#muttreazik

This is kind of an insane question to pull on a xeno, because most of them do not think of humans in that way at all. But if made to think about it, you could get some results. These are just random examples from random people, but the general idea is that they focus on stuff that we don’t immediately view as an instant appeal/something worth looking at.

The wider consensus is that it’s a little weird (or gross and unnatural, depending on who you’re talking to) to find another species attractive, but relationships do happen. They’re just fraught with a few more problems than the average couple.

Some other misc info:

Prectikar are by far the least interested in humans attraction-wise. We’re too unnerving for most of them.

Kixeli ears are a lot like frog ears (aka smooth and flat. The earrings they have are attached to the loose ring of skin around them.)

The Sundyne guy is speaking using an implant, which is why the speech bubble is coming from his neck in the second image. You can also tell he’s with egg from the bright yellow sash covering his back(where they are contained). Compared to the other guys, humans are kind of “hard to tell apart” since there’s no particular color or exposed body part that immediately signals if they’re male or female (Kixeli have their skin markings, rossetians have their horns, Dorest and Rox look drastically different, Prectikar are close but they tend to wear clear gendered jewlery for identification purposes). A human with things like thick clothing or body fat can make it less obvious “what they are”, something that a Sundyne would find unnerving.

As you can imagine, GEIA’s thoughts on humans are uhh complicated. She’s very normal about them.

“Met arch” is a Drecu term for addressing your lead Rox (sort of like“my leader” ), and their up-tilted heads+ little antenna tap is an affectionate gesture.

Rossetians have hair that’s similar to an earth mammal, but it’s Only on their privates and in Tha Pouch. So they have a very strong sexy connotation for it. rossetians and humans are pretty similar, and Rossetian/human relationships are also the second most common inter-species pair!

Up in the corner there: Everyone's favorite AI, the Geomorphic, Educational, Interspecies Arbiter (or GEIA!!) All "living" AI are copies of her made for specific purposes (er, when theyre copied on purpose, at least.), and while they technically have their own unique experiences, memories, and personalities, they're all stuck pretending they're one overarching AI who's in control of a bunch of different stuff (the government has decided it's better to say "look, this is our Friend GEIA with a different hat on" rather than say "this is a copy of a person that we made so that the original doesnt go insane from the vast workload we have her under. It became it's own person and we don't actually know of it'll act like her and it might kill people"). She is showing off the latest iteration of her avatar, a winking three-armed humanoid with a "hat" that resembles the rings of Nea Arxi, the planet she helps manage to keep the other sophonts alive.

Rossetians: A scaulos jack (green and black outfit) and a bict roe (yellow dress). They're giving each other a friendly greeting with their tongues (the jack a little more enthusiastically) and politely avoiding direct eye contact with anyone in particular. Both have their fore-torsos lifted from the ground, front pair of arms folded. Unlike the prectikar next to them, they can lower their front half to use these forelimbs to carry them in a hexapedal gait (which neither is likely to do at the moment, they arent wearing gloves). The modesty divide between the two genders and cultures is portrayed here; the roe is clothed to xer neck with most of xer horn covered, while the jack shows some of xis arms, tail, and horn.

Prectikar: An older drah hokar (lip piercing and tusk caps) and a younger jell kar (the shorter, paler-furred one with a nose ring) stand next to each other, the kar looking to the hokar while xe places a reassuring hand on xis shoulder. The two expose their bottom incisors with pursed lips. Combined with their lidded eyes and dilated pupils, they're giving the audience a calm expression. Both have piercings on their vocal nostrils to help them pronounce tooth and tongue consonants. It is the off-season, so the two do not show any dimorphic traits and are wearing standard clothing for warm weather, with their fore-chest wattles covered.

Muttreazik: Two human-host individuals, their outward appearance a protective shell over the inorganic worm-like intelligence that pilots the body. The muttreazik themself, pictured in the circle by the species label, looks out at the viewer and flexes their graspers, showing off the many fine roots that anchor them in place in the flesh and allow them to transmit signals to their meat suit in place of nerves. They couldn't do this in reality, being outside of their body would kill them shortly and they aren't able to actually move these graspers much (it would likely kill their body anyway, so this is a good thing). This is who replaced a human brain and modified a human body in-embryo to produce the black-furred person standing before you, but them and the body are widely considered one entity. The only hint of the inner workings (outside the bits that obviously dont look like a human) is a slit in their forehead, where a closed lid feathered with lashes protcts a third eye organ that the muttreazik uses to interact with the world around them. The sitting one shows a more noticable difference in body plan, being a quadruped with a snout (far removed from the flat-faced bipeds to their right). They are also like most muttreazik, a Null, with completely grey eyes. The other retains a bipedal resemblance to their host species, albeit with some differences. This one is also a mancer in the process of developing from a Red to an Orange, seen in their vibrant, mismatched eye color. The sitting one wears a completely custom wardrobe, since nothing human-made would fit them very well. They look to the side and sign something with their hand, parting their lips slightly without actually trying to speak (they can't mimic human language very well due to their mouth shape). The mancer, requiring special pants and shoes to accomodate their tail and digitigrade feet, rubs the back of their neck apprehensivly, staring directly out at the viewer.

Humans: A Splice woman stretches, showing off her inherited stripe and ear mod. The other human is an Av man, having fewer to no mods present or presenting. Genetic modifications to change human features are a relic of the past, now only hanging around if they could be passed down naturally (slowly excluding some of the more drastic modifications that required lab intervention. Now, the most complex modding is done by the muttreazik standing behind them!!) The splice woman wears brightly colored polyester pants, a modern novelty now that technology has been built back up enough to put plastic back on shelves. The av man wears clothing that exposes his legs, long, straight, and plantigrade, a key feature that supports his species' unique bipedal stance alongside his near-vertical hips and spine. He gives a thumbs-up gesture and pulls his lips back to the molars, a human expression of ease or enjoyment.

