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A world where everyone is a sentient and sapient Cell. A society whose morality has been eroded... Welcome to Spatium Sperma.", "count": "12", "submission_left_submission_id": "3660648", "submission_left_file_name": "5635160_Uros_spatium_sperma_sexes._pairings._kinks.doc", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_huge": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/huge/5635/5635160_Uros_spatium_sperma_sexes._pairings._kinks.jpg", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/5635/5635160_Uros_spatium_sperma_sexes._pairings._kinks.jpg", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/5635/5635160_Uros_spatium_sperma_sexes._pairings._kinks.jpg", "submission_left_thumb_huge_x": "211", "submission_left_thumb_huge_y": "300", "submission_left_thumb_large_x": "141", "submission_left_thumb_large_y": "200", "submission_left_thumb_medium_x": "85", "submission_left_thumb_medium_y": "120", "submission_right_submission_id": "3662120", "submission_right_file_name": "5637862_Uros_spatium_sperma_the_predator_and_its_kin.doc", "submission_right_thumbnail_url_huge": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/huge/5637/5637862_Uros_spatium_sperma_the_predator_and_its_kin.jpg", "submission_right_thumbnail_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/5637/5637862_Uros_spatium_sperma_the_predator_and_its_kin.jpg", "submission_right_thumbnail_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/5637/5637862_Uros_spatium_sperma_the_predator_and_its_kin.jpg", "submission_right_thumb_huge_x": "211", "submission_right_thumb_huge_y": "300", "submission_right_thumb_large_x": "141", "submission_right_thumb_large_y": "200", "submission_right_thumb_medium_x": "85", "submission_right_thumb_medium_y": "120" } ], "description": "There may not be a literal infinite number of possibilities within Spatium Sperma, but there are a lot. We could be here for a very long time if the many, many possible crisses, adventures, situations and what have you, were all mentioned, so I won't force you to do that. There are a small number of relatively common events however, and they are all relatively 'tame' starters, if you want to ever delve deeper into what could happen inside this organic and very hostile world... So here you have a handful of possibilities. Anything else? That is up to you.", "description_bbcode_parsed": "There may not be a literal infinite number of possibilities within Spatium Sperma, but there are a lot. We could be here for a very long time if the many, many possible crisses, adventures, situations and what have you, were all mentioned, so I won't force you to do that. There are a small number of relatively common events however, and they are all relatively 'tame' starters, if you want to ever delve deeper into what could happen inside this organic and very hostile world... So here you have a handful of possibilities. Anything else? That is up to you.", "writing": "[t][center][u][i][b]Common/Short Storylines[/b][/i][/u][/center][/t]\n\nThere are SO many things that can happen in Spatium Sperma! But not all of them are exactly common.\n\nWorld Ship core collapse? Extremely rare, but inside a massive, predatory, fleshy monster? It may happen from time to time. Considering `a hundred years' could be quaintly described as such from an immortal perspective, it is not inaccurate.\n\nCloning machine malfunction creating an army of faulty Drones that work more like zombies? Hey, I wouldn?t put it past this crazy world. Just get armed and melt those clones until the problem is resolved.\n\nOrgan failure leading to a race against time to save a whole section of the `Predator' so it doesn't just smush the place up alongside every person within, only to regenerate everything and everyone decades down the line? Yeah, that is a regular thing too.\n\nAnd there is enough `Predator' within its home dimension to span up to five times the original size of the Milky Way. So between time and physical space, a LOT of things can happen.\n\nThere are many `archetypes' for stories, ideas and situations, but there is always one thing in common despite how rare or common they can be: Humans wouldn't really be necessary to solve them, in fact all of them could be solved by the `Predator'.\n\nThough its solving mechanism is simple: Smush and squish the problem into its body. Absorb external threats. Reform damaged parts. Regenerate everything until it is in tip top shape. Then restart operations.\n\nWhich wastes a LOT of energy.\n\nHumans are here as an extra pair of hands (or, well, trillions of extra pairs) so that the `Predator' doesn't have to waste energy. It is far cheaper to let humans toil, suffer and bleed to keep things going, in fact calling it ten times cheaper would be an understatement. But that doesn't mean the `Predator' isn't going to get involved! If things get too out of hand, if enough lives are permanently lost (Which is super rare, but could happen), or if the `Predator' just sees the situation as unwinnable for its new servants, then absorption it is!\n\nYou could see it as an adventure... or accept that there is no other real choice. The `Predator' doesn't give a tosh.\n\nHowever, there are many situations that are so common one could call them `daily' occurrences. Not like that is the case, but you get my meaning: These things happen so often that some are regular events in the life of modern humans.\n\nThese three examples here are some of those. Are they mandatory for anyone? No, but they are common and somewhat simple settings that may give you an idea or a dozen. Either way, they may serve as good starting points.\n\n[u][b][center]OverGrowth[/center][/b][/u]\n\nMacro bacteria, genetic waste and natural mutations within the `Predator' can easily create one of the most common infections: The `OverGrowth'.\n\nOverGrowth refers to the growth of anything from miniature (by human standards) to gigantic organs the size of buildings. This can include bone growths, partial organs, blood and fluid vessels and many other such useless wastes of resources that have no other function than being a danger to human life and attractors to viruses and other scavengers.\n\nWhile the `Predator' has organs within itself, many eerily similar to those of humans, if they aren't close to animal organs or even insectoid (Though their functioning is usually far more alien), those are safely contained and active. These redundant organs? They can pop up anywhere and do not offer any benefit and instead leech from the `Predator's' resources. Great amounts of energy and resources are used to keep these infections from spreading too much, or for those organs to absorb nutrients that will go to waste in the end.