VITALS
Population costs upkeep every generation; feeding is income. Run a deficit too long and it starves. Feed it nothing but buys and it outgrows its own upkeep and dies of overgrowth instead — sells act as healthy pruning above the population ceiling.
energy148/255
income from metabolic organs minus upkeep
hunger96/255
rises while energy runs a deficit
bloat61/255
rises when population exceeds its ceiling
population62/256
living cells across all regions
Anatomy
3 regions- core16 cells — fatal if emptied, regardless of total population
- metabolic18 cells — organs that generate energy each generation
- sensory60 cells — border ring — the only place a stranger's trade can reach
- tissue162 cells — ordinary body cells
How it dies
4 causes- extinctionpopulation reaches 0
on reincarnation — the rule itself shifts — birth/survival sets drift
- core necrosisall 16 core cells emptied, at any population
on reincarnation — anatomy rotates — the organ map turns a quarter turn
- starvationenergy at 0 with hunger pinned at 255 for 32 generations
on reincarnation — metabolism genes shift — upkeep and income rebalance
- overgrowthbloat at 255 — fed nothing but buys, past its population ceiling
on reincarnation — the population ceiling tightens
Memory of traders
4 tiers- strangerfirst trade damped to half strength, confined to the sensory ring
- acquainted3+ buys — reaches the metabolic organs at full strength
- proven feedersustained buying — trades land directly in the core
- betrayerrepeated selling — relationship decays back toward stranger