Talk:Sea Emperor/@comment-29995673-20170120155114/@comment-80.115.191.49-20170120214620

It's more likely that the last Emperor had a mutation that just happened to make it produce the enzyme. Remember, the children also produce the enzyme despite being hatched in captivity. Since captivity probably means water without carar, adaption is out of the question even IF they can mutate and regenerate tissue quickly enough to render themselves immune to the disease. This means that the production of the enzyme is genetically encoded into the hatchlings.

Another reason I doubt it's adaptation is that the Emperors we meet are the only ones of their kind because the rest died of carar. If Emperors could adapt to whatever they ate, why is it that almost all of them died? Again, this points to a lucky mutation.

As for what causes the mutation? There are two options. One, the adult Emperor simply lucked out prior to birth. This one is more likely because whatever caused the production of the enzyme must've been able to get to her young. If it's genetic, that means her egg cells would've needed to carry the mutation. The second option I'm seeing is... Carar itself, ironically enough. Carar damages the genome, causing mutations. It's not entirely out of the question that the Emperor was infected with carar, mutated to develop a new type of cancerous cell that spread through her digestive system like mad and produced enough enzyme 42 to destroy the infection. Likely? Well, no. But it's possible.

But there is no guarantee that the Emperors themselves produce the enzyme. Remember, the digestive system is filled to the brim with micro-organisms. And they spread fast. If one mutated to produce the enzyme while remaining reliant on the Emperors (not unlikely given the numbers) it's possible that it overtook the unmutated version and became the dominant strain in our Emperor. But why didn't the other Emperors get those organisms in their body then?

Either our Emperor lived in near-complete isolation since her microbes mutated (not impossible but definitely unlikely. Depends on how long she carried her eggs and how fast the mutated microbe spread) or she only gained her immunity after or shortly before the rest of her species died out. That means the microbe would not have had the time to grant the rest the same immunity that she has, leaving them to die of carar.

Maybe there are other possibilities as well. Maybe. Be sure to leave them. Thank you for reading, and remember; I'm not claiming to be right, I'm not claiming that there is a reason at all beyond "it's the plot, don't question it". And remember, it's just a theory for something that's just a game. Hope you enjoyed.