Vana

## Culture

From what little information is known, the vana have appears to be a complex culture on their home planet based on a hive mind. At least to an outside observer, their society appears to be structured in a way not unlike that of bees or ants, where individual aliens have roles parallel to the functions within a hive. **Birth Queens** are the central, and seemingly only, reproductive system of the vana, except for the work of the Pollination Technicians. It appears that whoever impregnates them has no marital attachment to them, and that the sole purpose of a birth queen is to breed. **Colony Drones** are the workers of vana society. What work they do seems unclear, but it is assumed that they do menial tasks that would be equivalent to a working class person. **Pollination Technicians** perform the work of abducting and impregnating compatible organisms. They seem to be recent phenomenon in vana society, as there are no known Pollination Technicians that have bred with Birth Queens.

Growing hair may be seen as a societal *faux pas* in the hive, as they appear to be able to grow it, but don't unless they retire or emigrate off-world. Clothing is highly suggestive for Birth Queens, while being a uniform for males in all avenues of work. Children are presumably taken away from their parents, as evidenced by a lack of documented parental relationships.

### Careers

Pollination Technicians are allowed to retire from their assigned jobs, and can settle on planets of their choices. It appears that the vana society has no outstanding pension plans for those wishing to retire abroad, as he receives none.

Young vana, regardless of gender, seem to be able to seek higher education, which places the roles of Birth Queens as an optional career choice.

## Biology

#### Physiology

Vana are capable of growing hair on their heads and face just like humans, however, they are only capable of producing black pigment naturally, as they don't possess genes that create other colours. They have dominant green skin that is universally the same tone throughout the species. They have dominant black eyes, seemingly with either black iris and black sclera, or possibly with the entire eye being the receptor. Alien eyes may be much larger than humaneyes, may have a distinct oval shape, and may be sharply tilted, though some aliens have eyes that are generally Sim-like in size, shape and tilt. Alien ears can vary in shape, being either very small or pointed at the top, suggesting semblances of races, like Sims. Faces are almost always long and gaunt, with either small Sim-like noses or pressed up slits in the centre of the face. However, it appears that some aliens do have noses that are Sim-like in size and shape. Mouths usually have thin lips, or none at all, and the inside of the mouth is light blue, the gums being the most prominent. Teeth are essentially the same. Alien bodies have the same metabolic rate as those of Sims. They age at the same rate, and gain or lose fitness when they exercise or overeat just as Sims do, with no advantage to either. Since the inner mouth is blue, it is safe to assume that the blood of aliens is blue also, indicating that it is hemocyanin and not haemoglobin present in their bloodstreams, an indicator that they are not mammals. If so, it is very inconsistent, as lifeforms with hemocyanin cannot eat the same foods as those with haemoglobin, whereas those aliens who have chosen to live among Simkind eat the same food Sims do. As it is not known what aliens eat on their own planet or ships, it is possible that those who choose to live off-world are first adapted to be able to eat the foods of their adopted planet. Aliens seem to be slightly more resistant to heat than Sims are. However, aliens are just as vulnerable to cold as Sims.

#### Genetic compatibility

Aliens are startlingly similar to Sims, to the point that they can reproduce with one another with no ill effects. Hybrids typically either have minimal differences or major differences from their alien parent due to the nature of Sim genetics.

#### Life state compatibility

Alien physiology can adequately support Sim-earth based life states, with minor alternate differences mostly associated with the skin tone and eyes.

## Origins

Aliens have only dominant genes, and universally detrimental personality traits have been selected against, most aliens have "perfect" personalities, such as Pollination Technician, who can father hybrid children with partially perfect personalities; but some aliens have more varied personalities such as Pollination Tech#9 Smith.

Aliens appear to have less genetic variety, as their species has virtually no variation beyond facial structure and body structure. All pure aliens have the same shade of green skin and have genes for black hair and eyes. This suggests that all forms of genetic variation, such as recessive genes equivalent to light blue eyes and grey eyes in Sim DNA, have been selected against to the point where only the most dominant genes have come out on top—in aliens, recessive genes do not exist. Whether this change is due to natural selection or due to the alien's social structure is undetermined. Since recessive genes are almost never lost, they may be dormant in alien DNA, potentially playing a part in future Sims games as a source of genetic variation to add to gameplay mechanics.

It is possible that aliens had a dark green skin tone early on in their species' history, assuming that aliens are mammal-like. The skin tone and eyes suggests that they may be closer to amphibious life or reptilian life. However, the presence of blue blood suggest that they have hemocyanin, which is usually present in cephalopods, gastropods and some arthropods. This might suggest that aliens were genetically engineered some time in their history. It is also possible that aliens assimilate DNA of other species into their own, which suggests a motive for impregnating Sims, in hope of introducing the hybrid children into alien society and allow them to have children with other aliens, resulting in the Sim genome being added into alien DNA. This means that aliens may have hundreds, maybe thousands of ancestors and it would be nearly impossible to identify all of them.

### Hybrids

#### Physiology

Hybrid children can inherit normal looking noses roughly 2/3rds of the time, though the remainder can inherit the infamous slits in the middle of the face. 80% of the time, green skin is inherited (100% with first-generation alien hybrids, though they can have children with Sim skin tones, assuming that their spouse isn't green). There are some cases of first-generation hybrid children inheriting Sim skin tones, allowing them to blend into society unnoticed, assuming they did not inherit erratic facial features. However, there are times when only partial resemblance is inherited. Those with Sim skins may inherit black eyes, but will physically resemble those with brown eyes. It is possible for green-skinned hybrids to inherit dominant Sim eyes instead of black eyes. Also, because some aspects of eye structure, such as size and tilt, are inherited separately, hybrids with Sim eyes may inherit aspects of the alien eye structure, and those with black eyes may inherit aspects of Sim eye structure. Typically, there is minimal ear difference. Long, gaunt faces are commonly inherited.

Since the alien parent usually has a perfect genetic personality (10 nice, 10 outgoing, 10 neat, 10 active), this is also partially inherited and passed on, which can last for generations before finally being diluted.