Entity 37 : "Curabitur Bird" (Trimmed; Open for Rewrite)

The Curabitur Bird's body is significantly reduced compared to the average Earth bird, with a number of organs and other structures entirely missing from their internal anatomy.1 Their forelimbs are short and featherless, used only for basic movement and maintaining blood flow. Despite the size of their eyes, these entities have quite poor vision, relying mainly on chemoreceptors in their mouth to detect their surroundings. The species exhibits moderate sexual dimorphism, with females usually growing much larger than males; the largest known female Curabitur was measured to be 81 cm tall.2

To survive and hunt, Curabitur Birds possess a number of specialized structures on their bodies, the most prominent of which is the large translucent hump protruding from its back. The organ within, commonly called a "floatsac," contains a semi-solid substance which allows the creature to float through the air in almost any environment while exerting minimal energy. Additionally, their legs are elongated with enlarged muscles, sporting a single hooked claw at the end and two reduced claws on the tarsometatarsus.3 The entity's beak is oriented horizontally and is unable to fully close; dangling from between its mandibles is a modified prehensile tongue that contains a small pocket of bioluminescent gel from the floatsac.

Curabiturs are solitary creatures that, because of their ability to hover, live extremely sedentary lives, traveling only for reproduction or feeding. To move, they will fling their tiny arms backward to displace air, pushing themselves a few centimeters forward with each flap.

Curabitur Birds are generally harmless to wanderers, actively avoiding human settlements and only attacking people when threatened or provoked. Most often, they pose a danger only to Deathmoths, as the birds engage in sophisticated hunting techniques to catch and eat them.

To begin, a Curabitur Bird uses the chemoreceptors in its mouth to identify male Deathmoth pheromones, and gradually migrates in the direction of the moth producing them. Once close enough, the bird begins to move its glowing tongue around, emitting a cocktail of pheromones to lure its prey closer. Should it make contact with the tongue, the moth will become caught in the Curabitur's highly adhesive saliva, unable to escape. As it thrashes about, it triggers sensitive hairs on the bird's beak, causing its sharp talons to lurch forward and skewer its prey. Finally, the tongue retracts into the Curabitur's mouth as it begins to feed.

To date there have been no recorded instances of Curabitur Birds preying on female Deathmoths. The leading theory is that the females' sharp mandibles and corrosive spit pose too much risk to the birds, who have evolved to solely target males because of their smaller size and lack of defensive mechanisms. Lending further evidence to this theory, Curabitur pheromones have been observed to only affect male Deathmoths, likely because engaging with the more dangerous females could pose a substantial threat to the entity's life.

The Curabitur reproductive process is highly complex and differs greatly from that of typical avians, as well as nearly all motile animals. It, in fact, more closely resembles the reproduction of plants and fungi, taking place in three stages.

Stage 1: Propagation

• To begin the process, a male Curabitur Bird will release anywhere from fifty to three hundred tiny buds from its floatsac. These "spores," ranging from 8 to 10 mm in diameter, are comprised of a bundle of genetic material coated with a thin layer of luminescent gel. The spores float through the air, carried by subtle changes in pressure, or by wind in levels where natural airflow is present.

Stage 2: Fertilization

• When the spores reach a female Curabitur Bird, they will stick to the outer membrane of her floatsac and slowly pass through the barrier, descending into her inner gel pod. Here they will attach themselves to the organ, and the female will release a sample of her own genetic material which merges with that from the male to form a zygote.

Stage 3: Gestation

• Once fertilized, the embryos will begin to absorb nutrients from the mother's gel pod, gradually growing in size and turning a pale orange hue. After eight days, their limbs and floatsacs will begin to develop as they protrude further outward, resembling smaller spheres on the outside of the mother's hump. Once about three weeks have passed, the baby Curabitur Birds will emerge into the world at approximately 10 cm tall.

Unlike most birds, Curabiturs do not care for their offspring. Newborn Curabitur Birds have a significant store of nutrients from their mother's floatsac and are able to subsist on these for the first month of their lives, at which point they will have grown large enough to feed on Deathmoths themselves.

On rare occasions, large numbers of Curabitur Birds will congregate for reproduction. These groups are known as "constellations" because their glowing tongues resemble a cluster of stars, and they may be comprised of up to two hundred individuals. Constellations will typically gather for fifteen to twenty days before dispersing, during which time they will seek out Deathmoth colonies and feed on the hive's male population.

These gatherings can devastate even an abundant Deathmoth hive, and in the aftermath the Empress will often flee the hive alongside the remaining females and Praetorians. This can make places previously infested with Deathmoths substantially more habitable, but because constellations are quite uncommon it is not a reliable method of clearing infested areas.

