Mycon

The Mycon (pronounced /maɪ'kɒn/?) are a race of creatures that nest near the Brahe and Scorpii constellations. While most sentient races (with notable exceptions) are taxonomically animals, the Mycon are fungi. Their bodies range in height from 0.5 to 3.5 meters. The Mycon spread the spores of their race through the galaxy with their Podships.

Conversation
Conversations with the Mycon are very difficult; only the Orz could be considered more confusing and even that would be up to debate. The Mycon constantly ramble about Juffo-Wup, the Non and the Void with vaguely religious overtones and often without any relevance to the current conversation. Even worse, they sometimes seem to be "possessed" by one of their ancestors, who quickly explains how and when it died. They are usually very hostile toward other species, even other Battle Thralls. Still, Talana describes the Mycon as being naive and unable to fully comprehend the concept of deception, a view supported by the easiness with which the Mycon fell for the ambush at Organon.

Biology
Mycon living conditions would be most accurately described by Humans as "hellish," with temperatures close to the melting point of lead (327.5 degrees Celsius). Silicate structures within their physiology allow them to survive such extreme temperatures1 (and presumably would make them immune to flame/fire2). Besides being able to withstand high temperatures, some Mycon have also been known to survive a decompression quick-freeze.

Their unique reproduction process and extremely high genetic complexity give the Mycon an amazing talent for genetic engineering, a talent for which they are widely known. Mycon usually reproduce asexually by budding off parts of themselves in the form of DNA-rich spores, which they then launch into the air. Normally a spore will land and develop into a near-perfect clone of the parent. The spores can also be inhaled by other Mycon as a mechanism to exchange genetic material. The Mycon intimate that this process is much more complex and allows them to select which genes, memories, and even personality fragments to transfer via the genetic material to their offspring. Occasionally these ancestral personality fragments can "gain dominance" in the Mycon offspring, creating "a kind of shared immortality." This advanced genetic ability seems to be confirmed by the Umgah, who state that the Mycon "just THINK genetic modification, and it happen!" High levels of radiation can also induce collective budding, immediately creating several Mycon clones.

The Mycon colonize worlds through aggressive terraforming. They launch their Deep Children into the crust of the planet's surface where its tendrils grow, molding the environment of the planet to the Mycon's liking with terrible tectonic movement and volcanic activity — it becomes a Shattered World. Mycon prefer warm, living Water Worlds in which to plant these seeds.

In the Kessari timeline, it is revealed the Mycon, like the Mmrnmhrm, are also the creations of the Precursors; the uncharacteristic ramblings of the Mycon, where they recall snippets of instruction in a voice not their own, echo the words of their programmers over 235,000 years ago. The Mycon were made several feeding cycles past; the Precursors did not suggest an age, but relevant history, past the feeding 235,000 years ago, has formed the most changes in the Mycon race.

The Mycon are, indeed, fungal biots, both organic and mechanic in nature and physiology. Their original DNA contains their programming, evidently Juffo-Wup, which they still espouse to this day. However, subsequent copies of the heritable programming, errors in the record, and increased random hiss in the signal has perverted the instructions. What was once a planeteering construct suited to temperate extremes to facilitate its work in stabilizing crusts in green worlds suitable to Ortog/Precursor survival, has been perverted into the crust-melting Mycon we know and can't understand today.

Each Mycon elder, or presumably any parent, copies the genetic memory of their ancestors, carrying with this garbled and patchy instructions, the collected error and genetic mistranslation of their entire species. While the instructions originally did not allow for Mycon sentience (hence their ability to evade both Eternal One and Dnyarri perceptions), the accumulation of nonsense and missence mutations in Juffo-Wup has allowed the Mycon to evolve. Whether that has allowed for a scheme of natural selection for higher reproduction at the cost of superheating worlds to facilitate Mycon growth or not is unknown, but is likely conjecture.

