Paramecium
A paramecium, called a centipede in Chip's Challenge 2, is a monster in Chip's Challenge. It always stays to the right when it moves, so if there is no wall to the right of it, it will turn right. If there is no wall within its vicinity, it will resort to continually turning clockwise in a 2-by-2 square until a wall appears to the right of it. A demonstration of this movement pattern is shown in the following diagram:
Because this is the paramecium's first move, it will not be affected by the force floor, and will step U onto the ice space. Meanwhile, if Chip steps on the dirt, the fire boots will keep him from being killed. If Chip waits to collect them, the paramecium will circle across the northeast and then continue circling around this thin wall if the fire boots are then removed. Should they still remain untouched, the paramecium will continue to the southeast. If the paramecium were left to go back to the force floor before Chip removed the fire boots, the level would become unsolvable as Chip could not collect his quarry safely. In Lynx, this level is both unsolvable and unplayable, because the paramecium would already be stuck on its first turn and the buried fire boots are invalid.
To solve this level, move 2L DL, and using boosting, 2L into the exit. If the paramecium were to continue moving, it would go off the force floor, then DL, back to the same spot, and DL over and over again.
The last important gameplay element which pertains to the paramecium is the Controller and Boss Glitch.
Origins
The paramecium was a "pet" in Melinda's lab and was originally one of a kind, until her historically disastrous experiments let them out to multiply. The first specimen was introduced in Chchchips by the special dispatch, and is the last of the nine monsters to be introduced to the game.