Evolving From Nothing

The Collector squirmed its way around the jungle floor.

It had lost almost all of its adaptations, but perhaps most distressingly, it lost its connection to the greater Collective hive mind. This was unacceptable, and it could not understand how this had happened.

There was not a single weapon throughout the known galaxy capable of severing the psionic link that Collectors had with the Collective.

And yet, the reality did not change that the link was gone. The Collector adjusted to its disadvantages. Without the psionic link it held with the Collective mind, it could not signal its location and its access to the Collective database of shared knowledge became extremely limited.

However, it still retained some basic functions that allowed it to survive.

It was still composed of segments of ultrafiber muscle, though far less dense and powerful than in its original state as it could not possibly sustain such organic material with how little energy it had now.

However, the muscle still allowed for quick, undulating movement reminiscent of a snake slithering across the leafed soil.

The Collector still retained basic senses that came with reducing itself to a larva. It had lost its sight, but fine hairs dotting its body were sensitive to all motion, allowing it to conjure up detailed, 360-degree imagery of its environment.

Sound also registered through these vibration-sensitive hairs, allowing it to realize that as of now, its immediate surroundings were safe.

Likely, the crash-landing had scared off local fauna.

This also indicated that there was little intelligent life in the area.

Perfect to consume and regain strength. However, this planet was incredibly different. The Collector could not match any of the plants or small animals it encountered with equivalents in its memory bank.

This was truly a wholly new and foreign planet, and with it came dangers just as novel that put it on constant guard.

Until it could develop its strength, it had to lie low. It checked its status for now, nothing how much it had degraded in strength:

>>>

Metamorphosis Level 100>1

Biomass Level: 0/100

Stored Genetic Material:

*CRITICAL LOSS OF STORED GENETIC MATERIAL DETECTED*

-NONE

Adaptations:

<Internal Systems>

*CRITICAL LOSS OF ADAPTATIONS DETECTED. REMAINING ADAPTATIONS:*

-Ultrafiber Musculature Rank 1

<External Systems>

*CRITICAL LOSS OF ADAPTATIONS DETECTED. REMAINING ADAPTATIONS:*

-Sensitive Hairs Rank 1

<Weapons Systems>

*CRITICAL LOSS OF ADAPTATIONS DETECTED. REMAINING ADAPTATIONS:*

-NONE

Current Form:

-Grub

>>>

The Collector did not feel any panic, nor was it ever programmed to do so in any degree that would severely cripple its functions.

This level of functions loss was within its observed calculations. It focused its mental and physical efforts instead on building up biomass to reach the next metamorphosis level.

The Collector spent its initial time feasting on plant-life, chewing dead leaves fallen from the trees high above. Its once proud, building-sized jaws were reduced to a circular mouth lined with small, stubby teeth.

>>>

*Biomass gained (+5)*

Biomass Level: 0>5/100

>>>

The Collector kept eating leaves, branches, whatever it could gets its mouth on. The voice in its head was the memory bank of the Collective – a repository of information implanted in every Collector at birth and useful for recognizing new species and developing new abilities.

Though losing the psionic link meant that the Collective memory system was limited, the basics were still the same.

Evolution centered around two elements: biomass and genetic material.

Biomass meant the consumption of raw organic material. The more complex the biomass and the more of it there was, the better, though quality certainly took precedence over quantity. In this case, it was plant matter.

Maxing out on biomass would allow the Collector to metamorphose to increase its strength and potentially change its form based on what it had eaten and thereby gain new adaptations.

Metamorphosis would also allow it to redevelop an adaptation from the Collective's vast evolutionary arsenal, though at its current state that ability would be at a much, much weaker version just like how its ultrafiber muscles were significantly atrophied compared to the sinews padding its original, towering form that could support thousands of tons.

The adaptations themselves fell under the categories of internal, external, and weapons based systems. Internal and external systems generally indicated adaptations that would help, as their titles indicated, internal and external parts of the Collector's body.

Weapons systems were offensive bio-weapons the Collector could develop, but many of them required first a solidly built up base of internal and external systems to support them.

Genetic material was any new genetic material it could consume that would grant it new forms and, by extension, the powers associated with those forms.

As of now, these plants were nothing special, providing nothing new.

Plant-life tended to develop similarly across planets with water, so it was no surprise that their genetic structure was not sufficiently distinct or special enough to produce abilities with.

Were they poisonous plants, then the matter would be different, but the Collector encountered none.

In a pinch, the Collector could also sacrifice biomass to heal itself by entering into a restorative stasis, though this was ill-advised because it rendered the Collector immobile and wasted biomass at high rates which, especially in later levels of metamorphosis, would require increasingly larger volumes to replenish.

Ultimately, though, to gain any kind of new form and power, the Collector would have to metamorphose first.

Right now, the Collector wanted to focus on gaining enough biomass to metamorphose and redevelop the hardened carapace over its currently soft body regardless of what form it needed to assume.

Survival was its top priority and it felt too exposed right now.

Any good blaster or rail rifle could punch a hole through it.

