Gooday everyone, despite my crippling cat allergies that will see me reduced to some
poor sod in a galaxy far, far away caught in a Darth Vadar choke hold, I tried my absolute
hardest to keep the cat alive in Stray. And it was whilst I was running away from the Zurks,
trying to preserve at least one of my nine lives, that I suddenly realised
the very sad truth about the Zurks. It’s easily overlooked but if you stick around,
I promise you, I will tell you all about it. Let’s establish some background here. I’m going
to speed run the lore for you quick. The game takes place in Walled City 99. It’s
a completely enclosed city that a part of humanity was forced to seek refuge in,
thanks to a climate disaster top side. Global warming finally got us guys! The idea was to
stay in here until the weather improved. The city is split into two levels, the upper and the lower.
This would naturally breed a new class system. The upper and the lower class, based on which
part of the city you lived in. It was populated by humans and their, at the time, robot companions.
The trash of the higher class would be disposed of in the lower city,
further illustrating the class divide between the two parts of the city. Before long the amount of
trash and pollution in the lower levels reached such a critical level that the Neco Corporation
had to develop a bacterium to dissolve the trash. The irony here is the Neco Corporation were the
company in charge of waste management within Walled City 99. Once the amount of trash became
too much for them to process, they simply dumped it in the lower levels. But, as I have just said,
that then became too much and they developed the bacterium to dissolve it. However, despite the
introduction of the bacterium, they were too late. The amount of trash bred a plague, that spread
across the entire city, wiping out humanity. All dead. Kaput. Once all the humans died from
the plague, firstly, the robots would evolve into sentient beings and construct their own
way of living and the trash eating bacteria would mutate into something a lot worse.
Now we have our Foundations. Let’s move onto the Zurks. The Zurks are these blobby bug-like
headcrab looking creatures you see here. They are the result of the bacteria evolving and
mutating over time. They have a single glowing eye, 4 legs and a mouth on the underside lined
with sharp teeth. The Zurks are omnivorous and can consume almost anything. Plastic, Metal,
flesh you name it they can eat it. In the game you see them eating trash as well as the robots and,
if they catch you, the cat that you play as. The robot population of Walled City 99
naturally avoid these fuckers. They will put entire streets on lockdown if even 1
Zurk is suspected to be nearby. However, on their own, the Zurks are not much of a
threat and they act more as scavengers. If you approach them, they will scurry away and hide.
However, if you come across a group of them. Then it’s game on my furry feline avatar! The Zurks
will swarm you like a colony of ants and bite and nip and chew at you until there is nothing
left. Their legs are perfectly designed to grip to most surfaces and they can even pounce over short
distances making escape all the more difficult. If you see a group of them, just run. Don’t stop,
because they won’t, just keep running until you can find a physical obstacle they can’t navigate.
As the Zurks evolved and mutated so too, did their environment. A fleshy substrate now covers most
areas the Zurks call home such as the sewers and some buildings. It’s slimy, it’s disgusting and
it pulsates and acts like a living organism. Two interesting things can grow out of this fleshy
shit to benefit the Zurks. The first are these giant eyeballs. They can range from a maybe a
foot to something crazy like, 10 feet in diameter. There was this great big fuck-off one down in the
sewers which they cover by the way. They seem to act as an alarm system, they can call the
Zurks to them if they see prey in their territory. It’s like ringing a dinner bell. Dingaling-ding.
The 2nd interesting thing is the Zurk eggs that grow out of the fleshy stuff.
There could be anywhere from 5 to 10 Zurks inside a single egg and there could be up to
100 eggs in any given part of the sewers. They grow to maturity and then hatch or if prey gets
too close, they will throb a bright red before exploding in a gory mess, releasing the Zurks
to chase your fluffy backside down for dinner. There is some speculation that this flesh, the
eggs and these eyes could be part of a hivemind or a mother-of-the-Zurks of sorts but sadly there are
no clues or information to corroborate that. Maybe if they make a 2nd game, we’ll get those answers.
While it is impractical to try and defeat a swarm of relentless Zurks with just your
kitty-cat claws and your angry hissing, the Zurks are still just a mutated form of bacteria
which makes them vulnerable to ultra-violet light and right there is their weakness.
Now, before we get to the Sad Truth about the Zurks that I promised you, if you wouldn’t mind,
please just slapping that like button down there to show me you are enjoying the content. It takes
just 1 second, it really helps the channel and it would mean the world to me. Thank you.
So, the sad truth. The sad truth about the Zurks is that despite what I have said they aren’t evil
creatures they are just doing what they are programmed to. They never asked for
this and they were never even meant to exist. When the humans were around,
they were able to control the bacteria but once the plague spread, the city was sealed and the
humans all died the bacteria could only thrive and evolve in this dark, filthy environment.
The Zurks don’t kill and consume out of malevolence, that’s just what they do. It’s
their purpose. It’s why they were created. And they aren’t soulless, solitary creatures either.
They have their own form of communication with one another, they enjoy and thrive
in the company of other zurks, they have their own sense of community, they share their food,
they nest and rest with each other and they are fiercely defensive of their home territory.
They are just a freak of nature. That which was never meant to be. An organism that was
genetically engineered to consume the waste of humanity and never, under pain of death,
be permitted to feel or see the sunlight. Check out this video for another interesting
story. Please hit that like button if you haven’t already, I really appreciate it.
Big thanks to the patreons and members for making this possible. Shout out to Affray
Interactive, Ryan Brenner, TechoNinja, GFHD, 1nfinitune, Carmana, Viger, Andre Bechert.