1 OF WORLDS BEYOND BY IRA CROSBY 2 3 Beasts and Beings Of Worlds Beyond 4 Beasts and Beings of Worlds Beyond is a work of fiction by concept artist Ira Crosby. The type is set in Exo, a font family developed by Nataneal Gama, and was designed in Adobe Indesign. ira_crosby.artstation.com Copyright © 2022 Ira Crosby. All rights reserved. 5 Beasts and Beings Of Worlds Beyond BY IRA CROSBY 6 7 Table of Contents PART 01: INTRODUCTION Who We Are Your Role Multiverses Etiquette Guide PART 02: BEASTS Earies The Heard Shrimpocampi The Cathedrals The Migrant’s Half Hermit’s Euphoria CRIM-12 PART 03: BEINGS Paleotheria Nakurians PART 04: CLOSING 7 9 11 13 17 19 21 25 29 33 39 43 49 57 59 63 68 8 Welcome to the EDRTF. The following entries have been gathered by our initial expedition teams. This resource is a living document, and is intended to educate you and prepare you for the various lifeforms you may encounter upon your field posting. You will gather your own research and data while deployed, and, following rigorous peer-review, your work will contribute to this existing body of knowledge. Study this document well, and refer to it often. 9 PART 01 Introduction 10 Who We Are 52 years ago, we discovered that we were not alone. That we were not unique. Not simply that we were not alone as lifeforms in a vast and empty universe, but rather, that our universe was not alone. All of our history, everything we know as human beings — its just one drop in an ocean, one roll of a cosmic die. We are but one possibility, and the possibilities are, to the best of our current knowledge, indefinite. Scientists and mathematicians had considered this reality, but hard proof came with the invention of the EDA — the extra- dimensional accelerator. With this amazing feat of technology, humanity learned to pierce the veil. The Extra-Dimensional Research Task Force 11 For decades, this privilege of exploration was limited to unmanned robotic probes. Though such probes are able to provide some useful data to us, the electromagnetically-powerful forces involved in usage of the EDA offer challenges in data collection, and file corruption is an ongoing hazard. Now, thanks to ever-improving technology, the EDRTF is on the cutting edge of a brave new frontier — manned explorations missions. Our brave teams of cosmonauts, of which you are privileged to be a part of, face the truly unknown and uncertain in the name of advancing the march of humanity’s progress. Thanks to these intrepid explorers, we are able to secure entirely new perspectives on these exotic and alien worlds — human perspectives. PART 01 INTRODUCTION 12 Your Role Preparing for your work as an EDRTF cosmonaut As you complete your education and training in your field of study, whether it be geology, biology, community defense, or any other the other myriad of disciplines that the ERDTF supports — you may find that a sense of trepidation accompanies the excitement and wonder that you feel as you prepare for your first assignment. There is no doubting that the bravery and resolve you will need is greater than the average person. Dimension-traveling with the EDA is both difficult and costly, and thus most deployments are quite long- term, even indefinite. However, there is no need to feel apprehensive. The training you have received thus far has left you well-prepared for the challenges ahead. 13 Here at the EDRTF, our human resources are our greatest resources. You can rest assured that we will provide for your well-being to the best our ability. You will always have your teammates to rely on, and the work you partake in will be the most thrilling scientific discoveries of humanity’s history, guaranteeing each day to be a fascinating new adventure. Regardless of whether your chosen discipline relates to biological sciences, it is not unlikely that you may encounter various lifeforms and organisms while posted. This handbook details important information on lifeforms that have been encountered by our human cosmonauts thus far. Arm yourself with knowledge. Stay safe, stay curious, and remember to always report back regularly and at a high degree of detail. The knowledge you send could make the difference between life and death for the next crew deployed. PART 01 INTRODUCTION 14 The Multiverses Endless wonders for curious minds You’ve grown up hearing about them, you’ve dreamed about their mysteries since you were a child. In the five decades since their conclusive discovery, multiverses have captured the collective imagination of human beings, and our culture. Imagine two mirrors, placed facing each other. Because each mirror reflects the other, the image inside replicates forever, all the way off into infinity. However, the image isn’t exactly the same — the farther back the image is, the greener and fuzzier it becomes. Two mirrors placed together can’t create a truly infinite string of images, because there are limitations to light bouncing 15 between two