Vagrant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Classification | Not classified |
|---|---|
| Known by number | 4 |
A Vagrant is a human who has died on infested ground and been reconstructed by a Beckon with the brain, memories and personality intact, and with a Beckon bulb inside the body. Vagrants are not placed in any structure, origin or class of the parasite taxonomy. Each Vagrant produces a genome of parasites of its own, and controls those parasites in part.
Formation is rare, and most Vagrants survive for hours or days. Four Vagrants, formed between 2022 and 2025, are known by number. As of 2028 the 1st Vagrant holds most of North America through the Knox hive, the 2nd and 3rd cooperate with the European Federation, and the 4th is aligned with the Iris.
Formation
A Vagrant forms when a person dies on infested ground and a local Beckon reconstructs the body. Lacking a blueprint for an organism as complex as a human, the Beckon uses the corpse as a scaffold, and the reconstruction follows the person's memory of their own body. A Beckon network that is newer and has fewer blueprints gives the reconstructed person more autonomy.
The person's immune system has to be strong enough to keep COTH out of the brain while the body dies, and not strong enough to clear it. With a stronger immune response the person dies; with a weaker one the person becomes an assimilated human. Formation also requires an extreme will to live, directed at something specific.
Description
A newly formed Vagrant looks roughly like the person did, with signs of decay. Vagrants are taller than most humans, at about 185 to 200 cm. Each has a signature colour, which shows in the Beckon bulb, the blood and the eyes. The blood glows where skin or membrane is thin, and the throat glows faintly during speech.
The body is biomass held together by continuous output from the bulb. It decays without active maintenance. A Vagrant can take on physical traits from organisms it bonds with, such as wings, and the bonds are permanent. Bonded traits take years to become usable.
Vagrants grow weapons from their own biomass. The weapons are alive for a short time, can dent tank armour, and are costly for the Vagrant to make. After enough use a weapon can become sentient.
Death and rebirth
A Vagrant that is killed is reconstructed by its Beckon, as long as that Beckon is intact. Memory and personality carry over. Rebirth is painful. In its first years a Vagrant can be killed with ordinary weapons, and each rebirth leaves it less human and more capable, starting with the internal organs.
A Vagrant without an intact Beckon cannot be reborn, and dies permanently.
Parasites
A Vagrant's main capability is its control over the parasites it produces and shapes. It can produce parasite organisms, including Nexus organisms loyal to it.
A Vagrant's parasites are hostile to anything other than the Vagrant. Near a calm Vagrant they tolerate what the Vagrant does not react to. Control is partial, and a Vagrant sometimes has to kill its own parasites to protect someone.
A Vagrant genome is produced by its Vagrant and tied to it entirely.
Known Vagrants
1st Vagrant
The 1st Vagrant formed in Knox County, Kentucky, in 2022, in a newly established Beckon network. He was not noticed at first. His genome, the Knox hive, spread across most of North America. Dispatcher flowers grow from his shoulders and spine. His signature colour is purple. He is also known as the Knox Vagrant.
2nd and 3rd Vagrants
The 2nd and 3rd Vagrants formed at around the same time. H&A Hyperbiology established contact with them in 2024, and both have worked with H&A since. Their signature colours are yellow for the 2nd and pink for the 3rd. The 3rd's genome is the Dyadic genome.
4th Vagrant
The 4th Vagrant emerged in late 2025 and has been aligned with the Iris from the start. He is known as the Knight, and his signature colour is red. His organisms look like other parasites and respond more closely to coordination.
Lone Vagrants
Vagrants outside the four are called lone Vagrants. Their colours differ from those of the four and of the Iris. Their capability ranges from little more than an assimilated human to that of the four. Some produce parasites of their own and some have none. Their parasites adapt to the region they live in.
Some lone Vagrants have settled in abandoned rural areas.