Amp Jellies (Celestial Organism)

...welcome to the space jam...

This article is a WIP created during World Anvil Summer Camp 2022 and contains incomplete sections. Please stay tuned!

Amp Jellies are small gelatinous creatures found in the Centraleasque, Luridity Express, and Centralvest zones of Luridity Galaxy, typically near asteroid fields. They appear in various shades of pink and have 8 "limbs", connected by a sturdy membrane, much like webbing between the toes of planet-bound water creatures. At the tip of each limb is a bundle of tiny feelers. In motion, the jelly's limbs point downward, and they appear like floating parachutes against the backdrop of stars. When anchored to a surface, the points spread out in every direction until they could almost be mistaken for a field of flowers in a gentle breeze.
Except, space has no such breeze.
Amp Jellies have two states: hyperactive--or hungry--and stationary, the latter of which dominates their behavior and indicates they are actively feeding.  During their hyperactive state, a jelly moves by a series of chemical chain reactions. As their cells die from the inhospitable temperatures of space, cell regeneration occurs instantaneously, causing small explosions on the surface of its body.

These reactions push the jelly's body in the opposite direction of the replaced cells. Cells regenerate so rapidly as they move that they thrive in outer space, unable to die so long as they are not far from their next source of food.
Eventually, cell regeneration slows, and the jelly's energy must be replenished. At this point, their bodies activate an organic variant of ferromagnetism, allowing amp jellies to magnetically pull themselves along to the nearest compatible food source, affixing to surfaces containing nominal amounts of iron and other heavy metals which they ingest.

Ghet Rail's Nemesis

In the years since their discovery, and particularly since the implementation of space trains, amp jellies have migrated further afield, leaving the raw minerals in asteroids in favor of the bounty of refined nutrients that exist in train cars of the galactic railways.
They attach to the ferrous surfaces of the trains to feed, typically doing so once a train is in motion, which experts believe simulates the amp jellies' natural environment of an asteroid or comet tumbling in space. Feeding jellies slowly deteriorate the metal used in space train construction.

Maintenance by by DaniAdventures (with Midjourney & Canva)

Ghet Rail Train Coming In For Repairs

Step Three: Profit

Though the amp jellies' cell regeneration capabilities do not appear to be replicable on a scale that is any more efficient than other varieties of nano- or biotechnologies available today, they remain a valuable asset. A byproduct of their feeding and preparation for cell regeneration is the chemical Amphrodisia, a chemical in turn critical to a number of products patented by the ONE corporation. ONE has an exclusive contract to maintain space train hull integrity by dispatching harvesting teams to remove amp jellies from the sides of any train traveling the Ghet Rail before severe damage can be done.

From Surfers To Specialists

The daredevils who discovered Amp Jellies originally were simply surfing the trains.
Once ONE discovered the application of the jellies' chemical makeup, these risk-takers transitioned from adventuring and seeking extreme free travel methods to the challenging profession of harvesting these creatures while getting a free ride to their next destination. 
Given that in order to collect them you have to be clinging to the outside of a fast-moving space vehicle while dressed in an oxygen-bearing pack and a not-indestructible suit to protect you from the frigid vacuum of space, the pay is adequate...if you're someone who enjoys train-surfing to begin with.  Continuing to pull in a good haul will definitely net those loved ones more funds than a death would pay out, however, the package for an Amp Jelly Farmer's family in case of demise is quite lovely should the risk overcome the reward.

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