So the Collector kept eating, munching a decent clearing across the crater it had landed in.

Along the way, it gobbled up insects of various kinds here and there.

>>>

*Biomass gained (+10)*

Biomass Level: 15/100

*New genetic material gained*

Stored Genetic Material:

-Jungle Spider

-Black Ant

-Striped Centipede

>>>

The Collector took a moment to analyze its options but found them lacking.

Certainly, these insectoid forms were interesting, but they did not hold particularly unique powers. Weak venom and small wings, mainly, but perhaps when enhanced and spliced with its own ultrafiber muscles and soon to be developed organic-hyperalloy carapace, these forms would be more useful.

The environmental temperature started to lower.

Though the Collector lacked ocular systems in its grub form, it did possess sensitive hairs and a mind capable of creating a general visual map of its surroundings based on vibrational input.

It sensed that little light would penetrate the thick canopy of tree leaves above it, explaining the cool temperatures on the forest floor, but now it sensed an even more gradual yet marked drop in warmth.

The Collector judged it was nearing night, and from a few basic calculations, deduced that this planet had a 24-hour daily cycle, so any creatures it encountered now were likely to be nocturnal.

By now, local fauna had started to gain courage and re-populate the area.

The Collector could feel the stirs and heat of small mammals scurrying about, the rustle of creatures in the tree branches, and in the far distance, the thud of some sizable creature that the Collector knew not to near until it was far stronger.

The Collector did not indiscriminately chew on plant matter anymore now. It did not want to attract too much attention.

Yet it did need to quickly gain biomass to metamorphose.

Metamorphosing would also allow it to change its form to something a little more efficient than a worm, so it had to eat. It decided to be riskier and attempt hunting some of the small mammals scurrying about.

They would be far more complex and laden with higher quality biomass.

The Collector crawled into a patch of thick grass and flattened its pliable body so that it was concealed.

Then it waited, feeling with its hairs for something to near.

A short while later, something did.

A rabbit, small and hungry. Its fur was midnight black and perfectly camouflaged in the darkness, but the camouflage was useless against the Collector which saw not with eyes, but feeling.

It hopped forwards to the Collector's hiding spot, wanting to munch on the tall, nourishing grass.

The Collector was absolutely still and patient. It had the collective knowledge of countless predatory species across many planets, so waiting and ambushing like this was a familiar tactic ingrained into every cell of its body.

The rabbit made one little hop too close, and the Collector surged forwards, its ultrafiber muscles straining as its maw opened up, clasping on the rabbit's leg.

The rabbit mewled as it kicked and tried to escape, but the Collector's grip was unbreakable by such a weak creature. The Collector sucked in, its segmented body undulating as it forced the rabbit further and further into its mouth, swallowing it bit by bit whole.

When it drew in the rabbit completely, slurping in its ears like noodles, it checked its status.

>>>

*Biomass gained (+35)*

Biomass level: 50/100

>>>

The Collector was pleased.

The rabbit had provided a good amount of biomass, but it also held something even more precious: memories.

Non-sentient, dumber creatures such as the rabbit had scarcely few memories to retrieve, but there were some tied with strong instincts that the Collector could easily pluck out.

Not that it was possible to truly extract accurate memories from more sentient, intelligent species. Individually, cut off from the support of the Collective, it did not have the processing power to extract full memories from sentient beings.

Memories from sentient beings tended to be a jumble, a sea of remembered and forgotten thoughts laced with hidden knowledge and emotions and any other manner of variable that could diminish the accuracy of the memories.

But the Collector would deal with that issue when it came to it. For now, it sifted through the rabbit's simpler mind.

Among the rabbit's memories included awareness of some of the predators in this jungle and also the location to the rabbit's den where its offspring lay.

The den was not far.

The Collector slithered its way over, wary not to alert any dangerous presences. It knew now there were large felines and short, white-skinned humanoids in the jungle that lay in wait to ambush just as it had done to the rabbit.

Thankfully, it did not encounter any such creatures as it found the den – a little dugout concealed by taller grasses and foliage a small way from the crash site.

The Collector forced its way into the den. Though it was larger than the rabbit, its worm-like form was malleable, able to squeeze into most surfaces.

Inside the den was a golden treasure: a litter of twelve rabbits squealing in a terror enforced by instinct as they gazed at the hideous, saw-like mouth of the Collector.

The Collector swallowed them whole. It did not want to lose any biomass to stray bleeding.

And as it consumed the babies, another boon came.

With its 360-degree range of sensory vision, it sensed the aggressive approach of another rabbit, likely the male counterpart of the female it consumed, attempting to bite the Collector's tail outside the den in defense of his offspring.

While the Collector's mouth ground up the babies, its tail lashed backwards like a club as the rabbit leaped forwards to bite, striking the small creature on the head and breaking its neck.

Without wasting time, the Collector withdrew from the burrow and went to consuming the father. With the whole family in its stomach, it checked its status once more.

>>>

*Biomass gained (+50)*

Biomass level 100/100

*Metamorphosis available*

*New genetic material available*

Stored Genetic Material:

-Midnight Rabbit

-Jungle Spider

-Black Ant

-Striped Centipede

>>>

Excellent.

