A Tale of Two Eggs (and Their Mutations)

In a short but exciting period, my Albia has seen its first two eggs! The blue one is the child of Kratos and Raine, and the green one is Presea's and Regal's. I don't intend to hatch any second generation Norns until I get through all the first generation genome files, so we won't be seeing what's inside these for a while. However, in C1, the .gen file is created at the moment of conception, so we can take a peek at what's in store!

The Norn in the first egg has some very strange mutations. Here is the dDNA Analyzer output comparing the new baby Norn's gene (top) with its father's (bottom):

305 Emb B MutDupCut Creature, Sensorimotor, Invol 5='sleep', chem=Sleepiness, thresh=230, nom=1, gain=255, features=Analogue
305 Emb B MutDupCut Creature, Sensorimotor, Invol 5='sleep', chem=Sleepiness, thresh=230, nom=0, gain=255, features=Analogue

This is a receptor gene that triggers an involuntary action, sleep, when the Norn is very sleepy. According the the write-up on receptors at the Creatures Developer Resource, the nominal value "defines the default or base value used to stimulate the locus." Since this is only a change of 1 out of 255, I would generally write this off as a minor mutation, but since it's gone from 0 to a positive value, there may be something to it.

124 Chi B MutDupCut Brain, Decision i/ps, # Loose dens/cells type 0, chem=decASH1, thresh=0, samp=1, gain=255, features=Analogue/Clear Source
124 Emb B MutDupCut Brain, Decision i/ps, # Loose dens/cells type 0, chem=decASH1, thresh=0, samp=1, gain=255, features=Analogue/Clear Source

This is a mutation that affects learning. In Creatures, learning is quite complex, and my understanding of it is limited, but here goes. The gene involved is the decASH1 emitter. DecASH1 is short for the very cumbersome decision layer atrophy suppressing hormone, which seems to have the fairly uncomplicated role of freeing up dendrites in the brain's decision lobe so new connections can form. In an unmutated Norn, this gene switches on when the Norn is born. However, this mutation causes it to be dormant until childhood, which begins at about 20 minutes old. I think this Norn will have difficulty making decisions, but only as a baby.

226 Emb B MutDupCut 2*Antigen0 + 4*Glucose => 1*Antibody1 + 1*Hotness; half-life = 88.
226 Emb B MutDupCut 2*Antigen1 + 4*Glucose => 1*Antibody1 + 1*Hotness; half-life = 88.

This mutation causes the Norn to produce Antibody 1 in response to Antigen 0 instead of Antigen 1. This leaves him or her with no defense against an infection that produces Antigen 1.

109 Emb B Mut 'I've stated need' causes sig=0 GS neu=255 int=0, , , Sensed Even When Asleep => 66*Tiredness-- + 77*Sleepiness-- + 16*Boredom++ + 16*Coldness++
109 Emb B Mut 'I am sleeping' causes sig=0 GS neu=255 int=0, , , Sensed Even When Asleep => 66*Tiredness-- + 77*Sleepiness-- + 16*Boredom++ + 16*Coldness++

This stimulus mutation is really weird. It means that, instead of receiving a decrease in sleepiness and tiredness from sleeping, this Norn gets the same benefits from complaining about high drives! I can't decide if this is helpful or not. On the one hand, the Norn shouldn't need to sleep, just complain about being tired. On the other hand, he or she will still have instincts to sleep when tired. In addition, I've read that Creatures process learning and instincts while asleep, like real animals, so sleep is a necessity for other reasons than satisfying needs. Coupled with the sleep-related mutation above, I'm just not sure what to think.

244 Emb B Mut 'Invol 1='lay egg' causes sig=0 GS neu=255 int=0, , ,  => 32*Pain + 8*Tiredness + 8*Fear + 16*Hexokinase
244 Emb B Mut 'Invol 3='cough' causes sig=0 GS neu=255 int=0, , ,  => 32*Pain + 8*Tiredness + 8*Fear + 16*Hexokinase

Did I say that last one was weird? No, this mutation is weird. This replaces the stimulus "cough" with "lay egg." I think this means the Norn gets no discomfort from coughing, but feels the effects of coughing when laying an egg. The other "lay egg" gene is intact as well.

Whew! Now on to the green egg. It has... absolutely no mutations! There, that was painless.

Raine recovered quickly from her pregnancy and took off on a journey back across the ocean to the caves. The Norn in the blue egg is hers and Kratos's. I'm glad there will be some Purple Mountain/Forest crosses in the next generation. Surprisingly, Raine is one of the worse eaters so far. As a Forest Norn, I had expected her to eat more readily, but I often have to remind her what to do with food. I suspect she simply feels she has better things to think about.

Presea has not fared so well. She doesn't look it here, but she must be suffering from post-postpartum depression, because since laying her egg, she refuses to eat! I've brought her carrots and cheese, and she's currently living right next to the beehives, but she won't touch any of it. She just wanders back and forth, watching the bees. Her health has dropped all the way to the low 40s, becoming a serious cause for concern.