Creatures of the Ninth World

by HonestScribe

A billion years in the future, humanity must contend with some of the most bizarre creatures to walk the Earth. Most stories focus on the heroes. These focus on the creatures themselves, told from their perspective. A collection of Numenera drabbles, some serious, some fluffy, all weird. Welcome to the Ninth World. (Includes brief authors notes, which throws off the word count.)

2. A Protodidact Refutes Its Description

Note: Pure, non-canon nonsense inspired by the creature's appearance. The Ninth World Bestiary 3, page 124.

Most naturalists will tell you I model myself after a stalagmite. Though I compose myself from drit, I am too special to demean myself by dwelling in a mere cave. What I actually aspire to is the form of a cupcake, a mythic delicacy from eons past, said to be so overwhelmingly saccharine and aesthetically appealing that humans would sell their very souls for the taste of one. I am that lure. I hunger for knowledge as humans once hungered for cupcakes. I crave data's flavor sliding over my nanite processors. Nothing tastes sweeter than knowledge, especially the forbidden kind.