Bifurcators

Bifurcator variobrachium

Overview

Bifurcators are aliens from the same neighborhood as other confibulans. Hailing from a white star with a shorter lifespan, they've been inspired to develop their technology quickly and take to the stars. Their name, bifurcators, comes from their ability to split their limbs in half over and over again.

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Range

Bifurcators were originally from a terrestrial planet orbiting Confibula Bb, the white star that orbits with the yellow star that the phony world orbits around. These days, they can be found all over.

Phenotypics

Bifurcators come in a wide variety of appearances. They can have up to 10 legs, be one of seven colors, and one of two shape morphs. Their limbs may also be equidistant or not, and their legs may all be of equal length or may not. Some have very long legs, and some have short legs. They vary from 2 to 8 feet in height.

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Anatomy

Bifurcators consist of nothing but legs that radiate from a central chassis. Their legs are made almost entirely of muscle and fluid which they can stiffen and relax at will. Stiffened limbs are used for ambulation. Depending on their limb configuration, some bifurcators may prefer to walk or to roll. Relaxed limbs deform underneath their astonishingly stretchy skin and split in two over and over, causing their bifurcation. They use relaxed limbs to manipulate their surroundings.

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Reproduction

Bifurcators reproduce by sexual fissiparity, or "ripping their limbs off and making them kiss". Two compatible bifurcators each drop a limb and join them together, after which the two severed limbs mate and then combine into a single structure whose sole purpose is supporting offspring. Bifurcators cannot regrow dropped limbs, so historically it's been valuable for a bifurcator to have many limbs. In modern times, they've figured out how to grow entire detached limbs from small skin samples.

Diet

Bifurcators have 1-3 small pores located on their chassis which act as their mouth. They have a feeding structure they can "throw up", grab food, and retract back into their bodies for digestion.

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Behavior & Culture

Historically, bifurcators lived in small communities. Darker bifurcators would typically inhabit rural farming settlements, being able to brave the intense radiation of their star, while lighter bifurcators would live in shaded cities or caves. These days, most of the rural folk are now space folk, and the majority of spacer bifurcators are darker morphs while the majority population on their home planet are white morphed, with sprawling roofed cities covering much of its surface. Many light morph bifurcators live offplanet as well, but they must take precautions to prevent themselves from developing harmful mutations and cancers due to the radiation in space.

Bifurcators are a highly developed spacefaring species. They have numerous space stations across their stellar neighborhood, and have made contact with a number of other species. They have friendly relations with humans, though there was certainly tension at first as each species was the other's first alien contact.

Their computers are highly advanced. A typical bifurcator computer is a simple white sheet of fabric which can be folded up and placed inside other machines. Complex supercomputers get larger and larger. One of their largest is 25 square meters in surface area.

They've also developed advanced genetic editing technology. Designer babies are a big thing with them.