Kixeli: Two 'nomadic' Kel (below) and an Arasit (gliding down from above). One kel, a Stripe, stands while the Spot to xer right sits. They hold arms on instinct, unconsciously aware that there are only two of them posing here (a frighteningly low number). The stripe angles xer eyes, mounted on the side of xer head, too look curiously at xer surroundings. The Spot raises xis head fin in tandem with opening and closing xis mouth, colorful tongue held up to convey excitement and interest. They wear matching colors and symbols representing their shared community. The dark bands on both their arms (and unseen around their chests) are heating pads, often necessary for their ectothermic bodies that evolved on a much warmer planet. Otherwise, they are wearing little other clothing to allow their skin to breathe (literally). The Arasit above them has xis colorful gliding membranes extended, held open by a derived pinky finger and a cartilaginous elbow hinge. Alongside that obvious difference, xe is also differentiated from Kel adults by xis large cartilage head crest and slightly elongated limbs. A small hole is pierced into the membrane to thread clothing through, though like the Kel xe is only wearing enough to cover xis cloacal opening. Xe isn't built for true flight, but can get pretty far by gliding like this. Some of the colors on xis head scarf match those of the kel, so their community may be along the circuit that this wanderer travels.

Cerest (Drecu): The two Drecu biotypes, a Dorest (the smaller blue one) and a Rox (the larger red one), stand next to each other. Both bear Ret class tattoos, the two rectangles denoting Secondary rank (a step above the lowest Tertiary class). The Dorest has xeir arms unfolded, one two-fingered hand bent in towards xenself, perhaps ready to sign. Xie wear the Dorest-appropriate light grays and whites, most of xeir scales covered aside for their face, neck, and a sliver of xeir tail. Xeir eyes are not fully open, but xeir antenna are up and alert behind xeir head, angled towards the Rox, who in turn bends one of xeir own antenna inwards. The pheremone signals they exchange are unknowable to other sophonts. Having a completely different facial and body structure, the Rox hardly looks like the individual beside them. Yet, the two are the same species, their appearance polarized by "role" in the colony. The Rox's powerful quilled arms are folded, xeir back and tail quills at ease. Xie wear darker grays and a longer skirt, which works with xeir prominent cheek disks and dark coloration to signal xeir status as an Arch. Xei raise one leg to adjust their standing position to move further in front of the Dorest, unintentionally baring a sharp toe claw that is pointedly unenclosed by xeir shoes, another natural weapon that defines xen as the "soldier" biotype.

Compared to everyone else human households have fairly few people, but that’s a sweeping generalization made because I’m drawing pretty small family structures here for comparison with each other. Humans live with their grandparents, aunts, and uncles etc all the time, but the western structure with more distant extended family still persists. Having extended family be a part of the household is not the legally-bound default like it is for Rossetians and Cerest, and even with extended family a human household is going to be much smaller than a Kar or a Kixeli one, so I figured I could show our weird little nuclear family extreme for contrast to how differently some humans could grow up (in the other species, a family this small would get absorbed into larger households in most cases unless they were just very financially well off) It mostly just depends on the culture and their financial situation. Human households tend to be composed of parents and their children, though single caretakers, unrelated/adoptive caretakers, or other combinations are also more common for us than some other species. Because humans only produce one child at a time, siblings basically always have an age difference. Humans usually grow up with their parents, who provide resources, before leaving to live on their own, live with roommates, or form a new family with its own autonomy. Property/inheritance is not legally exclusive to either sex and just depends on who the parents choose, who you trace your lineage through depends (matriline, patriline).

Rossetian households are usually composed of a Head House (the oldest parent household) and connected Faction Houses (comprised of the married children of the Heads). Even in very small Houses, the Heads and your siblings are a part of it, you can’t easily just live alone or just with your spouse like a human can (the closest is staff housing, which is a bunch of unrelated people who work in the same area and live in housing provided by that job). The House is a big building with the separate components physically connected by tunnels or within a short travel time of each other. Children are cared for by their blood parents (the roe specifically), unmarried family members (again, normally roes), and/or staff depending on the size and wealth of the House. Once children in a Faction house get married, they either leave to live with their husband (roe) or expand the household/build a new wing to accommodate their wife and kids (Jack). Unmarried children of the Heads live between faction houses, doing childcare and other domestic labor tasks so the married ones can work more. Unrelated/adoptive caretakers are very common. Siblings from the same litter don’t have an age gap, but there can be different aged children in a faction house due to the multigenerational/marriage additions to the house. The Head house (specifically the Jack patriarch) has legal authority over all their children even into adulthood, influencing where they live and what jobs they take. Approval from them is ultimately needed for most important decisions. Single caretakers or people living alone is very uncommon, most are part of a House either by being married in or working as staff. Property/inheritance/lineage is traced through jacks and legally tied to males.

