Ocular implants and pak headcanons; This is kind of a stream of consciousness post
Irkens are born with organic eyes, but they are replaced very very early. Like, before they are 'born' and given a pak kind of early.
They are implanted while the Irken smeet is still in their test tube. All done by robotics in the smeet incubation chambers. This is to ensure that when a smeet is hatched and given a pak, the pak can instantly connect and a smeet can see perfectly in an instant.
If an Irken was hatched with their organic eyes, they would not be fully developed and would not be in a position to function independently.
Fully Organic smeets, without a pak, would survive past hatching. But they would need to be taken care of from birth by a parental figure. Unable to see properly or take care of themselves at all - for at least a few weeks.
Paks and other implants make a smeet fully independent. Over time, they have become a crutch of the Irken race - and are unable to be removed once installed. They power too much of the little space bug to function without it. But an irken born unaltered, and taken care of through the early stages of life would survive.
The control brains of course would have them hunted down and killed if discovered.
