Genetic behaviors

Every a-life has two genetic behaviors that each give it the ability to perform a certain action when the right conditions are met. The way this gene is passed down is unique for a-life. With most genes, each individual only has one copy of the gene, which is randomly inherited from one parent or the other, but not both. But for genetic behaviors, each individual has two copies, with one chosen randomly from each parent. There is one caveat to this method of inheritance, where if the child a-life happens to inherit the same behavior from both of its parents, that behavior's number is incremented by 5, ensuring that it will have two different behaviors. This mechanic also makes it possible for new behaviors to appear in the population.

There are three ways genetic behaviors can be activated. The first is by going off-screen, specifically far enough for the a-life's object reference to be unloaded, which is a little farther than just going off screen. This basically allows them to start their behavior when the player "isn't looking." 

The second trigger is by seeing another a-life nearby. A-life vision is a bit complicated, and not all a-life can see or be seen by others. A few behaviors prevent the a-life from switching behaviors, which also means they will not see nearby a-life. A-life that cannot be seen by anyone include king pians, a-life who are dying due to their lifespan reaching 0, a-life engaged in certain behaviors, and eggs. In addition, the genetic behavior is only triggered if certain other conditions are ruled out first. For nightopians, fleeing from a nearby mepian or nightmaren takes precedence over starting their genetic behavior. And for nightopians as well as mepians, if the a-life is ready to breed then mating behavior takes precendence. Moving near another a-life also 

The third trigger is by touching another a-life. Touching is similar to seeing and has the same restrictions, but the distance between the two a-life is of course much closer. This condition rarely occurs in practice, since a-life are flying creatures and move freely in 2 dimensions, making it unlikely for them to touch by chance. Still, if they do, and neither the fleeing nor mating behaviors are triggered first, the a-life's genetic behaviors will be evaluated.