🦠 The History of the Entire World, I Guess

Year ??
In her infancy, Susie is about 1/3 the size of Earth's moon. She is but a molten core made of an undefined material, glowing red except for her very center, which is slightly orange. Her edges are slightly fiery, but she is majorly self-contained. She is totally immobile in space - the stars move past her

Year ??
Susie's core has grown to 1/2 of her full size. Most of this growth has been a slow accumulation, but she's recently experienced a "growth spurt". Her core has heated, burning orange with a large, yellow center. She's more fiery than before and occasionally spits up molten material. She's learned how to move through space and now navigates the void at a meandering pace

Year ??
Susie's core is very near her full size, but is experiencing a period of very slow growth. Though the passage of time, she's grown much faster. She hasn't found a place to orbit that she likes, but she's had a few options to consider. Her temperature has risen slightly, but there is no noticeable difference

Year Pre0
The first signs of life bubble up from within Susie's core. It is a simple microorganism consisting of some goo, a skin to contain the goo, and the information with which to reproduce asexually. Thriving in the intense heat and with no predators of any kind, these organisms, henceforth Ghostis, slowly bud away for hundreds of years. This utopia was only interrupted when they ran out of space, completely covering Susie's core in its entirety. The introduction of any more Ghostis would push another Ghostis somewhere else on top of the microorganism later where it would perish soon after. This life was very delicate and, kept out of Susie's life-giving reach, it would not last long.

Regardless, the Ghostis continued budding for some time. There was no resolution to their problem. That is, until one was born with a mutation - the first evolution

Year ~Pre700
The mutation consists of an organelle spit off from the nucleus. The organelle contains the information on how to construct the skin, code that it has borrowed from the nucleus. However, the skin that this new organ makes is just a touch too hard, manifesting as a spike somewhere on the Ghostis, now a Pointy Ghostis. Don't get the wrong idea, this spike is not sharp in any way. But, when jammed up against another Ghostis with absolutely nowhere to go, it's enough to kill the competition. Pointy Ghostises bud slower than the regular counterpart, as part of their meager genetic material was used for the new organelle. Still, they have enough of an advantage to gain a small footing on the core's surface

Year ~Pre750
After a while of this one-sided battle, another mutation surfaces from the base Ghostis. The Fleshy Ghostis makes its skin much thicker, leaving it with significantly less inside-goo. It's a common issue where these organisms mutate with less and less goo, causing their own deaths, as the nucleus desiccates when not in its protective soup. They are highly unstable in this regard, but a portion of the Fleshy Ghostis succeed in getting the ratio right and are able to hold their own against the Pointies. They develop a skin too thick for the Pointy Ghostis' spike to penetrate, thus the arms race begins..... if we had more genetic material to work with, that is

Year ~Pre775
The Pointy line manages to semi-fuse their nucleus and organelle for slightly more genetic material, which is used to make the spike longer. These organisms, now Lancers, are now able to pierce the Fleshy Ghostis' thick skin, but only just. If not enough pressure is applied via the masses, the Lancer will not succeed. Evolution enters a sort of stalemate, as we don't have enough DNA pieces to make anything else. The Ghostis is almost eliminated over the hundreds of years it takes to progress past this state and the Pointy Ghostis is there, but not doing too hot itself. They suffer collateral damage from Lancers as well as the other issues they were already dealing with

Year ~Pre900
In the end, it's the base Ghostis, not any of their fancy cousins, that will first evolve the means to overcome the roadblock before them. On the brink of extinction from sharper and thicker-skinned relatives, the little microorganism utilizes its speck of unallocated genetic material to mutate a vacuole. This opening allows it to do something that no life on Susie has done to date: eat. There is an abundance of detritus on the core's surface and, with nothing to break it down into anything else, it remains untapped. Ghostis and Lancer husks grow overhead into clumps they perceive as mountains (but are really lucky to reach half a centimeter in height). The spilled goo of many organisms pools beneath the living, slowly and inadvertently separating them from the molten metal core that is their lifeblood. They have been able to survive a thin layering, but too much more death will be the undoing of them all

The Suckermouth comes at the perfect time to stop a massive die-off before it happens. Each one can only scoop up a tiny amount of the goop before they're at maximum capacity, but this gives them the ability to reproduce quicker and evolve at a rate that has thus far been unseen. The children of the Suckermouth will be wild and diverse, an explosion of growth. But for now, they quietly clean up the messes left in the Lancers' wake. Eating, budding, eating, budding...