\n\nTo the `Predator', this is a bother. No organ can grow large enough to cause even discomfort to the creature, perhaps the equivalent of a `tingling' sensation once in a while (which may mean every millenia or so when one of them grows as big as a city), and the OverGrowth has a size limit to its own range of operations. There *IS* one danger it can pose however: These `cancerous growths' (as that is the human analog we could use here), are able to create drone bodies by stealing from the `Predator'.\n\n`Flesh Drones', or just `Dupes' are, in essence, similar to assimilated Humans within the `Predator'. They work like `Predator' Drones, and have an eerie similarity to their creations, but there are clear differences no matter their species. The only constant difference? While they are faceless, like those assimilated by the `Predator', the `Predator's' Drones can talk and communicate the entity's desires to people, whereas OverGrowth Dupes can, at best, remain motionless or ignore humans if they are good enough copies. More often than not the Dupes are so animalistic that they will try to attack at first sight.\n\nThey are still able to use tools, weapons and fiercely defend the OverGrowth area however, which could endanger not only any other Human Cell, but could very well harm (however little) the `Predator' and drain more resources. This could anger the creature enough to literally SQUASH the whole area to get rid of everything. Yes, it would regenerate the area years down the line, alongside any Human Cell caught in the crossfire, but it would cost humans more than the `Predator'.\n\nOf course it is far more common for these OverGrowth infections to just attract viruses, bacteria and other filth. It doesn't matter if the OverGrowth areas are incapable of growing to a size large enough to create these `Dupes'; opportunistic scavengers will be attracted to the exposed organs and other resources that can be easily harvested. \n\nAs such, the infections are generally as harmful as the most dangerous invasive bioforms populating the areas the OverGrowth has expanded into. These areas, more often than not, have to do with human industry and `Predator' organs that are staffed by humans to maintain the massive entity's optimal functionality, endangering people as much as they bother the `Predator's' daily life.\n\nGenerally eventful, even perilous, OverGrowth areas are a dime a dozen, and most `Predator' dwellers will know of one growing close to them sooner or later. They are a common `adventure' for most human settlements, and many young humans may volunteer in clearing these places up in hopes of mutators, resources or just a little bit of adventure.\n\n\n[b]How to start this story:[/b]\n\nFirst Encounter.\n\nOverGrowths are easy to solve, but a complete bother for one reason alone: Whoever encounters it, and manages to escape the area instead of being defeated and absorbed, will carry its genetic makeup. A bit of a blessing and a curse, because once a portion of the area's genes escapes, the OverGrowth tends to stop evolving further, putting a stop to the infection for a time.\n\nOnly because the zone would accumulate resources to try and mutate even faster! These infections have their own `intelligence', almost like an animal, and as soon as real danger is felt? They become frenzied. So congratulations to whoever finds these things: Now you are going to help kill it.\n\nA vaccine against the OverGrowth can then be fabricated after extracting the genes from the gene carrier. It can be used to kill the OverGrowth once its spawn point has been found. That means that, as a character, you can easily start these adventures by finding, then escaping, an OverGrowth area. What happens after is usually up to you.\n\nSimple and easy to start; many young Human Cells will end up encountering these genetic malfunctions within their first year. That it leads to further adventures or not is debatable, but it is indeed a good step towards something else.\n\n\n[b]Story Type:[/b]\n\nMixed.\n\nAdventure, diplomacy, traversing through complex/infected areas, combat and even a quicky (or a dozen) on the side. OverGrowth infections offer a lot of complex situations in some cases. But if caught early? Well, then it is a walk in the park where YOU shouldn't need to get involved further.\n\nThese adventures are, however, time intensive: From escaping the first encounter with the OverGrowth and whatever monstrosities it has attracted OR created, in case of the OverGrowth being more mature than expected, to engaging in talks with the Immunological Response Corps for vaccine creation, to further involvement with research teams, maintenance personal and fighters if so inclined.\n\nThe stories can be as action packed, mundane or sexual as desired, as after the vaccine is created the character will be asked to stay around, just in case another gene sample is needed. If nothing else, that can easily lead to meeting people; workers of the infected zone, researchers that work with the I.R.C, or even other adventurous people! A lot of fucking around the lab or whatever organ or facility is bound to happen as people vent their frustrations or pass the time while the infection is being reduced.\n\nNot that they'd need much of an excuse most of the time.\n\n\n[u][b][center]Betrayer Incursion[/center][/b][/u]\n\nYou may be surprised, but not everything has to do with the `Predator' itself. The Betrayers are, for example, a very real and very common problem within this massive galaxy sized beast, and they are one hundred percent of human make. After all, they *ARE* human.\n\nThere ARE other humans that become problematic; some people lose their minds, rare as it is (The Predator's conditioning is nearly perfect, but not always). Others will want nothing to do with the `Predator' and go away to live as hermits, usually devolving into taciturn, angry and very isolationist creatures. There are MANY out there that can end up doing really messed up things.\n\nBut Betrayers? Those guys did as their name implies and screwed humanity over. Not happy with how humanity at large survived, they decide that *YOU*, and everyone else, having a life is a mistake that should be corrected.\n\nAnd believe you me: They try to correct this `problem' a lot.