Entity (placeholder) - "Beetles"

Image of a beetle in Level 204

CONCORD ENTITY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM

ENTITY ID: (placeholder)
HABITAT(S): Majority/Urban

IETS:
3D~

CLASS:

Insectiod

PROPERTIES:

HVM

VRL-A

VRL-B

NCR

MCH

CBR

SYN

DMN

SSV

CVL

RAD

NRO

TXC

PYR

RLA

UNQ

AGR

BNV

{$custom-name}

Description:

Beetles are inch-long insects resembling the Frontrooms Phloeodes Diabolicus beetle and are almost identical save their impressive ability to explode with the force of a small firework.¹ While beetles do possess elytra², they cannot fly, as they do not have wings. They possess high intelligence³ and are predatory in nature.

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Behavior:

Beetles are swarm⁴ based ambush predators. Once a beetle has spotted their prey they will attempt to enter any orifice and detonate. This process will continue until the creature expires from either internal bleeding or the swarm population depletes below a certain threshold. Upon successfully killing or crippling its prey, the remaining swarm will then proceed to consume and reproduce inside of the carcass until all soft tissue is ingested. During the time in which the beetles are reproducing, the beetles will remain mostly docile.

Beetles tend to avoid areas of high human/entity population. The reason the beetles avoid populous areas is unknown, but it is believed that swarms are cannot effectively defend themselves while feeding. Beetles are unique in the sense that they attack both wanderers and entities.⁵ Beetles do display critical thinking capabilities, as they will give up chase if prey proves too difficult to catch. Beetles also tend to favor entities with more mass, however, smaller swarms seem to purposefully avoid entities that are too large for them to hunt. It is unknown if there is an entity that would be too large for beetles to effectively hunt, but considering that there is no confirmed population limit for a swarm, it is believed that a large enough swarm could theoretically prey on anything.

How the beetle gains its supply of firesalt is unknown, but it is believed that they are capable of synthesizing it on their own. Several members of M.E.G. are currently researching a way to potentially cultivate beetle swarms for a reliable source of firesalt.

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Biology:

Beetles are almost exact copies of the frontrooms counterpart save for the small storage of firesalt
in their abdomen,⁶ and their lack of wings. One unfortunate similarity between the two is its extreme resistance to crushing forces. Because of this, it is recommended that you do not attempt to fight beetles unless you have access to flammables or explosives. It is recommended that if you are to encounter a swarm, you attempt to flee as they are not incredibly speedy, and can be outpaced at a fast walking speed.⁷

A beetle's life cycle is similar to its non-anomalous counterpart, with an egg stage and an adult stage. Interestingly, the beetle skips the larval and pupal stages, causing the beetle to hatch from the egg fully mature. Beetles harbor the anomalous ability to keep the firesalt within them completely inert by keeping it in its liquid state until it is needed. The liquid firesalt (or pyroil) is not able to be set off while the beetle is alive. However once a beetle expires the firesalt will lose these anomalous properties immediately, causing it to condense into its solid state.

While it is theorized to be impossible to prematurely detonate internalized firesalt, the beetles themselves are quite susceptible to temperature change, eventually expiring outside the temperature ranges of 19 C^o to 40 C^o8. It seems that beetles reproduce less efficiently at colder temperatures. This is likely a result of more energy being required to keep the firesalt in its liquid state. When approaching hotter temperatures, the beetle is unable to handle the internal pressure increase created by reacting firesalt. This will cause the beetle to excrete a small portion of the firesalt. If the temperature is too high they will lose all reserves of firesalt and any offensive capabilities⁹. Luckily this means that most levels with more extreme climates will be uninhabitable to beetles.

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Show Discovery Log

Discovery:

Beetle swarms were discovered by an expedition team sent into Level 21., when they came across the mutilated body of a reviook After the agents approached the body, the feeding swarm noticed the team and promptly attempted to attack the expedition members. All team members were able to escape through Level 9 into Level 11 and reported to M.E.G. Base β to report the new entity.

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Show Beetle Encounter Log

Wanderer Beetle Encounter Log

During an expedition into Level 21 a wanderer was able to capture a beetle inside of a plastic container. Upon sealing the container, the beetle attempted to escape for several minutes before igniting the firesalt within its abdomen, burning a hole through the container and injuring the wanderer. The light from the ignition alerted a nearby entity, forcing the wanderer to flee.

