Pak Protector: Encyclopedia II - Pak Protector - Tree Of Life

Pak Protector - Tree Of Life

Tree-of-Life is a bush whose smell is unnoticeable to breeders until they reach about 25 Pak years (or 42 human years); after that, the smell suddenly becomes irresistible. The breeder eats the root, infecting himself with a symbiotic virus in the root and triggering the transition.

After consuming Tree-of-Life, Pak breeder forms (such as humans) turn into the Pak Protector form, which involves reconfiguration of the anatomy, including the acquisition of a leathery armor or exoskeleton, strong enough to turn a copper knife. Joints swell until the creature becomes "a parody of the human form done in cantaloupes and coconuts". This expands the leverage available to muscles by increasing the moment arm: the protector can lift 10 times his own weight. Genitalia vanish, and a second heart forms in the groin. Teeth fall out, and lips fuse; the resulting structure is a sort of bony beak. The brain grows to an enormous size; the resulting mind, even starting from something as dumb as a chimp, becomes literally too brilliant for human comprehension. All the breeder's hair falls out and the head acquires a bony ridge to protect the newly-expanded cranium. Pak Protectors also acquire an extended lifespan, and can live tens of thousands of earth years. However, most protectors die as the direct or indirect result of conflict with other protectors, so death from old age is almost unknown in the Pak culture.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Tree Of Life", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki