Difference between revisions of "Talking Pet (device)"

Latest revision as of 05:27, 31 July 2011

This modified Talking Pet, sometimes referred to as a neo-Dnyarri, represents the only known re-emergence (created by the Umgah genetic engineers) of the original Dnyarri species, and is perhaps the most dangerous creature in the known galaxy. Similar in appearance to the Talking Pets used by the Ur-Quan, it is comparable with its Dnyarri ancestors in terms of power and malice. The Captain uses the neo-Dnyarri to distract the majority of the large Ur-Quan fleet guarding the Sa-Matra, allowing him to attack and destroy the mighty battle platform. Though it is generally accepted that the creature perishes in the attack on the Sa-Matra, the actual status and whereabouts of the neo-Dnyarri following the battle are unknown.

Awakening[edit]

The Arilou Lalee'lay observed the crash of a Kzer-Za Dreadnought on Alpha Pavonis VII during the Doctrinal Conflict; seeing that the Dreadnought's self-destruct function had malfunctioned, they chose to investigate the wreck and salvage it. The starboard warp pod from this wreck is used to build the Portal Spawner that the Arilou give to The Captain, while the only surviving life form from the wreck, the Kzer-Za Lord's Talking Pet, was taken by the Arilou for medical care. Since biology was not their field of expertise, the Arilou decided to take the Talking Pet to their Umgah friends to be treated.

The Umgah, rather than merely healing the Talking Pet's physical wounds, grew curious about its genetic code, finding long sequences of apparently useful genes that had been deactivated by artificial processes. Not knowing that it was the Ur-Quan who had enslaved the Dnyarri and devolved them into Talking Pets, they repaired the Talking Pet's DNA, both activating its racial memories and restoring its full intelligence and latent psychic powers.

Upon its awakening, the neo-Dnyarri, mentally taking stock of the events of the past 20,000 years, almost immediately embarks on a program of conquest and revenge. It quickly seizes control of the Umgah homeworld, then begins to send brainwashed Umgah slaves out of its sphere of psychic influence to search for information on the Ur-Quan and how they might be defeated.

Association with The Captain[edit]

Unfortunately for the neo-Dnyarri's plans, the Umgah prove less than competent at deflecting the attention of the nascent New Alliance of Free Stars. Should The Captain visit Beta Orionis I without the Taalo Shield, he is compelled to "find someone to kill him" — a Dreadnought. However, after taking possession of the Shield, the neo-Dnyarri is forced to resort to more mundane means of killing The Captain — compelling the Umgah commander to assemble ten Drones to counter The Flagship and its escorts. After The Captain destroys them, he finds himself reluctantly agreeing to ally with the neo-Dnyarri against the Ur-Quan, letting the creature aboard The Flagship.

Details about the neo-Dnyarri's nature are hard to come by during its residence on The Flagship, since it was not above using minor psychic compulsions to turn aside inquiries about itself, particularly its psychology and its psi abilities. Initial tests, before the neo-Dnyarri began openly manipulating its testers to falsify results, showed its measured IQ to be far above that of the greatest human geniuses and its personality to be classified in the category labeled "Furtive-Hateful" by human xenologists, due to its antisocial habits and its direct, sadistic desire for others' pain and suffering. Physically similar to Talking Pets, it appears as a quadruped with small, atrophied limbs, a grossly bulging cranium, and a somewhat human-like face.

Its life on board The Flagship was a constant series of petty demands that its handlers were incapable of refusing up to a certain point, and twisted mind games played by spreading gossip and false rumors based on reading the crew's thoughts. Should The Captain ask him about the species' history, it attempts to deceive the Humans about the history of the Dnyarri Slave Empire to put itself in a better light; what Humans have learned both from the Ur-Quan themselves and more apparently neutral parties like the Melnorme and the Chmmr (and the neo-Dnyarri itself, in two instances: if confronted on Beta Orionis I with the Ur-Quan version of history and before the final battle of the Sa-Matra, when he named the Ur-Quan his "ancient slaves") indicate that almost no historical information obtained from the neo-Dnyarri can be considered reliable.

