To Venture Forth in Albia
At last, Aldra decided to abandon the incubator in search of more interesting scenes from the world! She found out how deliciously wonderful coffee could be, although I was thankful that she avoided a full blown caffeine addiction. Norns need their sleep every now and again! A buzzing bee turned out to be a point of absolute fascination: Aldra stared at the little insect for ages. Fortunately, it was just out of reach. I was afraid that a couple of stings might spoil her little adventure. Although it would have been nice to keep her in a safe area, it seemed like a much better idea to let Aldra experience life on her own. The antigens had taken a rest, and no one appeared to be in any serious danger. I left her with the bottomless coffeepot near a large source of food, confident that Aldra would get along just fine as an independent Norn.
Oppeid managed to escape from Nordmela and Pettvika long enough to get in a good rest. He snuggled up next to his new friend, the little goldfish, with a honeypot. Although I could hardly call him an excellent eater, he was still extremely fertile: I expected him to fare quite well with the females! All in all, though, I was hoping for a break in pregnancies. The simple, everyday Norn activities were perfectly fine with me! Oppeid had a bunch of unhatched eggs he could call his own, and his dreams must have been filled with happiness. What more could he want?
In the midst of this wonderful time, I was nearly heartbroken when I found that Mevik had passed away at 9 hours and 1 minute old. He was such a happy Norn, and was healthy up to the end. At least he was not alone: Valla, Ramsvika, Skuld, and Stokka surrounded him with heavy hearts and frowns. Mevik had fathered an astounding twelve children, although he would never be replaced. Rest well, and in eternal happiness.
With my grief put to the side, I prepared Creatures 1 for another new member. The gender, as always, was to be randomized, yet I desperately hoped for a male. Lo and behold, out popped Bringsli! He is the son of Ranulf and Ingelill: Thankfully, he inherited a mostly Horse Norn appearance from his mother. I also realized that his green egg was the same color as that which the recently deceased Mevik came from. Another coincidence? This little guy was an excellent student, who kept his eyes glued to the learning computer. I was also excited to find that he had several genetic mutations that looked to be either irrelevant, or helpful. Bringsli would much rather have headed off to play in the garden, but I left him for a super serious analysis.
Lobes
Brain lobes include important information about how the different parts of the brain work, from how concepts are learned to how a Norn goes through the decision process. These genes can greatly affect the learning process.
120 Emb B MutDup Lobe #= 6 Suscept State Rule: output TRUE input end end 1 end end
In the standard Norn genome, all values after “input” are set to “end.” This would have an effect on Bringsli only if the changed value occurred before the first “end” tag: Anything after this is ignored, as the lobe considered the state rule to have ended. Thank goodness for this, because this is one area I definitely need to spend some more time in understanding completely! In other words, this would have no effect on Bringsli.
Receptors
Chemical receptors define parameters for a certain chemical. When these parameters are met, an element in the Creature is affected. These genes can increase drives, define life stages, control fertility, and more.
50 Emb B MutDupCut Creature, Drive Levels Sleepiness, chem=Sleepiness, thresh=0, nom=1, gain=255, features=Analogue
Be prepared for another minor discussion: The short story is that this mutation is extremely minor, and should have no obvious effects. This receptor controls how the sleepiness drive will be changed based on the level of the sleepiness chemical in the Norn. In a standard Norn, the nominal value is set at zero: This simply states what the base value will be for the sleepiness drive. Bringsli will technically always be sleepy, but at such a small level that he should not experience any differences.
Emitters
Chemical emitters define specific conditions within a Creature in order to affect chemicals. Some examples include experiencing stress from excessive drives, becoming cold due to environmental conditions, and more.
136 Emb B MutDupCut Creature, Sensorimotor, I’m Asleep, chem=NONE, thresh=0, samp=64, gain=10, features=Inverted Digital
Here is where a mutation has an actual effect on Bringsli! In the standard Norn genome, this emitter is associated with need for pleasure (NFP). Bringsli’s mutation has no associated chemical. Normally, when a Norn sleeps, this chemical emitter injects him or her with NFP. The idea here is that once awake, the Norn will then seek to alleviate this need. Bringsli will not experience this change while sleeping. Although the end effect is still fairly minor, this mutation could be the beginning of Norns who sleep better. Or maybe not… Time would tell!
Put a group of male and female Norns together, and an egg will almost certainly follow! Ure was absolutely overrun with the ladies, and many of them looked very similar to one another. Ytteren looked like the female version of him, Ramsvika and Stokka were nearly indistinguishable, and Aldra only differed from Valla in her size. It was Ramsvika who became pregnant, near the spot where my beloved Mevik passed away. A final tribute to such a wonderful Norn.
Nordmela made her way to the garden and incubator to hang out with little Bringsli. That left Pettvika as the lone Norn in the cellar. I expected her to be extremely lonely and sad, yet I found her enjoying the shower with a honeypot. Soon after, she showed off her hootch drinking skills… And proceeded to pass out. Oh, Pettvika! At least she was having a good time with her solitude. Would it last very long? Check back soon for the answer!
