| rdfs:comment | - This is an unnamed kind of telepathic, symbiotic bacterium which resembles individual neurons in form and function. Huge colonies of these bacteria exist deep in the crust of an uncharted planet in the Milky Way Galaxy. Billions of years ago these symbiotic telepaths started infecting all life on their world, animal and vegetable alike, replacing their original nervous systems. The entire biosphere was soon controlled by the microscopic organisms, which formed a sapient planetary hive mind. As everything on the world was part of a single unified mind, the ecology, it could be said, became self-aware: flowers would tell pollinators when it was time to pollinate; dying creatures would signal to carrion eaters when they were about to die; order triumphed over chaos and no energy was wasted.
- The Hive Mind Bacteria is a type of microscopic life-form discovered on an uncharted planet. A natural telepath, the microscopic lifeform had all the classic traits of individual neurons and had colonized deep in the planet’s upper crust, evolving with the other native lifeforms. Over the course of millions of years the planet-wide colony infected the other native forms, creating a symbiotic life cycle and taking root in their own neural relays until it eventually reached a kind of critical mass until all the lifeforms were controlled and answerable to the greater biomass. While on their own, no individual creature was sentient, the combined thoughts of every plant, insect and animal linked in a "telesymbiosis" with the bacteria brought about a hive consciousness. The whole planet effectiv
|
| abstract | - This is an unnamed kind of telepathic, symbiotic bacterium which resembles individual neurons in form and function. Huge colonies of these bacteria exist deep in the crust of an uncharted planet in the Milky Way Galaxy. Billions of years ago these symbiotic telepaths started infecting all life on their world, animal and vegetable alike, replacing their original nervous systems. The entire biosphere was soon controlled by the microscopic organisms, which formed a sapient planetary hive mind. As everything on the world was part of a single unified mind, the ecology, it could be said, became self-aware: flowers would tell pollinators when it was time to pollinate; dying creatures would signal to carrion eaters when they were about to die; order triumphed over chaos and no energy was wasted. Over the course of history, numerous alien species arrived at the planet and attempted to colonize it, disrupting the natural balance. The hive mind eventually responded by using telepathy to create elaborate illusions to the newcomers, who would become trapped in a fantasy world, unaware that their surroundings were not real, and eventually starving to death. In 2262 the planet was visited by a Psi-Corp vessel, whose crew suffered the same fate of previous visitors, with the exception of a single survivor who managed to escape. His ship was discovered by Lyta Alexander and G'Kar, who used the ship's log to find the planet and investigate. Both of them were trapped in the illusion, but used clues to deduce what was really happening, after which the hive mind decided to take a different approach and have the animals attack Lyta while talking to G'Kar to try to understand what was wrong with the illusions so it could learn for future reference. G'Kar used the conversation to distract the entity while Lyta, whose telepathic abilities had been enhanced by the Vorlons, managed to interfere with the mental link of the underground colony. The hive mind was completely unprepared for such kind of attack, and the link was severely crippled, causing the animals to roam aimlessly. Lyta speculated that the hive mind would take centuries to be completely restored.
- The Hive Mind Bacteria is a type of microscopic life-form discovered on an uncharted planet. A natural telepath, the microscopic lifeform had all the classic traits of individual neurons and had colonized deep in the planet’s upper crust, evolving with the other native lifeforms. Over the course of millions of years the planet-wide colony infected the other native forms, creating a symbiotic life cycle and taking root in their own neural relays until it eventually reached a kind of critical mass until all the lifeforms were controlled and answerable to the greater biomass. While on their own, no individual creature was sentient, the combined thoughts of every plant, insect and animal linked in a "telesymbiosis" with the bacteria brought about a hive consciousness. The whole planet effectively became a unified organism; flowers telling insects when to pollinate them, wounded animals alerting carrion eaters so the meat is not wasted. Eventually however, alien races arrived on the planet and, not suspecting what they were walking into, began colonizing the planet, cutting down forests, killing animals for food and otherwise disrupting the order that had existed for millennia. The bacteria responded the way any large organism responds to a foreign infection, by becoming stronger and imposing its telesymbiosis on the aliens, making them lost in telepathic illusion and eventually starving to death. This cycle kept up until 2262 when Lyta Alexander and G'Kar arrived on the world, tracking the course of an abandoned Psi Corps mothership. Eventually seeing through the illusion, Alexander, with her enhanced abilities, was able to overload the bacteria's neural links, effectively crippling the "hive mind".
|
