An influx of Norns

 [Originally written July 8 2021]

Albia was a freakin’ circus today. I started off with most of the Norns sleepy and collapsing into a snoring pile together; Sigurd and Gunhild got into a slap fight behind the water pump where I couldn’t discipline them, but seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Then things got weird, fast. For some reason, the pufferfish decided to eject Olaf, and only Olaf, from the ocean. I have no idea why. Then, once he was on land, I tried to get him back in the water where he belongs, only to have him completely freeze on me. I tried fiddling around with the springy toy (again, it’s a godsend for moving stuck Norns) but to no avail. Olaf actually aged up on land, so it’s a very good thing that he’s an Atlantic Mernorn and not a standard variety, or he would have suffocated. When injections failed to un-stick him, I exported and reimported him, which did the trick, but then I had to juggle him with all the other Norns and try to get him and only him into the ocean, which was an ordeal. It also involved Magni helpfully trying to demonstrate swimming, so that was fun. Then Sven went and collapsed, presumably due to not eating, so I had to get him back on his feet with an injection, but he seemed to stabilize after that.

During all this chaos, the land-dwellers had produced three eggs, and soon a fourth was on the way. With the Mernorn situation under control, I tried desperately to catch up on land by hatching the eggs. I adored Grelod the moment I laid eyes on her; my orange-tipped female Frog Norn sprites go so well with the Golden Desert Norn sprites! But my second thought was the realization that I would not be able to handle four hatchlings with all the adults still in the room. So I exported Grelod and decided it was time to eject the other Norns from the safety of the cave.

This meant pulling them up the lift and tossing them through the random teleporter. This worked out better for some than for others. Sigurd ended up just jumping off the platform, and the poor amphibian was very confused by his arid surroundings.

Freyja ended up in the splicing room, which is not a good long-term location for a Norn, so I guided her out into the treehouses. Eventually I got everybody into at least decent positions, except Magni, who continually re-activated the teleporter to go back to the incubator! He really didn’t want to leave! Eventually I got the cheeky little fellow out, and then it was time to set about hatching the remaining eggs. 

And that, of course, means it’s time for genetic analysis! We’ll start with Grelod. She has a lobe mutation that is thankfully just a random value in a state rule, sandwiched safely among a bunch of <END> flags. The receptor that makes Norns walk differently when sleepy kicks in early for her – normally, being a walk animation, it doesn’t kick in until childhood, as babies are supposed to still be crawling, regardless of mood. Her third mutation is unfortunate but not crippling.

Reaction

Gene 115: drive 4 reducer

3 Coldness Decrease + 3 Coldness = 1 Reward.
Rate: 8 (max to 0 in about 0.4 secs)

3 Coldness Decrease + 3 Coldness = 1 Punishment.
Rate: 8 (max to 0 in about 0.4 secs)

Normally this reaction encourages Norns to do things that warm them up when cold, but in Grelod it will discourage this behavior.

The next egg was the only one not laid by Freyja, but it’s worth noting I didn’t know whose eggs these were, just that I had a pile of them! Each one was a surprise. Thordis is an odd combination of sprites but I think she’s strangely charming with her purple and green coloration. I am pleased to see that, at least so far, my Lop Norn sprites seem to hybridize just fine with other breeds!

Her first mutation is the receptor that ties the sleepiness chemical to the sleepiness drive; normally it’s active from birth, but it doesn’t kick in for Thordis until childhood. Her second mutation is in the emitter for sibling pheromones; the threshhold has changed by 1, which I expect will have no effect. The third mutation changed a 1 to a 0 in the inputs of a reaction; a 0 isn’t a valid value so it gets autocorrected by the kit, and the chemical being counted was <NONE> so this wouldn’t do anything anyway.

The next egg held Grelod’s sister, Halla. They look very much alike, although Halla doesn’t have matching arms and legs like Grelod does. 

What she does have is far more interesting mutations, aside from her two lobe mutations, which are just random values among the <END> values in state rules, as per usual.

Receptor

Gene 624: Oestral cycle (F)

Organ: “Creature”, Tissue: “Reproductive”, Locus: “Become fertile if high”. Chemical: “Oestrogen”.
Analogue: Output = 0 + ((Signal - 73) * 255).

Organ: “Creature”, Tissue: “Reproductive”, Locus: “Become fertile if high”. Chemical: “Oestrogen”.
Analogue: Output = 0 - ((Signal - 73) * 255).