Note: The beetles seem to only use this ability in situations pertaining to getting "through" materials.¹⁰

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Show Experiment Logs

Testing room 1-D, M.E.G. Base Γ

Experiment Logs

Test 1 - Idle Behavior: 10 beetles are released into the testing chamber via remote controlled hatch. The beetles do not attempt to escape, and sit idly. Beetles are left for 17 days until the first beetles expire. The remaining beetles expire within 4 hours.

Notes: The beetles remained mostly stationary over the duration of the test.

Test 2 - Heat Exposure: 10 beetles are released into the testing chamber via remote controlled hatch. The beetles do not attempt to escape, and sit idly. Temperature is increased to 39.3C o (103Fo). Beetles lose the majority of their firesalt storage approximately 3 minutes after the temperature has stopped increasing. Firesalt excretion stops at this time. Temperature is raised to 40Co (104Fo). Beetle activity significantly increases until sudden expiration.

Notes: It can be safely assumed that temperatures upwards of 39 C are lethal for beetles.

Test 3 - Feeding Process: 10 beetles are released into the testing chamber via remote controlled hatch. The beetles do not attempt to escape, and sit idly. One instance of Entity 20 is released into the room via the roof hatch. The entry hatch is closed immediately. 7 beetles enter the entity through the mouth, while the remaining 3 remain in their idle state. The entity does not attempt to escape or retaliate. The entity expires 6 minutes into the test. The remaining 3 beetles enter the corpse through its mouth and remain inside for a period of 29 hours. During this period, the corpse experiences rapid decomposition. At the end of this period, 16 beetles are observed exiting the husk. The remaining beetles are exterminated.

Notes: This experiment was repeated with larger entities. It seems the amount of beetles produced is directly proportional to the size of the entity, not the amount of beetles within the corpse.

Incident Log

Test 3-E Incident log: 10 beetles are released into the testing chamber via remote controlled hatch. The beetles do not attempt to escape, and sit idly. One instance of Entity-222 is released into the chamber via remote controlled hatch. The beetles do not show any notable change in behavior upon introduction to the entity. Likewise, the entity ignores the beetles, instead immediately approaching the viewing glass11. Upon reaching the glass, the entity strikes it with its fists several times, after which the glass breaks. The beetles and the entity then enter the observation room. Researchers present flee and lock the observation room door. Beetle instances were left to starve, and the entity eventually self-terminated. No reported human injuries.

Notes: Testing halted until further notice due to fear of collateral damage at Base Γ

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Do's and Don'ts

Do

• Wear face protection when exploring isolated levels.
• Keep an eye out on levels with temperate climates.
• Attempt to escape to a different level.

Don't

• Sleep where swarms of beetles have been reported.
• Slow down until out of sight of beetles when fleeing.
• Approach corpses with little to no external damage.

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+ Show Contributors

Created by Bufo_Bufo
Greenlit by [[*user ]]
Theme by VivamusLudio and recoded by scutoid studios
(I think recoding a theme is deserving of credit, yeah?)

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"Pholedes Diabolocus" from Encyclopedia of Life. Released under CC BY-SA 2.0.
"White metal cart inside room" Released under CC BY-SA 3.0.

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Lastly, I'd like to give a massive thank you to PenOrSaber1 does not match any existing user name for their critique and general advice.

Footnotes

1. 3 grams TNT approximated.

2. Hardened cover over an insect's wings.

3. Capable of advanced problem solving.

4. Swarm size on average range between the hundreds and thousands.

5. Beetles generally ignore inorganic entities, only acting in self defense.

6. Between 1-2 grams.

7. It should be noted that Beetles are horrendous swimmers, however they are still able to traverse watery environments, and are capable of surviving without oxygen for several minutes.

8. 66 F^o to 104 F^o

9. They do possess mandibles, although they are exceptionally weak.

10. However, there have been reports of beetles burning through clothing and skin to create an opening. While these claims have not been proven, never let a beetle come into contact with you, even if protected via several layers of clothing.

11. The glass for the observation room was one way. It is currently unknown how the entity was able to detect the researchers.