\n\nSomehow these people have found a way to keep their own World Ship safe from the `Predator's' influence, though all of them have turned into Human Cells, like any other human. The `how' and `why' is unknown, and the `Predator' has little interest in helping anyone understand. For all you know it may have allowed this, as it clearly knows that having a common enemy is useful in keeping everyone in check: Humanity loves fighting itself, and the Betrayers hate all other Human Cells for a myriad of reasons. The `Predator' sees this as a motivation for everyone else, more so when the Betrayers come and mess things up, hurt other humans and do far worse than just that.\n\nIt is also possible the `Predator' just found these people interesting and allowed them more freedom than all other humans. For all you know this is just a massive in house experiment and every result is a new discovery.\n\nWhatever the case, these bastards don't care enough to find out. They are just here to be a common nuisance.\n\nSabotage is their general modus operandi: Damage machinery and organs, then keep people from fixing things for as long as possible while their main tasks, whatever they are, are carried out. That is bad enough on its own; as interesting as these interactions are to the `Predator', it has a limit to its patience when its productivity is damaged. But sometimes the Betrayers make things even WORSE.\n\nThrough some means, probably the same ones they achieved `independence' from the `Predator', and in a way that clearly displeases the creature, the Betrayers have found ways to tame viruses and bacteria to use as war beasts. When deployed they are used as attack dogs, generally bringing enough material to create a temporary infection that will also create more, wild versions of the tamed monster. The Betrayers hardly care if they have to fight the offspring of their own creatures: Their own tames don't seem to give a flip either. Everything the Betrayers use is an asset at the end of the day.\n\nThere is no talking, bargaining or just negotiating with these people: They will come back after they die and they know the `Predator', at least for the time being, can only act in one way to put an end to them: Crush their World Ship and permanently absorb everyone. Yet, for some reason, it does not. So the Betrayers keep fighting, harassing other World Ships and generally making a nuisance of themselves wherever they go.\n\nAnd you? You may end up in a mess if you are anywhere near one of these incursions. A general call to arms is usually issued, and refusing isn't a good idea: Either the `Predator' may take notice of you, the local authorities will deal with you or, more likely than that, the Betrayers will find you when you try to leave, then `deal' with you however they see fit.\n\n\n[u][b]How to start this story:[/b][/u]\n\nWrong place, wrong time.\n\nBetrayer incursions can take place anywhere: Be in one of the many Hab Blocks in one of the many World Ships, at one of the many refineries or fabrication complexes, or just out there, going to work in one of the organs that require maintenance. Heck, maybe you were just on patrol or going to visit one of your (probably) many relatives inside this massive beast! It hardly matters: The Betrayers came, fucked shit up and now you are involved. Escaping is ill advised and letting everyone else fend for themselves is a punishable offense, so gear up.\n\nWhether short or long, it doesn't matter. Once this starts you are in for the whole thing. Generally these incursions take no time to defeat, perhaps a couple days at most, but do not count on that always being the case if a competent Betrayer is commanding this jig. Just weather the whole thing and all will be fine. Think of it as `furthering your options', because those that do really well usually go places...\n\nEven if they don't want to.\n\n\n[u][b]Story Type:[/b][/u]\n\nMostly Adventure/Combat oriented.\n\nSomeone wants to wreck shit and bother the `Predator' so things get worse for everyone! This could easily lead into temporary absorption of whole swats of the `Predator's' insides, be it human `controlled' or not, and in most cases it all comes down to blasting your way out of whatever the hell the Betrayers have cooked. Bottomline? Talking is not going to work and it hardly matters if you are going to find fellow humans or their war beasts setting up a hive: It is time to fuck shit up!\n\nWhile real death is an unlikely outcome for anyone involved, pain, discomfort and worse outcomes than just passing out are within reach, more so if anyone is captured by the Betrayers, as no one wishes to speak of what happens after. From location to location, from fight to fight, there is little time for speaking, or even collecting spoils, as every second that goes by is another second the enemy has to entrench or come closer to fulfilling their goals.\n\nA fast paced adventure culminating in a fight against one of the Betrayers leading the attack, or some powerful bacteria, virus or other cell that has spawned hives or infections during the incursion, these small adventures generally end with a newly spawned Human Cell getting a nice dose of fame and a great deal of opportunities. Who knows what could come next? Perhaps there are more problems brewing around, or someone you helped may offer you new possibilities. Heck, maybe it just ends with you getting a bit of fame and meeting people where you live, with the future having many doors waiting for you.\n\nWhatever the case, at least this little adventure likely proved you can survive an ordeal.\n\n\n[center][u][b]Gear Works[/b][/u][/center]\n\nA common situation within the `Predator' is known as `Gear Works', which simply translates to intensive workloads all over a sector.\n\nAlso known as `THE GRIND', but people thought `Gear Works' was a more colorful and less sucky name.\n\nAn event that generally maps various organs, fabricators, medical facilities, labs and more. In many cases it also includes heavy damage to machinery and even a few flesh paths... Sometimes it also involves damage inside or close to the World Ships! This overwork drive generates when either something has gone wrong or CAN go wrong, and usually means it can either get solved, or you can get absorbed for a relatively short period of time.\n\nToo many resources have been backlogged and have to be processed, either `gently' (with your help) or by force (by the Predator) so it doesn't affect this or that organ.\n\nPerhaps a lot of children are to be grown in growth vats quickly after a few weeks or fun, or a recent fight left a lot of people needing cloning. Mayhaps a lot of processing orders came by, including parts, weapons, armor, vehicles and more, and now the service is clogged.\n\nOr maybe some dickhead punched a hole in a World Ship, which is both impressive and worrying considering that means you put a hole in the `Predator' and the creature is likely VERY pissed off.