Meet Zepht - one of the Researchers at the Lab!
Hope you're having a heptoful start to 2024! We thought to start the year with an exclusive interview with one of the staff here at the Lab.
Zepht is our Laboratory Head and is in charge of discovering new heptopods, and everything about them!
Who are you and what's your role/profession? What do you do in this role?
Hi, I'm Zepht and I am an artist and programmer, dabbling in game design! I just also really enjoy making things, whether digital, physical or even written.
But more importantly, I am a scientist at the Heptopod Research Lab, studying the history, anatomy and behaviour of these wonderful specimens.
So many people have been fascinated by the discovery of a new anthropomorphic octopus species. As the head researcher, what can you tell us about this new discovery?
While heptopods have been known about in passing for a while, proper research has never been conducted on this ever less elusive species. We are hoping to bring a better understanding of these cephalopods to the public's perception!
We know that these "heptopods" come in three types. Can you briefly describe each one and their unique traits?
The three main distinctions of heptopod sub-classifications have derived from how the species historically had to adapt to different environments. The three main clans that were formed by the evolution into more societal patterns are the Clans of Covert, Impact and Artisan. Distinctly, each of these lineages has a different layout of its 7 limbs.
Heptopods of the Covert lineage tend to have finer control over their natural abilities of mimicry and bioluminescence, allowing them fluid control over their bodies' appearance.
Heptopods of the Impact lineage tend to have much better ability in physical prowess and martial arts, making the most of the densely packed muscles in their twin tails.
Heptopods of the Artisan lineage tend to be much more refined in craftsmanship, and wielding ink based composites between their 4 arms.
There seems to be a lot of heptopods that we know of in existence! What have you gathered by their presence?
I think we are living in a great time where we can interact and learn so much about the Heptopod species as a whole, but also listen to the individual and unique stories each one has to offer.
Of course, we know that heptopods have actually been in existence for a while - we just only found out about them recently. What can you tell us about their history?
The heptopod species is a distant relative of the octopods we know today. It is believed to have stemmed from a small population taking refuge in a sprawling undersea network that was secluded from the rest of the world for many centuries until relatively recent history.
The population thrived in this environment and settled in distant corners from one another. As the many generations passed, each of these split populations took on advantageous forms to become apex predators in their habitats, eventually forming societies that would one day start to clash with each other.
Each of the three clans used their unique skill sets in combat against one another, as they fought for space and resources. We have limited knowledge on these conflicts so far, or how they resolved, but that is something we are hoping to learn more about eventually.
But what we know for certain is that at one point, the Suctucalix Chambers opened up to the outside world again. The Heptopod species has spread far and wide,adapting to a lot more environments and setting up many settlements around the globe.
We know that the lab has started experimenting regarding matching humans with heptopods. Can you tell us more about this experiment?
The Heptopod Research Lab has been self funding a project, where human volunteers quantise preferable traits they would like to see in themselves given the assumption they were to be a heptopod. Surprisingly enough, following through with this process has ended up with a very high ratio of heptopods being found, matching said traits to a high degree of accuracy.
That being said, finding the human subjects after the process completion has been posing some difficulties...
Each heptopod seems to be so unique and individual! What heptopod characteristics make this possible?
The heptopod species simply has a plethora of physical features, abilities and characteristics that vary across individuals. That’s on top of the 3 clans a heptopod can originate from.
Heptopods come in all sorts of:
Quantising preferable traits has a lot of wiggle room, and our staff can offer suggestions of characteristics to explore.
We've seen that some heptopods have the ability to mimic other animals around them. What can you tell us about this phenomenon?
The mimicry phenomenon in heptopods is very clearly derivative of the natural behaviours they evolved to dissuade predators and confuse prey. It is believed that it may also have been used for communication purposes too, especially in conjunction with their bioluminescence.
Mimicry is actually a tactic employed by many other cephalopods, so encountering it in this species isn’t all too surprising.
Nowadays, modern heptopods are still found using it, whether it be for survival, mischief, a light source, socialising or just general comfort of the self.
The heptopods look very human-like, similar to some other anthropomorphic creatures we've seen. What makes them stand out? I've noticed that heptopods have suction cups on their ‘hands’ and ‘feet’...
Heptopods do have suction cups on their arms and legs, with more on their tentacle ears and tails too. These can have some great grip strength, which can make up for the entire lack of rigid bones in their body!
The only bones in a heptopod are the beaks, which can resemble a set of fanged teeth. The species can stand upright by compacting areas of muscle into pseudo-bones. This even allows them to stretch or ‘melt down’ when relaxed and I think that’s a pretty noteworthy feature!.
That's all the questions we have for you, but is there anything else that you'd like to add?
I encourage anyone who wants to be involved in the research to think about what sort of heptopod they could be. Each individual in the study gets given an illustration of their assigned heptopod appearance, but this can also be done DIY by anyone who wants to participate, the species is open to all!
Thinking about it now, I should probably get interviewed - I've had so many enquiries, but I'm just so busy being the Lab Coordinator and working on our reachout program to get volunteers involved with our research - but maybe you might hear from me soon!
🐙 Hyla, Hepto Research Taskorce