History
Originally it was assumed that the Mycon evolved as some kind of ambulatory fungus. Recent discoveries by the Umgah indicate, however, that the Mycon are actually advanced, genetically engineered, biological tools and not the results of natural evolution. The only somewhat clear statement from Mycon about their origins is: "When Juffo-Wup is complete, when at last there is no Void or Non, when the Creators return, then we can finally rest." A reliable source claims that the Creators are in fact the Precursors, who built them as biological terraformers.3 If this origin story is true, Mycon history has to begin some time prior to the Precursors' disappearance 250,000 years ago. According to the same sources, in the millennia following the Precursors' disappearance, the Mycon programming became corrupted, eventually introducing the worship of Juffo-Wup.

Conversations with the Mycon give an idea of the extent of their history but do not provide any specific historic details. The Mycon claim to have had in their possession the Sun Device, or "pod of Juffo-Wup," for over a hundred thousand years. Two Mycon ancestral personalities also place the Mycon race well in the past: Dugee, a purity monitor, who died 57,823 years ago and Shloosh, who was incinerated 14,000 years ago. While this does place them as contemporaries of the Sentient Milieu, there is no indication that any members of the Milieu were ever aware of the Mycon.

The Mycon are next encountered in the more recent years by current space-faring races. Though not known at the time, in 2035 the Syreen homeworld, Syra, was destroyed by a Mycon Deep Child. Then a short time before 2124, the Mycon contacted the Ur-Quan and voluntarily sought to join the Hierarchy as Battle Thralls. The Ur-Quan, having just come up against the combined Yehat, Shofixti, and Human forces of the Alliance, naturally accepted the unique offer. The Mycon were one of the last races to join sides in the Ur-Quan Slave War, and their Podships greatly increased the size of the Hierarchy's armadas. One theory is that the Mycon are secretly building up their strength and planning the demise of the Ur-Quan since one of their common phrases is: "Juffo-Wup acknowledges the existence of un-Voidable Non. When we meet those, we study, absorb, and seek a way to void the Non." During their involvement with the Hierarchy, the Mycon drew the attention of the biology-obsessed Umgah. The Umgah, interested in the Mycon's genetic engineering capabilities, captured a Mycon (a serious infraction of Hierarchy law) and proceeded to study it. From their dissection of the Mycon corpse, the Umgah made the surprising discovery that the Mycon are actually artificial constructs.

Recently, in the relative calm following the Hierarchy victory, the Mycon have been rapidly expanding their sphere of influence. Unfortunately for them, The Captain learns of their colonizing methods and their involvement in the destruction of Syra. He and the Syreen lay a trap for the Mycon, planning an ambush at Organon. The Syreen forces decimate the Mycon fleet, reducing the Mycon's sphere to roughly its 2133 extent. While the bulk of the Mycon fleet is occupied at Organon, The Captain is able to obtain the lightly guarded Sun Device.

In the Kessari timeline, the Mycon did join the coreward expedition fleet, but rebelled when confronted by their own sins. They are victims of a number of raids by the VUX during this time, aiming to undermine the League from within. This is not the last of the Mycon's troubles however. League scientists became increasingly aware that the Mycon Deep Children are sentient, but lose their ability for reason when imprinted by Juffo-Wup. The Elder Mycon allowed the League to speak to a Deep Child, under direction that the Deep Child was to be destroyed once the League learned what they wanted to know. When confronted with evidence to the contrary, the Elder Mycon rebelled, refusing to assist the League in any way -- although it should be noted that they did not join the Crux, either.

After discussing the Mycon with the Precursor, the Plasma Regroover's use became clear -- it would undo the programming of the Precursors upon the Mycon. Thus all the Mycon in the Kessari quadrant were "spooned" and converted to Deep children. It is unknown how long range the effects of the Regroover are, but it is doubtful the Mycon in the home quadrant were affected -- how they will react when confronted with a fleet of Deep Children is unknown.