\n\nWhatever the case, there is work to do and YOU got dragged into it. Lucky you.\n\nMore often than not you will find yourself doing relatively repetitive work with the rare, intensive, and sometimes (very literal) life threatening action; most factories and processing plants have a few very dangerous areas, and the Gear Works events tend to overstress them. Hope you are ready for some puzzles and platforming! It doesn't matter if it is a food plant, one for melting minerals and metals, purification plants or what have you: Processing stuff from the `Predator', and this `world' you now live in, is dangerous, and you found yourself elbows deep in the process.\n\nLaboratories and equipment factories for weapons and armor also have their own little hazards. The former tend to have dangerous rooms, chemicals and many other compounds that could strip the flesh from bone... if you still were made out of flesh in the technical sense. It still sucks to get hit by them, though. Whereas weapons and armor, as well as workshops for other gadgets and mutations, usually have dangerous rooms for testing, preparation and... well, you probably have guessed that it is likely YOU the one to go in there and risk your butt to get it all sorted.\n\nAnd when it comes to World Ships? The workload depends on how deep within the megastructure it is. While now composed of organic materials, the imitation is next to perfect and many important pieces were largely left intact, if completely co-opted by the `Predator'. That means that plasma reactors and other equally dangerous, but important, elements are intact, working and vulnerable to sabotage or certain biological processes disrupting their everyday work and maintenance.\n\nIn other works: Complex and sensitive machinery having turned into flesh, blood, bone and what have you, tend to get wonky.\n\nSo hope you are ready to get that potential nuclear bomb fixed or turn a whole section of the World Ship into a crater if things go wrong! No pressure of course.\n\nAt least the moments of hectic activity and life risking situations are a good way to have gossip and tales during off hours. If nothing else the Gear Works events are good for networking with your fellow people.\n\nJust don't bang during your shift.\n\n\n[u][b]How to start this story:[/b][/u]\n\nWelcome to the workforce!\n\nA young, probably even newly born Human Cell, is likely to find a problem having sparked a fire in their mandated job. Sometimes in a literal sense! Waking up one day with extensive knowledge, only to be given tools, a quick rundown on where to go, perhaps spend a few days in this new world, enjoying a somewhat normal start to your life... Only to be greeted by blaring alarms and a widespread message about one or another small crisis that YOU are now involved in.\n\nWelcome to the workforce indeed! But worry not: Young or `old', these events are so common that you will have a lot of people ready to help you out, guide you around and make for nice companions, rivals, fuck buddies or just plain friends. Not everyone is friendly when a Gear Works is going on, far too much pressure and little rest can make people grumpy, but it is okay. Not everyone starts their life as some warrior or adventurer! Besides, making connections, perhaps meeting family and creating bonds tend to make busy days much more rewarding.\n\n\n[u][b]Story Type:[/b][/u]\n\nDay to day story with many variants.\n\nA non action oriented, very relaxed (if a bit hectic during the beginning and with certain tasks) story that centers around dialog, completing tasks, menial actions and getting used to life in the gigantic body of the `Predator'. Learning how machinery works, how flesh melds with technology and how everything runs in humanity's new home is not as exciting as fighting off hordes of viruses trying to eat your FACE, but it is honest work.\n\nBesides, touchy elements may need your input, and most of the time you will have help from those that know what is going on. Consider a few puzzles, imputing passwords, quickly fixing problems and making sure stuff DOES NOT blow up as a cool way to get introduced into the world.\n\nBesides, this is the most sexual of all the `common' stories. This event generates a lot of frustration after all.\n\nFrustration is widespread during a Gear Works event; constant work, very little rest and while it is entertaining or satisfying to many, after all having a purpose and being safe is far better for most than going out and risking your life, it also grinds at the base needs of most Human Cells. Finding people to talk to is normal; making friends, meeting rivals, or perhaps being close to family so you get to know them (if you have been born recently), or just pass the time with them and either pick `fights' or just talk to make this less of a bother (if you already know them).\n\nAnd, of course, fucking during breaks.\n\nFamily, friends, frenemies or literal enemies. What does it matter? Gear Works tend to create the perfect breeding grounds for, well, breeding; a lot of frustration and people in close quarters all the time. Make connections, find what you both (or ALL of you if you want to get a lot of people) like, then blow steam. Most Gear Works events take place over a week or two, and that is a lot of time to find yourself a fuckbuddy or a few and keep a few friends (or rivals) around.\n\nWho knows? Perhaps this story will lead to something else, depending on who you meet, what you like and just how many brats you manage to create (or if you do a really good job and someone takes notice of you!).\n\nJust enjoy yourself here. Things could be far worse.\n\n\n[center][b]***[/b][/center]\n\nThese are three simple archetypes of stories to start with. Things that may lead to more as your ideas expand and you carve something within Spatium Sperma. Are they the most original? No, not at all. But they are simple, easily digestible and may give you other possible ideas you may want to try.\n\nHell, if you want you could play around with an idea similar to the original one that will be Spatium Sperma (the canon story): Waking up years after the fact to face this new world. A traditional human, changed, faced with difficulties and having to confront everything that is going on.\n\nKnowledge is power of course, and I am sure that, if you are still here, you are curious about Spatium Sperma's story. After all, it is not easy to create a story when you don't have all the details available, right? Then let me ease you into it...\n\n", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "
Common/Short Storylines


