<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Natural Selection Manual</TITLE> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <script language="JavaScript"> <!-- function MM_swapImgRestore() { //v3.0 var i,x,a=document.MM_sr; for(i=0;a&&i<a.length&&(x=a[i])&&x.oSrc;i++) x.src=x.oSrc; } function MM_preloadImages() { //v3.0 var d=document; if(d.images){ if(!d.MM_p) d.MM_p=new Array(); var i,j=d.MM_p.length,a=MM_preloadImages.arguments; for(i=0; i<a.length; i++) if (a[i].indexOf("#")!=0){ d.MM_p[j]=new Image; d.MM_p[j++].src=a[i];}} } function MM_findObj(n, d) { //v4.0 var p,i,x; if(!d) d=document; if((p=n.indexOf("?"))>0&&parent.frames.length) { d=parent.frames[n.substring(p+1)].document; n=n.substring(0,p);} if(!(x=d[n])&&d.all) x=d.all[n]; for (i=0;!x&&i<d.forms.length;i++) x=d.forms[i][n]; for(i=0;!x&&d.layers&&i<d.layers.length;i++) x=MM_findObj(n,d.layers[i].document); if(!x && document.getElementById) x=document.getElementById(n); return x; } function MM_swapImage() { //v3.0 var i,j=0,x,a=MM_swapImage.arguments; 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We all stop what we're doing and lay down suppressing fire. It's in mid-air, comin' right at me (I notice it's missing half of a tooth, that's how close it gets) – when it just disappears. Gone. We all look at each other like 'Okaaaay …' and get back to work. A minute later, a Skulk makes a run on the base from another direction, starts chewin' on our resource tower. We just cover the area with a blanket of bullets and it disappears. So sure. Whatever. The third time I recognize the sucker. It zips up the wall and drops right on top of me. I get to look right up its throat. It's the same Skulk. I'd swear to God."</p> <p>Thesis: This, paired with the "<a href="alien_fade_hive.html">blink</a>" ability, may be the most scientifically troubling of alien evolutions. The two must be related, but it is unclear how – and any "experiment" that might "test" these abilities is, at this juncture, impractical. The best idea so far is that a new body is created back at the hive, and the alien's unique information (memories, etc.) is somehow transferred to it. This information is probably stored in some transmission-ready bacterial form, that is released when the creature sustains too much damage – much like a mushroom shooting off its spores when it is stepped on.</p> <p>The redemption ability does not appear to be one hundred percent certain. As an alien drops below a certain health limit, there seems to be an increasing chance that it will be redeemed. With each increased level of this evolution, the chance of redemption improves.</p> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" width="100%"> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top"> <div align="center"> </div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> <td background="images/design/red/surround_e.gif"><img src="images/design/red/surround_e.gif" width="37" height="482"></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="3" height="2"><img src="images/design/red/surround_s.gif" width="768" height="81"></td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </BODY> </HTML>