The neo-Dnyarri is able to send the Ur-Quan defenders of the Sa-Matra into mindless confusion even through the Taalo Shield's influence (though it is possible that the Shield only protected beings within it, without incapacitating their mental compulsion powers), allowing The Captain to advance his bold scheme of using The Flagship as a suicide bomb against the Sa-Matra. Records of the sequence of events during the hectic battle of the Sa-Matra are extremely confused, but it seems that The Captain "accidentally forgets" the neo-Dnyarri locked in the cargo hold; the creature's pleas for help are in vain.

The neo-Dnyarri is now presumed dead; however, the slightest possibility of his its survival is an excruciatingly terrifying thought — its vengeful, greedy and sadistic nature are likely to ignite the next great galactic conflict. Its propensity toward voyeurism and cruel experimentation with other races indicate this conflict would be unnaturally rich in violence, emotional tension and gratuitous trans-species sexual interaction.¹

Gameplay notes[edit]

Sources of information[edit]

The Chmmr suggest using some kind of psychic weapon against the Ur-Quan and hint that such a weapon would likely be an inimical lifeform. The Arilou provide the greatest amount of information about the Talking Pet they rescued and entrusted to the Umgah. While they do not know that the Umgah awaken the Talking Pet to full sentience, they are aware of strange psychic activity centered on Beta Orionis, the Umgah home star. When the Arilou or Chmmr learn of the awakened Talking Pet, they each explicitly suggest that it could be used against the Ur-Quan. The Zoq-Fot-Pik also appear to be vaguely aware of the powerful psychic activity in the Orionis constellation. The Melnorme never reveal any knowledge of the current events related to the neo-Dnyarri, but the historical data they sell does reveal useful information about the history, powers, and fate of the ancient Dnyarri.

Acquisition[edit]

The Taalo Shield can provide the protection necessary to avoid the neo-Dnyarri's psychic compulsions against curious intruders. However, he does have a last resort battlegroup of Umgah Drones for just such a situation. When the battlegroup is defeated and after a short conversation with him, the neo-Dnyarri is transported to The Flagship's manifest. Alternatively, it is also possible to obtain the Talking Pet without the Taalo Shield, by waiting for the Kohr-Ah to destroy the Umgah.

Relevance to the plot[edit]

The Talking Pet is the only way to distract the limitless Ur-Quan starships that surround the Sa-Matra, leaving only a small battlegroup of Dreadnoughts and Marauders guarding the Sa-Matra. It can also be talked to while it's on board, for some (untrustworthy) information.

Notes and references[edit]

¹In the credits, the Dnyarri alleges that he has managed to escape and that the sequel will all be about him and his conquest of the galaxy, though the credits are not considered canon.

Game objectives - required items
Sa-Matra	Deep Child Egg Case Fragments - Syreen Shuttle - Sun Device - HyperWave Broadcaster
	Clear Spindle - Aqua Helix - Rosy Sphere - Ultron - Utwig Bomb
	Taalo Shield - Talking Pet (device)
Yehat Rebellion	VUX Beast - Shofixti Maidens
QuasiSpace	Ur-Quan Warp Pod - QuasiSpace Portal Spawner