Year ~Pre900 (later)
Acting fast, the Thickskin Suckermouth gives itself a broader skin, though it's not as drastic a change as seen in the Fleshy Ghostis. This makes them more liable to be downed by something pointy, but it also avoids many of those "oops, too dry!" deaths caused by not having enough inside-goo. This organism does not do fantastically in the current ecosystem, but it can make a lot of itself due to being able to consume the readily available slime everywhere

Year ~Pre901
The Pushmouth emerges soon after, using its newly obtained genetic material to make a small organelle. This new organelle allows the organism to create one little tentacle. It can control the limb by forcing its inside-goo in and out of it. It's a rudimentary system of movement that has a pretty poor range of motion, but it's enough to shove away incoming Lancers and reduce the chances of the Pushmouth getting a hole popped in it. They coast along as tiny icebreakers, using their limb like the prow of a ship to help them squeeze through the chaotic, crowded surface

Year ~Pre901 (later)
Based on a freak mutation, some Thickskin Suckermouths develop a slight increase in size. This makes them more difficult to puncture and thusly causes a runaway effect, getting larger and larger. The Giant Thickskin has figured out something fun. If you're big enough and you have a mouth, you can put things smaller than you in that mouth! Life as it stands is not smart enough to actually "hunt" things, but the Giants do sometimes accidentally consume other microorganisms. Their nucleus increases in size, as it's storing more genetic information now

Year ~Pre901 (later x2)
Life's pretty rough down there on the molten surface of Susie. The Separationist decides to move away from the drama by developing the ability to sustain life without directly touching the core. To the rest of the world, this guy's a freak who can withstand horrible arctic temperatures...! It's not that drastic of a change, but the Separationist is the first one to do it. They have a tiny, teardrop-shaped organelle that stores this information. They spend their time sliding atop the layer of everybody else, slurping up any goo that may come their way. Separationists don't reproduce as quickly as some others due to being more removed from the source of food. As long as they don't get pushed up onto a third layer (not possible with the current population unless they climb up a corpse-mountain), they're fine to float around at their leisure

Year ~Pre902
The Pushmouth increases the size of its secondary organelle, which enables it to have a larger tentacle with more control! Twisters use this newfound ability to totally turn incoming spikes around, sometimes flipping Lancers and Pointy Ghostises onto their (metaphorical) backs, giving them their name. They're not aware of it, but this makes them a danger to be around as they deflect oncoming attacks onto their neighbors instead. Other organisms begin trying to avoid Twisters, inadvertently causing Twisters to group together in itty-bitty islands of safety (for them). After a period of growth, this behavior actually hampers the Twisters' ability to consume more genetic material, since they're not as readily surrounded by it

Year ~Pre902 (later)
Giant Thickskins are limited by how much new material they can absorb. This means that once they're full, they're no longer consuming fun evolution points and their potential to make cool new mutations stagnates. The Lumbergiant develops a small organelle that creates a second vacuole - this one inside the organism. This doesn't exactly solve the problem, but it does give the Lumbergiant more space to fill up, making it take longer to become uncool

Year ~Pre902 (later x2)
Separationists develop a secondary teardrop-shaped organelle that grows little flagellum on their skin. These provide them with a bit more control over their surroundings, allowing them to crawl atop everybody more efficiently as well as direct themselves towards sources of food. These Fuzzy Sepas outpace the base Separationists, but do not endanger them at this point due to available surface space on the planet

Year ~903
The Fleshy Ghostis is in critical danger in this new and wild word. Thanks to random chance, it finds a way to reuse more of the genetic material it's stuck with: becoming one dimensional. The nucleus now exists on a 1D plane, making it significantly harder to see (and therefore eat). The rest of the organism (still 3D) turns into a little pebble in hopes of being too tough to be digestible or stabbable. The inside of this stone is almost completely dry. In surrounding itself in its protective layer, the Baby Rock seems to have gained some ground against desiccation

Year ~904
❌ Ghostis, Pointy Ghostis, and Fleshy Ghostis have been extinct

Year ~904 (later)
A descendant of the Lumbergiant, the Lumbermouth has more control over its external vacuole - much like a basic mouth, some might say. Inside of it, its internal vacuole changes in shape and develops an inner lining that allows the Lumbermouth to more efficiently process nutrients. Similarly, the organelle with the code for this rudimentary stomach takes on a like shape, diversifying enough to also contain the input needed to make this stomach lining. Lumbermouths, due to happenstance, are just slightly smaller than Lumbergiants

Year ~904 (later x2)
Things are getting far too hot to handle... With dangers both above and below, the Twister builds itself a second tentacle by increasing the size of its organelle and making the existing tentacle thinner. They're no longer so good for manhandling offenders, but they do work pretty well as a propulsion system. The Flee Leg uses this newfound adaptation to jet away from danger before it can be caught and eaten. It itself doesn't eat so much, but all evolution really cares about is how many of them live

