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"So, tell me, what the hell are these things exactly?"

"Well, that's the problem. These things are an evolutionary anomaly, we think they're either some sort of long derived cuttlefish or some sort of ancient clade lost in time. I mean, it's not like you see planimals with a random assortment of eyes sprouting tentacles every day."

"Come again on that last part?"

"They seem to be in a mutual relationship with some odd variety of algae. It gets sunlight while the 'animate balloon' provides it with a good position to absorb sunlight, and in turn, it gets part of that energy."

"Jeez, the boys down there are really calling it an 'animate balloon'?"

"Yes; We don't exactly have too many reference points on these guys."

"While that's all well and good, care to explain how that castaway thought it was just another island?"

"Sir, these things move slow enough that they just sort of accumulate this stuff over time. We still have no clue how these plants are able to take root, how the algae cover gradually changes partly to soil, or even how the entire process of ecological succession works on these things."

"And about the fact that he was almost devoured by one of these 'planimals'?"

"Well, the algae seems to only provide them so many nutrients, so it had to look for... Alternative sources."

"Well at least by that point out at sea, his brain was fried enough so that the whole thing felt like a bad trip to him."

"Uh, sir, there is one more thing you ought to know."

"What might that be?"

"The specimen we found, well, we're fairly certain is just a juvenile."
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Some soft-spec/science fiction thing I got random inspiration to create

Description
"So, tell me, what the hell are these things exactly?"

"Well, that's the problem. These things are an evolutionary anomaly, we think they're either some sort of long derived cuttlefish or some sort of ancient clade lost in time. I mean, it's not like you see planimals with a random assortment of eyes sprouting tentacles every day."

"Come again on that last part?"

"They seem to be in a mutual relationship with some odd variety of algae. It gets sunlight while the 'animate balloon' provides it with a good position to absorb sunlight, and in turn, it gets part of that energy."

"Jeez, the boys down there are really calling it an 'animate balloon'?"

"Yes; We don't exactly have too many reference points on these guys."

"While that's all well and good, care to explain how that castaway thought it was just another island?"

"Sir, these things move slow enough that they just sort of accumulate this stuff over time. We still have no clue how these plants are able to take root, how the algae cover gradually changes partly to soil, or even how the entire process of ecological succession works on these things."

"And about the fact that he was almost devoured by one of these 'planimals'?"

"Well, the algae seems to only provide them so many nutrients, so it had to look for... Alternative sources."

"Well at least by that point out at sea, his brain was fried enough so that the whole thing felt like a bad trip to him."

"Uh, sir, there is one more thing you ought to know."

"What might that be?"

"The specimen we found, well, we're fairly certain is just a juvenile."
-----
Some soft-spec/science fiction thing I got random inspiration to create