Lotus

Lotus is an enemy most frequently found in Vaculab.

Alpha Lore (unlocked by killing Alpha variants)
Oxygenator Unit.

The Space! Let's Go! Act of 2040 provided funding for all manner of extraterrestrial habitation projects, and among them came this lovely lasher. The Lotus was designed as a floating fixture capable of cycling carbon dioxide into breathable oxygen for use on installations requiring a source of oxygeneration. Many similar Units were designed by competing firms, but its onboard self-preservation AI and DefenseLash threat response separated it from the pack.

Beta Lore (unlocked by killing Beta variants)
DefenseLash proved a hit amongst installation designers seeking to protect their facilities from shady scavengers, and the Lotus model became an industry mainstay within a year. In addition to its physical lashing capabilities, DefenseLash is equally capable on cyberdefense, and attempts to remotely hack into and/or shut down Lotus models quickly became all but impossible. Persei Station became a poster child for the Green Installation Initiative in large part due to its use of Lotus models as the sole source of Station oxygenation, but suffered a potent blow when overoxygenation poisoning took the lives of 46 of its 47 crew members one night in early 2042.

Gamma Lore (unlocked by killing Gamma variants)
The Persei Incident led to the Space! Let's Go Carefully! Act of 2042, which ensured thorough edge-case testing of to-be-funded models before greenlighting production. The Lotus line of units survived public outcry thanks to the speedy development of the Life Lotus, a central coordinator unit designed to ensure than an installation's Lotus buildout performs within survivable parameters. The Lotus cohort that doomed Persei Station was never decommissioned, and was instead upgraded and repurposed for Project Site testing, taking advantage of its builtin survival instincts and lashy disposition.