The Clash

The rapidly decreasing Softie population attempted a last counter-stroke 
inspired by the Infinite Mind: genetic intrusion. This successfully drove 
the Cryspo back and, as the epidemic threatened to harm the Queen of their 
colony, the Passage to the Cryspo home world, Cry, was blocked.

The genetic intrusion unleashed during the clash between the Softie and the 
Cryspo resulted in a combined genetic structure. In the following generations, 
biomolecular chaos erased all the original Softie and Cryspo and formed the 
sinister Bouillon of Spawn. The majority of them had no chance of survival but 
after a while, three basic varieties of the species-the bios-began to form from 
the diversity of mutant Lostie. They were all characterized by a similar 
metabolism and psychobiological uniformity.

The Cryspo anatomy proved to be more advanced and better suited for the local 
habitat; the Softie complex nervous system proved superior in terms of 
versatility. The Lostie inherited these characteristics from their ancestors. 
The four basic worlds of the Chain are now inhabited by the three bios, whose 
diversity traces back to the functional division of a Cryspo colony.

The Cryspo

The Cryspo colony encountered by the pioneer Softie appeared to be a highly 
organized collective mind of insectoid organisms. However, all was not how it 
seemed. Only one division of the Cryspo manifested intelligence, and the Softie 
remained ignorant of their existence. It was the Larvae-subterranean creatures-
incapable of fast movement and relatively weak, who ran the colony. A 
complicated system of scents was used to control the other divisions of the 
colony.

These worm-like bearers of mind were at the top of the colony hierarchy, with 
the Queen at their head. The Queen did not possess her own consciousness or 
identity; she merely integrated the mental primitives of the Larvae. Human 
individualism was alien to her intrinsically collective mind.

Territorial expansion of Cryspo was highly organized, and began with the 
invasion of the Queen's satellites-the Larvae-into the area to be occupied. 
The Larvae controlled the Cryspo combat troops from deep underground by 
generating pheromones. The Larvae consisted of a simple biological structure 
with a slow metabolism which resulted in a life span lasting eons.

All the creatures in the universe live according to their inherent nature. 
The Softie possessed a restlessness of mind and spirit that urged them to 
ceaselessly search for their raison d'Étre. Cryspo were free from such high 
matters: their leading strength lay in the integration of diverse beings by 
the Queen in a complicated but well-organized biological system.

The Clash extracted these drives from both Cryspo and Softie. The few bios 
produced during the Bouillon of Spawn capable of physical survival inherited 
a combination of racial instincts producing obscure urges which had lost any 
meaning.

The Lostie

During the Clash, while defending themselves from the ferocious Cryspo, the last 
generation of the Softie built underground enclave cities-escaves-which became 
home for their descendents, the Lostie. Although the Lostie inherited their 
brains from the Softie, their subconscious integrated many weird psychic 
features of their Cryspo ancestors, which emerged as somewhat bizarre behavior 
in the mutants. It is the influence of these instincts that has resulted in 
the bios existing in urban communities-the bunches. They endlessly practice cult 
rituals, the only reason for existence they have. The bunches have survived only 
by strict adherence to the conservation laws that developed over time.

A bunch cycle consists of several stages, each of which is closely connected to 
the physiology of one of the bios. The completion of each such function depends 
on the scent of a particular Larva which serves as a catalyst. The complicated 
Cryspo mechanism of controlling the colony through a system of scents evolved 
into a sophisticated cult, practiced by the Lostie. It involved great reverence 
of and addiction to the scents of the now hidden and unfathomable Larvae who 
still slowly crawl underground, disunited without their connection to the Queen, 
lost long ago when the Passage to Cry was sealed.

