Yelloweye
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| Classification | |
|---|---|
| Structure | Field |
| Origin | Derived (Branch parasite) |
| Class | Primitive; Adapted |
| Characteristics | |
| Wingspan | 3–4 m |
| Mass | 20–35 kg |
| Speed | about 60 km/h |
| First recorded | 2023 |
The Yelloweye is a flying branch parasite, a field organism of Derived origin, named for its single glowing yellow eye. It attacks from the air with corrosive projectiles, mainly against people on elevated positions: rooftops, towers, walls and watch posts. Its appearance over Europe from 2023 restricted civil aviation to routes within held territory.
The Yelloweye is one of the few parasites with an eye, and one of the few that hunt by sight. Like the other branch parasites it occurs in a Primitive and an Adapted form, and has been recorded since 2023.
Description
A Yelloweye has a wingspan of 3 to 4 metres and weighs 20 to 35 kg. Its body is light and narrow, near-black, with a short tail and two broad wings of skin stretched over long, jointed supports. It flies by flapping and gliding at up to about 60 km/h, and can hover briefly before an attack. It is coated in a thin membrane, and can be brought down with small arms.
Its single eye, at the front of the head, is about 10 cm across: a large lens over a light-sensitive cup, which gives it sight good enough to pick out a person on a rooftop from several hundred metres. The tissue around the lens contains a fluorescent pigment that glows yellow and is visible from several kilometres away at night. A gland in the throat holds about a litre of corrosive fluid, which the animal spits in bursts.
The Adapted form has a fold of skin that closes over the eye, hiding its glow, and a longer range of spit.
Behaviour
Yelloweyes attack from height and at range. They spit a corrosive fluid, to a distance of 20 to 30 metres, that burns skin and eyes, eats through fabric and rubber, and etches glass and optics, and they target people on high, exposed positions where ground organisms cannot reach. They hunt in groups of three to ten, often ahead of an advance by ground organisms, and drive defenders from elevated positions before it arrives.
Most attacks by the Primitive form took place by day. The Adapted form, recorded from 2024, also attacks at dusk and dawn with its eye covered, and opens it only for the last approach. Both forms are least active in the middle of the night. Between engagements Yelloweyes roost on the trunks of Beckons and on tall structures in infested ground, and return to their Beckon to be reabsorbed into its ground.
Genome variants
Tethysic Yelloweyes hunt over the sea, and attack the bridges, gun crews and lookouts of ships. Aridic Yelloweyes, in the Sahara and Arabia, are larger, glide for long periods on rising air and attack singly.
Effects
Civil flights over Europe have been limited to routes within held territory since Yelloweyes appeared in 2023, and airports in held territory keep air-defence guns along their approach paths. Helicopters operate near infested ground only with door gunners. In held cities, rooftop work outside protected areas requires a permit, and watch posts are roofed.
Injuries from the spray are mostly chemical burns to the face, hands and eyes. Field medics irrigate them with water, and eye injuries are the commonest cause of permanent disability among soldiers wounded by Yelloweyes. Since 2023 European Defence Force troops in infested areas have been issued goggles and face shields that resist the fluid.
Countermeasures
Yelloweyes are shot down with small arms, automatic cannon and air-defence guns. Before 2024 they were easiest to engage in low light, when the eye showed their position. Against the Adapted form, units rely on lookouts and on radar sets that pick out flying organisms by their wingbeat. Lookouts in infested areas wear goggles against the spray, and observation posts are fitted with replaceable plastic windows.
History
The Yelloweye was first recorded in 2023, with the other branch parasites, over the eastern Mediterranean, and over central Europe by the summer of that year. The Adapted form, with the covered eye, was first recorded in 2024.