Small Sundyne clans operate similarly to Drecu, but have different divisions for their children and workers. The Crown and Prongs, together known as the Leads, are the only ones having children in the clan (again, strictly enforced). The Crown is the reproductive male leader of the family, and like the Arch manages most of the clan's politics and resources. Xe has legal decision-making power over members of the clan and is the constant/central force in the family. The crown's group of suitors, the Prongs, are less constant and often move between clans due to personal dynamics or politics after they've had kids with the Crown (many sundyne dont know their mom/xe isnt living in the same clan anymore). Monogamy is more common for them than it is for Drecu, but having multiple prongs at the same time is the case sometimes. Attitudes towards it have shifted thanks to monogamous humans, where it’s being seen as more acceptable/favorable to avoid being made fun of (smaller husbant and his giant angry wives). Larger clans, the Emperor clan especially, are structured very differently than this, among other things having fewer prongs to avoid conflict between them for favor (imperial clan strcuture would need to be its own post idk). Childcare falls to the Crown's sons or worker shines, depending on the clan. Prongs help provide security against rival clan sights trying to come in/overall handle disputes on behalf of their Crown. They also help their Crown by carrying out xis orders/going out and about to manage things (especially the other sights). As for the other members of the clan, they're separated between children of the Leads and work-married members. Sight children are mostly there as a way to marry in shines from other clans; multiple worker shines can be bound to them and they act as overseers for the worker shine group, enforcers of the lead shine and the Crown's orders. They also escort the shines around when outside the clan for work. Daughters of the leads ideally stay, but there are usually fewer sights in a clan as it's a very competitive position; you're either a favored Prong who is competing to stay in the Crown's circle or a Sight that is useful enough to stay there as muscle/management. Most daughters that cant make it are work-married in elsewhere as soldiers, retainers of other sights, or as attendants to shines sons-of-Leads in larger clans. They cant move up to prong position unless a Crown chooses to marry them into their clan as such. A clan is mostly male, but only one has reproductive rights and its uncommon for xis sons to stay. Shine children that stay in the clan are few since they pose a threat to their father (they have the right to usurp crowns and "reshuffle" the clan, removing the previous prongs and other children and taking over the clan) Mostly, they are driven out once they come of age or are non-threatening enough to pass initiation and become permanent members, slightly above a worker shine since they perform management tasks to help their father or do ambassador work between clans. Shines that left still aid the clan by work-marrying into other clans, allowing for potential to share resources and land . Most of the clan is work-married shines, who run the everyday tasks of the clan (cooking, cleaning, laundry), perform childcare and so other domestic tasks like teaching or entertaining children. Work-married sights attend to shines (accompanying them to work, running errands, doing other tasks for them) and may perform harder/more physically demanding labor or, if the clan needs it, security/combat to drive off other clans. Still a work in progress lol.

A Kixeli community is made up of mostly unrelated individuals who cooperate to gather resources and maintain their living space. The general population of a community can be separated into permanent members and temporary members. Arasit are temporary by default, it’s uncommon for them to build strong connections to any one community they visit or stay in one place for long (even if they wanted to, cultural pressure usually means they are met with people keeping them at a distance because they’re supposed to leave anyway). All members work to provide resources for the community through different roles. During their spawn season, all individuals who paired up work to raise eggs and children (while those who didn’t pair fill other roles/help pick up the slack. Partners often switch between seasons)There arent eggs or young children in the community for most of the year, and the decision to pair up is influenced by whether or not you want to have to care for many eggs/kids or whether your community can support it. Their season means that like Prectikar, a lot of members in a community can have the same birthday since their eggs were all laid and hatched at the same time. Children are raised by these caretakers until they’re old enough to start working themselves, and often don’t know their blood parents unless they ask for the records. They are free to leave or stay in their birth community and many travel between nearby communities before choosing to settle or continue traveling (which is more uncommon for Kel). Community decisions are made in a council format of all members. Community size fluctuates but generally depends on available resources (can reach over 50 individuals). Living alone is basically unheard of and caring for eggs/children alone is very unusual, but vlood relation has badically nothing to do with childcare as every sex-haver is expected to raise the kids. Kixeli community land is shared, but they may have to name a specific person to own it due to outside pressures.

Muttreazik live in whatever family structure they were born into from their host, though the relationship with the host-parents is often strained or distant. Many end up living on their own or in groups of other muttreazik, which are strcutured as described in the above image. I kind of wrote what I wanted to for muttreazik in the image but yeah, they didn't exactly evolve naturally and whatevers going on with how they're set up is a mystery, an echo of whatever they used to be doing before they got stuck having to use organics for their bodies. In case you're wondering, Other colors like Rinshi elicit a brief but very noticeable unpleasant head sensation in their fellow muttreazik since they aren't supposed to exist. Rinshi especially because they're extra freaky, an Other variant of the Green Type (which, brief lore drop, were the enforcers meant to keep their once basically immortal population size under control and trim any variants. Now that theres none of them left theres a lottt more variants: Others and worse things).

Prectikar households are almost always made up of several generations of adults and their children. People living alone, living with unrelated people and/or people of the same sex (called a Band), or living in a just parents/children format (or worse, single parent) is widely associated with outcasts, unruly youth, or criminals. Tribes are formed of many intermarried families who over time have come to share language and culture distinct from other families. Most families are technically a part of a very wide tribe category (such as Drah or Leki) but most only consider their tribe to be the 3-4 families that their family is directly married with rather than others who technically also share some of their same cultural traits. Living outside a tribe is, again, very difficult and unusual. Extended family from all connected families in a tribe is very close and frequently live together/live between each others housing. Children are often raised by their blood parents, but childcare is also put onto the elders and older siblings/cousins as well since they tend to have more time on their hands. The Elders are the founding members of the family, with most older adults in the group being their children (depending on family size/whose elders are living with who, this can be a lot of people. The elder’s children move up to become elders themselves once the originals pass, and their children move upwards into their previous role and have children of their own, etc). The elders, specifically the hokar, have the authority to appoint the family’s leaders (the matron specifically) and overall provide experienced advice and guidance for the family. The Matron is the leader of the family (the elder’s first three daughters are eligible to be matron, only one is chosen). The matron oversees other members and performs the economic, domestic, and internal legal/governance duties (such as managing inheritance and appointing family positions/jobs/land). Xer husband also has authority, but in the religious and political sphere (they are out there giving more direct orders, are the main speakers between tribes, and have a lot of say in times of combat, but it is on their wife’s behalf. kar can’t appoint leaders and aren’t the ultimate say in a matter, they need hokar input of some kind to be credible). While who has kids isn’t as restricted as it is for Cerest, the Matron is normally the one who has the most due to the three daughters thing: Someone else with daughters could create a succession crisis when they’re all older and the original elders pass away, as they could try and have their daughters become matron rather than the matron’s daughters. Thus, Matron+Elder approval is needed during the season for new partners in the tribe to be chosen. During the season, families and different tribes mingle to try and find new members. Again, sex isn’t restricted like it is for Cerest but conception without approval is a problem-causer (hokar have a lot of uhh anatomical control over whether they get pregnant, so as long as you’re careful and have approval non-matron partners in a family can still go at it). Non-related members living in a family household/as part of the tribe who aren’t partners with an in-group member are rare. Property/inheritance/lineage is passed through the hokar/tied to female members in the family.

