Orbatrix
Orbatrix are smallish blue spherical aliens found in Keen 6. They spend most of their time floating about in the air or bouncing around. They have two "wings" on either side of their body, which is little more than a single red eye.
Orbatrix are usually harmless, simply floating around slowly in the air. Some people swear that they follow Keen around, but this is unproven. However, when Keen is close enough, Orbatrix will curl themselves up into a ball by placing both "wings" over their eye, spinning and dropping to the ground, rebounding off of every surface they contact. At this speed they are dangerous and can kill Keen. Though immortal, shooting an Orbatrix will temporarily stop it from curling up into a ball, thus buying the player a few seconds of safety.
The name "Orbatrix" is coined from the word "orb" and the suffix "trix" (used in the Latin languages) in reference to their circular shape. It is not known how they levitate. Orbatrix are exceedingly simple, being little more than a giant floating eye, brainless (explaining their immmunity to neural shots) and without any apparent mouth or limbs. The two fleshy "wings" are used to protect the delicate eye during bounding sessions (the eye itself does not seem to ever blink). It is not known how they feed or reproduce, and it is possible they are modified creatures, found only inside buildings as some sort of defense measure.
Orbatrix can be persuaded to unfurl next to a wall, and if they do so, they will become stuck inside the wall and no longer a threat to the player. The cause of this is probably a bug in their collision rectangle; all but one Orbatrix (in BASA) can be made to do this.
See also
- List of Keen 6 Creatures
- List of Orbatrix replacements - mod creatures