Nasat (species)

• Appearance: Insectile
  • Resembling 2 meter pill bug (TAS: "The Jihad"; SCE)
  • Mandibles located within the "mouth" structure (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
  • Eight limbs
    • Six primary limbs along torso, three to either side (TAS: "The Jihad"; SCE)
      • Each ends in a hand-like pincer structure for manipulation (TAS: "The Jihad"; SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • Two secondary limbs analogous to legs (TAS: "The Jihad"; SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
      • Less adept at fine manipulation (TAS: "The Jihad")
  • All capable of being pulled close to the body to allow for defensively curling up in the face of threats (TAS: "The Jihad"; SCE)
  • Shells colored one of five base hues, indicating equivalent of race or caste (SCE)
    • Blue, Brown, Green, Red, Yellow (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
• Homeworld: Nasat
• Biological notes
  • Egg-laying species akin to most insects (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • Eggs hatch into larvae, and from there develop into pupae (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • Pupae develop into nymphs by three weeks (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
      • Nymphs originally were fed through flower stamens (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
        • In modern times, fed through plastic feeding tubes instead (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
      • Expected to be verbal and communicative by one year (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
      • Education begins at one and a half years (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • Nymphs develop into adults by six years (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
      • Full neurological maturity is reached at adulthood (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
  • Significant subgroup of the species are unable to communicate verbally (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • Known as "quiets" (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • Generally even birth rate planet-wide, at a rate of approximately one per 750 hatchings (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
      • Is not directly heritable, with children of quiets showing no greater rate of occurrence (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • Often mischaracterized as misfits or violent, prone to fits (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • Following Federation membership, research project using telepathy and neuropressure techniques was begun to allow such individuals the ability to verbalize their thoughts (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • In October 2376, it was discovered that "quiets" are specifically open to the telepathic communication of the Citoac (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
      • Records demonstrated that immediately following Nasat migration, "quiet" populations were greatest on township outskirts (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
      • Most likely theory is that this was purposeful, in order to allow "quiets" to serve as an intermediary between the Citoac and the Nasat (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
  • Urticating bristles on the neck (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • Technical term for mentioned "attack hairs", such as on tarantulas or certain caterpillars
  • Chitinous shell provides protection against significant physical trauma when curled up (SCE; Novel: Articles of the Federation)
    • In "Balance of Nature", a Nasat shell is described as being made of "chorion", but as the chorion is an insect egg's outer shell and an embryonic membrane in other orders, perhaps this was a typo for "chitin"?
  • Nervous system
    • Neural structure includes a forebrain (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • Central cortex the most primitive part of the Nasat brain (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
      • In most Nasat, shows only low-level activity a few times a day (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
      • In quiets, most neural function is localized in the central cortex, resulting in lack of verbalization (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • Stimulation of a nerve bundle located within the lower jaw beneath the mandibles can serve to interrupt anxiety-related emotional feedback loops (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
  • Originally evolved on the planetary surface (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • Migrated to the canopy of the planetary forest, out of reach of predatory species, once the technology to do so was developed (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
  • Lifespan unspecified
    • Minimum of 26 years (Novel: Articles of the Federation)
      • Given he must've been an adult when beginning service as governor
      • Likely far longer, as portrayal in text seemed far from elderly
• Historical notes
  • Nasat originally dwelled on the forest floor (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
  • Some time in the mid-1600s, they carved paths and applied technology to ascend into the trees, in order to avoid predator species (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
  • Shortly after their migration, a brief war with the Citoac led to a truce, in which certain areas would be considered off-limits from expansion to prevent reduction of canopy light (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • Necessary as Citoac require photosynthesis to survive (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
  • Details of this truce were lost by 24th century, leading to a second war until the details were rediscovered (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
• Cultural notes
  • Nasat calendar
  • Nasat food
  • Individual names translate from the Nasat language into a string of alphanumerics coupled with shell color (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • e.g., "P8 BlueTS27Q6" (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • First two characters always a letter followed by a digit (TAS: "The Jihad"; SCE)
    • In conversation with other species, the first two characters and shell color are used as ones name (TAS: "The Jihad"; SCE)
      • Nasat who commonly work alongside and converse with other species will often adopt a nickname as well (SCE)
  • Egg fertilization seen as nothing more than a bodily function performed as needed, with no emotional or sociological associations such as are found in mammalian species (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • Eggs are laid following fertilization, kept in storage as they develop into larvae until they can be provided to nurseries (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • At nursuries, Nasat larvae are gestated into pupae in hexagonal hatching tubes by nurturers (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • Said nurturers continue to care for Nasat into the nymph stage, including social contact and education (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
      • Nasat parents are uninvolved with raising of young directly, in favor of communal raising (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
  • Affection shown through a gentle brush of the center of the forehead, followed by a similar brush of the thin membrane behind the antennae (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
  • Generally forward-looking, seeing cutting ties with the past as encouraging further progress (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • Nasat have little in the way of museums, commemorative notes, or other examples of historical remembrance (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
  • Individuals seem to be identified by caste first in a similar fashion to individuals being identified first by gender amongst mammals (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • i.e., referring to unknown individuals by caste color, calling to a stranger by caste color (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
  • Hammocks usually used for sitting rather than the chairs of most humanoids (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
  • Caste traits
    • Yellows characterized as well-suited for tasks requiring repetition and perseverance (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
  • Sayings and idioms
    • Nasats (and potentially other insectile species) referred to casually as "shells" (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • Non-chitinous species referred to casually as "softs" (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • "Sap and fog" the equivalent to the usual saying of "smoke and mirrors" (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")