>>5404166>>5404167>>5404173>>5404174>>5404177>>5404179>>5404188>Far beneath the blinding, blasted surface of ice and stone, a Flounder Feeder drifts in the abyss. It is little different from the rest of its species but it is that little difference that, as sensory nerves, bundled and synched together over millions of generations, flicker and become something more, brings a fundamental change. Higher than instinct, a lone thought passes the Flounder Feeder’s mind. Food. Against the odds, the Flounder Feeder has finally achieved true consciousness.The Flounder Feeder has developed an internal cluster of nerves capable of transmitting bioelectricity between themselves at extreme speeds and staggering intricacy. This lone, tiny brain is the first of its kind in the narrow band ecosystem. For the first time, conscious thought has arisen on this planet and life will never be the same. At the moment, it is a very rudimentary and primitive, supporting a mostly subconscious mind that’s loosely equivalent to a Terran insect. It has no capacity for introspection, planning, or reasoning about other life forms but it can, to a limited degree, comprehend its surroundings, learn enough to grasp that certain scents and vibrations are tied to certain creatures and sensations, and register a profound discomfort from cancer, as its nervous system isn’t advanced enough to feel true pain. This gives it a slight advantage in that the Flounder Feeder can adapt to unexpected circumstances much quicker and accidental cannibalism is less likely to occur. It also gives it a heavy disadvantage in that it requires a high amount of nutrients, forty percent of its current intake, that the Flounder Feeder must work overtime to provide. This causes the population growth to further decline to only a mild increase over time but this is more than sufficient for natural selection.
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