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-The last of its race, a new life form created by the [[Umgah]] engineers, perhaps the most dangerous creature in the known galaxy. The [[Arilou Lalee'lay]] observed the crash of a [[Ur-Quan Kzer-Za|Kzer-Za]] [[Dreadnought]] in the Alpha Pavonis system during the [[Doctrinal Conflict]]; seeing that the Dreadnought's self-destruct function had malfunctioned, for unknown reasons they chose to investigate the wreck and salvage it. The starboard [[Ur-Quan Warp Pod|warp pod]] from this wreck was used to build the [[QuasiSpace Portal Spawner|Portal Spawner]] they gave to [[The Captain|Captain Zelnick]], while the only surviving life form from the wreck, the Kzer-Za Lord's [[Talking Pet]], was taken by the Arilou for medical care. Since biology was not their field of expertise, the Arilou decided to take the Talking Pet to their Umgah friends to be treated.
+[[Image:Talkpetcomm.png|right]]
+This modified '''Talking Pet''', sometimes referred to as a '''neo-Dnyarri''', represents the only known re-emergence (created by the [[Umgah]] genetic engineers) of the original [[Dnyarri]] species, and is perhaps the most dangerous creature in the known galaxy. Similar in appearance to the [[Talking Pet]]s used by the [[Ur-Quan]], it is comparable with its Dnyarri ancestors in terms of power and malice. [[The Captain]] uses the neo-Dnyarri to distract the majority of the large Ur-Quan fleet guarding the [[Sa-Matra]], allowing him to attack and destroy the mighty battle platform. Though it is generally accepted that the creature perishes in the attack on the Sa-Matra, the actual status and whereabouts of the neo-Dnyarri following the battle are unknown.
-The Umgah, rather than merely healing the Talking Pet's physical wounds, grew curious about its genetic code, finding long sequences of apparently useful genes that had been deactivated by artificial processes. Not knowing about the process by which the [[Ur-Quan]] had enslaved the [[Dnyarri]] and devolved them into the Talking Pets, they repaired the Talking Pet's DNA, both reactivating the racial memory system stored naturally in Dnyarri genes and restoring the Talking Pet's full intelligence and use of its psychic powers. Indeed, speculation exists that the Umgah engineers' work enhanced the creature's psychic range and sensitivity far beyond that of its Dnyarri ancestors, since the original Dnyarri had needed to station themselves one to a planet to maintain their Empire while a single neo-Dnyarri was able to exert dominance over the entire Umgah sphere of influence. However, this may have been a difference of subtlety in technique rather than increased power; it did not exert direct psychic control over all entities in the Umgah sphere of influence, since the [[SIS|Vindicator]] passed through Umgah space during the neo-Dnyarri's reign without its crew becoming possessed. Instead, it seems to have been able to implant post-hypnotic commands in its slaves that persisted for some time upon leaving its psychic field before wearing off; it was able to use this ability to fend off [[The Captain|Zelnick]]'s initial investigations by compelling him to fly to the Crateris constellation and attack the [[Sa-Matra]].
+==Awakening==
+The [[Arilou Lalee'lay]] observed the crash of a [[Ur-Quan Kzer-Za|Kzer-Za]] [[Dreadnought]] on [[Alpha Pavonis VII]] during the [[Doctrinal Conflict]]; seeing that the Dreadnought's self-destruct function had malfunctioned, they chose to investigate the wreck and salvage it. The starboard [[Ur-Quan Warp Pod|warp pod]] from this wreck is used to build the [[QuasiSpace Portal Spawner|Portal Spawner]] that the Arilou give to [[The Captain]], while the only surviving life form from the wreck, the Kzer-Za Lord's [[Talking Pet]], was taken by the Arilou for medical care.
+Since biology was not their field of expertise, the Arilou decided to take the Talking Pet to their Umgah friends to be treated.
-Upon its awakening, the neo-Dnyarri, mentally taking stock of the events of the past 20,000 years, almost immediately embarked on a program of conquest and revenge. It quickly seized control of the Umgah homeworld, then began to send brainwashed Umgah slaves out of its sphere of psychic influence to search for information on the Ur-Quan and how they might be defeated. Unfortunately for its plans, the Umgah proved less than competent at deflecting the attentions of the nascent [[New Alliance of Free Stars]]. Observing the Umgah's strange behavior (a pause after every word and lack of pranks), the human Captain Zelnick, armed with his [[Taalo Shield]] and his enormous [[Precursor]] starship, fought past the Umgah fleet and found the neo-Dnyarri on their homeworld. After he destroyed its defenses and threatened to take its life, the neo-Dnyarri agreed to release the Umgah and proposed to join the Zelnick's Alliance to defeat their common enemy, the Ur-Quan. Zelnick deeply distrusted the creature but found that, since his anti-psi Shield was not properly configured and the neo-Dnyarri's psychic powers incredibly strong -- particularly when it felt its safety was threatened -- it was able to coerce him into accepting this plan and take it into his protection on the Vindicator.
