Mastross 2: Then we Set About the Business of Swimming by Sonic Kitchen published on 2024-02-16T06:25:05Z First we hear the sound of the "callback routine" which proto-Mastrossians used. It sounds much like a dialup modem with handshakes and responses, and serves a similar purpose. These sounds wouldn't normally be very audible to the Mastrossians themselves, but are important to their long-distance networking. The idea is promulgated: Groundwater is drying up, so they must find more reliable ways to acquire energy. To that end, they decide to try growing motile descendants. They try hydrophobic compounds and even primitive fins and sails, but none of these can achieve enough propulsion or steering accuracy. Ultimately, they decide to grow heavier crystal bodies which can snap off the main colony under their own weight. These are sent tumbling through underground rivers and currents, down slopes and into holes, looking for areas with water and useful minerals, and echoing their findings back. They are little more than beacon drones, and they cannot even see the sunlight or move yet, but they are Mastross's first independent free agents. Eventually, they stumble across minerals with capacitance, and begin incorporating these into their own bodies, forming the first energy-storage and voltage-switching circuits. They can call louder and further than before, and they can spend more energy tuning their sounds higher in frequency. This lets them understand smaller and smaller objects. They come to know rocks and sand and water as more than mere substrate, and begin to obtain ideas of distance and measurement. Genre Fantasy Comment by TIOLOKE Cool sfx 2024-02-25T23:25:19Z Comment by noxpox (page 14) cool evolution of fine sounds! ☻ 2024-02-20T21:49:46Z Comment by The Bird Inside Original and risky sound. 🦩 2024-02-19T22:06:04Z Comment by Harwyn Pepper Nice. The filtery part reminds me of Le Caine's "Dripsody." 2024-02-17T05:25:36Z