The Others are a non-human sentient species which present the greatest threat to the continued existence of humans and the Bobs known so far. First detected by Mario in Chapter 57 of We Are Legion (Book 1), their homeworld is located in Gliese 877.
Artist's impression of a member of The Others by M.W.F. Baily, based on book descriptions and refined with feedback from the author. This design is based on the blue glaucus sea slug, reportedly the author's inspiration for The Others.
Biology[]
They are physiologically unlike any Earth organism. Initially, Bobs compare them to squids, mantises, and sometimes simply blobs or sacs. Later, detailed scans reveal forms similar to large insects, with multiple eyes located around their heads, a large feeding maw down the center of the body, two large legs, and a tail. Each individual has six feeding digits on each side of its maw.
Society[]
They are stated to be socially organized similar to Earth's insects, specifically those who function in large colonies. Their ships have large living areas, where the Others appear to be packed in like sardines. A Prime, or queen, is at the top of the social structure, with sub-primes below the single Prime, and presumably the rest of society below the sub-primes. If a second Prime is created or born, war ensues between the two Primes.
They use a base twelve number system, which corresponds to the number of digits that each individual has.
Contact[]
The Others know one human language, Mandarin, after capturing and presumably dismantling the Chinese Von Neumann probe, which the Bobs deduce had peen piloted by an AMI. It is not known how The Others communicate among themselves, but based on their ship movements in battle, they do not have the faster-than-light communication enjoyed by the Bobs via SCUT.
Bill makes first contact with them by leaving a probe in a system they are about to invade. They provide only as much information as is convenient for them, before destroying the probe. They reveal enough for the Bobs to realize that they will not negotiate, and that they are bent on consuming everything in their path. The Bobs conclude that total destruction of The Others is inevitable, if the Human race — and the Bobs — are to survive.
Invasion[]
The Others invade entire solar systems and harvest all resources, metals, woods, organics, and even life forms. The life forms become food for their population, and the metals and other resources are allocated to the construction of a Dyson Sphere around their home star. Interestingly, The Others' never mention the massive amount of energy that would be produced by the Dyson Sphere they plan on building. The only goal they speak of is creating more living space.
They do not care if they destroy other life, even intelligent life, in the process, as they regard other species as "food" or sometimes "pests". Interestingly, their methods are described as being incredibly efficient, centuries or perhaps millennia ahead of what humans or Bobs could achieve.
Expeditions[]
Before the Bobs learn of their existence, The Others have already invaded several neighboring systems, including Beta Hydri and Zeta Tucanae. Later exploration reveals that they had already invaded even more systems on the opposite side of GL 877 from Earth, probably due to the other systems’ proximity and/or plentiful resources.
After the Bobs discover The Others, they launch four additional expeditions:
- Gliese 54
- Delta Pavonis
- NN4285
- Sol — the fleet likely launches October 2227 from the far side of GL 877. It arrives in 2257.
Technology[]
Theories on Bobnet suggest that the Others may have obtained their advanced technology from another, even more advanced species, rather than developing it themselves. This is owed to the fact that they are not very inventive.
Propulsion[]
The Others’ vessels are equipped with Casimir drives, which use a quantum effect to generate massive amounts of energy.
SUDDAR[]
The others use SUDDAR as a kind of “subspace radar” in the same way the Bobs use it.
The Others also have the capability to emit a mega-ping of intense SUDDAR energy, which will light up every object within four light minutes.
They also use the same SUDDAR technology to beam energy to their worker ant robots. When Mario discovers the ants, they are dormant until he pings them with SUDDAR.
Vessels[]
Their expeditions consist of three types of ships:
Cargo Ships — cylinders that are ten kilometers long and one kilometer wide, these are massive vessels used to transport the plundered resources of entire star systems back to their home system. The Bellerophon is one example of this ship.
Death Asteroids — large spheres, these vessels serve the same purpose as the Death Star in Star Wars: to destroy life. A top 1/8 section of the sphere has an energy grid that fires intense gamma rays, which the Bobs refer to as “zapping” a target.
Escort Ships — these are small ships of indeterminate size and shape. Hundreds of them accompany each expedition convoy.
Weapons[]
Their primary offensive weapons are gamma ray generators aboard the Death Asteroids. These are used not only for combat but also to kill all living things on a planet, prior to harvesting.
The Others also have plasma weapons for use in space battles.
Finally, they have missles tipped with fusion warheads and powered by incredibly powerful Casimir drives.