I wonder: are the other two "inhabitants" here also former evolutionary amorphs who created themselves to be what they are now? If this is (or is not) so, is it possible to acquire their evolutionary limit for ourself (as in by eating the whole of the Dweller and absorbing what it had learned/its DNA)? Even the robot could be via careful evolutions of crests and armor (though I doubt it with the crest sigil engraved, see below)
Regardless: I've a bad feeling for our current predicament - we need to get out of the robot's attack-zone, but we don't know what that
is, exactly. How did the robot send its fist (containing, of all things, a new set of eyes) all the way down here? Where is the main body? At what point and in what way did it arrive here? Certainly not down the main passage presented in
post #104 where we ate the mold - we don't even know where that led (I'm actually having some problems putting the full map in order in my head). Further, the robot is certainly related to the golden plate - they both have the same symbol etched on them (
post #283), and the golden plate "is not your friend" - though this could be purely
perspective, as the Dweller and the Gold Plate "seemed" to have an alliance to the pea-brained creature (us), when it seems (out of character) it was just the sentient Dweller using tools at hand.
So, the real thing now is: what next? Simply backing out of the tunnel is an option, but our glass 'hair/crest' might get stuck, and considering the
text after panel three in # 389 it might not be too viable anyway. If the robot punches us in the face, we might lose some of our favorite organs (eye, ears, brain, etc), even if not permanently, perhaps in terms of prescious, prescious fluid which will take time to regrow. Another issue we've not confronted yet: where is the energy for our bioluminescence and laser-eyes coming from? I'm presuming our movement and basic functions are part of our (presumed) mitochondrial cellular structures, as normal, via digestion, but I'm uncertain about how
much energy we have and how readily we can access it. Is there a way to take on our 'stealth' form, which was more sinuous and thus presumably able to squeeze easier? It does seem our evolutions have some lag time, as the conversion is in the midst of happening now.
As to Evolution (for discussion, not for now):
In general/theory, I agree with the basics of SWBob's suggestion
here, however now is not the moment as we don't have enough fluid or time to do so, and, if I may suggest, we seriously consider a focusing element so that the lasers run through our crest (instead of our eyes) for various effects (scattering, focusing, intensifying, etc) based on how we work it. I don't think we will successfully have slivers of the crest at this time, as we aren't a lithovor any longer. Currently we have both laser eyes and bioluminescence - not bad, but that's two things that take radiant energy (light) and focus it into two different ways, being inefficient in both evolutions and our (limited) bio-energy distribution. I suggest we consider a consolidation, though I don't exactly know how or what. Perhaps something like a singular "third-eye" with the crest as mobile lenses? I don't know. I also agree we need to limit our evolutions in general, but this might be sensible. What say you, Tev-Krylo Node Center (and anyone else)? As to the brain, I believe that it's necessary. I'm guessing we'd be experiencing significant penalties that we can't even guess at now without it.