A Description of the Sho'tokir Race

The Sho'tokir Race and their alliances are described herein. Descriptions of further players on the galactic stage will follow. Caption to left depicts the view from Lia, Vellusek's largest moon.

Sho'tokir are metaplasmic entities from the tidally locked ocean planet Velussek in orbit around Proxima Tiaki, the M-type red dwarf neighbor of Kor Tiaki Alpha and Beta. Proxima Tiaki sheds much less light than its siblings, creating a habitable zone that is perilously close to the star. It is on the first planet of this red fireball that the inky and amorphous Sho'tokir dwell. The Sho'tokir are an aquatic race that metabolize microwave radiation and infrared light as the basis of their metaphasic physiology. They can shape their bodies freely, and like advanced mollusks on other planets can cause the cells on the surface of their bodies to emit complex light patterns. Similar patterns can also be formed by manipulation of the electrical domains of their skins, creating complex circuits of electricity that can be used to communicate, create phase manipulation effects, operate interfaces, and control the android opsuits (organism protection suits) that they wear to give themselves physical form when interacting with humans and oluundi.

Sho'tokir have the unique physiological ability to manipulate the phases of matter using electromagnetic fields formed by the cells of their bodies. This gives them the ability to change the physical characteristics of matter, including inertia, effective mass, and various other properties. Individually, a sho'tokir might shape mass equivalent to a few kilograms; but when groups of sho'tokir get together on a project, they can reshape loose matter found in the waters that surround them into surprisingly huge and complex structures. Such groups of sho'tokir are called mingles, and it is one of the two modes in which sho'tokir exist in life. When not engaged in a mingle, a sho'tokir is said to be solo. Mingles are groups of sho'tokir that are physically linked with one another in a mass of metaplasm while solo sho'tokir are physically separate from their kin.

The sho'tokir are possessed of four genders, each of which is specifically required for reproduction. The genders are the archons and heralds of the male spectrum and the recognizers and weavers of the female spectrum. Sho'tokir reproductive activities happen in mingles called ruts that range from four individuals to thousands. Ruts of fewer than four individuals are not uncommon, but the history of the Sho'tokir is replete with examples of condemnation of the activity as inappropriately hedonistic and anti-social (such attitudes are considered outmoded on modern-day Velussek). Though the gender of the individual sho'tokir has little bearing on their calling in life, they are nevertheless proud of the the distinctive qualities of their genders, and the cultural record reflects the nuances of their inter-gender relations.

Velussek is almost entirely an ocean world. On the few island peaks that rise above the water, ice and snow inevitably collect, until by glacial action the ice falls into the ocean and melts. Were Velussek not mostly ocean, its atmosphere would have long since collapsed on the land, rendering the planet completely unsuitable for the development of life. Because it is an ocean planet, the little heat provided by Proxima Tiaki is enough to keep the planet's oceans liquid on both the daytime and nighttime sides by the process of convection.

The Sho'tokir have mastered metaphysical abilities completely foreign to their human and oluundi neighbors. They are the masters of hyperspeed space travel, phase manipulation and discrimination, and artificial sentience. In the decades since humanity's meeting with this species, humans and oluundi have made great profit studying these disciplines under their sho'tokir mentors. A specific set of technologies is responsible for the success of anthropo-sho'tokir diplomacy and relations, chief of which is the opsuit, a device with highly specialized protective qualities that allows different species the ability to interact socially in inhospitable climates. For humans, opsuits are a form of battle dress that are worn by personnel in exoclimates and aboard starships; but for sho'tokir, the technology is significantly more advanced because of their requirement for an android frame to carry them through the air-filled environments of their human and oluundi hosts.

Sho'tokir use custom opsuits when working in space or interacting with aliens. An opsuit is an Organism Protection Suit, a protective environment suit worn by all space-faring races except for the race of sentient machines called Toys who have their own life-support systems built into their bodies. To use an opsuit, a sho'tokir is physically injected into a small cylinder of highly protective materials called a liner. The inside of the liner is covered with control systems and sensors that let the sho'tokir interface with the opsuit's systems, granting complete control over the suit. The opsuits of humans and oluundi are different than those of the sho'tokir because sho'tokir suits are also fully qualified androids (albeit generally non-sentient). The sho'tokir's liner is secured in the opsuit's chest cavity behind a heavily armored sternum. Inside, the occupant can interact socially with human and oluundi crewmembers, friends, and business partners. The faceplate of a sho'tokir opsuit is a complex array of microservos that can articulate the emotional state of the suit's occupant. It is a common sight on both Caszyrri and Oluu to see sho'tokir in their opsuits, walking and talking with ease. Many sho'tokir are known to have androne bodyguards or servants; but in a few rare cases, they call them friends.

The average sho'tokir has a mass of about two kilograms and a size that ranges from several cubic centimeters to over a cubic meter in volume, depending on the activity of the individual. They are black in coloration when not illuminated by the light patterns on their skin, and are any color of the spectrum when they choose to pulse with light.



© Copyright 2012 to 2015 C. H. Watson. All rights reserved.

Author's Note

The name of this type of entity is capitalized when referring to them collectively as a race, in the same way that Mankind is capitalized. Lower case instances of the word are analogous to the words "human" or "person" in a human context.