“It was dark, but as Shenno walked through the parking garage towards the rover, she felt as if she was bathing in sunshine. Surrounded by her mind-mates, she her thoughts drifted back to that wondrous moment when she found the Flower in the lee of a rock out on Terra Sirenum. It had looked so soft, so fragile... she needed to take it home, away from the harshness of the Martian surface. Getting it into the city had been hard, and you're not supposed to disturb terraforming growth, but she couldn't have just left it in that harshness.” “She had known she'd done the right thing when she got up the courage to show it to her girlfriend Annaba, and the smile on her face as she breathed in the scent had assured her that sharing the flower, her perfect Gift, was the right thing to do.” “Slowly, oh so slowly, they had found others who would treat the blossom as it deserved, and time and again their patience had been rewarded. Eventually they knew that they had enough, and like in a moment of sublime bliss their minds had opened to one another in a flood of love, and that was when they knew what they had to do.” “Only one moment had marred their bliss, and her eyes drifted to Artashat who's Partner had left him... refused to see the Blossom... called them a gang, a cult. Pain and remorse flashed through the group, and she released her grip on Annaba to better hold the heart-broken man.” “But now... now it was time for his sorrow to pass, as they reached the Rover so painstaking prepared. Getting inside was difficult as it was filled with pseudo-paper packages of feedstock, but slowly she wormed her way between the blocks of protein. For a moment she became stuck, but beautiful Annaba helped her by breaking her arms. Soon they were all in, flesh pressing against flesh, and with a burst of orgasmic pleasure the change began. Unnecessary skin sloughed away allowing muscles to detach and entwine, bones slipped from their sockets as the flesh around them began to convulse, organs distended and liquefied. “This was always my purpose” was the last thing that drifted through Shenno's mind, before it was pierced by her lover's spine...” “It Awoke. Starving. Confused." "A multitude of eyes opened to a world of grey concrete, and it shattered it's mind to comprehend it all, before restoring itself to Singularity. A memory from the Before drifted up; an androgynous figure, it's face contorted with rage and grief. Organs quivered with {Rage~Hunger~Lust}, and deep within what used to be lungs tumorous growths engorged themselves with poison. That one refused to Become. Now it would, whether it wanted to or not. Breathing deep the scent of the city, the Pagidea began the hunt.” ~~~ The Pagidea Exsurgent is a relatively rare variation of the Exsurgent virus, existing in two phases: the Pagidea Biological Nanovirus and the Mindfire Nanotoxin. Initial infection occurs when a biomorph is exposed to the Nanotoxin form, where it immediately and rapidly begins replacing the hosts nervous system (more details below). Upon the host's demise, the virus begins to convert the host's body into a form of vegetation known as a Blossom Cluster. This appears as a mass of dense foliage with small, round leaves and several large flowers. These flowers are derived from the genetics of the host species, and extremely attractive. Any individual of the same species who sees the flower must perform a WILLx3 to realise there is anything untoward about them, and a WILLx2 to resist touching it and, if possible, directly inhaling it's “pollen”. Characters with enhanced vision or smell take a -30 penalty on this roll. Those who come into direct contact with the Flowers must make a Moxie x10 roll, where failure indicates they have been infected by the Pagidea Biological Nanovirus - those who inhale the pollen or consume any part of the Blossom cluster are infected automatically. Infection proceeds as follows... Stage 1: The infected develops the enhanced smell augmentation, and experiences a form of mild euphoria, receiving +10 bonus against fear or attempts to manipulate their emotions in a negative direction. They also become physically affectionate, receiving the Modified Behaviour (Boost – Physical Contact) trait. Infected at this stage will also feel driven to expose others to Blossom Cluster Flowers, and often harvest several to place in their home. They will, however, only expose those they believe that they can trust implicitly, feeling that they are sharing a precious secret. Those infected in this way become mentally attached to each other, receiving a +20 bonus to Kinesics to each other, and Modified Behaviour (Block – Disloyalty) to the group. This activity will continue until 7 to 12 individuals have been infected, at which point the infected will cease infecting others, and the infection proceeds to stage 2. Stage 2: At this point the infected's connection to each other becomes stronger, effectively gaining a Kinesics skill of 100 regarding each other, and so as long as one member can see another or can connect to them through the mesh they act as though they possess the Parallel Processor Augmentation, Tacnet software and Tacnet Sniper trait. They