The Thing on Saybrook's Planet

The thing on Saybrook's Planet (as it's referred to by Dr. Weiss) is a sapient superorganism that consists of the entire biosphere of Saybrook's Planet.

Biology
At first glance, Saybrook's Planet might appear to be an Earth-like world inhabited by plants, animals and microorganisms. However, every living thing on the planet is part of a gestalt, and each unit of life is akin to a cell in a multicellular organism. There is no competition for resources, no overpopulation and no disease. The animals are all herbivores, and eat only a nutritious outgrowth of the plants, which is produced for this purpose and regrows within a few hours after being eaten. Insects and rodent-like creatures keep their own populations in check and thus there is no need for predators. The nitrogen and carbon cycles happen similarly to Earth's, only far more organized.

Physically, the components of Saybrook's Planet's biosphere can be distinguished by the presence of two patches of green fur. These patches are present in every living thing on the planet, from bacteria to blades of grass to animals. In the animals, the patches of green fur grow in the place where the eyes would normally be. They serve both as a sense organ and means of communication with the gestalt consciousness.

The thing on Saybrook's Planet is sapient and telepathic, capable of reading the minds of other creatures. It can produce controlled amounts of radiant energy and induce other life forms to reproduce themselves, as well as impress its own characteristics into their nucleo-proteins, so that the offspring of other life forms will be born with green patches, and be part of the Saybrook's Planet gestalt. When exposed to the influence of Saybrook's Planet, Earth bacteria will multiply and develop green patches, and female Earth animals will spontaneously become pregnant and give birth to litters of eyeless creatures, with patches of green fur where the eyes should be. Additionally, the thing on Saybrook's Planet can also produce unique components, specifically designed to perform a particular function, such as camouflage and infiltration.

If an individual component of the gestalt is separated from the rest (such as by being taken off-planet), it retains its sapience, telepathic ability, and the capacity to induce other organisms to give birth to new components of the gestalt.

Appearances

 * "Green Patches", by Isaac Asimov (1950)