Asexual reproduction in Octolings and the unique morphology of severed tentacles
In Octarian societies, one of the most culturally significant parts of Octoling functions is the ability to create life from one's own limbs. The budding of a severed tentacle (resulting in what we will refer to generically as Octotroopers for the sake of convenience; there are countless types of budded life forms) has been a trait that existed in Octolings for at least 4,000 years, likely having evolved as a way to increase numbers whilst using fewer resources than one would producing offspring sexually and raising them to adulthood. While most modern day civilizations rarely practice Octotrooper budding, the behavior is still prevalent in underground dome communities* and communities that recently emerged from the domes. In the social hierarchy of dome-dwelling Octarians, Octotroopers are usually seen performing manual labor and fighting in the front lines during military operations, along with any other jobs that are high in risk, but low in technical skill.
*In Octo Valley, especially; there, Octotroopers outnumber Octolings 8 to 1!
The Test of Applicable Knowledge in Octarians (a.k.a, the TAKO test) is an evaluation of intellectual capability in octo-based organisms, originally used by Great Turf War engineers to predict the efficacy of the Great Octoweapons in complex combat situations. To this day, Octarian researchers utilize the TAKO test to evaluate potential performance in educational and military settings. In 2021, the average TAKO score for a single-tentacle Octotrooper was comparable to that of a seven-year-old Octoling*.
*Note: The accuracy and applicability of the TAKO model is currently being contested and may soon be replaced in a few years, and there is a lot of controversy as to whether it is even ethical to use the TAKO test to determine or predict intelligence. I only mention it due to how limited documentation on Octotroopers is outside of the Octarian domes.
So how do Octotroopers even function on a physiological level? How is one made? I already mentioned that they are produced via budding from Octoling tentacles, but the process itself has more going on beneath the surface than the layperson may think.
1. Tentacle removal: A limb is removed from the hair of an Octoling. In emergency situations, the tentacle may be cut, but the standard procedure involves constricting the tentacle until it comes off by itself to minimize pain and bleeding. Either way, the limb must be removed at the very base so as to include the neuron clusters that will become the Octotrooper's nucleus.
2. Inkubation: Contrary to popular belief, an Octoling tentacle does not spontaneously come to life all by itself. It needs to be bathed in ink for a prolonged period of time in order to develop its own organ structures. Various environmental factors go into how an Octotrooper develops during the inkubation process, including temperature, number of tentacles (i.e., multiple tentacles fuse into a single entity), salinity in ink, and time. These factors are manipulated based on what type of Octotrooper is needed for a given task. For example, the more time an Octotrooper spends "cooking," the bigger it grows, allowing it to wield heavier weapons.
3. Maturity: Once the Octotrooper starts opening its eyes, it can be removed from the ink bath. It is considered "fully grown" as soon as it comes out and usually only lives for about 3-8 years, depending on the size and tentacle number. Octotroopers cannot reproduce themselves, but tentacle tissue can be synthesized in a lab setting to create clones. These clones tend to have even shorter life spans due to their immune systems being weaker than "naturally"-grown Octotroopers.
The internal workings of an Octotrooper are commonly described by the Squid Research Lab as similar to a single-celled organism in the sense that instructions transferred from the chemical makeup of the ink they were incubated in are encoded into a nucleus of readable messages sent through the entire body. I personally propose that the Octotrooper is more comparable to an individual cell within a more sophisticated organism, using those instructions to carry out tasks for the benefit of the eusocial collective (come to think of it, they're more like ants or bees than cells, actually!)
A. Tentacle structure: An Octotrooper's body lacks the cartilage skeleton present in most inkfish, instead relying completely on the contractions of hydraulic muscles to move around. Most energy consumption goes into maintaining the stability of these muscles.
A1: Like the Octolings they sprouted from, an Octotrooper's default tentacle color does not necessarily match its ink color, as Octarian hair color is used to denote military ranking (the darker the shade, the higher the rank) rather than the color of one's ink. In many domes, it is illegal to deviate from the standard "Octarian purple" outside of designated training programs.
A2: The sanitization process uses a unique mixture of preservatives to fortify the flesh against common injuries. Aging is also halted, allowing sanitized Octarians to live longer than their unaffected counterparts.
A3: One of the most obvious effects of Fuzzy Ooze is the growth of keratin-based papillae known as fur on the outer tentacle. While the pigments within the fur generally keep it some shade of brown, most mammalians still retain some control over tentacle color, which can be seen between individual hairs and often appear as a more muted version of their rank or ink color from a distance.
B. Eyes: An Octotrooper's vision is usually about the same as an Octoling's, though this can change depending on how much time the Octotrooper spent in inkubation. Maximum distance tends to increase with the length of inkubation time, so slow-cooked Octotroopers tend to be made into Octosnipers or Octocommanders. The eyes are the second-to-last organ developed during inkubation, followed by the legs.
B1: The green sclera is generally used as a signifier of loyalty to the Octarian cause. Most Octarians actively serving in the army take on this eye color at some point, though the only Octolings who appear to have been born with it are members of the imperial Takowasa family (e.g., DJ Octavio and his descendants).
B2: The eyes are considered a window into the soul, and the distinctive black sclera in a sanitized inkfish is often associated with a complete overwrite. Those who have successfully completed the reconfiguration of their palettes in the Memverse recover the eye color they had pre-sanitization, supporting the idea that the condition of one's eyes (barring unrelated damage or vision problems) can be an indicator of soul health.