Now the Collector could finally change out its form to something more agile and suitable to the forest and also gain a carapace to defend itself with.

However, with each metamorphosis level it gained, it knew that undergoing further metamorphoses would become increasingly difficult, requiring more and more biomass.

To reach its original state as a 200,000-ton paragon of annihilation would likely require consuming most of this planet.

But a start was a start.

And so, the Collector underwent its metamorphosis, hiding in a thicket of grass as a cocoon of soft, beating flesh morphed around it. Its larval body melted into pure, primordial genetic ooze.

From here, creation was its plaything.

First off, it had to decide on a new form.

It could choose to consume a maximum of three stored genetic samples and splice them together to create a new form or go with just one or two.

Had the Collector still been linked to the Collective hive mind, it could have done so much more.

It would have been able to process more than three genetic samples. It could have redeveloped adaptations that did not originally belong to its initial warrior form strain, instead opting to spread parasitic devastation or disease through infector or dominator strains.

For now, though, it was limited to restoring only what it originally came to this planet with.

Regardless, it was inefficient to waste mental energy on hypotheticals.

Either way, its next form would be what it would be stuck with until it reached its second metamorphosis, so it had to choose wisely.

Unfortunately, it only had one mammal and various insects to choose from.

The rabbit, as a mammal, would grant a warm-blooded body that could more efficiently use the ultrafiber musculature adaptation the Collector already had. Not to mention that the rabbit already possessed fur which was compatible with the sensitive hairs adaptation.

Compatibility was important for the Collector could not infinitely grow its adaptations atop its body. They had to match the creature bases it utilized to some degree lest their manifestation cost too much biomass to manifest.

The insectoid forms would provide extra limbs and a familiarity with carapaces that it could use later to more efficiently re-develop its organic-hyperalloy carapace.

From the beginning, the Collective formed the organic-hyperalloy through the study and melding of hundreds of different insectoid species across countless planets.

Making sure to take forms that could easily interface with the Collector's existing adaptations also had the benefit of speeding up the metamorphosis process.

A crucial factor to consider as right now, mid-metamorphosis, the Collector was absolutely defenseless, easily killed if anything or anyone popped the soft, fleshy cocoon it evolved itself in.

In a rush, the Collector morphed together the rabbit, spider, and centipede genes.

______________

The metamorphosis was quick. The Collector was not working with difficult or complicated genetic material, after all.

In the span of ten minutes, the Collector went from primordial goo into a fully formed...thing. If the denizens of this world could witness it, they would surely scream in terror.

It fused what it believed to be all the useful traits of a rabbit, spider, and centipede together, and the resulting amalgamation paid no heed to conventional senses of aesthetics.

>>>

Metamorphosis Level 1>2

Biomass Level: 100/100>0/100

Stored Genetic Material:

-Black Ant

Adaptations:

<Internal Systems>

-Ultrafiber Muscles Rank 1>2

<External Systems>

-Sensitive Hairs Rank 1>2

-*NEW* Organic-Hyperalloy Carapace Rank 1

<Weapons Systems>

-NONE

Current Form:

Jungle Spider/Striped Centipede/Midnight Rabbit

>>>

To any of the sentient species on this world, it would have been an abomination.

The Collector's legs and body were that of a rabbit's for it believed the rabbit's legs most suited to extensive movement. It also assumed the rabbit's body in order to have a more developed, warm-blooded circulatory system so as to fuel its muscles better.

However, its skin was covered with a gleaming, white-plated carapace that looked like a full suit of bony armor. In the seams of the armor, where the joints were exposed to maximize mobility, fur poked out, standing straight and sensitive to all manner of vibrations in the air and land.

Though its general body was that of a rabbit's, small front legs included, its head was all but.

It had assumed a centipede's head, armored and patterned in the red and black bands of the Striped Centipede.

Twin pincers lined either side of its flat, hardened head, acting like cleavers with which to slice apart or crush anything unlucky to near it.

Multiple eyes dotted its head - a trait from the spider - providing heightened compound vision to pick out small details.

Its rabbit feet ended in hideously curved claws dripping with centipede venom. Its tail was long and bulbed at the end, forming into a spined spinneret that could eject powerful webbing.

Four arachnid limbs sprouted from its back, becoming versatile tools with which to stab, slash, balance upon, climb, and grab with.

All in all, this monstrosity of nature stood a meter tall, far larger than any insect or rabbit.

The Collector clicked its centipede mandibles in satisfaction. This form would be competent in the jungle, capable of competing even with the jungle felines that roamed these wilds.

Knowing this, the Collector set to hunting for real now. It now had the power and durability to hunt larger and stronger creatures for biomass.

And it needed to - each successive metamorphosis level needed significantly more biomass than the one before to fuel it.

But every level would make things easier, ranking up all adaptations, increasing their efficacy to minor degrees until at ranks in multiples of five, they could develop sub-adaptations to significantly boost their capabilities.

In time, the Collector would once more reign over this world, heralding its end.