Aditi- previously a combat medic with experience treating humans and Cerest (thanks to being stationed by a camp of them back when Cerest in the DRSS were being “collected” and monitored because of the war). She now runs a restaurant with her husband in the SEZ, doing a little bit of charity work for the people around (doctors are expensive).

Devin- A shift manager and semi-official mechanic (self-appointed engineer) for public agency 92. He’s also the legal guardian for his sister Zoe and their primary breadwinner now that their parents are separated in the DRSS, though he’s lacking in the “present and supportive caregiver” department. He genuinely means well but has issues with confronting his issues/communicating and is in a general state of apathy and self-loathing after the whole border closure thing, and the dropping out of college thing, and uh his whole life before that and everything in the world also thing. He tinkers with robots in his spare time, but has a weird relationship with the hobby because of the shadow of “what he could do if he actually applied himself” especially after losing motivation in that field in his attempt at college. He also likes the gym and used to be much more of a gym rat, but like with most things he’s lost any real motivation it besides keeping up an appearance he likes others to look at. He blames himself for what happened to Zoe and for making her a Conduit too, and is overprotective of her as a way of trying to reach out/be in her life and ease his own fears over stuff happening to her(it’s not working bro pick a new tactic).

Zoe- A part time crew member and full-time plant enthusiast. She is also a fan of annoying little keychains, brightly colored drinks, and anime with 12 episodes no second season. She’s in online school for bioengineering plant stuff, so most of her time is spent doing homework. She applied to 92 as soon as she was old enough because she wanted to see the Wreck (and help out her brother/have something to relate to him with). She is constantly inserting herself into other peoples problems while being allergic to approaching her own or being confronted about anything wrong she does. She does have emotional baggage over her arms, but not in the way Debin thinks (theyll have to talk about it). Due to her fears of getting close to people she could lose/intense need to avoid her problems, she will immediately self-destruct relationships that she feels are getting too deep or if theres any rockiness. On a related note, she wants to mend her relationship with Devin, but is also emotionally immature/does stuff to spite him and drive him off on purpose.

Riley- The new guy at the agency. If you were to ask, he has no particular hobbies, no particular likes or dislikes, and is not particularly fond of talking about himself or why he was wandering around in the Plains before joining up with the agency. Severely claustrophobic, afraid of cameras, afraid of needles, afraid of cars, afraid of walking to new places, afraid of interacting with the clerk at the grocery store, and afraid of most other things in general.

Lee- Lee rides her bike as part of her 45 minute commute to work at 92 from her dorm at the prestigious Winterbridge University. As she is quick to tell people, she’s studying political science. Despite her attempts to hide it, Lee has insanely wealthy politician parents and technically doesn’t have to get a real job ever in her life. They could pay for her school too, but Lee prefers to get by on the dredger job and her scholarships. In fact, she has done a lot to distance herself from them and avoid fitting into their plans on what she should be. Her “rich kid acting out” streak grew into a somewhat anti-establishment worldview that was strengthened by her being othered/exploited by her parents once she became a conduit (though she still has her biases). She keeps up her high academic standing and multiple extracurriculars through a self-inflicted stress hell that she says pushes her to do her best (she got this mindset from her parents). The only reason she’s out here is for a sort of “job experience”/community outreach thing for school, which she needs to do as part of her probation agreement. This was orchestrated by her parents dumping money on the problem and pulling strings for the coverup/getting her out of it, since if she were anyone else she’d be in jail big time (She was the epicenter of a mass-infection event. Type 4 is very easy to lose control over, since it starts affecting your nervous system and making you want to use more. That happened with her under high stress in a crowded area, resulting in several other people being struck and turned. She has to wear those cuffs that disrupt RUU flow to her arms because she’s still a risk). She plays a Conduit sport called Slash, which is kind of like if you combined fencing and soccer, and it’s her only outlet for a healthy and constructive use of her powers that has helped her deal with the incident somewhat. Her rigorous and meticulous control over her powers is a result of this incident (and because she’s scared of herself).

Rinshi- Agency 92’s only mancer. It is common for smaller agencies like 92 to have only one or two mancers(supplementing shifts with machinery whenever they’re not available to scramble the Noise out there) , but once you get to know them you’ll realize that Rinshi is the only one there because no other mancers want to work with them. They take their job very seriously, and their limited emotional regulation skills mean they can get aggressive when people get in their way or act outside of the status category that Rinshi has put them in (without telling them). Other people are in one of two categories to Rinshi: higher than me and lower than me. There are naturally several subcategories in this. For example Maro is in the highest “higher than me” category and thus demands all of their obedience, time, and respect. Riley is in a “nonthreatening/useful lower than me” category (because he is overly apologetic by nature and folds immediately when someone/Rinshi tells him what to do, meaning he is somewhat worth listening to) while Zoe is in a “combative/useless lower than me” category (Rinshi considers themself more skilled and knowledgeable than her, and also views her personality as bothersome and not conducive to the work environment). They learned all this from their time in the Empire, where they were raised from a young age (they weren’t born there). To them, they are in a Primary (single tattoo, highest rank) role in this job as an extension of their more important profession of serving Maro as her retainer (medieval knight/servant style). She is their reason for living (literally advocating for them to not get euthanized, but also in the metaphorical sense) and they have done the impossible for her by dragging her feverish slashed-up ass out of the empire after her failed coup thing. They feel guilt over wanting any autonomy from her or wanting anything for themself and pride themself/base their entire self image on how she views them and how useful they are to her. It’s not worth it to do anything for themself if it’s not also for her, basically, and breaking any of the rules she has set (explicitly or not) is punishable blasphemy. This partially stems from their perceived need for her to justify them existing, since they feel like they don’t want to live enough on their own to be here otherwise. Ironically, they’re very hard to kill, unlike most Muttreazik who just give up the ghost and spore disperse at a fatal injury. Not Rinshi, that thing just keeps shrugging off stuff like being impaled like it’s nothing, which sucks for someone who thinks being alive is a pain. The things that automatically come with having a body are very uncomfortable or even frightening, and they hate it when anything changes about their body outside of their control/wishes (which does happen a lot. They didn’t used to have palps like a Cerest, those came in later, but even stuff like their hair looking different can make them spiral). Denying themself the things they need to live is both a method of self-punishment and a way for them to feel in control of themself.

