Species Name: Factorogors.

Summary: Cybernetic creatures that are a seamless mix of pseudo-organic and synthetic components, their growth being able to aid production of any factories founded on worlds designated as factory planets.

General Appearance: Quadrupedal in stance and supposedly reptilian in creature origin, each member of the species share the same appearance shortly after hatching. Developed individuals though can vary vastly between members, all due to how the factories they're assigned to are developed, ranging from ones that pollute the land and sky to those that have found an optimal balance between production and eco-balance.

Growth and Development: Initially, newer and 'young' units are roughly larger than the average humanoid adult from top of the head down to the claws, which would measure roughly seven and a half feet/over two meters in height. Fully developed individuals are far larger at hundreds of meters in height, the largest recorded one reaching almost seven hundred and eighty meters in standing height.

How one develops is dependent on how the foreman/head engineer of the factory they're assigned to designs said facility, their 'age' not being a defining factor on how much they have developed. If the factory is built with overall production in mind and gives no care to the environment, then the specimen will reflect that by having their internals house as many machines they can to allow maximum production, clear-cutting entire forests to let the main factory expand. The opposite may hold true if thought is put into the environment, the specimen reflecting that by being almost like a walking atmosphere cleanser, harvesting only select nodes while having minimum internal machinery for production of key resources.

What forms of 'mutations' they acquire also depends on some aspects of the factory. If one relies heavily on railed transport for ferrying resources, specimens will evolve methods of riding the train rails that are laid out, but only adolescent ones can do so, since larger Factorogors will become too heavy to utilize rails. Ones focused on logistics will develop flight, along with their backs being lined with recharging ports for any logistic bots or bays for any that aren't tasked.

Growth in size is doable from them taking the excess waste from resources, such as metallic dust from grindings to residue leftovers from chemical creations, and converting it into mass for themselves. The process though is extremely inefficient and could take up to a minimum of four years for one to develop past one development group to the next, and only certain alloys and chemicals are able to be used. There has yet to be a case of a unit expiring from natural causes, though it's due to most units being dismantled once the worlds they're assigned to have been labeled as barren of resources.

Abilities: The abilities of one specimen varies solely depending on the build of them, but one thing that's shared between them is their adaptability to make sure they can produce whatever is needed or requested, along with making more facilities inside of them for a larger variety of creations and chemicals. Their outer hide also changes physically to match their development, with a way of venting always being visible, either in the form of smoke stacks or heat dispersal sinks.

Behavior: Generally, the behavior of a Factorogor is also different from each member, their development playing a large part in such. Like stated above, if factories go for a clear-cut and earth-gouging philosophy in their expansions, so too will the Factorogor, the far cleaner builds being true. One thing they share is their desire to help out the foreman/head engineer of the factory progress with their duties.

In terms of intelligence, they're shown to be knowledgeable in the processes needed for the creation of any component or chemical needed, though initially the memories on how to do so are locked for the safety of the younger units. It's because of this intentional limitation that their mentality can be crudely compared to younger members of other species despite the knowledge of factory-grade production.

Diet: While each specimen doesn't need to eat for nourishment, they take in raw materials either through their maws or through the various hatches lining their backs that lead to production facilities within their bodies. This gives the appearance of having an appetite that's unhindered by virtually anything, provided they have the necessary node within them that requires said resources.

Injuries and Death: While the deaths of Factorogors are uncommon, they do happen if the wildlife or environment of a planet proves to be far too hostile to manage, with injuries being fairly common to those that try to make themselves far too complex than their bodies can handle at the time.

Injuries from complexity is due to them trying to make too many nodes within their bodies than they can handle, which can be reversed once they find out. If they had contents ready to go though, the complications will arise depending on the objects in question. Those from hostile fauna though are ones that require outside maintenance, especially so since the Factorogor will shut down all internal machinery to focus on self-defense or protection of personnel. While the hide and metallic nature of the creature will protect it from most environments, it doesn't make it immune to any attacks from wildlife.

If a factorogor is killed, it will result in the factory on the world being labeled as jeopardized, those in charge being tasked with the retrieval of personnel and the corpse of the deceased creature if possible. If however the foreman/head engineer can prove that the factory can be defended despite the death of the creature, the corpse will be retrieved to be broken down, a replacement sent after several days.

The more uncommon form of death for a unit though is when they're no longer needed, largely in part to the worlds they're assigned to being stripped completely of usable resources. While renewable resources will still validate a factorogors presence, even those can be wiped out from a careless foreman/head engineer's actions that result in complete destabilization of a planets biosphere. The process of ending a unit is far simpler and quicker than others, being given a kill-code that wipes the mind and other systems of the unit before dis-assembly can commence.

Reproduction: Since Factorogors are almost fully synthetic creatures, they can be produced much like higher-grade devices. The creation of one though is one that takes extensive amounts of time and resources, more so if one isn't being made from other members of the species. Certain kinds of genetic material is required for the pseudo-organic components, while high grade metallic alloys are necessary for the main chassis. Anything that's of lesser quality or incorrect chemical builds will result in newer units suffering catastrophic internal collapsing during adolescence, outright killing the unit.

When new units are made, they are given copies of the memories of the 'parent unit', especially so for when it comes to the processes for products. However, to keep them from attempting anything that would be dangerous or even lethal during their youth, their memories are intentionally locked to the most basic of products, steadily unlocking over the course of their development.

Shipping to Less Advanced Worlds: While the scenario for such is rare, mainly due to the shipping of newer units to freshly-established factories, there is the possibility of a unit winding up somewhere else other than the intended world. It's due to such that units could wind up on a world that's far different from the intended one, retrieval efforts taking place to rescue the stranded unit before properly delivering them to the intended destination. Those that wind up on planets that are inhabited by a less-advanced species though brings up far more complications for retrieval teams, especially so if the landing is within a populated zone.

It is because of these accidental landing zones that newer units will be absolutely clueless on where to go or what to do, since they rely on the presence of their assigned foreman/head engineer for general input and what processes are needed. They would be attempting to send out distress signals for any retrieval teams that are potentially in range, trying to stay hidden for the most part. When faced with individuals of the less-advanced race, they would further their attempts to hide out of a programmed instinct to keep themselves from being spotted, almost mimicking a child's fear. Should contact be made though, they would try to make themselves look threatening by the heat sinks on their body flare up, but would never actually lash out unless it was in self-defense. Their hostilities fade if the other being proves itself to not be a threat.

Pets: While it is a very rare instance since they were made solely for the sake of increasing production in industrial sectors, there being only eight recorded instances of factorogors fully becoming pets, it is possible for one to become this to anyone that either heavily invests or manages to find one from a shipping flaw. Once the attempts of thwarting potential threats as described above has been bypassed, most of the new units will form a crude 'bond' to the ones that found and braved them, attempting to help them if the need arises.

This however severely undermines their potential for growth, since they would normally need the industrious conditions of factories to grow and develop. If one is kept as a house pet though, they are almost certainly going to grow no larger than fifteen meters in height and be of a clean 'factory' build, with little to no means of production within them unless measures are taken to actually fulfill their designed purpose. Ultimately, this will mean that they're considered 'flawed units', and are usually dismantled when retrieved in the case of a flawed shipping, some cases being able to reprogram them if they aren't developed fully in their flawed state. Those who can develop no further though are instead left to whoever 'owns' them, finding the attempts to retrieve them a waste of time and resources.

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Feel free to leave a comment. I don't care if it's criticism, praise, or a mix of both.

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Yeah, another species bio, one that spawned from the time that I've played Factorio. Lame name for them and likely another species that'll be looked over cause folks would want pics instead of literature. -~-;