Loonies, also known as Shrinks, are an unnamed humanoid species that used a planet known as Halfworld in the Keystone Quadrant to house their insane population while attempting to cure them.
Biology[]
Loonies are externally identical to Humans, and like Humans, they can suffer from various forms of mental illnesses, ranging from criminal insanity to a general detachment from reality.
Culture and society[]
Shrinks
Most aspects of this species' society are unknown. Their ruler, or at least a high ranking official in their government, is referred to as a counsel, and has the authority to relocate large amounts of the planet's population, such as those hospitalized for mental illnesses. Most of the sane population of this species appeared to have despised the insane, especially the criminally insane, who were eventually known as "Loonies," prompting the decree to ship them off-world. The only members of this species' society who tried to care for the insane were the doctors and psychiatrists assigned to them, known as "Shrinks," who only ceased their work when recalled by their government. Shrinks wore white uniforms with a yellow shield-shaped badge on their left breast, bearing the insignia of a black star. Their culture also appears to have had several parallels those of Earth, as Loonies have been seen dressing like a Napoleon-like figure, wearing classic jester outfits, and police uniforms with custodian helmets. The average Loony outfit consisted of an all-white straightjacket combined with white pants and socks. After being left on Halfworld by the Shrinks, the Loonies continued to suffer from detachments from reality, being cared for by robots and accompanied by a number of animals modified by the robots, until the robots gained sapience and left the Loonies in the care of the animals, who were modified to be sapient.
A military veteran of this species held in Halfworld
While they did not develop a proper society, at least by the standards of sane individuals, some organized themselves into a police-like force known as the Keystone Kops, at least in a virtual fantasy, while another group known as the Good Humor Men created a church-like institution in the repurposed Admissions Ward, where the Shrinks were revered as gods, a log left behind by them used as a holy text. At least some Loonies were still capable of understanding their species' language despite their mental state and the time since the Shrinks' departure. At least some military personnel of this species, or at least veterans, are distinguished by a line of red, rectangular tattoos running over their right eye, going up to their scalp.
Technology[]
The aliens developed advanced technology, including spherical spacecraft with needle-like tops and thrusters on their undersides. They are also able to create massive forcefields that can encompass planets and their moons, using a metal ring-like structure around the planet to generate a spherical forcefield. They also had sophisticated robotics technology, building robots of varying design and function to be the custodians of Halfworld. These robots were able to gain sapience, although this appears to have been due to radiation from a nearby nova and not the design of the aliens. Notably, the aliens are advanced enough to create Matrioshka brains, a Dyson Sphere-like structure made from layering dozens of bio-organic "world spheres" atop one another, maximizing the power output of the central star, with entirely metallic outer shells.
History[]
Centuries ago, the government of this species declared some forms of insanity to be incurable, and ordered the despised insane population to be taken somewhere off-world, where they could be held in a secure location. The doctors of the insane, later known as Shrinks, assembled a fleet to take their patients, later known as Loonies, to another planet, flying for five years before coming across the distant Keystone Quadrant, settling on its largest planet, which would later be known as the Halfworld Asylum for the Criminally Insane, converting the planet into a Matrioshka brain of world spheres within world spheres, each layer meant for a different level of security. Despite the government's decree of the insane being incurable, the Shrinks vowed to find a cure, and continued their work for years, recording their data and findings in a log held in the starship Gideon. However, before they could find a cure for the Loonies, the government, questioning the Shrinks' research, cut their funding, forcing the Shrinks to return to their homeworld, although the asylum was to remain operational, and appeared known to other denizens of the galaxy. With no other option, the Shrinks returned, leaving the Loonies in the full care of robotic stewards, and erecting a forcefield around Halfworld, known as the Galacian Wall. The Loonies, presumably with numbers bolstered by later shipments from their homeworld or through generations, remained under the care of the robots for centuries, although a nearby nova caused the robots to become sapient. Disgusted by the illogical behavior of the Loonies, the robots gathered animals from across the galaxy, including from Earth, first using them as service animals for the Loonies, which managed to pacify at least some of them. However, they then cybernetically and genetically modified the animals into sapient humanoids, a very traumatic process, and placed them in charge of the Loonies. The Loonies were then given a form of therapy by the animals, now known as Halfworlders, which involved strapping them down and putting them through virtual therapeutic fantasies.
Eventually, an incorporeal formerly-Human entity known as Star Thief was imprisoned in Halfworld, but his mental abilities created riots across the Loony population as he possessed both guards and inmates, able to threaten the galaxy if he escaped. However, Star Thief was successfully locked away, with the entirety of the asylum turned into a giant bio-organic lock by the acting security chief, a Halfworlder named Rocket, who then exiled himself to ensure the lock remained sealed for good. Rocket then rewrote his own memories to ensure he never gets homesick, inserting memories of the Loonies being generally harmless, and forgetting Star Thief in favor of believing that the Loonies were cured by the robots after a "toy war" involving the Halfworlders. Between Rocket's departure and his eventual return, the Loonies stayed under the care of the Halfworlders. When Rocket was tricked to returning to Halfworld by Star Thief, Star Thief quickly took over Halfworld and sent all Halfworlders into a virtual reality environment to keep them pacified, while also herding Loonies into an ark ship to use as his crew for galactic conquest. However, Rocket managed to stop Star Thief and imprison him in a virtual environment, where his mind regressed to that of a child. The Loonies presumably remain in the asylum, and what became of the Shrinks and other members of the species is unknown.
Notes[]
- Despite being aliens, Loonies have been referred to as Humans.