Post by The Ellimist on Sept 10, 2014 9:45:32 GMT -6
Morphing is an advanced biotechnological process created by the Andalites. Its power is made transferable via a glowing blue cube called the Escafil device. Morph-capable beings can "acquire" the DNA of any animal, allowing them to physically "morph" into that animal at will. Morphing utilizes cascading cellular regeneration, combined with a variant on Zero-space (also referred to as "Z-space") technology, in order to make the transformation. It typically takes about two minutes to morph, though this varies depending on the user's focus. If one stays in morph longer than two hours of Earth time, they become trapped within that morph, turning into a Nothlit. A Nothlit can never return to its original form, though in rare cases it may regain its morphing ability. While in morph, one is still capable of thought-speech, delivered in brackets such as these <>. One also has the drawback (or advantage, depending on the animal and situation at hand) of being confronted with the morphed creature's mind and instincts. This can be very useful, but it can also turn into trouble when you first encounter a morph. For example, you may need to master the cat's aloofness, and overpowering need to hunt. Note that the two minutes it takes to morph ARE counted as morph-time on the clock. Morphing technology is still new, and very unpredictable. Any damage or injury sustained in morph will be healed, as the body is based purely on DNA. Therefore, similar to injuries, things such as surgeries and implants will not affect the morph. Some, like the Animorphs, have found success in integrating clothing into morphs, such as leotards or something similar, woefully without things like coats and shoes. Several other known quirks to morphing exist. An estreen is a person who is naturally talented at morphing. They can usually morph at an accelerated rate and control instincts better, as well as the normally chaotic process of morphing itself; on an estreen, it just looks better.
Another morph-related problem is caused by emotional stress, which disrupts the person's natural ability to concentrate during the morph and causes them to morph at least two animals at once, resulting in a bizarre combination of body parts that rarely go together very well. Concentration and calm focus is key.
Z-space is another issue. When one morphs a being smaller than themselves, the extra mass is extruded into Z-space. In the rare event that a ship would pass by, they would be drawn into it and likely evaporated by the ship's force field. According to a recently documented occurrence, the being's consciousness is pulled back to the mass in Z-space, rather than staying with the morphed body as usual. It used to be thought that the mass would be unorganized, random blobs, but it is now conjectured that the mass is, in fact, fully formed and proportioned. Should the mass survive somehow, it is subject to a snap-back effect called a Residual-Flux field, and causes the consciousness to return to the original body, with no time passing whatsoever.
There is the issue of the Nothlit, one trapped in a morph by staying there longer than two hours, as mentioned above.
In order to "acquire" a creature, one must make physical contact with the subject in question. The acquiring process demands concentration and a break in concentration will abort it. During this process, when the animal is being acquired, it falls into a trance and becomes docile, similar to being tranquilized. This effect lasts mere seconds after the acquiring is complete, so it must be used carefully. Rarely, though it does sometimes happen, the process takes no effect whatsoever, and the animal is not affected either. There is no known limit as to how many morphs one being can possess. The animal's DNA simply floats around in the blood system until called forth by morphing technology. The Animorphs use this technology in a very different way from that of its Andalite creators. Where the group amasses a vast arsenal of situational morphs and uses them as weaponry, Andalite morphers often spend their lives mastering one or two morphs for the purpose of subterfuge.
A particularly useful aspect of morphing is the Frolis Maneuver, in which one combines the DNA of several samples from the same species, to create a new being for a morph. Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill is adept at this. It can be used to avoid an exact duplicate of a human when obtaining one's DNA.
There are seven rules to morphing which must always be followed.*
Another morph-related problem is caused by emotional stress, which disrupts the person's natural ability to concentrate during the morph and causes them to morph at least two animals at once, resulting in a bizarre combination of body parts that rarely go together very well. Concentration and calm focus is key.
Z-space is another issue. When one morphs a being smaller than themselves, the extra mass is extruded into Z-space. In the rare event that a ship would pass by, they would be drawn into it and likely evaporated by the ship's force field. According to a recently documented occurrence, the being's consciousness is pulled back to the mass in Z-space, rather than staying with the morphed body as usual. It used to be thought that the mass would be unorganized, random blobs, but it is now conjectured that the mass is, in fact, fully formed and proportioned. Should the mass survive somehow, it is subject to a snap-back effect called a Residual-Flux field, and causes the consciousness to return to the original body, with no time passing whatsoever.
There is the issue of the Nothlit, one trapped in a morph by staying there longer than two hours, as mentioned above.
In order to "acquire" a creature, one must make physical contact with the subject in question. The acquiring process demands concentration and a break in concentration will abort it. During this process, when the animal is being acquired, it falls into a trance and becomes docile, similar to being tranquilized. This effect lasts mere seconds after the acquiring is complete, so it must be used carefully. Rarely, though it does sometimes happen, the process takes no effect whatsoever, and the animal is not affected either. There is no known limit as to how many morphs one being can possess. The animal's DNA simply floats around in the blood system until called forth by morphing technology. The Animorphs use this technology in a very different way from that of its Andalite creators. Where the group amasses a vast arsenal of situational morphs and uses them as weaponry, Andalite morphers often spend their lives mastering one or two morphs for the purpose of subterfuge.
A particularly useful aspect of morphing is the Frolis Maneuver, in which one combines the DNA of several samples from the same species, to create a new being for a morph. Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill is adept at this. It can be used to avoid an exact duplicate of a human when obtaining one's DNA.
There are seven rules to morphing which must always be followed.*
*Included in another post.