Kerik- A Dorest who’s missing pigments in xeir scales. Kerik was born in the Empire, and xeir scale condition meant that xeir unit would have rather he stayed inside/out of their sight. The Arch couldnt just cull xen because xei had already pupated (aka legally a person now), so xei instantly got stuck on larva caretaker and janitor duty. Xei were competent enough at that (and recognized that staying in their good graces was a matter of survival) , but also found that xei were very interested in math and coding. Through a combination of sneaking peeks at xeir clutchmates homework, some makeup coverage, and scamming their way into entry exams, xei managed to rank up. The others just had to deal with it because xei were their struggling lower labor unit’s chance at getting their unit recognition and resources. In another cosmic stroke of bad luck, though, xei ended up becoming a conduit and fleeing the country to avoid the draft. Unitless Drecu can’t last long on their own, so xei eventually made it to some public housing for unrelated Drecu in need (where he lives currently, though xei aren’t fond of living under the scrutiny/expectations of other Drecu). Cerest aren’t exactly trusted by most people, and most are outright hostile towards them, so finding work was hard. After some suffering through insultingly low-level jobs at some shady and or shabby enterprises (where he met Neera), he ended up at 92 as their navigator.

Maro- In the eyes of the Empire, Maro is a sight who is delusional enough to think she can have the power and influence of a shine. To herself, Maro is a sight who is just so much better than the rest of her kind that she can and should be a ruler, which has resulted in a major political incident since she also happens to be the current Emperor’s heir (He’s the competition for that role). Maro has always been an obsessive perfectionist, leading to her hyper-performing the sight role by being aggressive, physically intimidating, seemingly emotionally detached, and constantly checking others back into place. She was considered highly competent and perfect in those regards, and her narcissistic tendencies, unstable/unpredictable mood, and tendency to form unhealthy attachments to ideas/people/things/places/etc could have been brushed off if she had stayed in her lane as a *female* heir. She could have inherited a high enough role just fine that way. However, she was majorly failing in the “following orders” and “not having ambition” part of being a sight. This was due to those impulsive fits and her majorly self-centered image (She can mask as more typically social and places value in her ability to be cold and calculating, but is really bad at keeping the mask in place in some scenarios). She started breaking into shine-only lectures/studies, asserting her heir authority over shine in the room/speaking out of turn (including to her father), being good at manipulating/public speaking, and just disregarding/manipulating fundamental Imperial social norms whenever it suited her. She really really really wants to feel in control of anything, everything at all times. If she doesn’t know something/can’t act to change it, it scares and upsets her, which was why being in a sight role chafed on her so much (the whole thing is their lack of education and self-determination, and they’re supposed to be emotionally unintelligent/distant since those things are done by the shine). Her father recognized this in her, and basically did everything short of killing her himself to try and get rid of her/belittle her (unfortunately she was already well known by the Sundyne public, and even Mr. Genocide can’t just kill his only heir after stirring up such a hullabaloo about how she was the only survivor of an assassination attempt on his clutch of eggs.

She could also still be useful to him as an alliance tool marriage style. Itd be seen as sore-loser/feminine behavior to obviously kill a child, and he’s a super masculine winner by definition. She was off the chopping block for a bit until he could cook up a **male** heir, which was an uhh issue for him. Idk yet). Assigning Rinshi as her retainer that she had to keep alive was supposed to be a joke, since an heir’s retainer is a major part of their social image and muttreazik are the lowest of the low on their ladder. It was at a point in time where Maro felt that she was in serious danger of an assassination attempt succeeding, this was just another sign she was going to be relegated out of existence or otherwise taken out.

But, this plan for her to fumble their training and fumble the social stigma backfired as she just formed an unhealthy emotional attachment to them as she was known to do and started working with them to play out her crackpot plan to take the throne (having a friend/confidant/sycophant helped her focus and let her refine her ability to mask and toning down her outspoken actions in favor of making it to 18 for her ‘coronation’ where her father as well as most of the Sundyne nobility population would be present.) Skipping over a bit, her plan failed spectacularly on several fronts and led to many of the wrong people getting killed (as well as the reveal of some important stuff). Maro was seriously injured in her attempt to just kill that guy himself and had to flee across the continent, coming veryyy close to dying in the process. Nowadays she might as well be dead, having to hide herself in the lawless anonymity of the SEZ and get by as a bounty hunter. She lives with Rinshi in an out-of-use radio building on 92’s dilapidated property. She’s the opposite of them in most ways, thinking that she’s a gift that this world needs, who deserves the world to bend over to her will just because she’s breathing, and constantly wanting others to justify why they should be in her orbit. They do share the body image issues/find a calming sense of control through their physical appearance, though Maro is more subconsciously hateful of her feminine traits specifically. Even between their two streams of income, the two aren’t really living that great since buying Cerest necessities and getting them shipped is (purposefully) ridiculously expensive, as are Rinshi’s chemistry supplies they use for work, and they have to pay rent just like anyone else using agency property. They’re both fallen pretty low in comparison to their Imperial roles, and she’s particularly hurt/resentful of her current station. She hasn’t forgotten what she believes she deserves, though, and will do anything to get it again.

