NASA-D
Mycotronics Emphasizes Babblekrieg of Gashlit Dosimetry
Spider Scalp Press is excited to publish the artwork work of NASA-D. In MYCOTRONICS we explore NASA-D's prolific art series of sentient technologies building atop themselves, pancaking into a kind of slimy organic substructure connected by wires and cords into a cyber-Cambrian Exploding panoply of gigantic hardware tech beasts taking over the landscape of every page.
Handmade Cover
11" x 8.5"
40 pages
Color
SSP - Art Gallery 1
From NASA-D
Herein this first of the spider scalp tomes is an illustration of varied mycotronics and varied systems and cameos, failures, and semi-functional fungchinery.
The up and coming, sought after, breakthrough of Mycosis Electronics—dubbed "Myctronics" by its few NASA-D futurists who are following the innovation trails—was the discovery that ionizing radiation acts as both a potent fertilizer and a measurable control mechanism. The fungal components do not merely tolerate radioactive environments; they thrive on them, metabolizing gamma and X-ray emissions into a stable, high-amperage electrical current. This process is facilitated by "Energy-Receptive Fruiting Bodies," specialized fungal structures that resemble metallic, bracket-like mycological functional crap-blooms. These structures are strategically embedded within the Myctronic units, their composition vibrating visibly in the presence of a radioactive source, converting decay into power with terrifying efficiency.
Mycotronic units aren't built; they are grown, a haunting fusion of forgotten technology and aggressive, bio-mechanical fungus. The primary power source is a pulsating, fibrous mycelial network that courses through every component like soldered circuitry, glowing with a faint, sickly semi radioactive bioluminescence. This fungal matter binds the machinery, serving as both wiring and wicked, organic muscle.
The most common unit is the "Rotbot," a singular wheel of cracked butyl tendons. It is not mounted on an axle but is instead engulfed and animated by itself, a fungal growth that grips it like a bony claw. with it's brain hub of gelatinous substance on myomer system inside allowing it to explore. Miniscule root-like hyphae penetrate the tire's tread, causing it to roll with a lurching, unnatural motion.
More complex are the "Gashlighters"—ambulatory horrors assembled from discarded biohazard containers, baggies of discarded organs (riddled with fungus), corroded engine blocks, and jagged scrap metal. Their forms are asymmetrical and brutal, held together by the hardened, chitin-like crust of the fungal shell. networks Their movement is a jarring, staccato rhythm, powered by stiff, multi-jointed legs and flap effectuals that are not mechanical limbs, but rather a conglomeration of rusted detritus and degraded rebar fused with the resilient, articulating fungus. These extensions snap forward with piston-like force, each step a sharp, jerkatto motion that drives them relentlessly forward through the scrapyard wastes of Errth. Under the ghostly light of a hanging moon, the entire Mycosis Electronics line moves in a silent, purposeful parade, a symphony of industry played on instruments of rot and rust.
To extend the life cycle of a Myctronic unit, it is periodically exposed to controlled doses of ionizing radiation from Cobalt-60 spent fuel pellets housed in it's half life self destructive corrosion. This "Radiation Recharging" does not just power the entity; it triggers a hyper-accelerated state of cellular regeneration -decay and structural growth -death within the fungal matrix. During these sessions, the mycelial networks pulse with intense, rhythmic trash-light, and the chitinous -keretin shells audibly crack and reform, thickening and integrating new scrap metal into the organism's body. The life cycle is not so much extended as it is forced into a continuous, unnatural false evolution, making the units more robust and complex over time, although degrading factors can wipe out these specialized forms fairly quickly.
The electrical output is part of monitoring the bioluminescent intensity and pulse frequency of the core mycelial mass. A steady, brilliant glow indicates peak power generation, often achieved at the height of radioactive ingestion. This symbiotic, both disgusting and horrifying, relationship with radiation has created a self-sustaining and ever-adapting biomechanical ecosystem, where the waste of one cataclysm becomes the poisoned lifeblood of another. It's enought to make a garbage ape blush.