing sensory overload. Specialized neurotransmitters also sharpen wavelength discrimination, allowing them to distinguish a 0.1 nm color difference.
- Dynamic Iris Aperture
- Seemingly Unblinking Eyes
- Although their eyes blink periodically, it is not visible and occurs only rarely.
- Enhanced Reaction Time
- Myelinated Quantum-Nodes
- Nerve fibers are coated in bio-engineered superconductive proteins, enabling near-lightspeed signal transmission.
- Spinal Reflex Bypass
- Threat responses may skip brain processing, routing instead through dedicated ganglia clusters in their spine for instant counteractions.
- Myelinated Quantum-Nodes
- Iridescent Blue-Green Blood
- Eidetic Memory
- Dark Sclera
- Subvocal Humming
- Not known to serve a specific purpose, a faint, ultrasonic resonance carries when they speak, generally detectable only subconsciously. As such, their voices can be eerie and unnerving, without listeners knowing why.
- Hibernation Trance
- Can enter a low-metabolism trance state, often used for reducing caloric demands during travel.
- Wide and Angular Cheekbones
- Deeply Hollow Cheeks
- Hyperfluid Joints
- Multi-Axial Ball Sockets
- Gives joints (shoulders, hips, fingers, toes, knees, elbows, and spine) markedly enhanced rotational capability. With their joints’ ability to articulate in 360 degrees (and at times beyond that), they can move in ways that would see a normal humanoid dislocate.
- Elastic Tendons and Connective Tissues
- Tendons and connective tissues are elastic, able to stretch and retract in the manner of biopolymer springs, allowing for instant recoil without strain.
- Liquid-Cartilage Lubrication
- Self-replenishing synovial fluid infused with engineered cells reduces wear and tear to almost zero. Stiffness, friction, and fatigue are effectively eliminated.
- Multi-Axial Ball Sockets
- Porcelain Skin
- Skin is smooth, poreless, and slightly reflective.
- No Body or Vellus Hair
- No Body Heat
- Odorless Physiology
- Sterile Sweat Glands
- Sweat is composed of 99% water + electrolytes, with no lipids or proteins for bacteria to break down.
- Self-Sterilizing Dermis
- Skin secretes lysozyme peptides that instantly kill odor-causing microbes on contact.
- Engineered Scrubber Cells
- Engineered cells neutralize volatile organic compounds before they can evaporate. These cells also scrub VOCs from the bloodstream before they reach the lungs, preventing halitosis.
- Digestive Byproduct Neutralization
- Intestines contain probiotics that convert sulfurous waste into odorless inert salts. A hyper-optimized liver breaks down remaining volatile organic compounds 100x faster than that of baseline Arkanians.
- Sterile Sweat Glands
- Four Digits on Hands and Feet
- Races: N/A
- Force Sensitivity: High
- Roughly 75% have greater than 8,000 midi-chlorians per cell.
- Machine Muscle: Offshoot 202s have muscles that are engineered for nano-scale precision. Unlike normal humanoids, their muscles do not utilize graded muscle activation. Instead, their musculature activates only the exact fibers necessary, eliminating wasted motion. So precise are their muscle fibers that they can write several pages worth of text on a single grain of rice, provided that magnification is available and the tip of the writing implement is fine enough.
- Snapshot Replication: Syngergizing with their eidetic memory, Offshoot 202s have adoptive muscle memory. They can replicate another individual’s movements after witnessing them performed only once, as muscle memory is encoded within the fibers.
- Contortionist: Offshoot 202s possess hyperfluid joints, giving them the ability to move in smooth, eerie fashion. Of particular note, some have learned the ability to dislocate their joints at will, allowing for extreme flexibility rivaling (and at times exceeding) that of the Vahla.
- Kinetic Marionette: Their frictionless, hyperfluid joints and inertialess, ultra-precise muscles allow for zero-lag neuromechancial feedback and instantaneous motion response. In effect, they can change direction mid-movement without deceleration, lending them an eerie, marionette-like grace. These same anatomical structures allow for limited kinetic energy absorption and rerouting, allowing incoming force to be translated directly into controlled motion along new vectors. A blocked punch’s energy could be redirected to fuel a backflip. However, it should be noted that their kinetic energy redirection abilities are limited to low-grade impacts such as punches, kicks, and low-height (<6 meters) falls. Like any other humanoid, hammer blows will shatter bones and sword strikes will shear through unprotected flesh.
- Emotional Mirror: Offshoot 202s are nigh-perfect mimics, lie detectors, and emotion readers. Their facial muscles (zygomaticus, corrugator, mentalis, etc.) have elastic, ultra-responsive fibers, allowing for twitch-level precision in replicating facial expressions. Neurologically, their brains are optimized for emotional perception and mimicry. Their premotor cortex and inferior parietal lobule contain clustered, redundant neural pathways that fire both when they observe an emotion and when they "replay" it. When mimicking or mirroring emotions, their brain releases specialized “emotion sampling” neurotransmitters, creating a brief, synthetic version of the emotion they are copying. Finally, sensory inputs from a humanoid target (e.g., seeing a smile), can trigger an instant, autonomic facial response wherein they mirror the emotion.
- Unliving Signature: Given their odorless physiology, Offshoot 202s leave no scent trail for animals, scent trackers, or chemical trackers. In addition, their lack of body heat while at rest renders them hard to pick out via infrared or thermal sensors.