At first, I was a bit excited about this one. I figured since the signal was inverted, the output would always be 0, and thus essentially she would never be fertile, and therefore never produce arousal potential (and in turn, no sex drive). As an asexual person myself, it would have been cool to find essentially an asexual Norn. However, if the math is not clamped until the end, then a signal of less than 73 would result in subtracting a negative number; essentially Halla would become fertile only when she had low oestrogen. We’ll find out as she grows up!

Her next mutation is one I can’t even make sense of, and I suppose must be an error. The gene actually looks the same in the genetics kit, but the D-DNA analyzer flagged it as a mutation, and when compared to a standard Norn, there’s a chunk of the line missing.

Receptor

Gene 465: 122 Antigen 2

465 Different in File 1 122   0 Emb   B MutDupCut   128  Organ#=6 chem=Antigen2, thresh=16, nom=0, gain=50, features=Digital

465 Different in File 2 122   0 Emb   B MutDupCut   128  Organ#=6 Organ, Injury chem=Antigen2, thresh=16, nom=0, gain=50, features=Digital

My best guess is that the entire Receptor Attachment section just got omitted. No idea if an invalid change like that would actually do anything in-game, or what it would do if it did.

Emitter

Gene 050: Get claustrophobic

Organ: “Creature”, Tissue: “Sensorimotor”, Locus: “Crowdedness”. Chemical: “Crowded”. Sample every 40 ticks.
Analogue: Output = (Signal - 2) * 8. 

Organ: “Creature”, Tissue: “Sensorimotor”, Locus: “Light Level”. Chemical: “Crowded”. Sample every 40 ticks.
Analogue: Output = (Signal - 2) * 8. 

This is certainly a strange mutation! Halla will prefer dark places, feeling crowded in bright light. That said, this probably also means that how crowded she feels will be unconnected to the number of Norns around her.

Reaction

Gene 139: Fight to Flight when retreating

1 Collapsase + 1 Anger = 1 Fear.
Rate: 32 (Max to 0 in about 5 secs)

1 Upatrophin + 1 Anger = 1 Fear.
Rate: 32 (Max to 0 in about 5 secs)

Now this one’s interesting! Collapsase is a chemical that is produced when a creature is retreating from a potential threat, and its presence spurs the fight-or-flight response toward flight by converting anger into fear. In other words, if a creature starts running, its anger turns to fear and it will probably continue running. The equivalent in the other direction is turnase, produced when a potential threat approaches, which converts fear to anger – a Norn standing its ground will probably continue doing so.

Upatrophin and downatrophin are simply chemicals emitted in response to the steepness of the terrain, usually used to trigger receptors that cause the gaits for walking up and down hills. In Halla’s case, she essentially doesn’t have a normal flight response, as collapsase won’t trigger her anger to convert into fear (which would encourage more running, producing more collapsase). However, she is unwilling to fight an uphill battle, literally! If her opponent has the high ground, she’ll become afraid; note that this is a reaction converting anger into fear, so if she’s not angry to begin with, upatrophin won’t make her afraid.

Finally, there’s Svala. She has only two mutations. One is a slight change to an initial concentration of a normal chemical, and one is a change to a receptor. 

That said, looking at the normal behavior of the receptor made me question my understanding of receptors as a whole, including going back and re-evaluating Halla’s fertility mutation.

Receptor

Gene 605: Stress reduces healing

Organ: “Current Organ ^(Gonad)”, Tissue: “<no tissue>”, Locus: “Repair Rate”. Chemical: “Stress”.
Analogue: Output = 0 - ((Signal - 0) * 12).

Organ: “Current Organ ^(Gonad)”, Tissue: “<no tissue>”, Locus: “Repair Rate”. Chemical: “Stress”.
Analogue: Output = 0 - ((Signal - 1) * 12).

The mutation itself seems inconsequential; if you’ve got more than 0 stress, you probably have more than 1 stress. But shouldn’t the normal behavior of this gene always produce an output of 0? No matter what the signal is, it’s always positive and therefore, when subtracted from 0, should always be clamped to 0. 

This leads me to two possibilities: first is that the repair rate accepts negative values and therefore doesn’t clamp. The other is that my formula for receptors with the “output REDUCES with increased stimulation” flag is wrong. I have been operating on the assumption that the formulas here are the correct ones. But for emitters, the genetics kit lists inversion as meaning that the signal is treated as (255 – signal), so it’s entirely possible that’s the case for receptors as well.

I tried engineering a test Norn with receptors and emitters tied to arnica (since I could dose the Norn with that at will via arnica berries) and to unused chemicals (that would otherwise not show up but could be graphed) so I could watch the interaction, but to no avail. I have no answers at this point in time.