The following are entries from the journal of the late Dr. Trescothick, a member of the Backrooms Research Consortium4 and the first dedicated researcher of Curabitur Birds. His findings built the foundation for a comprehensive understanding of the entity and its practical benefits.

24 October 1958

Yesterday, I recovered a deceased specimen of the Curabus natans for anatomical study—I found it hovering uninjured but lifeless, likely fallen to illness or old age. I was primarily interested in dissecting its buoyant air-sac to understand how these creatures can float so freely, and the results were astounding.

Contrary to my initial theories of a gaseous composition, the material within is a gelatinous semi-solid that is significantly lighter than air. I extracted a sample of the substance and, upon letting it go, it rose above my head, slowing to a halt roughly a foot from the ceiling—all while producing a brilliant lime glow. I will call this substance "Curabitur Gel," and I can scarcely wait to share it with researchers Dunajski and Peters. I am sure their knowledge of chemistry will be a great benefit for further research.

25 October 1958

Though they were intrigued, Peters and Dunajski did not believe me at first. I admit that I have stumbled in the past, but I had hoped they still held some trust in me. Thankfully, the evidence was quite solid (or perhaps semi-solid?).

When I demonstrated the Curabitur Gel to them, they were speechless. Dunajski, ever the curious cat, walked to my side and began examining the substance while Peters dragged out the chalkboard without so much as an apology for the disbelief! Ah well, the pursuit of knowledge is far more important than a silly personal trifle, especially in a place such as this.

After vanishing for a few minutes, Peters returned to inform me that she had emptied her schedule for the coming days so she could properly focus on studying the gel, and urged us to do the same. I can feel the laboratory brimming with excitement!

1 November 1958

As of this morning, we have used the last of the Curabitur Gel from our subject, and we have learned a great deal! Here are our initial findings:

• Slowly absorbs the air around it when exposed, causing it to become spongy and dry. Its full brightness is maintained for roughly three days, but after the gel dries it gradually fades over the course of a few hours.
• Unsuitable for consumption. Incredibly acrid taste and high acidity. (Tested this one myself!)
• Applying it to a surface (smearing) does not diminish its brightness, but shortens its functional period to twelve hours.
• If sealed, it will retain its glow much longer. All of the samples stored in airtight containers are as bright now as they were when I extracted them!
• Can lift small objects into the air, requiring an amount of gel roughly equal to twice the mass of the object. Likely possible with larger objects as well, but the mass requirements make testing infeasible with the samples we currently possess.

I have transferred a drawing from my field sketchbook here and added more notes based on our discoveries.

I am confident that this is just the beginning of the possibilities this entity could grant us, and with the help of my newfound colleagues I am currently searching for more specimens to continue our research.

To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Date: January 18, 2021 | 10:46 PM
Subject: Project Mothball Update

Hey Monica,

Our friend at Base Alpha just sent me part of a new report from their bio-lab—this one's about a couple of tests they were doing with Curabiturs, and I think it's got some potentially useful info for what you're working on. Here's the excerpt I got:

The small size and scarcity of Curabitur spores, as well as their proximity to Deathmoth colonies, have made past examinations difficult. Following extensive laboratory testing with live specimens, it has been determined that these spores can survive up to 80 hours of exposure. After this period, the spore's gel coating will become saturated with air and it will sink to the ground, eventually breaking down into a foul-smelling liquid.
A small sample of this liquid was brought into a controlled environment with five Deathmoths, all of which actively avoided the substance. This aversion could potentially be an evolutionary mechanism that allows them to stay away from areas with a higher concentration of Curabitur Birds.

A natural deterrent—seems promising, right? Let me know what you think, and please tell me if you get any more updates on my transfer request.

Donald Jones, B.N.T.G. Postal Delivery
Office Space EL3A

To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Date: January 19, 2021 | 11:23 AM
Subject: Re: Project Mothball Update

Donald,

Thank you for sharing this! I'll pass this along to my team so we can get to work confirming their results, and I'll keep you updated on what we find. If we can reproduce these findings, we could be on the verge of a major breakthrough in wanderer safety.

I know it's been a few weeks since you sent in the application, and I asked the higher-ups about it, but they said there are still a few people ahead of you. Like I told you, it's a lot of bureaucracy down here. But hey, if things go smoothly, we'll be the creators of a brand new defense product and you'll be right alongside us! I have a feeling I'll see you down here soon.

Monica Hall, B.N.T.G. Research and Development
New Times Square