Iris (Organic airlock)

The iris is an organic airlock. Like an inorganic airlock, an iris allows player characters, clones, and objects to pass from a higher-pressure space into a lower-pressure space (or vice versa) while preventing any loss of pressure from the pressurized space.

An iris consists of two airtight membranes enclosing an empty space. The first membrane is opened, allowing the clone, player character, or object to enter the iris, and then it is closed. Organic valves then operate to either pressurize the empty space to match the pressure inside the ship (if entering the ship) or depressurize it (if exiting). The second membrane is then opened and the person or object is free to enter or exit the vessel without affecting its interior pressure.

Due to the unique physiology of organic ship tissue, when a player character or clone uses a torch to remove a block of flesh from a flesh wall with at least one side exposed to vacuum, an iris grows automatically to fill the gap. The flesh must be supplied with oxygen- and nutrient-rich blood supplied by an artery network linking a heart, lungs, and stomach.

An iris will not form, however, when a gap in a flesh wall is created by an excessively energetic force such as a laser beam or explosion. The damaged stem cells in the burnt or irregularly damaged flesh lining a blast hole lack the genetic coherence to produce a structure as complex as an iris; instead, a blast hole will merely heal over with more flesh. It is thought that this failsafe evolved to prevent mutation that could threaten a ship's health.

Requires: Oxygenated, nutrient-rich blood