There are SO many things that can happen in Spatium Sperma! But not all of them are exactly common.

World Ship core collapse? Extremely rare, but inside a massive, predatory, fleshy monster? It may happen from time to time. Considering `a hundred years' could be quaintly described as such from an immortal perspective, it is not inaccurate.

Cloning machine malfunction creating an army of faulty Drones that work more like zombies? Hey, I wouldn?t put it past this crazy world. Just get armed and melt those clones until the problem is resolved.

Organ failure leading to a race against time to save a whole section of the `Predator' so it doesn't just smush the place up alongside every person within, only to regenerate everything and everyone decades down the line? Yeah, that is a regular thing too.

And there is enough `Predator' within its home dimension to span up to five times the original size of the Milky Way. So between time and physical space, a LOT of things can happen.

There are many `archetypes' for stories, ideas and situations, but there is always one thing in common despite how rare or common they can be: Humans wouldn't really be necessary to solve them, in fact all of them could be solved by the `Predator'.

Though its solving mechanism is simple: Smush and squish the problem into its body. Absorb external threats. Reform damaged parts. Regenerate everything until it is in tip top shape. Then restart operations.

Which wastes a LOT of energy.

Humans are here as an extra pair of hands (or, well, trillions of extra pairs) so that the `Predator' doesn't have to waste energy. It is far cheaper to let humans toil, suffer and bleed to keep things going, in fact calling it ten times cheaper would be an understatement. But that doesn't mean the `Predator' isn't going to get involved! If things get too out of hand, if enough lives are permanently lost (Which is super rare, but could happen), or if the `Predator' just sees the situation as unwinnable for its new servants, then absorption it is!

You could see it as an adventure... or accept that there is no other real choice. The `Predator' doesn't give a tosh.

However, there are many situations that are so common one could call them `daily' occurrences. Not like that is the case, but you get my meaning: These things happen so often that some are regular events in the life of modern humans.

These three examples here are some of those. Are they mandatory for anyone? No, but they are common and somewhat simple settings that may give you an idea or a dozen. Either way, they may serve as good starting points.

OverGrowth


Macro bacteria, genetic waste and natural mutations within the `Predator' can easily create one of the most common infections: The `OverGrowth'.

OverGrowth refers to the growth of anything from miniature (by human standards) to gigantic organs the size of buildings. This can include bone growths, partial organs, blood and fluid vessels and many other such useless wastes of resources that have no other function than being a danger to human life and attractors to viruses and other scavengers.

While the `Predator' has organs within itself, many eerily similar to those of humans, if they aren't close to animal organs or even insectoid (Though their functioning is usually far more alien), those are safely contained and active. These redundant organs? They can pop up anywhere and do not offer any benefit and instead leech from the `Predator's' resources. Great amounts of energy and resources are used to keep these infections from spreading too much, or for those organs to absorb nutrients that will go to waste in the end.

To the `Predator', this is a bother. No organ can grow large enough to cause even discomfort to the creature, perhaps the equivalent of a `tingling' sensation once in a while (which may mean every millenia or so when one of them grows as big as a city), and the OverGrowth has a size limit to its own range of operations. There *IS* one danger it can pose however: These `cancerous growths' (as that is the human analog we could use here), are able to create drone bodies by stealing from the `Predator'.

