ENTITY NO. 80
THREAT LEVEL
2
Habitat:
Forested levels and areas.
Aggression: 1/5
Attacks if threatened
Intellect: 2/5
Low-level intellect
Danger: 4/5
Life-threatening
Description[]
Entity 80, also known as "Wood worms" and scientifically called mimicus arborum (tree mimics) are a species of animal that use trees as a vital part of their anatomy and development. When a young wood worm comes across a growing tree, they will burrow within the tree and uproot it, making the tree its exoskeleton. Wood worms are very peaceful creatures, however, if the entity is attacked, the entity will attack the organism which it believes is responsible. This usually kills the attacker.
Wood worms have the anomalous property to see, hear, and smell despite having no organs to do so. This also goes for reproduction, as wood worms are reported to have children despite spawning being ineffective in their species, and, as aforementioned, having no reproductive organs. There are many theories about how new wood worms are produced, but the most prevalent one is that wood worms have a short mating season where they grow reproductive organs and then mate with other wood worms. [1]
Although the tree of a wood worm was originally thought to serve as a temporary shell, further study has shown that the wood worm instead merges with the tree, keeping the tree alive so it can use its energy from photosynthesis. This is a wood worm's main method of obtaining sustenance. When a wood worm's tree does not have any leaves, they do not keep the tree alive. This is because, instead of photosynthesis, they will hunt smaller entities and eat them[2] to get energy. To move, a wood worm will move internally in sudden jolts.
Behavior[]
Wood worms sleep very often to photosynthesize. When a wood worm wants to sleep, it will find a spot they deem safe, and rest. These periods of sleep last for an indefinite amount of time until they are ready to move again. Studies show that if a level has a reasonable day/night cycle, the species will render itself nocturnal, wood worms without any leaves instead go out to hunt prey, sleeping less. It is also reported that these leafless wood worms are more aggressive compared to most other wood worms.
When awake, wood worms will find other wood worms and explore their general surroundings. It is believed this is to find spots for reproduction, sleep, and locations of threats[3]. When a wood worm approaches anything, it deems a "threat" during these journeys, they will move both of their ends in a circle pattern and then launch towards their target. How deadly the attack depends on the wood worm's size is.
Growth Cycle[]
Wood worms undergo three main stages of life. The maggot phase, the goo phase, and the adult phase. The following is the two pre-mature phases.
The maggot phase is the first phase of entity 80, which lasts for 100-200 days. In this phase, they resemble a red maggot and climb on trees near their siblings and parents. When born, they will carve a small crevice inside one of their parents. When their parents go to sleep, they will crawl inside this crevice and suck of their parent's energy to stay alive. Do not approach these maggots as the parents are very defensive over their children.
The maggots themselves, have small mouth-like structures, these structures are presumed to be how the maggots suck out their parent's energy. Bellow that is a set of abdomens for digestion, on the skin of the maggot are various pores used for breathing, along with a toxin on the skin, giving it a red color. This toxin induces nausea and diarrhea, so touching the maggot is unadvised. The end of the maggot is the waste hole; this is where the toxins are produced too.
These maggots grow rapidly in size, with their size at birth being 1cm, they can grow to a foot (30.48 cm) long. At the end of their stage, their skin will become more malleable, and the toxin organ will be repurposed as a producer of a goo-like substance, which replaces the muscles. At the final few days, they will venture outward and become a goo phase wood worm.The goo phase is the second phase of a wood worm, which lasts for 20-50 days. Not much is known about this stage as wood worms find their tree to inhabit in less than an hour. In this stage, the few reports known say that the wood worm is sort of "goo like" (hence its name) with a long tentacle with a sharp spike. This tendril is theorized (but not confirmed) to be only used for carving out a hole in their chosen tree. From there, they will turn into an actual goo, similar to that of a caterpillar in a cocoon, with only the organs and the tendril staying solid. They will then carve out the entire tree and then uproot it, becoming an adult wood worm.
Biology[]
Along with connecting structures, the tree trunk has various xylem and phloem [4] redirected to the interior wood worm (for leafless wood worms there are only connecting structures). Near the center is the vital organs, and in the center is a ball of bone which contains the brain. In between these is a viscus, substance believed to be a more solid version of the goo made during the goo phase. This membrane has been observed to function similarly to animal muscle tissue cells.
Discovery[]
Wood worms were documented for as long as people existed in the backrooms, with the oldest known records dating back to Homo Callidus cave paintings. However, during the 1700-1900's they were believed extinct due to their population dwindling of unknown causes. They were re-discovered on June 12th, 1981 (see log below), by James Heartworth, a M.E.G. biologist.
Start of Video
Arnoldson:"Alright got the camera working."
Heartworth:"Finaly that took forever."
Johnson:"Shut up man you just watched."
Heartworth:"Look I was investigating the tree."
Arnoldson:"SHUT UP I'M TRYING TO RECORD"
Johnson:"Okay okay"
Heartworth:"Alright so we are in the level you guys at MEG asked us to go to, and we were told to report anomalies.
Johnson:"Yeah, so we found what we think is a new feature of this level and that is some uprooted trees."
Arnoldson:"Okay you don't make it sound like a regular uprooted tree, the guys back at Level 1 will think we are du-"
Johnson:"Okay, okay, how about this. Alright so, we found an uprooted tree, which is very normal, very, very normal."
Heartworth:"Get to the point already."
Johnson:"Well, the thing is, we have been there before, and the tree was not uprooted before, and we only found out when we heard a screech and then a loud thud, then it was just there.
Arnoldson:"Alright, so our biologist Heartworth and our explorer Johnson here will investigate this. My purpose is to be a cameraman and report things to the MEG"
*End of log 1*
*Start of log 2"
Heartworth:"OYY GET OVER HERE"
Arnoldson:"I'm I feet away dude"
Heartworth:"Alright, so I've just collected a sample of the tree, and it appears that the tree is still alive"
Johnson:"Dude I just checked the tree, its not there"
Arnoldson:"Alright I will come"
*They walk out of the door to see the uprooted tree*
Arnoldson:"WHAT THE"
Johnson:"Yup"
Heartworth:"wa- can you cut it open please"
Johnson:"no wait there is a hole."
Heartworth:"Saves time for me"
*Heartworth collects some of the wood worm's goo*
*The wood worm awakens and chasses after them*
Johnson:"OH MY GOD"
Arnoldson:"HELL NO"
*Arnoldson drops the camera*
Arnoldson, Johnson, and Heartworth managed to escape, and the goo sample had DNA revealing that wood worms did not in fact go extinct.
Do's and Don'ts[]
Do's[]
- If you notice an uprooted tree, touch it gently, if it is warm, it is an instance of Entity 80.[5]
- If you see red maggots on uprooted trees, logs, or the ground, step back, as wood worms are very defensive to their children.
Don'ts[]
- Do not damage their exterior.
- Do not touch or approach any red or abnormally large maggots.
Footnotes
- ↑ There is evidence that they instead turn regular maggots into wood worm maggots, though it is unknown how they would do this.
- ↑ It is unknown how wood these wood worms do this.
- ↑ while inedible to humans, entities find the goo of wood worms a great source of protein, so they are the prey of many species.
- ↑ Xylem transport water and phloem transport food throughout a plant.
- ↑ if you are not gentle, the wood worm will jolt awake, causing injuries.
Author: Easali
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