Plastic Spore

Urzen bacteria bio-engineered to produce organic plastic compounds

In Deep Zone of the fallen Urzen Empire, an unexplored multitude of technological secrets remains hidden. Among the lingering wonders of the late Precursor world lies a wondrous and dangerous bacterium, a tiny organism invisible to the naked eye. Engineered by Urzen technologists confronted with the scarcity of oil reserves in the post-apocalyptic world, the plastic spores were developed to provide an alternate source of durable, organic plastic polymer. The Urzen people feted the discovery of the plastic spores as a miracle of science, proof that human ingenuity would endure the Cataclysm. But, as with so much left behind in the fallen west, the spores' lingering legacy is not the promise of wondrous innovation but the threat of looming disaster.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The plastic spore is a rod-shaped bacteria related to the bacterial strain nitrosomonas europaea, which was modified by Urzen biologists to create the plastic bug species. Like the europaea strain, nitrosomonas multivinciens possesses flagella that protrude out from its protoplasmic core and through its double cell wall. These simple protruding organelles are used for locomotion and are sensitive to chemicals and temperatures in the cell's environment.

Biological Traits

Realizing the inherent danger of an organic organism that feeds on biomatter to create endless chains of inert plastic waste, the Urzen technologists engineered nitrosomonas multivinciens to require significant amounts of hydrogen and oxygen that ought to only be available in a controlled laboratory environment. Without such a controlled medium, the plastic spores cannot maintain healthy biostasis and are unable to generate the surplus energy required to anabolize their organic polymer byproducts.

Theoretically, if the plastic spores' metabolic priming conditions were to be satisfied in an unbounded natural environment the anabolic process could enter a chain-reaction phase that would result in an ever-multiplying colony of bacteria forming an ever-expanding blob of amorphous plastic waste.

Dietary Needs and Habits

The plastic spore's metabolic process is aerobic in nature and involves the catabolism of ammonia combined with oxygen. Unlike the nitrosomonas europaea, however, plastic spore metabolism doesn't produce nitrates but rather anabolizes local carbon and hydrogen into fast bonding polymer molecules that chain forming a hard, durable organic compound that resembles synthetic plastic polymers such as polyethylene.

Additional Information

Uses, Products & Exploitation

The people of Urzen used the plastic spores as an alternate source of industrial plastics when the increasing scarcity of fossil fuels rendered the manufacture of conventional hydrocarbon polymers impractical. By engineering the spore bacteria, the Urzen developed a reliable means to satisfy their industrial needs and maintain their technological edge in the harsh years of the early Post-Cataclysmic Era.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

The plastic spores are known outside of the Deep Zone and there are even some wild lands in Merika known as "plastic forests" where the bacteria have temporarily produced localized "blooms" of organic polymer resembling leaves and flowers sprouting from decayed matter. These blooms are limited by the chemical composition of the local environment, however, and once these are expended the optimal conditions for biostasis cease and polymer anabolism ceases as well.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

The plastic bug seeks protein-rich media in which to thrive and multiply. It extends its flagella organelles looking for chemical traces of ammonia released by decaying organic matter. When it detects these compounds, the plastic bug bacterium moves in and begins metabolizing its environment.

Scientific Name

Nitrosomonas multivinciens