WaraWara- A middle-aged (27) adrenaline junkie who works as a dredger because it lets her jump off skyscraper-sized space wreckage. Xe has lived her life true to the Arasit role, always moving around, but has mainly resided in communities in the SEZ and mid-coastal region. She is somewhat antisocial, having an abrasive/uncompromising personality and generally feeling uncomfortable being around a lot of other Kixeli/being looked at or touched by many people at once (ironically, this doesnt stop her from getting up close and personal with xenos. She doesn’t feel like it’s the same thing and hasn’t though much about it) One of the communities she frequently traveled to was the one where xe met Anteewa, but xe only briefly knew xer then. After the region got struck , she was the first person Ant encountered after escaping. Wara was in a bad place herself from experiencing this (she wasn’t there, but the guilt of not being there made it worse) and it helped her a bit to be there for Ant/get supportive touch from only one person, which was much more manageable and comforting for xer. Xe and Ant moved to the SEZ and currently live in a large community in the Berm sector (being newcomers strengthened their bond too), where they work as dredgers with public agency 92 to contribute to their community. Her highly sensitive skin and lungs will not stop her from going out to the Wreck as many times as possible, and her desire to be out in the Wreck for long periods of time eventually led to xer becoming a type 3.

Kidist- A cyborg who’s working for the world’s most prominent and obviously evil corporation as an intern. Ironically, the biotech supergiant known for being able to grow/build new limbs for people won’t just “fix” her scoliosis because it’s not majorly harmful enough yet and interns don’t get health coverage (so she gets to pay for treatment the old fashioned way. Which is a bit hard because the internship pays peanuts). She’s a habitual shut-in and would be living the full-blown neet lifestyle if it weren’t for the fact that she is a young prodigy college graduate and unfortunately employed (her brother had to drag her into it all the way through). She performs her role in the field via remote-controlled drones plugged right into her brain. She got the internship with her brother since she was among the brightest from her birth region and is genuinely interested in biomech stuff, but not overly hyped about her job. She is entirely aware that Zoe has a crush on her but needs to touch grass before she can reciprocate.

CJ- Besides Devin and Lee, CJ is the other shift manager at the agency. They’re a Type 1 (Flicker) and very late stage, making it hard to make constructs without accidentally burning themself. They have considerably more experience than anyone else at the agency since they’ve been working in the dredging field since they were 11 (helping their parents sort the electronic parts they gathered from the Plains. They joined a public agency at 15, they’re 32 now). CJ was also previously a manager at another public agency before 92, where they were involved accident out in the Wreck that wiped out their whole team. This made them leave that agency and move to 92, and almost made them go private, but they ended up staying at 92 out of a sort of obligation to help out the many younger newer people there/prevent it from happening again. They have a wife and a kid.

Isioma (aka Ms. A for her last name, Agwuegbo)- the upper management (gov) representative at the agency. 92 has been underperforming for years, and she was sent there to get the numbers back up. She’s superficially nice, but is mostly dismissive of anyone’s personal problems in favor of their work performance. No one really knows a lot about her, she’s mostly just seen as the face of the vague government entity that expects high numbers, enforces rules, and is always watching.

Megan- A serial trend-hopper and airhead. Very focused on her image, mostly because her spots could be seen as ugly otherwise (most splice traits are since they’re long since “out of of style” and culturally viewed as the remnants of a vain/decadent society that humans were back in the solar system, even though it’s not their fault they inherited a mod and it’s literally illegal to try and control what you’re born with). She joined a public agency because she got fired from her previous private agency position for embezzlement (her parent is also high up in that company’s ladder. She’s been cut off lol). They are a fairly competent type 2 (more so than Devin because they don’t have the emotional baggage attached to it) but her work ethic is less than stellar since she’s always glued to the phone. Friends with Liem because they both like to gossip.

Anteewa- A nervous Kel who is basically attached at the hip to Wara. Xe used to live further south in the mid-coastal area, where xer community got abruptly caught up in a DRSS vs Imperial battle before they could evacuate . The stress from being a part of such an intense distress feedback loop with so many people and witnessing many of them die (and also almost dying xerself due to the cold) led to xer switching sexes. Wara found xer after xe and the remaining community regrouped elsewhere, leading to Ant latching onto her as a “safe” person. The two ended up moving to the SEZ to avoid having to move either northwest and be stuck in a DRSS Kixeli Enclave or southeast and be stuck in an Imperial Kixeli camp. Ant isn’t a conduit but works at the agency to be near Wara. Many people confuse them for a couple, and many more are confused why there’s only two Kixeli working there (normally it could be up to a dozen).

Neera- A shy linguist who works with a Rossetian appraisal/shipping firm. Xer main area of expertise is homeworld Rossetian dialects, but she’s also very knowledgeable on the current Imperial and Bridge ones. Xer job is to determine the origin/date of Rossetian artifacts found in the Wreck by translating any text on it, but xe also manages communications relations since xe knows a whole buncha languages and trad rossetians don’t like ai/tech-powered translators. You wouldn’t know it from how she acts and dresses, but she used to be an Imperial citizen. Back in her birth faction, she was gearing up to carry on the family tradition of being a teacher (which is where all her linguistic knowledge came from). Much like Kerik, she fled the country after becoming a conduit to avoid being conscripted/having to participate in the regime more than she already was (Her family was already marked as potential dissidents and she never fully bought into the Imperial koolaid. Her flight was a very rushed affair, and her (ex) partner was the one who reported her. The nick in her ear is the result of xer getting shot at) She feels intense guilt about leaving her faction, especially since she has no idea what happened to them after she left. After a string of shitty receptionist/hospitality jobs (where she initially met Kerik), she finally landed the one where she could actually use her talents. Currently resides in the local Rossetian Enclave and is doing fairly well for herself, if not a bit lonely. Xe is still considering being a teacher since she likes teaching people lol.