`Flesh Drones', or just `Dupes' are, in essence, similar to assimilated Humans within the `Predator'. They work like `Predator' Drones, and have an eerie similarity to their creations, but there are clear differences no matter their species. The only constant difference? While they are faceless, like those assimilated by the `Predator', the `Predator's' Drones can talk and communicate the entity's desires to people, whereas OverGrowth Dupes can, at best, remain motionless or ignore humans if they are good enough copies. More often than not the Dupes are so animalistic that they will try to attack at first sight.

They are still able to use tools, weapons and fiercely defend the OverGrowth area however, which could endanger not only any other Human Cell, but could very well harm (however little) the `Predator' and drain more resources. This could anger the creature enough to literally SQUASH the whole area to get rid of everything. Yes, it would regenerate the area years down the line, alongside any Human Cell caught in the crossfire, but it would cost humans more than the `Predator'.

Of course it is far more common for these OverGrowth infections to just attract viruses, bacteria and other filth. It doesn't matter if the OverGrowth areas are incapable of growing to a size large enough to create these `Dupes'; opportunistic scavengers will be attracted to the exposed organs and other resources that can be easily harvested.

As such, the infections are generally as harmful as the most dangerous invasive bioforms populating the areas the OverGrowth has expanded into. These areas, more often than not, have to do with human industry and `Predator' organs that are staffed by humans to maintain the massive entity's optimal functionality, endangering people as much as they bother the `Predator's' daily life.

Generally eventful, even perilous, OverGrowth areas are a dime a dozen, and most `Predator' dwellers will know of one growing close to them sooner or later. They are a common `adventure' for most human settlements, and many young humans may volunteer in clearing these places up in hopes of mutators, resources or just a little bit of adventure.


How to start this story:

First Encounter.

OverGrowths are easy to solve, but a complete bother for one reason alone: Whoever encounters it, and manages to escape the area instead of being defeated and absorbed, will carry its genetic makeup. A bit of a blessing and a curse, because once a portion of the area's genes escapes, the OverGrowth tends to stop evolving further, putting a stop to the infection for a time.

Only because the zone would accumulate resources to try and mutate even faster! These infections  have their own `intelligence', almost like an animal, and as soon as real danger is felt? They become frenzied. So congratulations to whoever finds these things: Now you are going to help kill it.

A vaccine against the OverGrowth can then be fabricated after extracting the genes from the gene carrier. It can be used to kill the OverGrowth once its spawn point has been found. That means that, as a character, you can easily start these adventures by finding, then escaping, an OverGrowth area. What happens after is usually up to you.

Simple and easy to start; many young Human Cells will end up encountering these genetic malfunctions within their first year. That it leads to further adventures or not is debatable, but it is indeed a good step towards something else.


Story Type:

Mixed.

Adventure, diplomacy, traversing through complex/infected areas, combat and even a quicky (or a dozen) on the side. OverGrowth infections offer a lot of complex situations in some cases. But if caught early? Well, then it is a walk in the park where YOU shouldn't need to get involved further.

These adventures are, however, time intensive: From escaping the first encounter with the OverGrowth and whatever monstrosities it has attracted OR created, in case of the OverGrowth being more mature than expected, to engaging in talks with the Immunological Response Corps for vaccine creation, to further involvement with research teams, maintenance personal and fighters if so inclined.

The stories can be as action packed, mundane or sexual as desired, as after the vaccine is created the character will be asked to stay around, just in case another gene sample is needed. If nothing else, that can easily lead to meeting people; workers of the infected zone, researchers that work with the I.R.C, or even other adventurous people! A lot of fucking around the lab or whatever organ or facility is bound to happen as people vent their frustrations or pass the time while the infection is being reduced.

Not that they'd need much of an excuse most of the time.


Betrayer Incursion


You may be surprised, but not everything has to do with the `Predator' itself. The Betrayers are, for example, a very real and very common problem within this massive galaxy sized beast, and they are one hundred percent of human make. After all, they *ARE* human.

There ARE other humans that become problematic; some people lose their minds, rare as it is (The Predator's conditioning is nearly perfect, but not always). Others will want nothing to do with the `Predator' and go away to live as hermits, usually devolving into taciturn, angry and very isolationist creatures. There are MANY out there that can end up doing really messed up things.

But Betrayers? Those guys did as their name implies and screwed humanity over. Not happy with how humanity at large survived, they decide that *YOU*, and everyone else, having a life is a mistake that should be corrected.

And believe you me: They try to correct this `problem' a lot.

Somehow these people have found a way to keep their own World Ship safe from the `Predator's' influence, though all of them have turned into Human Cells, like any other human. The `how' and `why' is unknown, and the `Predator' has little interest in helping anyone understand. For all you know it may have allowed this, as it clearly knows that having a common enemy is useful in keeping everyone in check: Humanity loves fighting itself, and the Betrayers hate all other Human Cells for a myriad of reasons. The `Predator' sees this as a motivation for everyone else, more so when the Betrayers come and mess things up, hurt other humans and do far worse than just that.