Year ~904 (later x3)
Up on top of the world, the Fuzzy Sepas are feeling a bit left out... and a bit hungry...! As such, they expand their primary organelle enough to give them the ability to lengthen two of their frontmost flagellum. These reach down into the sea of microorganisms and pull up spoils for the Armed Sepa to much on. With no natural predators as it stands, this allows them to go through a period of rapid growth

Year ~904 (later x4)
Some Armed Sepas develop a small fang on the bottom "lip" of their external vacuole. This boon gives the Vampiric Sepa a way to not only scavenge, but also take down its own prey. It stores this genetic code in its primary organelle, which lengthens accordingly. What was once an innocent extremophile turns deadly as it attacks from above, currently unstoppable

Year ~904 (later x5)
The Vampiric's reign of terror increases reproduction and reproduction increases mutation. It finds it's three organelles fusing into one large structure. It has a central nucleus with two data-lobes. This organelle is more efficient in storing information. This allows the Thinking Sepa to grow stronger, more effective locomotion limbs as well as a single, incredibly primitive eye. This eye doesn't simply detect light. On Susie's molten core, it would be blasted with more sensory input than it could handle...! Instead, it detects motion in the sea of organisms, enabling it to slither towards the slowest prey

Year ~904 (later x6)
The Twister's spinning advantage isn't suiting it overly well in these new conditions. It combines its two organelles into a single, more powerful data center. Using this, it slims down, but lengthens its existing tentacle. Then, it makes a twin on the other side of it's body. These two flagellum beat powerfully at Susie's primordial soup, sending the Leap Froad shooting away from hungry mouths

Year ~904 (later x7)
Despite experiencing a reduction in size, the Lumbermouth makes a point of trying to return to its niche of "too big to eat". It gains several advantages such as developing an extension of its internal vacuole with which to hold more food. This could be called a digestive tract, but it doesn't exactly digest right now... Maybe later. The body grows a sort of neck, allowing the head to be moved away from the body, consuming less energy when lunging for food. The head becomes tapered in front to reduce liquid resistance and the mouth increases in size, giving the Kernelhead a wider gape. The body also elongates slightly, but this is minimal

Year ~904 (later x8)
Having a mouth betwist its tentacles is no longer advantageous for the Leap Froad. Thusly, the mouth is moved up and away. It's not totally on the other side of the organism, but it's fairly close. The legs become stronger and more maneuverable with more of its primitive "muscle system" allocated there. It practices with its newfound legs and becomes adept at darting away from danger. In the mean time, it puts some hard work into it's data center/nucleus, refining information pathways and seeking more storage space. Among its peers, the Wigglefroad is almost... smart

Year ~904 (later x9)
To keep up with adaptive prey, the Sepa develops further. It improves the function of its eye, as well as the size of the thing. This allows it to take in more information and increase the sensitivity of motion it can detect. The organ is still incredibly primitive, but it's a nice upgrade for the Watchse (pron: Watch-see). In addition, it grows a flagellum on the back of its body serving as a tail to push it over the bodies it crawls atop. They're not getting anywhere fast with this thing, but everybody's gotta start somewhere!

Year ~905
With its new reaching strategy, having the nucleus in the head isn't necessarily the safest plan for the Kernelhead. As such, the thing is migrated further down the neck, towards the "digestive system". Speaking of which, the newly developed vacuole tract develops ridges and lumps as well as some additional size. This gives it more surface area with which to absorb nutrients. The Splitting Kernelhead is now the most efficient eater on Susie's surface. This sees it increase in size, mobility, and length. The neck is now a snakelike protrusion from the bulbous body. The mouth expands further, giving the creature it's name as it "splits" the head

Year ~905 (later)
❌ The Pushmouth, Fuzzy Sepa, Suckermouth, and Separationist have been extinct
🌱 Baby Rocks with their tough, difficult to digest skin, reproduce rapidly. To the tiny organisms on Susie's core, they build chasms and mountains that tower overhead

Year ~905 (about the same time)
The Knucklehead Froad develops a small limb girdle made of hardened material. This is absolutely nothing like bone, but it's still better than the rest of the organism's wet, mushy body for an anchor point. The girdle develops at the posterior end of the beast, allowing some of the goo-pushing system to isolate itself from the rest of the body, becoming more efficient in the process. These little slime bags don't run the length of the Froad's "legs" - only the beginning - but they still lend it much agility it didn't previously have. In addition, the head attempts to become more aerodynamic, taking on a sort of hammerhead shape. Knucklehead Froads are not extremophiles, but they are more cool resistant. They're able to go up to avoid their hunters sometimes