+The Umgah, rather than merely healing the Talking Pet's physical wounds, grew curious about its genetic code, finding long sequences of apparently useful genes that had been deactivated by artificial processes. Not knowing that it was the [[Ur-Quan]] who had enslaved the Dnyarri and devolved them into Talking Pets, they repaired the Talking Pet's DNA, both activating its racial memories and restoring its full intelligence and latent [[psychic powers]].
-Details about the neo-Dnyarri's nature were hard to come by during its residence on the Vindicator, since it was not above using minor psychic compulsions to turn aside inquiries about itself, particularly its psychology and its psi abilities; initial tests, before the neo-Dnyarri began openly manipulating its testers to falsify results, showed its measured IQ to be far above that of the greatest human geniuses and its personality to be classified in the category labeled "Furtive-Hateful" by human xenologists, due to its antisocial habits and its direct, sadistic desire for others' pain and suffering. Physically it appeared, like all Talking Pets, as a quadruped similar in size to a small dog, with small, atrophied limbs, a grossly bulging cranium, and a human-like face. Capable of communicating either by telepathy or speech as it chose, its recall of both ancient racial memories and of recent events was incredibly detailed, and it was able to learn both Umgah and human language, culture, and mannerisms at a prodigious rate.
+Upon its awakening, the neo-Dnyarri, mentally taking stock of the events of the past 20,000 years, almost immediately embarks on a program of conquest and revenge. It quickly seizes control of the [[Beta Orionis I|Umgah homeworld]], then begins to send brainwashed Umgah slaves out of its sphere of psychic influence to search for information on the Ur-Quan and how they might be defeated.
-Its life on board the Vindicator was a constant series of petty demands that its handlers were incapable of refusing, and twisted mind games played by spreading gossip and false rumors based on its telepathic reading of the crew's thoughts. It constantly warred against the numbing influence of the Taalo Shield, trying to corrupt Zelnick's will and deactivate the Shield so it could take over the ship; luckily, Zelnick was able to resist, and its mind-control abilities were mostly muzzled during its stay in the Vindicator hold. It was well known for repeatedly attempting to deceive humans about the history of the Dnyarri Slave Empire to put itself in a better light; what humans have learned both from the Ur-Quan themselves and more apparently neutral parties like the [[Melnorme]] and the [[Chmmr]] indicate that almost no historical information obtained from the neo-Dnyarri can be considered reliable.
+==Association with The Captain==
+Unfortunately for the neo-Dnyarri's plans, the Umgah prove less than competent at deflecting the attention of the nascent [[New Alliance of Free Stars]]. Should The Captain visit Beta Orionis I without the [[Taalo Shield]], he is compelled to "find someone to kill him" &mdash; a Dreadnought. However, after taking possession of the Shield, the neo-Dnyarri is forced to resort to more mundane means of killing The Captain &mdash; compelling the Umgah commander to assemble ten [[Drone]]s to counter [[The Flagship]] and its escorts. After The Captain destroys them, he finds himself reluctantly agreeing to ally with the neo-Dnyarri against the Ur-Quan, letting the creature aboard The Flagship.
-The neo-Dnyarri, deeply familiar with the thought-patterns of its ancestors' favorite slaves, was able to send the Ur-Quan defenders of the Sa-Matra into mindless confusion even through the Taalo Shield's influence, allowing Zelnick to advance his bold scheme of using the Vindicator as a suicide bomb against the Sa-Matra.
+Details about the neo-Dnyarri's nature are hard to come by during its residence on The Flagship, since it was not above using minor psychic compulsions to turn aside inquiries about itself, particularly its psychology and its psi abilities. Initial tests, before the neo-Dnyarri began openly manipulating its testers to falsify results, showed its measured IQ to be far above that of the greatest human geniuses and its personality to be classified in the category labeled "Furtive-Hateful" by human xenologists, due to its antisocial habits and its direct, sadistic desire for others' pain and suffering. Physically similar to Talking Pets, it appears as a quadruped with small, atrophied limbs, a grossly bulging cranium, and a somewhat human-like face.
-Records of the sequence of events during the hectic Battle of the Sa-Matra are extremely confused, but it seems that Zelnick was able to "accidentally forget" to include the neo-Dnyarri in the evacuation plan for his crew, leaving the neo-Dnyarri's storage bay door sealed as normal while the crew was abandoning ship. The neo-Dnayarri, sneering at Zelnick's apparent absent-minded, anxious emotions before the battle, failed to carefully consider this aspect of their attack plan before it was too late, desperately screaming to Zelnick that he had forgotten to bring it with him as Zelnick left the ship.
