It seems that the consensus on vrusk reproduction, from other threads, is that the trade houses replaced the hive system and thus took over "organized reproduction" and the raising of vrusk young. <br /><br />I'd like to elaborate of that: How do individual trade houses choose the genetic donors to produce the next generation? <br /><br />1. some trade houses almost exclusively used the genetic material of its upper eschelons of leadership.<br /><br />2. Some used reproduction as a way to recognize good performance. A vrusk with multiple offspring within the trade house had a tangible measure of the trade house's value of him and the work he's done<br /><br />3. Some houses simply made it a benefit of membership and everyone got their genetic material used to create the next generation.<br /><br />However when pathogens struck (plagues, viruses, etc.) the above trade houses did not fair equally. Trade houses that had been built on only the genes of its founders, CEO or the elite cadre were often decimated.<br />Trade houses that had a broad base of genetic diversity faired much better.<br /><br />Thus in the modern Frontier, while all three of the above reproduction strategies still exist all vrusk recognize the need for maintaining genetic diversity for the good of the species. This has led to new strategies in reproduction:<br /><br />4. Allied trade houses exchanging eggs<br /><br />5. Exchange of egg to seal business deals<br /><br />6. Government regulation, on certain worlds, to ensure the broadest possible genetic diversity in population.<br />This means that businesses and trade houses must submit all eggs to the government agency which by computer models redistributes them to all parties concerned.<br /><br />7. The Genetic Exchange: A trade house has arisen that operates like a sperm bank; companies can puruse profiles of donors and purchase the genetic material egg or sperm that they desire. For example trade house Kixx has projected that they will need to invest heavily in R&D to stay competative so they specifically are looking for donor material from genius level scientists and other inventive types. Trade House kl'xxx is looking for loyal, diligent, order following types and is willing to pay for it. <br /><br />The above does not deal with the odd vrusk that leaves the hive like structure of the trade houses and conglomerates and seeks regular employment like your average human. Nor does it deal with criminal organizations run by vrusk.<br /><br />I have little doubt that since some vrusk leave the hive like business systems and launch out as individual that eventually a few came together and decided to have offspring- perhaps the close association with human families made them philosophical about their place in the universe and they decided that they should leave something behind. The problem is that they were incredibly ill equipped for forming a family. The hive and the trade houses had been tightly organized and the proverb that it takes a community is even more true of the vrusk. Where individuals of vrusk tried to create a small family unit using borrowed models form other species they had very shaky results with a high % of the offspring breaking away from the parents or being "problem offspring". Vrusk that organized criminal organizations like a pirate band or the Zenk (see:<br />http://starfrontiers.us/node/4563 ) eventually decided that they needed "reliable" recruits and resorted to what they knew: the Hive/ trade house model; Criminal vrusk organizations have been very successful with producing and education the next generation for their enterprizes. The criminal vrusk have also been very successful in recruiting the "problem offspring" of failled family experiments by individual vursk.
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