Resonant
| Resonant | |
|---|---|
| Sapient | Yes |
| Universe | Cytoverse |
“I found it amazing that the resonants had developed space-age industry under those limitations. But I guessed when members of your species commonly lived thousands of years, you had other advantages. And there was something hardcore about an entire civilization made up of singing crystals. ”
Resonants are an alien member species of the Superiority.[2] They have the appearance of living crystals.[3]
Appearance and Anatomy
Resonant bodies are made up of veins and clusters of crystals that they can rapidly grow at will. The crystals themselves cannot move, but new crystals can be extended out from a resonant's body onto adjacent surfaces.[3] Their bodies grow constantly, and they must find a place to put excess crystals if they do not need them. A resonant's body can therefore take nearly any shape; they often cover available space until it resembles the interior of a geode.[3][1]
All of the crystals grown by a resonant are the same color, and the color varies between individuals. Known resonants have blue crystals with pink or violet undertones.[1] They do not have identifiable facial features, but they sometimes grow crystals that vaguely resemble limbs or a head for convenience or to make other species more comfortable talking to them.[4][3] Any part of their crystal network can hear, and the crystals themselves have some sort of tactile sensitivity.[1] Resonants can apparently see, although it is unclear how they do so.[5][6] Resonants do not eat, instead growing crystals over patches of minerals and absorbing them for later use.[7] They do appear to have periods of rest or sleep.[4]
The crystals of a resonant's body can be grown incredibly quickly in a variety of sizes with extreme precision. For example, resonants that live on starfighters grow themselves to cover all of the necessary controls to the point that they seem to inhabit the ship.[3] There are no apparent limitations on the amount of crystal that each individual can grow, although there may be practical considerations in becoming too large since their weight can collapse whatever surface they are attached to.[2] If a part of the crystal network becomes cut off from the main body of the resonant, it will remain in place until the resonant can reconnect to it, with no apparent ill effects. The ability to reconnect to these separated crystals does not seem to be indefinite, but it is unclear how long it lasts.[1]
Resonants are extremely long-lived, commonly living for several millenia.[1] Their life cycles include approximately fifty-year periods called "incarnations". During each incarnation, the resonant stays in one place; some resonants stay in the same place over multiple incarnations. Details of the incarnation process are unknown, but likely involve some sort of rebirth. An individual resonant's gender can change, and this presumably occurs at the start of a new incarnation.[3] Despite their decentralized bodies, they can be killed if their crystals are all crushed or otherwise destroyed.[2]
Behavior
Resonants are sapient and intelligent. They speak by vibrating their crystals to make audible tones. Although the sounds are not immediately identifiable as language to those unfamiliar with resonants, they can easily communicate with other species through the use of translation devices.[3] Vibrations with a single tone convey basic ideas, while multiple crystals can vibrate separately to "layer" different frequencies and create complex language that has a musical sound.[1] Spending too much time in the nowhere may inhibit a resonant's ability to speak. Even without translation, other species can interpret concepts such as sadness, sympathy, and laughter from the frequency and pitch of the vibrations after spending time around resonants.[3][2]
During their long lives, resonants become experts at manipulating their crystal growth to perform extraordinarily complex tasks. For example, they are able to operate heavy machinery[2] and pilot starfighters with a high level of skill.[8] They can perform most physical tasks to the same standard as motile species, although it generally takes them longer since they must encase objects in crystal and then manipulate their crystal growth to move them around. Despite these limitations, their society has developed advanced technology.[1]
Because resonants cannot move, they typically spend decades (if not centuries) in the same small groups. This causes them to be exceptionally polite, since they cannot walk away from arguments. They tend to form strong bonds with their friends since they spend literally all of their time together,[3] often intertwining their crystal growth.[1] They generally do not attempt to end conversations, and find it mildly rude that other species can excuse themselves and walk away.[1] They have some difficulty understanding why "motiles" sometimes like to be alone even though they enjoy being together.[8]
History
“We in the Superiority failed so many. Often you grow so large—so comfortable—that you feel the cavern must be right, because it is what has been. You're used to it, and it’s right, so everyone else must be right as well. You resonate with self-assurance, ignoring the shifting rocks that might someday lead the cavern to collapse, crushing every crystal who lives there. ”
Resonants were members of the Superiority; they were not one of the five species that led the organization. The name of the resonant home planet is unknown, but it is implied that it was industrialized and used for Superiority resources in some way. In the time period leading up to the Battle of Alta Second, Shiver and other resonants had started to question the methods and goals of the Superiority, but they had not spoken out due to the inherent politeness of their society. Like other alien species, the resonants experienced some unfair treatment at the hands of the Superiority. Dllllizzzz and Shiver were sent into the nowhere to work at Surehold for a minimum of ten years for (presumably) minor transgressions, eventually defecting to join the Broadsiders when it became apparent that the Superiority had no intentions of ever letting them leave.[2] Dllllizzzz began to cognitively decline; Shiver, who was quite knowledgeable about the nowhere, eagerly hoped to find a way for the pair to escape.[1] They ultimately helped Spensa make her way to Surehold on her way to the center of the nowhere.[9]