- Synaptic Overdrive: Offshoot 202s have parallel-processing neural architecture, allowing them to perceive, analyze, and react to threats with nigh-zero latency. In practice, their average reaction times measure in the single-digit milliseconds.
- Overheating: The synovial fluid within their joints can overheat with a large number of redirections of high-momentum forces in a short period of time, since a small percentage of the absorbed kinetic energy is lost as waste heat. In extreme cases, joint lubrication can fail as the synovial fluid becomes watery, losing its frictionless properties. This can result in grinding friction and stiffness, causing the joints to revert to baseline humanoid-like movement.
- Energy Overload: Excessive energy storage from heavy impacts can overstretch the elastomeric fibers, causing tears in the tissue which can degrade fine motor control. Excessive stored energy can also cause random discharges, manifesting as uncontrolled twitches or spasms.
- Frozen Stiff: The synovial fluid within their joints can be too underheated to function effectively, as well. In extreme cold environments (often below freezing temperatures), the lubricating fluid within their joints can thicken, causing stiffness.
- Flash Strike: Sudden high-intensity IR sources from flash grenades, strobe lights, and other high-light sources can cause retinal bleaching (temporary loss in IR / heat vision) and painful pupil spasms. In addition, they generally need to wear eye protection on planets with hot, blue suns.
- Emotional Backwash: The ability of Offshoot 202s to mimic emotions can be weaponized against them, especially if they lack strong emotional regulation. In theory, a target could fake pain or agony and in turn make an Offshoot 202 feel real pain as specialized “emotion sampling” neurotransmitters generate a synthetic version of pain. In addition, the use of multiple contradicting emotional stimuli (e.g., laughing while grimacing) can desynchronize their emotional mirroring capabilities.
- Social Dysfunction: The ability of Offshoot 202s to constantly detect lies can result in eroded trust. Some see deception everywhere, becoming paranoid and manipulative as a result. In addition, some struggle with sarcasm or idioms, as their brains are engineered to prioritize facial expressions or micro-expressions above all else.
- Uncanny Valley: Especially perceptive individuals may sense that Offshoot 202s’ emotions are fake and scripted, due to the precision, perfection, and uncanny mimicry of their emotional responses.
- Caloric Consumption: Offshoot 202s’ demanding, ultra-precise biomechanics need roughly 3x the caloric intake of a baseline humanoid in order to maintain health. They require high-sugar, nutrient-dense diets in order to prevent hypoglycemia. Prolonged starvation will force their body to consume elastomers for fuel, degrading performance.
- Diet: Omnivore
- Notable Communication:
- Technology level: Galactic Standard - Space
- Religion/Beliefs: As religion is not a prominent part of Arkanian society, Offshoot 202s reflect this. Thus, they are generally not religious and do not hold superstitions. However, it should be noted that those 202s who are incorporated within the Kainate are known to worship Darth Carnifex and Darth Prazutis.
- General Behavior: Designed for high-status service roles, Offshoot 202s typically work in roles where aesthetics, intellect, and precision are paramount. In Arkanian society (and often beyond), they may serve as interrogators, surgeons, diplomatic attendants, and spies. However, even in these fields they are extremely rare. It is Arkanian high society where their numbers are more concentrated. In Arkanian courts they are commonly displayed as “living art”. In this capacity they may recite poetry, play music, dance, or pose motionless for hours as “living statues”. Arkanian nobles may also take them on as genetically tailored companions and confidants.
In terms of their specific shared culture, 202s almost universally value strong emotional discipline and regulation, due to the mechanisms behind their mimicry and mirroring abilities. Children and newly created individuals (since many are made, not born) are trained to regulate their emotions as soon as possible, a practice which continues throughout the lifespan.
Although capable of having children, many 202s are manufactured specifically for their roles, often being grown directly as adults and thus bypassing childhood. Those who were created as part of the same batch may perceive each other as siblings, especially if they were created from the same genetic material. However, it should be noted that manufactured 202s are not clones. Their genetics are effectively randomized to ensure that each individual is different.
Conceived within various Arkanian genetic engineering laboratories, the very first Arkanian Offshoot 202s were created during the final decade of the eighth century after the Battle of Yavin. Originally the product of a number of the Arkanian geneticist Suni Nes, after a long string of failed subjects the Sith Healer Vestara VII oversaw the refinement and stabilization of their genome. Her services came with the condition of the Kainate being granted license to produce Offshoot 202s, in addition to research data for a number of other Offshoot and “pure” Arkanian variants.
With full stabilization of their genome, it did not take long for Offshoot 202s to become an uncommon fixture within Arkanian high society. Unlike many Offshoots variants which were bred for industrial work, 202s saw use in high-status service roles. More darkly, their ability to pick out micro-expressions made them ideal for roles as spies, interrogators, and mentalists. A small number of 202s were also produced within the Kainate, albeit only on an experimental basis.
However, given their exclusive, luxurious status and the extreme difficulty of their creation, Offshoot 202s are rare, even on Arkania. They are essentially nonexistent within the greater galaxy and their numbers in the Kainate are within the tens. Nevertheless, representing the pinnacle of Sith and Arkanian genetic engineering, Offshoot 202s are poised to become an eerie symbol of the relentless pursuit of genetic perfection.
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