Cline

The Cline are an enigmatic race of alien shapeshifters that harvest genetic material for study and integration into their mono-gendered 'supra-species'.

Despite the differences between 1-A & 3-A Cline civilizations & root psychological profiles both are intensely driven by self-preservation. They truly only care about themselves & their own safety. Everyone else was a pawn to be used to protect themselves.

They seem biologically “more evolved”. For instance they have a remarkably sophisticated nervous system, a fantastic rate of cellular repair & enhanced secondary sensory systems. They are also a monogendered species. “Male” and “female” are concepts that only are relevant when interacting with members of gendered alien species. Most Cline seem to see it as a detail- like hair color or skin tone. The species also has the ability to shape shift between human and alien forms, as well as a limited ability to morph their alien forms for the purpose of adaptation to given situations. They generally possess excellent vision and strength when compared to human beings. They are stoic, calm, and monotone and have a way of talking that can be considered strange for most humans.

They generally are a tall and slender species of humanoids, with pale skin (in hues of blue to purple) and long, thin necks. Atop said necks, their small heads are dominated by large, silver eyes, and possess slitted nostrils.

As shapeshifters, physical appearance has little meaning for the Cline after childhood though some use colors or crests to reflect their social standing, philosophical outlook or other cultural norms. The most common among their number follow a warrior-like code but instead of following a path of violence & strength, they value pragmatism & expediency above all else. These most often present themselves on an Ochre hue with a demonic or draconic body plan and large segmented eyes.

Interactions with the Cline of Universe 1-A are passive and unreadable at best though some civilizations report border skirmishes along an outer arm of the galaxy outside of Guild space. Due to the way they compose themselves with outsiders (always in an 'encounter suit' designed to not give away anything but a humanoid form) none are even aware they are shapeshifters and often walk among their homeworlds & outposts, gauging species & looking for exceptional specimens for their experimentation & integration into the 'Generational Genome Matrices'.

Due to being regularly viewed as impartial party the Cline are often invited to talks & interstellar meetings but little progress is made as they most often observe and almost never commit. Some races see them as xenophobic & territorial though considering their true nature, nothing could be further from the truth. The Cline homeworld is actually connected via a Gas Giant Superstructure that forms a stable wormhole. This wormhole connects to their true home deep inside a local supervoid. Their location in this void is so remote that wormholes are the only feasible to traverse the great darkness. Having such a limited view of the universe above they soon delved inward.

Due to their obsession with the advancement of their people, the Cline of Universe 1-A prefer to reproduce with alien partners via technological reproductive methods. For a 'thousand generations' new Cline were grown at accelerated rates in tanks using the DNA of designated donors, causing no need for gendered physiology. Furthermore, the Cline have developed a triple-helix DNA structure in which two of the helices function as a standard genetic dataset, similar to Earth based life while the third is used as a scaffolding to integrate genetic information harvested from non-Cline sources. In Universe 1-A the Cline have all but rendered physiological differences irrelevant to their procreation methods.

Cline babies are physiologically almost entirely Cline. But they carry some personal and racial qualities from their alien parent, increasing Cline diversity and enriching the Cline noosphere. Thus being a “pureblood” (the child of two Cline) is thus considered sub-optimal, but the implications on social standing due to being a pureblood is unknown.

The Cline themselves, psychically linked to their leader the T'al Si-Imperator, have become stagnant and eschew both expansion and innovation beyond their own genetic advancement though rogue factions do exist. Some of these factions have separated themselves from the T'al Si-Imperator so they may operate outside of the Imperator's purview. KT's 1-A Double is the result of one such faction's program line of super-Cline, using outlawed stock genetics (which is why both KT & his 1-A other are not bonded to the Cline as most others are).