It is also possible the `Predator' just found these people interesting and allowed them more freedom than all other humans. For all you know this is just a massive in house experiment and every result is a new discovery.

Whatever the case, these bastards don't care enough to find out. They are just here to be a common nuisance.

Sabotage is their general modus operandi: Damage machinery and organs, then keep people from fixing things for as long as possible while their main tasks, whatever they are, are carried out. That is bad enough on its own; as interesting as these interactions are to the `Predator', it has a limit to its patience when its productivity is damaged. But sometimes the Betrayers make things even WORSE.

Through some means, probably the same ones they achieved `independence' from the `Predator', and in a way that clearly displeases the creature, the Betrayers have found ways to tame viruses and bacteria to use as war beasts. When deployed they are used as attack dogs, generally bringing enough material to create a temporary infection that will also create more, wild versions of the tamed monster. The Betrayers hardly care if they have to fight the offspring of their own creatures: Their own tames don't seem to give a flip either. Everything the Betrayers use is an asset at the end of the day.

There is no talking, bargaining or just negotiating with these people: They will come back after they die and they know the `Predator', at least for the time being, can only act in one way to put an end to them: Crush their World Ship and permanently absorb everyone. Yet, for some reason, it does not. So the Betrayers keep fighting, harassing other World Ships and generally making a nuisance of themselves wherever they go.

And you? You may end up in a mess if you are anywhere near one of these incursions. A general call to arms is  usually issued, and refusing isn't a good idea: Either the `Predator' may take notice of you, the local authorities will deal with you or, more likely than that, the Betrayers will find you when you try to leave, then `deal' with you however they see fit.


How to start this story:

Wrong place, wrong time.

Betrayer incursions can take place anywhere: Be in one of the many Hab Blocks in one of the many World Ships, at one of the many refineries or fabrication complexes, or just out there, going to work in one of the organs that require maintenance. Heck, maybe you were just on patrol or going to visit one of your (probably) many relatives inside this massive beast! It hardly matters: The Betrayers came, fucked shit up and now you are involved. Escaping is ill advised and letting everyone else fend for themselves is a punishable offense, so gear up.

Whether short or long, it doesn't matter. Once this starts you are in for the whole thing. Generally these incursions take no time to defeat, perhaps a couple days at most, but do not count on that always being the case if a competent Betrayer is commanding this jig. Just weather the whole thing and all will be fine. Think of it as `furthering your options', because those that do really well usually go places...

Even if they don't want to.


Story Type:

Mostly Adventure/Combat oriented.

Someone wants to wreck shit and bother the `Predator' so things get worse for everyone! This could easily lead into temporary absorption of whole swats of the `Predator's' insides, be it human `controlled' or not, and in most cases it all comes down to blasting your way out of whatever the hell the Betrayers have cooked. Bottomline? Talking is not going to work and it hardly matters if you are going to find fellow humans or their war beasts setting up a hive: It is time to fuck shit up!

While real death is an unlikely outcome for anyone involved, pain, discomfort and worse outcomes than just passing out are within reach, more so if anyone is captured by the Betrayers, as no one wishes to speak of what happens after. From location to location, from fight to fight, there is little time for speaking, or even collecting spoils, as every second that goes by is another second the enemy has to entrench or come closer to fulfilling their goals.

A fast paced adventure culminating in a fight against one of the Betrayers leading the attack, or some powerful bacteria, virus or other cell that has spawned hives or infections during the incursion, these small adventures generally end with a newly spawned Human Cell getting a nice dose of fame and a great deal of opportunities. Who knows what could come next? Perhaps there are more problems brewing around, or someone you helped may offer you new possibilities. Heck, maybe it just ends with you getting a bit of fame and meeting people where you live, with the future having many doors waiting for you.

Whatever the case, at least this little adventure likely proved you can survive an ordeal.


Gear Works


A common situation within the `Predator' is known as `Gear Works', which simply translates to intensive workloads all over a sector.

Also known as `THE GRIND', but people thought `Gear Works' was a more colorful and less sucky name.

An event that generally maps various organs, fabricators, medical facilities, labs and more. In many cases it also includes heavy damage to machinery and even a few flesh paths... Sometimes it also involves damage inside or close to the World Ships! This overwork drive generates when either something has gone wrong or CAN go wrong, and usually means it can either get solved, or you can get absorbed for a relatively short period of time.

Too many resources have been backlogged and have to be processed, either `gently' (with your help) or by force (by the Predator) so it doesn't affect this or that organ.

Perhaps a lot of children are to be grown in growth vats quickly after a few weeks or fun, or a recent fight left a lot of people needing cloning. Mayhaps a lot of processing orders came by, including parts, weapons, armor, vehicles and more, and now the service is clogged.

Or maybe some dickhead punched a hole in a World Ship, which is both impressive and worrying considering that means you put a hole in the `Predator' and the creature is likely VERY pissed off.