gain the Modified Behaviour (Encourage – Physical Contact) and Modified Behaviour (Encourage – Connect with Group Member) and Phobia (Open Spaces) traits. Groups of infected at this stage will attempt to acquire a large vehicle such as a Groundcar or Martian Rover or some other similarly sized portable container, which they will stock to bursting with large amounts of food/biological feedstock. Depending upon the means of the members, this may take several days to several months. Once this is achieved the members of the group will congregate at the vehicle and cram themselves inside, and the infection culminates with stage 3. Stage 3: Over the course of a day, the Nanovirus converts the group, vehicle and collected biomass into the Pagidea Exsurgent. The bodies of the biomorphs warp and deform, melding into each other, and the biomass is consumed to grow additional components, with the vehicle forming a protective “shell” around the main body. Characters who reach this stage become NPCs... or rather, they cease to exist. All of the changes the infected undergo persist through resleeving, but they cannot undergo the transformation to stage 3. They will therefore seek to reinfect themselves through a blossom cluster as soon as possible, and the group will delay transformation until that occurs. If necessary, an infected who was in stage 2 can program a cornucopia machine blueprint for a Mindfire Nanotoxin Hive, using the normal rules. The Hive counts as having cost [Expensive] for programming and manufacture time. A digital version of the Pagidea/Mindfire virus does not exist, but other Digital Viruses may produce Blossom Clusters if they gain access to cornucopia machines, and the Mindfire virus was deployed in missiles during the Fall. ~~~ Pagidea Exsurgent The Pagidea exsurgent resembles a spider or hermit crab constructed out of corpses. It possesses 8 2-jointed gnarled Limbs which split at the end into 6 human arms, and it's wide, hammer-shaped head resembles two human torsos conjoined at the waist with the ribcages split open to form a gaping maw, attached to a neck made out of legs. Sprouting asymmetrically from it's back is a “Cannon”formed of three torsos melded together so that they share a neck, with the muzzle being formed out of the conjoined mouths of the bodies' faces. In combat, this “Seeder”fires Golfball sized cysts filled with the Mindfire Nanovirus, and the limbs likewise contain glands producing the virus, so that those it kills produce Blossom Clusters to restart the cycle. Cognition +10 (20) Coordination +5 (30) Intuition - (20) Reflexes +10 (30) Savvy -5 (10) Somatics +10 (35) Willpower +5 (20) Initiative 10 Speed 2 (+2 Mental actions from Multitasking) Durability 100 Wound Threshold 20 Death Rating 150 Mobility System: Walker (6/30) Skills: Climbing 45, Exotic Melee Weapon: Bite 40, Exotic Ranged Weapon: Seeder 40, Fray 50, Freerunning 50, Perception 70, Unarmed Combat (Claws) 60. Notes: 360-Degree Vision, Armor (28/32), Digging Claws, Enhanced Vision, Enhanced Smell, Electrical Sense, Extra Limbs (8 Legs/Arms), Grip Pads, Multitasking, Pneumatic Limbs, Large Target (+10 to hit). Pagidea suffer no penalties for attacking multiple enemies in melee combat. Weapons: Bite (2d10+10 DV, AP -10), Digging Claws (1d10+5 DV, AP -1) Seeder (1d10+5 DV, AP-8, FA, Ranges: Short 225, Medium 375, Long 750, Extreme 1350). All melee and ranged attacks, if they penetrate armour, expose the target to the Mindfire Nanotoxin. Mindfire Nanotoxin: One action turn after exposure characters experience debilitating agony and muscle seizures, and must make SOMx2 and WILx2 checks. If the character possesses pain resistance to ignore wound modifiers, they may apply that value as a bonus. If the characters succeeds on both checks they suffer a -20 penalty on all actions, whilst if they succeed on just one the penalty increases to -40. If both checks fail, the character suffers a -60 penalty and is incapacitated. Once every minute, affected characters must make a DURx3 Test (Toxin Filters and Medichines each give a +30 bonus) to which the above penalty applies. On a failure the character takes 1d10/2 DV ignoring armour, whilst on a success the symptoms lessen – incapacitated characters recover, and the penalty is reduced by 10. If the penalty is reduced to 0, then the infection has been eliminated. Should the character die whilst infected, the nanovirus will convert the Corpse into a Blossom Cluster as described above. So, what do you Gentlebeings think? The basic design came up through the dualistic interplay of something beautiful (a flower) producing something hideous (corpses) and vice versa, with refinement coming through considerations of chimeric creatures, the (amusing) mental image of a Hermit Crab using a Tank as a shell and Flowers being kinda freaky if you really think about it. A flower that can mindrape people really isn't that different than what they actually do to insects anyway and using hosts from other species to propagate is almost universal. Hell, even the friggin' Cannon was taken from an actual, real life, terrestrial plant. I mean, WTF Nature. As always, I would love any feedback you care to give.