autocatalytic-artificial-life

In this chapter, Dos Santos, the River Master, encounters a cynocephali splice from the Hyena Tribe who offers transportation to the Machine Lake to address a sabotage crisis affecting the River ecosystem. They face a newly emergent autocatalytic lifeform, a silicrobe-based Neptune god created by eco-saboteurs, which attacks Dos Santos but is ultimately destabilized by a burst reservoir in his suit, allowing him to survive and continue his mission. The chapter explores the complex interplay of engineered life, ecological sabotage, and the struggle to maintain a synthetic river environment.