BBC66: Korika and the Sepsilyx Fungus

[Vexwing]

Hello everyone, I've been signed up for a while but this is my first time actually posting. I happened to notice the building contest and I figured I'd cobble something together before the deadline. The brain theme made me think of that parasitic "zombie fungus" that affects ants, so I thought I'd whip up a MOC based on it. So without further ado, here's my entry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Full gallery on Flickr

 

 

Koriki are a breed of insectoid rahi native to the Southern continent of the Matoran Universe. While these rahi posess a large, and comparatively complex brain amongst other insectoid species, each member posesses very little in the way of singular intelligence. Rather, their brains are adapted to telepathically tune into a collective hive mind shared with the rest of the colony.

 

Makuta Mutran, the original creator of this species, had recently been ordered my Teridax to find a way to forcibly bring the Matoran under the control of the Brotherhood. While the Makuta possessed the ability to control insects and other Rahi at will, Sapient species like the Matoran proved problematic. Exposure to antidermis was one method that had proved effective at enslaving a Matoran's will, albeit temorarily. Taking this into consideration, Mutran devised a paristoidal lifeform forged from antidermis itself. This organism would hijack a host's brain and give it one sigular purpose: spread the infection to others. Once the population was infected the Mukuta could utilize their link with the antidermis to make the host organisms slaves to their will.

 

Mutran was aware of the risks of releasing an untested parasite on the Matoran; for reasons unknown Teridax considered them integral to his plan, surely the accidental genocide of the Matoran would warrant swift reprisal. So instead he chose the Koriki as his first test subjects, tailoring the parasite to specifically target their physiology without risking the infection of other species. Dubbing his new creation the Cepsilyx Fungus, he chose a colony drone as the first host and monitored the spread from there. The initial results were promising, one infected member released back into the hive spread the infection level within the hive to 47% within a single day, and thanks to skirmishes with rival hives the infection had spread to two more colonies.

 

However, within the first week a fatal flaw had reared its head. The Cepsilyx parasite had proven too voracious, and by subverting the Koriki's natural instinct to feed, it quickly consumed the host in an attempt to sustain itself. When the host body finally fails the Cepsilyx erupts from the brain of the Koriki in a last ditch effort to infect anything nearby. The parasite spread like wildfire throughout the southern continent, decimating the population of the Koriki.

 

While the results were not what Mutran desired, he still felt the concept held promise. He had every intention of going back and revising the parasite and trying again; however it would have to wait, as he had received orders to return to Destral and partner with Tridax to develop weapons for their Karda Nui campaign. The Cepsilyx failure fresh on his mind, Mutran mused that perhaps a different approach was required, one that didn't require the parasite to remain bonded with its victim.

 

Following their infection, the population of the Koriki on the Southern continent continued to ebb and flow, at some points seeming on the brink of extinction. Outbreaks of Cepsilyx continued to plague the species, continually causing their numbers to dwindle. Following the deactivation of the Great Spirit robot, the Koriki have migrated to Spherus Magna where there are currently no signs of outbreaks within the newly settled population. It remains to be seen if Cepsilyx will once again rear its head; perhaps the Koriki have finally found respite from this menace.

Edited November 22, 2013 by Shatterblast

[Chro]

That's pretty neat. Although it's not actually the most complex build, I think you made good use of the spindly look achieved by using the prefab skeleton pieces. Also the only entry so far (to my knowledge) to feature a detailed backstory that is actually Bionicle-related and makes sense.

[Vexwing]

Yeah, it's admittedly a pretty simple build. All my attempts to bulk up the legs seemed counter-productive, outside of the Nuparu Mahri armor on the forearms anything else I tried ended up looking way too bulky for an ant.

Edited November 21, 2013 by Shatterblast