#langton's loopbrush

[askvectorprime]

Dear Vector Prime, I would like to know more about Cybertronian flora as information about them is sparse. Could you please expand on them?

Dear Botanical Booster,

I have given some details in the past about some of the more common mecha-flora of Cybertron, but it is a subject brimming with potential, as few people seem interested. Therefore I'm more than happy to give some more examples.

Tumblewires are a close relative of Langton's loopbrush, found only in Cybertron's great deserts. As there's far less resources to harvest in these barren wastes, the tumblewire has an ingenious solution. When it exhausts all it can, the creeper-cables all curl together into a rusting ball, which is then blown across the deserts. As it rolls and crumbles, the tumblewire's receptor plugs are dropped, hopefully in places with more resources, allowing the cycle to begin all over again.

Cyberlawns, as they're commonly known, are actually a composite mechanism similar to Earth lichens. The primary component spreads layers of conductive and insulating layers of substrate, providing a large surface area. Into this grows micro-filament wires anchoring photo-voltaic cells that extract energy from Hadean. The cells produce enough energy that they transfer it to the substrate, which in turn anchors the cells' filaments in a symbiotic relationship. They also look rather appealing, leading to many open spaces being used to grow these natural solar panels, such as Iacon City Park.

Clawtraps are found deep beneath Cybertron's surface, in subterranean jungles. The plant gets its name from the claw-like bloom that gives off a potent energy-signature, attracting unwary mechanimals or desperate Cybertronians (although the Clawtrap can rarely deal with anything larger than a mini-vehicle). Once its prey is attempting to refuel from the energon crystal at the center of the bloom, the claws snap shut, crushing anything that cannot escape in time. The energon crystal is then agitated, forming a natural laser to burn through the victim, turning them into little more than raw materials for the Clawtrap to sustain itself with.

[askvectorprime]

Onyx, Are there any cybertronian plants? What are they like?

Dear Robotanical Researcher,

There certainly are things that are similar to organic botanical life to be worthy of the name "plants." Part of the difficulty comes in that these are often unrelated to each other, and some are more properly seen as landforms.

Such is the case of the energon reeds found alongside many of Cybertron's oceans, formed by the crystallization of diluted energon. They are strictly more like stalagmites, but have long been categorized as "plants". When Cybertron is peaceful, you can sometimes find cities deliberately encouraging the growth of these in vast energon farms, as a way of producing enriched fuel.

On the other hand, there are also such plants as cable-vines, Langton's loopbrush, and tesla trees. These are fully fledged cyberforms, even with primitive processors—although in their case the programming is entirely focused on maintenance and spread.

The cable-vines form vast jungles in some regions, and were sometimes planted deliberately as a form of defence. This might seem surprising, but cable-vines are incredibly territorial for plants, binding any intruders that they can, and holding them tight until the Cybertronian shuts down. Despite the risks, some bots harvest cable-vines, as their incredible strength rivals any Cybertronian-made cable.

Langton's loopbrush is a primitive but fast spreading bush that is common in the Cybertronian wilderness. Each individual bush has a short lifespan—often little more than a orbital cycle before deactivating—but in that time it will send out many creepers that will create new loopbrush bushes.

Tesla trees are towering structures that produce a low-level hum. This is a useful warning, as the great orb atop them stores a great electrical charge. Whenever a pest, such as a cyber-fly, comes close, the tree shocks them with an impressive jolt of lightning, likely paralysing or deactivating outright anything struck.