The Pods

Name: The Pods

AKA: Anything else

Location: Deep Space

Novel: Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Author: Jack Finney




Natural History:
Probably one of the oldest lifeforms in the galaxy, the Pods have perfected survival. As their planet began to die, slowly, over immeasurable time, they too evolved, slowly over immeasurable time. As the planet died, they escaped, fleeing to whatever planet they drifted upon, taking the form of the inhabitants and eventually taking over as the dominant life.

They look like seed pods, but on a giant scale. They grow like normal plants do with those already taken over serving as care takers for the fields of pods that are produced to replace the indigenous population. Those care givers place the pods into towns, hidden places, trunks, and in closets for the non-taken over to be replaced.

The Author and myself were able to see this transformation. The pod is placed in close proximity to the target. Over a short span of time, maybe a night, the pod begins to burst at the sides, a white foamy substance emerges, and the pod bursts open. There is a semi-formed white, blank, life-form inside, slowly developing and taking on the characteristics of the target. Eventually it becomes identical to the target and steals the life force and memories, becoming anything organic. The original is left a lifeless husk and is turned to empty grey matter.

The only difference between the pods and the original: emotion. The replicas cannot emote or share emotion, only the pretense of it, a simulation of emoiton Also, a collective knowledge of where the pods came from, their history, and their purpose. A collective knowledge of everything the pods were and have become. Mars and the moon used to have life, but no longer thanks to the pods. The transformation is painless and generally occurs while the target is asleep. Needless to say, The Author and I did not sleep while around this dangerous parasites. It seems plant-life has evolved to be the predator and us, the prey.

"The pods arrived, drifting onto our planet as they have onto others, and they performed, and are now performing their simple and natural function - which is to survive on this planet. And they do so by exercising their evolved ability to adapt and take over and duplicate cell for cell, the life this planet is suited for."

Triffid

Name: Triffid

AKA: Mankind's savior

Location: Taking over the world

Novel: The Day of the Triffids

Author: John Wyndham




Natural History:
Rather than explain a Triffid to you in her own words, The Author was able to obtain an eyewitness account from William Masen, the scientific leader in Triffid knowledge:

"I have a picture in my memory now of him (Masen's father) examining ours and puzzling over it at a time when it must have been a year old. In almost every detail it was a half-size replica of a fully grown triffid-only it didn't have a name yet, and no one had seen one fully grown. My father leaned over, peering at it through his horn-rimmed glasses, fingering its stalk, and blowing gently through his gingery mustache, as was his habit when thoughtful. He inspected the straight stem, and the woody bole from which it sprang. He gave curious, if not penetrative, attention to the three small, bare sticks which grew straight up beside the stem. He smoothed the short sprays of leathery green leaves between his finger and thumb as if their texture might tell him something. Then he peered into the curious, funnel-like formation at the top of the stem, still puffing reflectively, but inconclusively, through his mustache. I remember the first time he lifted me up to look inside that conical cup and see the tightly wrapped whorl within. It looked not unlike the new, close-rolled frond of a fern, emerging a couple of inches from a sticky mess in the base of the cup. I did not touch it, but I knew the stuff must be sticky because there were flies and other small insects struggling in it."

The Triffid's origin's are unknown, but Masen believes they are the result of ingenious biological meddling. Appearing out of nowhere and solving the worlds oil crisis. Yes, Triffids were kept on farms and bred for their oil, which eliminated the use of fossil fuels. On a fateful night, however, the human race became part of the food chain and the Triffids top meal. On the night of a spectacular meteor shower that lit up the sky in an eerie green hue, the human race went blind. The Triffids escaped the farms, wild ones joining packs, and began to hunt for food. Overwhelming the Earth, Triffids became the dominate species and are still hunting humans today.

Masen and a group of survivors escaped to an island, a colony known as Elspeth Cray. I have looked through their history and while the Triffids dominate the landscape, humanity carries on and endures.

"...-in other words, they know what they're doing. Look at it this way. Granted that they do have intelligence; then that would leave us with one important superiority--sight. We can see, and they can't. Take away our vision, and the superiority is gone. Worse than that--our position becomes inferior to theirs, because they are adapted to a sightless existence and we are not."

Triffoil Factory