B3: Likewise, mammalian eyes take on the qualities of the Fuzzy Ooze inside their bodies. This doesn't seem to have a direct effect on one's vision, but many inkfish affected by Fuzzy Ooze report hallucinating extinct animals. More data is needed on this topic.
C. Nervous system: Note the giant cluster of neurons that form a rudimentary brain-like structure within an Octotrooper. This "brain" is called the nucleus. Despite how basic the structure may seem, it is great at learning, remembering, and problem-solving. The nucleus is what makes Octotrooper budding possible to begin with; other inkfish tentacles such as those on Inklings lack the neuron count necessary to create an independent nervous system.
C1: The sophistication of an Octotrooper's central nervous system is directly tied to the number of tentacles fused together during inkubation. This is why Twintacle Octotroopers are trusted with more complex machinery than single-tentacled Octotroopers, and possibly why pseudo-humanoid Octotroopers formed from eight tentacles (e.g., Octo Samurai) have souls that are nearly identical to those of standard Octolings.
C2: Acute sanitization, while removing higher decision-making capabilities, retains motor function and at least some sensory input (anecdotal reports and reflex tests denote that being sanitized limits sensitivity to touch, and in some cases, smell and taste). Many sanitized inkfish report having a higher pain tolerance compared to their non-sanitized peers. In spite of the limited senses, sanitized Octotroopers seem to have better night vision than other Octotroopers.
C3: The nuclei of Fuzzy Octotroopers have a higher nerve density than non-mammalian Octotroopers. Their senses and reflexes are more reactive, especially in late stage mammalization. In addition, responses to known soul triggers such as the Calamari Inkantation are more noticeable in mammalian Octotroopers than in their non-fuzzy counterparts.
D. Gastrointestinal system: Early into the inkubation process, space within the tentacle is cleared to form a digestive tract, starting with the mouth forming on the ventral side of the tentacle, and ending with the anus at the base where the tentacle was initially severed, where all waste matter is excreted.
D1: Octotroopers thrive on foods that are high in protein and fat. The typical Octotrooper diet consists of tofu, nuts, wasabi, and sometimes Power Eggs (eating Power Eggs is often restricted due to their use as fuel for weapons).
D2: The gut of a sanitized Octotrooper is filled with chemosynthetic bacteria that feeds on metals found within one's own blood and blended ink. You can read more on the subject here.
D3: Fuzzy Octotroopers, like other mammalian inkfish, have increased appetites and will often seek out more fruit and fish in their diets. A malnourished mammalian will often have split ends and a more wiry texture to their fur than they should. With a balanced diet, the fur is soft and shiny.
E. Chromavascular system: Like the digestive tract, an Octotrooper's ink sac is developed during inkubation, rather than already being present in the tentacle. Most Octotroopers have a low ink capacity and run out more quickly than complete inkfish, though some Octotrooper types are specialized in such a way that they can hold more ink in their bodies, such as Octobombers and Oversized Octopods.
E1: With lower ink capacities comes a lower osmotic pressure, so most ink-based attacks fired by an Octotrooper rely more on blunt force trauma than toxicity, hence the large globs seen in standard Octotrooper weaponry. It is virtually impossible for most Octotroopers to produce special charge; Octotroopers designed to wield special weapons like the Octostriker and Missile Octocopter instead use large quantities of regular ink as ammunition.
E2: Much of what little biological functionality present in a sanitized Octotrooper relies on blended ink. Very few sanitized Octotroopers are able to survive outside of the Deepsea Metro as a result. This makes collecting data on them extremely difficult. Most of what I could gather on them for this post in particular is just me extrapolating from information on sanitized Octolings, so please take any of my conjecture with a healthy dose of scientific skepticism!
E3: Mammalian ink contains highly concentrated amounts of Alternian crystals, which reacts strongly to ink-based organisms. Consumption or absorption of large quantities may cause similar symptoms to coming into contact with Fuzzy Ooze. Handle with extreme care.
F. Cardiovascular system: Blood circulation is facilitated by a heart-like structure inside the nucleus, consisting of two arteries and a single valve connecting them. Oxygen is taken in from the skin and distributed to the organs.
F1: When stressed, an Octotrooper's blood flow is localized to the tip of the tentacle and to the legs, and away from the ink sac. Perhaps they are more hardwired for the flight response than the fight response... Octarian bio-engineers were shocked when they found out about this, as it would put the idea that Octotroopers are biologically determined to act as the perfect footsoldiers into question.
F2: Sanitized inkfish lack heartbeats. Because of this, any wound that breaks the skin does not bleed, allowing them to take more damage without the risk of serious injury. However, the lack of blood flow also means that wounds take longer to heal, and they are more likely to form scars.
F3: Mammalian blood, along with other bodily fluids, contains traces of Alternian crystals, meaning there is a risk of Fuzzy Ooze contamination when coming into contact with it. It also contains more iron, allowing for more efficient oxygen transfer.
Also, because I didn't really have any good place to put this note, G. Toenails: Fuzzy Octotroopers grow keratin-based claws on their toes. Do not let them kick or scratch you; it will hurt. I have firsthand experience and the scars to prove it!
