RPPR Illustrated: Cointract Island - Fearret Swarms

Fearrets are the smallest chimera in the publicly known models. They are primarily derived from ferrets and piranha, although other species were also used in their creation. They look mostly like ferrets, except their head, which is monstrous and scaly. They have oversized jaws with razor sharp fangs. is A cybernetic implant protrudes from their back, running along their spines. 

Individually, a fearret is easily confused and mostly docile. However, each implant automatically networks with other nearby fearret implants, creating a cloud computing platform to handle complex orders. Each control NFT is tied to a swarm of fearrets instead of a single creature. Individual fearrets can be added or removed from a swarm, but the software is optimized for swarms between 20 and 120 creatures. Swarms below 20 creatures in size lack the computing power to run most commands. Software engineers found disturbing emergent behavior in larger swarms, so they disabled support for that. Theoretically a large enough swarm could develop a hive mind consciousness, but no one at Cointract wants to see that happen.

Fearrets are primarily designed as stealthy guard animals. They can patrol a large area effectively, sharing sensory data between all members of the swarm. The owner can either use fearrets as living security cameras, designed to detect threats, or fearrets can take a more active role. A swarm can easily sneak up on a human sized target and devour them in a matter of minutes. A large swarm can engage in multiple targets, although their effectiveness is limited. They are adept climbers and can drop from trees or roofs onto targets or climb up their legs to bite at weak spots. A fearret can bite through thick fabric, although they have a hard time penetrating body armor or similar materials. Individual fearrets have a hard time stopping an attack after they have drawn blood, so they are not rated as non-lethal security measures. Fire can terrify a swarm and they depend on wireless communication to coordinate their attacks, so jamming signals can weaken or stun them. 

Art by Patsy McDowell