Inspired by the book Hyperion, The Akerataeli are large, disk-shaped entities about two meters in diameter, and are greenish-white in color. They live in vast cloud-like swarms in the habitable zones of gas giant planets, coexisting with massive floating organisms known as zeplins. The Akerataeli's most remarkable feature is their ability to communicate at a distance via direct neural input: they can direct precise microwave pulses that stimulate certain areas of other organism's brains and nervous systems. This allows them to direct the actions of their zeplin symbiotes - or, when encountering other sapient organisms such as humans, to stimulate the language-perception centers of the brain to effectively "speak" directly to the target's mind.