The Chupakri

Chupakri genetics are malleable to the point of being a key of species identification. The Collective has exploited this quality to great effect, using it to engineer once-unimaginable forms into living things.

There are three ways that a chupakri's genetics might be modified: mutation, transmutation, and destabilization.

▴ MUTATION
A mutation is a genetic quality that presents in a chupakri which does not correspond specifically to any of the creatures in its genetic makeup. Examples of mutation include polydactyly, coloboma, melanism, scoliosis or limb deformity. A chupakri that sustains a mutation is not necessarily destabilized.

If a new, species-agnostic feature or deformity presents, it is a mutation.

▴ TRANSMUTATION
A transmutation is usually a healthy genetic quality that is forced to present in the chupakri using any of a number of methods, the most effective of which is the use of t-serums. Transmutations usually draw from the pool of latent features already presented in the chupakri's genome (a chupakri with antelope horns, for example, might be transmuted to also produce corresponding coloration.)

If a new feature manifests from an animal already present in the chupakri's genome, it is a transmutation.

▴ DESTABILIZATION
Destabilization is the term used to describe the diversifying of a chupakri's genome. Chupakri castes are designated primarily by the number of genomes present in their members, and this number has a direct connection to how volatile a chupakri's genetics are, so destabilization is a big deal.

If a new feature manifests from a completely new animal, it is a destabilization.
TRANSMUTATION: LAB WORK & T-SERUMS
Chupakri that have had their genetic material manipulated at a young age will be very familiar with the concept of transmutative serums, or t-serums. Unlike the natural genome of a chupakri, which may present as any species regardless of which one was used to breed the chupakri, serums are alchemically derived specifically from the type of creature whose qualities a handler is hoping to place within the specific chupakri specimen, with the most successful ones being derived from sentient forms of those creatures.

These serums generally come in three forms.
▴ INJECTED [T-19] Injected t-serums are used when a very specific quality is desired in a particular region of the chupakri's physical body. Contained within a limb or a sense organ and allowed to infuse the flesh, it will mutate that part of the chupakri until it resembles--or kind of resembles--the corresponding biological feature on the animal from which the serum was made.

Injected t-serums failing to take or mature properly is one of the leading causes of deformity in young chupakri, and for this reason, it is most commonly used in Stunted.
▴ CONSUMED [T-32(1)] A favorite of the mad scientists, not that the Collective would admit to having any among the illustrious ranks. Consumed t-serums are potent and fast-acting, generating random, near-instantaneous physical features at the cost of others, but only work on very young chupakri. These were often used to randomize the palette of features available on Hybrid and Stunted chupakri being bred for particular purposes, drawing out new features that, while encoded in their genome, were previously not presenting, without causing a dent in stability.

The further the given dose of T-32(1) is from the target genome in the given chupakri, the more likely the subject is to suffer mutations or destabilization.

Example: A Hybrid has badger, bear and goat DNA. The badger presents in the markings, but the claws from the animal are most desired. T-32(1) made from badger DNA, or at least Mustelidae DNA, may be administered to try to force the claws to present, perhaps at the cost of the stripe.

The likelihood of new mutations is very high when using consumed t-serums.
▴ BATH [T-167] For when a specimen comes out wrong, WRONG, COMPLETELY WRONG, a t-serum in bath form may be applied. The chupakri to be modified is intubated, and fitted with an overhead mask and lines to provide nutrition and remove waste from the blood. Then it is suspended in a vat filled entirely with a single kind of t-serum, and left there for days, weeks, or months. In a t-bath, as they are sometimes called, the chupakri's entire base genome may be changed. Got bobcat in your Elite when you wanted mongoose? A t-bath might take care of that.

T-baths are also used to configure or alter Hybrids, though which of their 3 genomes gets replaced is difficult to predict.

MUTATION: BEYOND THE LAB

Not all chupakri experience the genetic ravages of a t-serum, but many of them will run into mutation sooner or later. In addition to occurring as a possible side effect from failed transmutations, there are three publicly known ways that mutation might occur.
▴ TRAUMA One of the most common causes of mutation in chupakri is trauma--real, hard, life-altering trauma. This may be mental (witnessing a loved one die) or physical (sustaining a brutal wound or enduring extended torture.) When a chupakri does not have the ability to express or cope with their suffering, an unfortunate social fact for many of them, it seems that the stress will instead externalize by altering the very genetic fabric of the specimen.

The Collective has documented at least one case of a chupakri, mourning the death of a sibling pup, spontaneously developing massive claws from an animal foreign to its genome and using them to try to assault members of staff.
▴ OLD AGE Chupakri were not meant to live long. As a completely artificial species, they technically were not meant to live at all.

As a chupakri gets older, the odds of that chupakri's genome destabilizing increases. In some cases, this might simply mean that a chupakri with ram horns might wake up one day with ram eyes, too. In others, it might mean that the chupakri's genetic stability changes, adding a new outwardly evident animal to their genome and lowering their caste by one (or more) levels.

After the age of 35, unless the chupakri is cared for by a Collective scientist who knows how to mitigate this natural destabilization over time, a chupakri becomes more likely to mutate. If you, the player, would like to randomize the chances of this, you can flip a coin or roll dice to see if it happens every month. Once a mutation happens, another will not occur for a year.
▴ GENETIC FLUX Sometimes life is just a bitch. Chupakri might be triggered into mutating for completely unpredictable reasons, a phenomenon that the Collective has named 'genetic flux.' Presumed to be random and observed only in Stunted, genetic flux might simply randomize a feature between the chupakri's known genomes or, in rarer cases, spontaneously present a new one at a cost to stability.

Chupakri breeding is an exact science, and any divergence from the successful methods is guaranteed to result in either nothing at all, or an aberrant mass of tumorous flesh with terrible transmutative qualities (called Elder’s Seeds by the Collective.) It is also a minefield of potential problems, unforeseen complications and unpredictable infertility.

The Collective has historically been very jealous of breeding stock, but the secrets of successful chupakri breeding are what usually prohibit a slave owner from successfully making more of them, even with a theoretically fertile chupakri.

Successfully breeding a chupakri requires a specific diet for the parents, especially the mother during pregnancy, to avoid miscarriage or destabilized offspring.
▴ COMPATIBILITY
The only three castes of chupakri which are capable of breeding other chupakri are the Progenitors, the Elites, and the Stunted, and even these must be done in very particular configurations.

Hybrid and Berserker chupakri will only beget Elder’s Seeds, and as such are forbidden from breeding and often are rendered infertile to ensure that they can’t even try. This is also true of certain Stunted that already display such divergent genetics that the odds of stable offspring are low.

The genomes that present in an individual chupakri, for some esoteric reason, are only tangentially affected by the genetic makeup of its parents. However, it has been documented that specific genes may be acquired if the parents first consume certain alchemical compounds. The exact natures of these are classified by the Collective.

The majority of chupakri are born with one non-chupakri parent, and it is arguable that this is required to imbue the malleable genes of the species with stability. As it has been observed that chupakri x non-chupakri pairings generate the most success, this is normally the pairing of choice for breeding. The sole exception is the Progenitor caste, which enjoys success even in chupakri x chupakri pairings, but appears to be limited to breeding only certain types of chupakri based on the Progenitor that participates in the pairing.
▴ THE PROGENITOR BLOODLINES Aside from being rare pinnacles of their species, Progenitors are also highly prized for their breeding capabilities and the high chance of survival in their offspring. All chupakri may ultimately trace their lines back to one of the Progenitors.