"Look! I found an actually-harmless creature from the deathworld. It's so cute. It doesn't even have a mouth to bite with. I'm taking it home as a pet."
"That's a box jellyfish." -- Anon Guest
The creature in the tank pulsed rhythmically and didn't look dangerous at all. It seemed no more dangerous than a plastic bag. That statement alone should tell everything. Even the most harmless-seeming things from a Deathworld have hidden menace.
"See those tails? The tentacles?" said Human Di. "They're venomous. Deadliest stingers in the world. These jellyfish drift around until a tentacle comes into contact with something and then they tangle it up and eat it. If the prey's too big? They kill it anyway. That includes big mammals like me."
Companion Korrik backed away from the tank. "Oh." They were lucky they hadn't tried to pet it. "I was fortunate that I used devices to collect this."
"Yeah no joke. Let's put this little critter back where it came from. I know of some jellies that are actually harmless."
"There is such a thing? On a Deathworld?"
"Allow me to introduce you to the Golden Jellyfish..." It was relatively close to the origin point of the Box Jellyfish. Relative, as compared to the colossal interstellar distances that Korrik had traveled to get there. They were another species that had come close to Human-made extinction, but were saved by Human efforts to protect them.
They were bigger than the box jellyfish, and bore no tentacles, just cauliflower-shaped clusters underneath their pulsating bells. Full scans indicated that there was nothing remotely toxic about them.
"They have algae in their fluffy tentacles," said Human Di. "In the daylight, they swim to the surface to get the sunlight and then they go down to the floor to scoop up the debris on the bottom. It's closed-system."
"So all they need is a day-night cycle, water, and a layer of nutrients on the floor?"
"More or less. Yes. We should probably clone some of these before we run experiments. Leave those that were born here to stay here."
That made sense. Besides, with a little research and engineering, even Level Five Havenworlders could own a Deathworlder pet. It would do wonders for all the future genomes.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / shalamov]
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