Name: Specimen #377
Age: 12
Gender: Genderless
Race: #377 is the result of a genetic experiment on its homeworld and as such, doesn't belong to a certain species group. The best way to describe it would be as an amorphous blob capable of enveloping, analysing and regenerating biological entities. It was originally designed to be a non-sentient piece of biomedical equipment, but through the actions of a desperate researcher gained true sapience and a certain quirky personality.
Appearance:
While #377's body structure is semi-fluidic it does tend to maintain a certain shape, namely a tubular, worm-like one. It generally stays a stable dark grey colour, but has been known to change depending on the circumstances.
Years aboard Precipice: 11
Apocalyptic Scenario: Bioengineered super-virus released by a doomsday cult, triggering a global nuclear war
Abilities: #377 is only good at two things; healing biological organisms and absorbing information. Both were coded into it's genetic structure by it's creators and work in the same way. When #377 comes into contact with biological material, it can co-opt the body's nervous system to gain temporary control over some of it's functions. This allows it to 'read' neural tissue and speed natural healing to a miraculous level; when combined with the innumerable chemical and biological agents #377 can produce and excrete, almost any injury or illness can be healed within hours (probably). It can also be used as a means of disposal, able to absorb any biological material. If it absorbs neural matter, some small fragment of the original creature's mind will be subsumed and added to #377's conciousness. In a way, it gets smarter by eating people.
Skills: By using it's specially-built neural adaptor unit, #377 can do almost anything on a computer, so long as it isn't actually useful; in other words, #377 is a skilled gamer, web surfer and consummate procrastinator.
Short Bio: The planet Sandhu was home to some of the best geneticists in the multiverse, men and women who took their science far beyond what most species would even consider. Genetically modified technology was a day to day fact in the average household, from hive mind invertebrate species used to clean and hoover up, to strains of super-algae providing electricity via photosynthesis. Project B-3509 was one of a myriad of new products being developed around the world and was intended to replace trained doctors by providing a cure-all service for next to no cost in upkeep. Specimen #377 was just one of thousands in the latest test batch, an amorphous slime incapable of sentient thought or self-development of any kind.
At the time of it's creation, an extremist doomsday cult had unleashed one of the most virulent super-viruses ever created, one that no-one had developed to a vaccine to. The end result was easy to predict; as billions died and entire nation states fell into ruin, in a bid to ensure their global dominance the last remaining superpower unleashed it's nuclear arsenal. They had hoped to both sterilise the world and wipe out their adversaries simultaneously; they failed and the retaliatory strikes plunged the world into a nuclear winter. #377, along with the rest of it's batch, was being kept in a deep-sea research station, far from the dangers of radiation. Only a handful of the researchers were still alive; the vast majority were either killed by the virus or committed suicide when news of the nuclear strikes came in. One delusional, or perhaps visionary researcher, in an effort to create a tool to help him survive the new world, decided to make a few tweaks to the genetics of the batch, killing all but one. #377 emerged from it's tank a far cry from what the researcher intended; the changes had made it a primal beast, with a single instinctive drive to feed.
When the crew of the Precipice visited Sandhu several months later, they received an automated distress call from the station and headed down investigate. The only living thing they found was #377, sitting on a couch in the common room and watching TV. After an intense debriefing with a neural lace, the crew were able to piece together the last moments of the remaining researchers... After their absorption, #377 began to develop a neural system based off the minds of those it absorbed, creating a unique composite sentience; it was also found to have quite a dry sense of humour.
It has since been inducted into the crew of the Precipice, first as a medical orderly before being promoted to Medical Chief due to it's stellar service record and commitment to it's oath never to eat someone unless given express permission.
Personality: #377 is an oxymoron; a lazy workaholic. If it had it's way, it would spend it's entire life plugged into the medbay's computers, playing games and watching TV while simultaneously enveloping and healing patients. Despite it's unattractive appearance, #377 is quite social and enjoys a good chat with patients during procedures; it also drinks very heavily and is a regular at the few bars on the ship that will have it. It has a certain melancholic sense of humour, dry and fatalistic, with the odd spike of sarcasm.