The predators seemed to leave the thin mats of growth mostly alone after the Enclosing One had given them their simple protection. Where they did find a way to feed, they tended to behave more aggressively, do more harm with poisons... But the coverings seemed to be working fairly well, for the moment. [i]I will remember this.[/i] The Enclosing One had come to a firm conclusion that it would use these mats of cells were only a step on its path, that it would use to learn and move forward to better species to cover the planet with. The new power that was coming to it was no longer being immediately immersed into the fractals, but left within the Entity's own mind for use with another species. [i]Now... What else can I hold within myself?[/i] Time for some exploration.

The Enclosing One flew away again from its increasingly widespread, if patchy and thin, blankets of amoebae, examining what it found. There were not only predatory amoebae, but several kinds of them in apparent conflict, the chaos of which the Entity found rather amusing, and, in a way, pitiful. There were other amoeba species that clumped together in a similar way to its own colonies, but these growths were more singular than the fractals, and (a little unsettlingly) they drifted freely around the surface. Almost spherical. That structure was fascinating to the Enclosing One, and it wished it could adopt them as well... Alas, it seemed that only the descendants of the colony it had first surrounded were open to the Entity's power. There could still be copying, of course, but not yet. Other amoeba had also grouped together, but these were not as closely bound, or as organised, as the tiny spheres. Both they and the crude spherical structures seemed to collect some of their power from the sun, like the simple algae that had puzzled and pleased the Enclosing One (although oddly, the looser colonies were exhaling a comparatively large amount of gas). This change, too, it would attempt to emulate.

On its return journey the Enclosing One found one other colony, and this one, too, pleased and fascinated it, for this colony had found an energy source in the heat of the cracks in the deepest depths, and they were thriving. Perhaps even that would be copied eventually... There could be no empty spaces. [i]Or maybe this species will cover up the depths itself and I shall have no need.[/i] That, too was amusing, but hopeful. The Enclosing One had no objection to variety in its vision of the planet, even if that variety came from the many aimless species it had found. It appeared that only a few kinds of life could be adopted, and the Enclosing One doubted it could fulfil [i]every[/i] task.

Upon returning, the Entity's available power had grown further, and it searched until it found what it had borne in mind for its new species- The rogue species it had cast away. It still grew, bearing the same growing adaptation the Entity had left it with, although it had changed of its own accord to dwell somewhat deeper waters. That way it faced no competition from its more favoured brother. Intriguing. Immersing the species in itself again, the Enclosing One planned to take this species and use it to mimic what it had observed. Make something more complex. With time, of course.

As for its main experiment, there was something the Enclosing One wished to change. Altering the pattern of death and regeneration in damaged portions of the fractal colony, the joins between cells now allowed for a more specific reaction where there was damage in certain parts of the arrangement. It was uncommon, but with the amount of predators and natural damage occuring, it would happen often enough that the dense, dead growth would surround and separate a collection of the living amoeba before the rest of the colony regenerated. The separated, covered clump of cells would be free to drift on the current... Until it landed on an empty patch of shallows and attempted to grow in the same arrangement again. It felt like a primitive change, considering how many clumps failed to separate or form on the damaged edges, and how few successfully made it to an appropriate location, but at the same time, the thought of spreading in this way was glorious. This was certainly an adaptation which the Enclosing One would retain and recreate later. [i]Excellent.[/i]

[hider=Enclosing One]15% - Fractal Colonies
5% - Regaining the rogue colonies
0% - Unused
80% - Undeveloped

The pattern of covering over damaged portions of the colony had been adjusted so that, when a specific part of the pattern is disrupted, the development of the protective layer has a chance of surrounding some of the living amoebae and cutting them off from the colony, from which they can drift away on the current as a primitive spore.

The Enclosing One is attempting to regain its lost species, which has escaped competition from the more successful colonies by adapting to a different depth. With no protection, however, it makes an easy target for predation if the predators can adapt likewise.[/hider]