+Its life on board The Flagship was a constant series of petty demands that its handlers were incapable of refusing up to a certain point, and twisted mind games played by spreading gossip and false rumors based on reading the crew's thoughts. Should The Captain ask him about the species' history, it attempts to deceive the Humans about the history of the Dnyarri Slave Empire to put itself in a better light; what Humans have learned both from the Ur-Quan themselves and more apparently neutral parties like the [[Melnorme]] and the [[Chmmr]] (and the neo-Dnyarri itself, in two instances: if confronted on Beta Orionis I with the Ur-Quan version of history and before the final [[battle of the Sa-Matra]], when he named the Ur-Quan his "ancient slaves") indicate that almost no historical information obtained from the neo-Dnyarri can be considered reliable.
-The neo-Dnyarri is now presumed dead, though many urge continued vigilance; given the Dnyarri's deep intelligence and natural ability to multi-task and plan for contingencies, there is a possibility it was able to use its psychic abilities to wrangle a way off the Vindicator and telepathically hide his fate. If this is so, its vengeful, greedy and sadistic nature are likely to ignite the next great galactic conflict; its propensity toward voyeurism and cruel experimentation with other races indicate this conflict would be unnaturally rich in violence, emotional tension and gratuituous trans-species sexual interaction.
+The neo-Dnyarri is able to send the Ur-Quan defenders of the Sa-Matra into mindless confusion even through the Taalo Shield's influence (though it is possible that the Shield only protected beings within it, without incapacitating their mental compulsion powers), allowing The Captain to advance his bold scheme of using The Flagship as a suicide bomb against the Sa-Matra. Records of the sequence of events during the hectic battle of the Sa-Matra are extremely confused, but it seems that The Captain "accidentally forgets" the neo-Dnyarri locked in the cargo hold; the creature's pleas for help are in vain.
-[[Category:Game Characters]][[Category:Alien Artifacts]]
+The neo-Dnyarri is now presumed dead; however, the slightest possibility of his its survival is an excruciatingly terrifying thought &mdash; its vengeful, greedy and sadistic nature are likely to ignite the next great galactic conflict. Its propensity toward voyeurism and cruel experimentation with other races indicate this conflict would be unnaturally rich in violence, emotional tension and gratuitous trans-species sexual interaction.{{ref|1}}
+==Gameplay notes==
+=== Sources of information ===
+The [[Chmmr]] suggest using some kind of psychic weapon against the [[Ur-Quan]] and hint that such a weapon would likely be an inimical lifeform. The [[Arilou]] provide the greatest amount of information about the Talking Pet they rescued and entrusted to the [[Umgah]]. While they do not know that the Umgah awaken the Talking Pet to full sentience, they are aware of strange psychic activity centered on Beta Orionis, the Umgah home star. When the Arilou or Chmmr learn of the awakened Talking Pet, they each explicitly suggest that it could be used against the Ur-Quan. The [[Zoq-Fot-Pik]] also appear to be vaguely aware of the powerful psychic activity in the [[Orionis]] constellation. The [[Melnorme]] never reveal any knowledge of the current events related to the neo-Dnyarri, but the historical data they sell does reveal useful information about the history, powers, and fate of the ancient Dnyarri.
+=== Acquisition ===
+The [[Taalo Shield]] can provide the protection necessary to avoid the neo-Dnyarri's psychic compulsions against curious intruders. However, he does have a last resort battlegroup of Umgah [[Drone]]s for just such a situation. When the battlegroup is defeated and after a short conversation with him, the neo-Dnyarri is transported to The Flagship's manifest. Alternatively, it is also possible to obtain the Talking Pet without the Taalo Shield, by waiting for the [[Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah|Kohr-Ah]] to destroy the Umgah.
+=== Relevance to the plot ===
+The Talking Pet is the only way to distract the limitless Ur-Quan starships that surround the [[Sa-Matra]], leaving only a small battlegroup of [[Dreadnought]]s and [[Marauder]]s guarding the Sa-Matra. It can also be talked to while it's on board, for some (untrustworthy) information.
+==Notes and references==
+{{note|1}}''In the credits, the Dnyarri alleges that he has managed to escape and that the sequel will all be about him and his conquest of the galaxy, though the credits are not considered canon.''
+{{QuestNav}}
+[[Category:Game Characters]]
+[[Category:Devices]]
+[[Category:Umgah]]
+[[Category:Dnyarri]]