physical reflective planes. But, if that string of reflections could be truly infinite, stretching on forever, how twisted and warped might the original image eventually become? “Forever” is a long way — longer than human brains are truly capable of processing. What might happen to this hypothetical image, after tens of thousands of replications of becoming greener and blurrier? It may change in ways we may have never expected. The true expansiveness of multiverses is more than metaphor can convey. Rather than one set of two mirrors — every single possibility, every single change for any atom to be slightly shifted or placed differently — every one of these temporal “forks in the road” creates yet another infinitely replicating mirror set. In fact, each multiverse that exists has itself endless replications, the differences PART 01 INTRODUCTION 16 between them being undetectable. It is due to this fact that the EDRTF is able to “safely” traverse into other planes — each plane will have infinite replications of itself that are untouched by us, so we have no fear of damaging the natural state of things. Current technological limitations make it difficult to enter multiverses that are either highly similar to, or highly different to, our own. The planes we are able to calibrate the EDA to access thusly exist in the exciting space of being a multiverse similar enough to our to follow the same physical rules, but different enough to reveal all sorts of possibilities and evolutionary pathways that we may never have imagined otherwise. The future of extra-dimensional technology holds even more exciting possibilities on its horizon. Should we develop the ability to enter replications of our own multiverse, we would be able THE MULTIVERSES 17 to witness history firsthand, and even experiment with temporal alteration and its effects. We would be able to restore species that have gone extinct, and observe abiogenesis before our very eyes. And, should innovation carve the way to access planes far more different from our own, then the very building blocks of universes might be right at our fingertips. What might a universe look like without atoms as its base form of matter? What might a universe look like in absence of the dimension of time? The possibilities, and their subsequent applications in industry and technology, are truly thrilling. Indeed, the contributions you make for the good of the EDRTF all work to advance these noble goals of innovation and progress. Take pride in your research work, and look towards the future as humanity unlocks even more of the cosmos’ endless mysteries. PART 01 INTRODUCTION 18 Etiquette Guide Maintaining scholarly relationships with biota There is no prospect quite as thrilling as being on the cutting edge of science, and biota are perhaps the most fulfilling discoveries of all, given the way we see ourselves in fellow living beings. However, letting emotions enter the playing field in encounters with extra-dimensional beasts and beings is a dangerous game. It can cost you and your crew their lives, or worse, all the research that the EDRTF deployed your team to gather. To ensure that research missions go smoothly, it is important to keep scholarly etiquette in mind when researching extra-dimensional life forms. You must remember that no beast or being is your friend , and no beast or being is your enemy 19 PART 01 INTRODUCTION Human beings are driven both by a desire to pack-bond with other creatures, and by a considerable fear of other creatures. You must be able to transcend both of these lower basal instincts. Do not let sympathy stand in the way of your sample-collecting, and do not let concern for any species you may encounter jeopardize your research and your reporting back to EDRTF. Our knowledge of them is never something they need fear. Furthermore, never let your fear stand in the way of your scholarly pursuits. Fear causes panic and irrationality, and can jeopardize entire missions, even leading to destruction of important biological subjects. Rise beyond these lower instincts. Never destroy a lifeform out of fear for your safety — always assess the situation cautiously to ensure that both you and the lifeform make it out alive, with said lifeform in containment for study. And remember, you can access our psychological AI care system at any time. 20 Non-SSD Fauna (Beasts) The following entries entail information on organisms classified as beasts . To be classified as a beast, a species must not qualify as an SSD: sapient, social, dexterous. These three traits are the essential cogs that set us apart from other animals of our own universe. Organisms must also classify as fauna — in layman’s terms, an animal, rather than a plant or fungi. However, such classifications in our own taxonomic ranking, beginning with “kingdom” — do not always apply in other worlds. An organism can be generally understood to be fauna if it is motile and/or primarily a consumer.