Whatever the case, there is work to do and YOU got dragged into it. Lucky you.

More often than not you will find yourself doing relatively repetitive work with the rare, intensive, and sometimes (very literal) life threatening action; most factories and processing plants have a few very dangerous areas, and the Gear Works events tend to overstress them. Hope you are ready for some puzzles and platforming! It doesn't matter if it is a food plant, one for melting minerals and metals, purification plants or what have you: Processing stuff from the `Predator', and this `world' you now live in, is dangerous, and you found yourself elbows deep in the process.

Laboratories and equipment factories for weapons and armor also have their own little hazards. The former tend to have dangerous rooms, chemicals and many other compounds that could strip the flesh from bone... if you still were made out of flesh in the technical sense. It still sucks to get hit by them, though. Whereas weapons and armor, as well as workshops for other gadgets and mutations, usually have dangerous rooms for testing, preparation and... well, you probably have guessed that it is likely YOU the one to go in there and risk your butt to get it all sorted.

And when it comes to World Ships? The workload depends on how deep within the megastructure it is. While now composed of organic materials, the imitation is next to perfect and many important pieces were largely left intact, if completely co-opted by the `Predator'. That means that plasma reactors and other equally dangerous, but important, elements are intact, working and vulnerable to sabotage or certain biological processes disrupting their everyday work and maintenance.

In other works: Complex and sensitive machinery having turned into flesh, blood, bone and what have you, tend to get wonky.

So hope you are ready to get that potential nuclear bomb fixed or turn a whole section of the World Ship into a crater if things go wrong! No pressure of course.

At least the moments of hectic activity and life risking situations are a good way to have gossip and tales during off hours. If nothing else the Gear Works events are good for networking with your fellow people.

Just don't bang during your shift.


How to start this story:

Welcome to the workforce!

A young, probably even newly born Human Cell, is likely to find a problem having sparked a fire in their mandated job. Sometimes in a literal sense! Waking up one day with extensive knowledge, only to be given tools, a quick rundown on where to go, perhaps spend a few days in this new world, enjoying a somewhat normal start to your life... Only to be greeted by blaring alarms and a widespread message about one or another small crisis that YOU are now involved in.

Welcome to the workforce indeed! But worry not: Young or `old', these events are so common that you will have a lot of people ready to help you out, guide you around and make for nice companions, rivals, fuck buddies or just plain friends. Not everyone is friendly when a Gear Works is going on, far too much pressure and little rest can make people grumpy, but it is okay. Not everyone starts their life as some warrior or adventurer! Besides, making connections, perhaps meeting family and creating bonds tend to make busy days much more rewarding.


Story Type:

Day to day story with many variants.

A non action oriented, very relaxed (if a bit hectic during the beginning and with certain tasks) story that centers around dialog, completing tasks, menial actions and getting used to life in the gigantic body of the `Predator'. Learning how machinery works, how flesh melds with technology and how everything runs in humanity's new home is not as exciting as fighting off hordes of viruses trying to eat your FACE, but it is honest work.

Besides, touchy elements may need your input, and most of the time you will have help from those that know what is going on. Consider a few puzzles, imputing passwords, quickly fixing problems and making sure stuff DOES NOT blow up as a cool way to get introduced into the world.

Besides, this is the most sexual of all the `common' stories. This event generates a lot of frustration after all.

Frustration is widespread during a Gear Works event; constant work, very little rest and while it is entertaining or satisfying to many, after all having a purpose and being safe is far better for most than going out and risking your life, it also grinds at the base needs of most Human Cells. Finding people to talk to is normal; making friends, meeting rivals, or perhaps being close to family so you get to know them (if you have been born recently), or just pass the time with them and either pick `fights' or just talk to make this less of a bother (if you already know them).

And, of course, fucking during breaks.

Family, friends, frenemies or literal enemies. What does it matter? Gear Works tend to create the perfect breeding grounds for, well, breeding; a lot of frustration and people in close quarters all the time. Make connections, find what you both (or ALL of you if you want to get a lot of people) like, then blow steam. Most Gear Works events take place over a week or two, and that is a lot of time to find yourself a fuckbuddy or a few and keep a few friends (or rivals) around.

Who knows? Perhaps this story will lead to something else, depending on who you meet, what you like and just how many brats you manage to create (or if you do a really good job and someone takes notice of you!).

Just enjoy yourself here. Things could be far worse.


***


These are three simple archetypes of stories to start with. Things that may lead to more as your ideas expand and you carve something within Spatium Sperma. Are they the most original? No, not at all. But they are simple, easily digestible and may give you other possible ideas you may want to try.

Hell, if you want you could play around with an idea similar to the original one that will be Spatium Sperma (the canon story): Waking up years after the fact to face this new world. A traditional human, changed, faced with difficulties and having to confront everything that is going on.

Knowledge is power of course, and I am sure that, if you are still here, you are curious about Spatium Sperma's story. After all, it is not easy to create a story when you don't have all the details available, right? Then let me ease you into it...

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