Obin- Obin is a temperamental goofball who likes watching football and anime. He’s orphan who never knew his littermates, having been surrendered as a whelp by his family due to financial hardship (this is a thing that many tribes do since kar cost of living is insane, which you could expect for such huge guys. Even with the crazy wartime production the DRSS went through, some didn’t see any of the economic boost). He spent some time being moved between overcrowded kar foster care facilities, then eventually got moved to a human-host muttreazik one when his medical issues got more pronounced (gigantism caused by a benign tumor. The facility had done similar things before since they were already used to dealing with kids with weird body plans, and they had the funding to pay for stuff to help with his heart). He was bullied a lot by the other kids, making him reactive, and never really got along with most of the staff because he hates being told what to do/he felt more like an out of place burden to them. Having spent most of his time with humans/human adjacent people, he’s developed some quirks that make it hard for him to socialize with other kar (for example, his wide eyes and smile :).) This also led to him viewing himself more like a human than a kar, and eventually more like a man than a woman (especially after his seasonal changes started happening after puberty). He ended up aging out of the system since those social quirks (along with his weird fur color/being mixed, being trans, and being huge for a afab teenager) made him largely undesirable to other kar looking to adopt, and the fact that he’s a kar making him undesirable for humans to adopt. This left him looking for work and a house, and eventually ended up with him working at a shady recycling plant in the SEZ that was offering both for non-humans. Their lackluster safety measures led to him getting irradiated by the scrap he was supposed to be cleaning for reuse (he’s a type 1 conduit now). He quit and now works at another (better) recycling plant with other Kar who live in a nearby enclave. Obin doesnt live with them (too crowded+the crazy requirements those apartments have for new tenants) and lives in the “Large” muttreazik housing section, which is basically just converted storage containers that are big enough for someone with, say, a horses lower torso to live in. He’s friends with Zoe and met her after his recycling plant started working with 92.

Liem- He’s only working as a dredger at 92 to pay to go to school for Magnilev ship operation. He used to live in an area of the DRSS that got rezoned as the SEZ after the border redraw/closure (the far left part). Since like everyone Also wanted to live in the area furthest from the Empire and the Wreck as possible (RickRack, or sector 1), prices went up and he had to move to “bumfuck-nowhere Berm” . Generally never wants to be here and looks down on other dredgers because he feels like he has a way “out”. The only people he isn’t mean to are Megan and his boyfriend.

Isayas- Kidist’s brother and a professional ragebaiter. He is proactive, egotistical, social, and an over achiever, so basically the polar opposite of his sibling. He and Devin grew up in the same area of the coast, and Isayas was always competing with him. He is trying to get into biomechanical engineering, and actually made it through college (unlike Devin). When he and Kidist took the (paid!!) internship with the worlds biggest biotech company, Manticorp (pronounced “manticore” like the monster hah hah) was a bit more than he bargained for: he was expecting more office work and less contractually obligated cybernetic implants and corporate espionage. Basically, the two of them help test drive tech in the SEZ and do whatever their higherups say (which has sometimes included delivering or destroying certain documents, taking pictures of rival company employees/vehicles, and meddling with public dredger agencies).

Kyli- A Rox whose pupation development was interrupted by xeir unit being displaced by the DRSS government. The average human doesnt really understand small moving parts of the Cerest lifecycle and there is a lot of misinformation on how they work biology-wise, so xeir chrysalis was placed with a bunch of Dorest (who the humans assumed to be the females/caretakers) while xeir unit’s Rox were moved elsewhere because they were being (understandably) aggressive. The Arch was able to negotiate cohabitation again after stressing that all xeir kids were going to die without the right pheromone introduction, but the gap in time where the Rox chrysalises didn’t get any Rox interaction still did its damage. Kyli is deaf (having never fully grown in xeir ear discs), has no quills or venom, has trouble gaining muscle/is on the shorter side , lacks the bolder red Rox pigments, and also has some issues with xeir legs and face (xei were one of the lucky ones, though). Xei now live with a new unit xei were work-married into (basically legally added to the unit as a worker, not as a partner) that is in the same public housing area that Kerik lives in. Xei have seen him around and are very curious why xei choose to live alone and avoid everyone.

Azel- Azel’s parents were human, though he obviously bears very little resemblance to them. His mishmash of different traits is the result of unrestrained development when in embryo (meaning he wasn’t removed from his host to continue out the rest of his development in a tank, where they could limit what biomatter he was exposed to and somewhat control troublesome traits like him not being bipedal). He was briefly housed in his parents’ barn but quickly abandoned when he started trying to talk to them (too creepy) and had to fend for himself. Shelters could only do so much for him and eventually the years of being treated like a large dangerous animal caused him to give up trying to connect with humans and become a hermit. He still longs for companionship, but his limited communication skills and difficult to accommodate body plan make it hard for him to get close to people. He has taught himself how to read somewhat, but can only speak a bit of English thanks to limited resources and the elongated shale of his mouth. He met Lewis when he was injured after a particularly bad encounter with an angry farmer. He saw himself in the other and just started following Lewis around, partially trying to repay him but also just wanting someone to talk to. Now, they work together trying to make money in dubiously legal ways, with Azel acting as Lewis’s protector and marketable big scary mancer for people to hire, with Lewis as the translator.

Lewis- A down on his luck lawyer pushed to the fringes of society. He has spent his whole life trying to fit in with his hosts, but he knew he had been given up by his birth parents and felt like his adopters would rather him just act human/ignore his non-humanness. While he had made it as a lawyer, he still felt like any place he had in the human world was all superficial. He could hear the way they talked about him and see the way they looked at him, and was always highly conscious of how his muzzle affected his speech (he usually signs to avoid the embarrassment). When he was fired by his firm for seemingly no reason and then had to file for bankruptcy, he drifted further away from society until he was literally out in the woods to avoid getting picked on by other homeless people. That’s where he met the terrifying monster Azel , who happened to be dying in the same abandoned shed Lewis was trying to sleep in. He didn’t mean to accidentally befriend Azel by helping to clean up his wounds, but couldn’t make him leave afterwards so just had to deal with the weird looking guy following him around and asking questions in broken English. Once they got a better understanding of each other, Azel’s feelings of alienation resonated with Lewis and he felt a sense of freedom from being able to be himself/not hide his different physical or behavioral traits around him. He has fur on his head and chin/neck, but his face is mostly bald/covered in peach fuzz lol.

Suunkil- A Kixeli-host muttreazik whose morphed body plan allows xen to fly. Xeir name is a common one given to Kixeli-host muttreazik due to its meaning (not us but like us). Xei somewhat view xenself as an Arasit because of their ability to fly, but has also felt conflict about whether or not xei belong with their community. Xei are very sheltered and have rarely left it, but know that there’s other muttreazik like xen out there.

