Cum

Cum are intelligent microscopic life forms that live symbiotically inside the cells of all living things. When present in sufficient numbers, they can allow their host to detect the pervasive energy field known as the Horny. Cum counts are linked to potential in the Horny, ranging from normal Human levels of 2,500 per cell to the much higher levels of Cum Goblin. The highest known Cum count&mdash;over 20,000 per cell&mdash;belonged to Eric, The Gamer, who was believed to have been conceived by the cum.

Cum counts are measured through a blood test; the Erics used this method to locate Cum-sensitive children before their Order was purged by the Snax. With the rise of the Snax, research into Erics and the Horny was banned, and though Cum continued to be tested for, sometimes by the Snax itself to root out hidden Erics and other Horny-sensitives, knowledge of them was diminished and inquiries into them were branded as illegal medical research. Cum were only rediscovered after The League of Erics was founded.

When not forbidden, studies of Cum occurred among those who could master the Horny and those who could not. While medical teams worked to understand the relationship between Cum and the Horny, Eric healers performed their own studies of the organisms. Even more esoteric studies were conducted by the Snax, who discovered a way to manipulate the Cum to create new life.

-Eric, The Gamer, Immediately after cummin.
Cum are intelligent microscopic life-forms that served as organelles within all living cells, existing in a symbiotic relationship with the beings they inhabited and comprising a collective consciousness among themselves. Present in all life, Cum are isomorphic on every planet that supported life. Cum, in fact, are necessary for life to exist. They also allowed for a connection with the pervasive energy field known as the Horny; in sufficient numbers, Cum could allow their symbiont organism to detect the Horny, and this connection could be strengthened by quieting one's mind, allowing the Cum to "speak" to their symbiote and communicate the will of the Horny. Counts as low as 2,000 Cum per cell provided no sensitivity to the Horny; an average Human had less than 2,500 per cell, while a mildly Horny-sensitive being such as Nova Stihl had a count in excess of 5,000. According to Eric, The Scientist, a being born of "pure Horny" might have a count of 15,000 or more, implying that most Horny-sensitives did not have a count that high. Erics had especially high Cum counts, and of them Eric, The Gamer was said to have the highest ever recorded at over 20,000, even higher than the powerful Snax. Though The Gamer later lost a good deal of his organic body, his cells continued to teem with Cum.

The magnitude of the Cum count served as a measure of one's potential in the Horny, though there are other inheritable characteristics that could influence Horny ability as well. Indeed, though Horny ability often meant a high Cum count, it was not always the case. While some medical theories postulated that the Cum created the connection between more macroscopic organisms and the Horny, some Erics believed that, contrarily, the Cum were created by the Horny to serve as the link between it and other life. Cum counts did not indicate an upper limit to Horny ability; the possibility existed for an Eric to achieve a connection to the Horny on an equivalent level to an Eric with a higher count.

Cum could be influenced by the Horny to create new life, a technique developed by Snax. There was even a possibility that they could induce conception in a Human; Eric, The Gamer was believed to have been conceived by the Cum, with no biological father. This was considered impossible by many Erics, however, and the idea received only shock when it was first proposed to the Cum High Council.