[u]About You[/u]

[b]What is your Byond key?[/b]
Sweedle

[b]How long have you been playing on Baystation 12?[/b]
Since about late April of this year?

[b]What are the names of your better-known characters?[/b]
Connor Kennedy, Max Adams; the lesser-known ones are in my signature.

[u]About The Species[/u]

[b]What alien species are you applying for?[/b]
Dionae

[b]Why do you want to play as the alien species?[/b]
I have found that Dionae have been the cause of some of the most beautiful and at times, genuinely thought-provoking moments. The constant quest for knowledge helps lend a feeling of impact and persistance to the server. The single moment I realized I wanted to apply for Dionae came after telling a story to a Diona. After concluding the story, they responded with something to the effect of "We enjoyed your story. We will be sure to share it with the nymphs." This was the moment where I realized the Diona were essentially chronicling the universe: both its natural laws, its societies and its personal stories. As each gestalt grows, the stories the component Diona carried with them becomes essentially etched into stone, outliving their subjects. In this way, Dionae are the space-age keepers of the oral tradition. (Okay, enough gushing about Dionae. Kinda)

[b]What are some example names for the alien species?[/b]
Diona 'names' are a sentence, describing one of the most formative memories in the Diona's formation. For practical purposes, they are shortened to a short phrase or clause.
A Diona whose strongest memory is of a rocket launch, for instance, might 'name' themselves "The Roaring Sound and Bright Light of the Fire as it Flew into the Stars." This would be shortened on IDs and in general conversation to "The Roaring Sound."
Other examples
The Brilliant Star Cutting Through the Grey Fog, Turning the Water into a Glittering Mirror (The Brilliant Star)
Bright Golden Haze on the Green Meadow as the Flowers Turn to Face the Newly Awakened Sun (Bright Golden Haze)
The Blaring Siren's Song as the Warm Glow Grows Ever Stronger (The Blaring Siren) [More on this name later]

[b]Summarize what you know about the species.[/b]
The building block of the Dionae is the nymph. Roughly the size of a cat, a nymph is best compared to an insect, though that's not to say it's a necessarily accurate description (I find nymphs to be slightly reminiciscent of roly polys, in terms of surface layer and ability to bind to itself). Its defining characteristic is its near-insatiable curiosity and ability to learn small things quickly. In addition to their single, lidless eye and Rootspeak-recieving 'antenna', the most major part of the nymph is its nervous system, which allows it to tap into a gestalt's central neural stratum. This is the key to maturation of a Diona -- or Dionae writ large --  as more and more nymphs bond together, the ensuing gestalt becomes more and more intelligent and capable of pondering larger question; this comes at the cost of speed, both physical and in terms of mental processing and decision making.

The reason for this slowdown in mental processing is due to the fact that as a Diona grows larger, its nervous system both expands (resulting in its capability to process more information) and grows less centralized (resulting in the slower processing of said information). The nervous system is not the only human-equivilant systmem a Diona lacks; they lack most organ systems found in humans, with the closest being the aforementioned neural system, and the circulatory system, which is more akin to that of a plant, with capillary tubes moving water and nutrients to where they are needed. The plant similarities are also evident in the 'diet' of Dionae: light and radiation, which they use in photosynthesis.

The final stage of a Diona is form or join an existing gestalt. Often forming in the upper atmosphere of planets or stars, these gestalts exist as both codexes of the knowledge absorbed during each Dionae's -- and even each nymph's -- time in the universe, as well as breeding grounds for the next generation of nymphs destined to go further afield and continue the search for knowledge. The gestalts are more similar to space stations than to planets and cities themselves; they have dedicated layers to communication, radiation gathering, storage, open areas for nymphs, etc. Each piece of the massive gestalts is connected by the same neural stratum, making them intellectual superheavyweights: incredibly thoughtful and smart, but almost unfathomably slow.

It was a gestalt that skrellian explorers found in Epsilon Ursae Minor, tucked among the highly-radioactive matter in the stars' orbit. Following the initial anomalous readings and follow-up expeditions by skrellian mining companies, it seemed that the stars were not just alive, but sentient and communicative; this wasn't fully accurate -- the signal had come from the photosphere -- but was still massive news. For several decades, science vessels poured into Epsilon Ursae Minor, decrypting the Dionae's Rootspeak slowly. After communication was established, an agreement was (eventually) reached: In exchange for taking several Diona seeds and spreading them to parts of the galaxy the Dionae couldn't reach, miners would be allowed to establish habitation and refineries in the gestalt, granting them access to the otherwise incredibly hard to access outside of a star.

The Skrell aren't the only species or group with whom the Dionae are on good terms with, though their relationship is perhaps the deepest (I'd be remiss to not mention the [i]entire gestalt[/i] fitted with an FTL system and skrellian explorers and basically told to 'go'). Humans and Dionae have a symbiotic relationship, with humans, who have exchanged both knowledge and materials, with Dionae often being invited (or not kicked out) of traveling human vessels. Unathi/Dionae relationships are generally non-existent; but their continued survival in harsh conditions provide proof the some Unathi that life in the desert is possible. Vox, interestingly enough, practically revere Dionae; their gestalts are reminiciscent of the all-important apex to the Vox. There is little, if any, documented contact between the Dionae and IPCs, though it is not hard to imagine how that would be a particularly enlightening for the Dionae, as they explore the thought processes that are so thoroughly different to their own.

Due to the fact that many Dionae (and naturally, all the ones on the Torch) spent much of their time around humans, they have taken on many of humans' traits, albeit in a emulated, 'uncanny valley' way. As they spend more time around humans, these imperfections are gradually worked out, as human courtesies are learned.

As part of their quest for knowledge, Dionae have learned to understand most languages; though they cannot speak languages requiring a wider, higher vocal range -- particularly skrellian.

Dionae have their own language, alluded to earlier: 'Rootspeak'. Rootspeak comes in two forms: Local and Global. Local Rootspeak is a low-frequency radio wave emission that can be heard over short distances (the view range of an SS13 window, oddly enough!). Global Rootspeak exists on the opposite side of the spectrum -- it consists of incredibly high frequency radio waves, and can be used to communicate over vast distances. While the exact range of Global Rootspeak is unknown (it's presumed to be interplanetary or even interstellar), the Torch is far enough away from other Dionae as to not recieve their Global Rootspeak.

At the risk of preempting a question, the idea I've been kicking around in my head has been a Diona named "The Blaring Siren's Song as the Warm Glow Grows Ever Stronger," shortened to "The Blaring Siren." They were formed as a reactor on a cargo vessel melted down, spreading radiation throughout the vessel. Following their formation, they drifted somewhat aimlessly for a few years, travelling wherever various shipping and cargo vessels would take them, partly in hopes of witnessing a moment similar to their namesake memory and party to simply meet as many, varied people as possible. The Blaring Siren heard about the Torch Program from an engineer in a bar at a frontier outpost, and was instantly attracted due to the fact that it had not one, but two sources of radiation (The R-UST is [i]definitely[/i] radioactive, right?). They were signed to a contract by Torch LLC, serving both as a Supply Assistant and Research Assistant (mainly in hopes of exploring even newer worlds).