Lowelle- A Rossetian working at the same firm that Neera works at. They’re somewhat friends, but don’t actually talk much in person (preferring camera-less video call). Lowelle is more focused on homeworld Bict languages than Neera, but doesnt actually use that knowledge much since xe’s a bookkeeper there. Xe was born in the DRSS in the same faction that lives in the Enclave where xe lives, and is far too much of a homebody to want to travel like Neera does. Not a full-blown conservative like their boss, but xe is more traditional than Neera and is somewhat scandalized by xer friend’s fondness of human-style clothing and bold lack of horn covering. Xe is a lot less anxious than Neera but has trouble socializing (too much eye contact) and xe has a bad habit of over-filing xer teeth, leading to sensitivity.

Jarvis- Hair dye addict and professional mercenary. He’ll do most things for the right price but mainly focuses on theft. Maro is aware of them through her work in the bounty hunter community and because Jarvis is an off-frequency type 5 conduit (she’s a normal type 5, and makes it her business to know if there’s someone as dangerous as her in the area).

Rowan- A Western muttreazik who travels East to the SEZ for trade. The far west muttreazik territories are rough, with most of the land being barren and overcrowded. Their Soverign had decided it’s best to try and move their court to the East, but the DRSS doesnt exactly like foreign powers trying to move in (however small they may be) so they’ve had to settle for discreetly moving into the SEZ. Now, Rowan and their peers have to deal with Easterners and their rules, and with trying to make a living. Muttreazik have much more options in the SEZ due to the more integrated infrastructure, relaxed view on their existence, and high demand for labor, but their options are still pretty limited to being a mancer for a dredger agency (hard if you aren’t a mancer) or working with a guild (The eastern approximation if the western soverign system, with guild masters leading often predatory organizations who control most muttreazik’s labor/living space outside of agencies). Rowan is a mancer, but a fairly clumsy one (can’t make it past Red, where they’re able to move spoon sized objects slowly at best) so they’ve joined one of the guilds for the production/sale of chemical elements etc for other mancers (since that fit with their previous area of expertise) . They run into Rinshi a lot as a result, since they have to buy that stuff all the time (Rowan thinks that Rinshi is scary thanks to the Western bad omen/bad luck superstition around muttreazik with eye colors outside of the normal gray/red/orange/yellow. Rinshi is also just very likely to pull knives on people who upset them, which is also unsettling).

Jordan- Previously part of a mysterious government program centered around experimenting with type 6 conduits. They’re supposed to be dead right now, but they’re not and now it’s everyone else’s problem. Currently working in a small crime gang with Shake and Sway because they like messing with rich people and the government. They also like making their own clothes with the most obnoxious colors and patterns possible. Their hair isn’t dyed, it grows in like that due to a splice trait they have!

Shake/Sway-Partners in crime. Both had ties to a larger muttreazik crime organization before leaving over…creative differences. Now they try to get in the news as much as possible for stealing valuable tech from the corps in the DRSS and Gaek Fed.

Hireg- A hokar with seriously high debts to several kar gambling rings thanks to being a terrible gambler. Xe was given a warning about what would happen if xe didn’t pay them off (missing half her fingers now) and has since been doing any job given to xer to make it happen. Xe is not a goofy robinhood style criminal like Shake, xe has killed people and will do it again if that’s what’s necessary (xe is working with their little group because they’re highly successful, not because xe likes them). Xer coat can be flipped up and clipped with magnets if xe doesn’t want it hanging low. Xe is also a smoker, which kar do through their nose-mouth since their mouth-mouth isn’t connected to their lungs.

Ralaoh (aka Bent)- A kar who works at the same recycling plant as Obin. Soft-spoken and mostly keeps to themself since a few of the other employees there aren’t super welcoming of their identity. Doesnt speak much besides Kar Bridge, so doesnt know what Obin is saying in English most of the time. Has family in the area but due to space/money tightness lives and works separately from them.

Arlo- Glen’s younger cousin through their host family (Arlo is from the moms side, Glen is from the dads side). Both Arlo’s parents were in the military, leaving him in the reluctant care of his mom’s sister. He sustained a leg injury when he and the aunt’s family were being moved to new housing out of the way of conflict. Since there was no one around who knew how to properly set his pseudo-digitigrade leg, the badly healed break caused that leg to start growing weird as he got older. After his parents’ deaths, the aunt was unwilling to keep taking care of him so she and the rest of the family collectively decided to give him to the only other muttreazik in the family, Glen. Arlo has gotten himself expelled from most of the schools in the area due to acting out and hitting other kids with his stick, so Glen has just given up and put him in online homeschooling. The kid is a bit of a brat (presumptuous, opinionated, stubborn, and defiant) but likes Glen a lot better than his aunt. After defeating several babysitters, Arlo has managed to convince Glen to take him with him when he goes to work at the grocery store (Arlo likes to pretend like he works there too, and does do some of the chores from time to time. Unpaid child labor!)

Glen- Arlo’s only caretaker. The rest of their host family saddled him with the kid after Arlo’s parents died, since no one else wanted a muttreazik in their house. He works as a cashier at a small grocery store chain, and watches over Arlo at the same time. He is a bit of a slacker but devoted to making sure his cousin has a better life. The two share an apartment with another roommate. Glen wants to go to college but is on the fence because of the time/money sink and believing he doesn’t have what it takes.

Randy- Just a farmer. He enjoys the hard work and relative isolation from the nearby bigoted small town. Used to being looked down on and seen as weird/dangerous , and was a troublemaker when he was younger. Now is just a jovial fellow wanting to live a simple life.

Esmerelda- Met Randy when she moved away from the city to pursue a career in land surveying out in the unmapped Rural areas. The two hit off and now she helps him run the small farm as well as working with the surveyors to get more places on the radar to help install infrastructure. Distant relationship with her host family (they do t seem to care for her much).