Parts:
I|
II|III|
IV|
V|
VI|
VII~~~~
As you flip to the second chapter of
the historical record, you take a moment to ponder all you’ve learned about the
Cyangels so far. If they are an artificial race, then who created them and why?
Were they supposed to be a weapon of mass conquest? If so, shouldn’t there be a
race or civilization that they serve? Upon considering it, you realize if that
were the case, then it’s evident that the Cyangels rebelled or exceeded their
programming.
Perhaps the next chapter will
provide some insight into your question. Although you still have to wonder, how
does a mechanical race create a society? You were under the impression they
were more machine than anything else. A hierarchy is one thing; it could just be
programmed in, but how did they develop a society?
~--~
Chapter II: Society and Hierarchy
Before the subject of Cyangel
society can be explored in detail, it is imperative to explore a few questions
surrounding the race as a whole. Why do they appear the way they do? Why the
angelic appearance? Why do they maintain organic portions of their bodies? Why
do they grow and expand their territory? The answers to these questions are
mostly unknown and subject to speculation, except for the last one. Which is
explained by their society.
As for the first two, experts
theorized that due to their nature of mass replication, the Cyangels are
following a template. This template of what their race looks like may be
hardcoded into their programming, perhaps to keep them from drastically
changing their appearance. Why such a thing was hardcoded is anyone’s guess,
but it could be a remanent of their creator’s personal touch. For all we know,
the Cyangels were never intended to be more than a small squad of helpers that
fit the creator’s preferences.
Back on the subject of the first
question, they expand their territory and multiply their species because they
are programmed to do so. From what’s been observed, their whole society is
based around the growth and expansion of their “family.” By their own account,
their purpose is to infinitely expand until the entire universe is part of
their family.
Why they feel the need to do this is
not fully understood. The most popular theory, known as Grey Expansion, is that
it is a misinterpretation of their own programming. Likely caused by the
expanded intelligence of the high-ranking members of the race trying to
understand their own purpose. The Grey Expansion theory posits that the Cyangels
original purpose was as self-replicating automatons. Their basic programming
would be to gather all material in their vicinity for the use and manufacture
of more of their number.
The conclusion of the Grey Expansion
theory is that the high-ranking Cyangels misinterpreted this means to an end as
a higher purpose. They believe that expansion is their goal, rather than simply
a means to make their actual goal easier. While the theory has not gained any
additional evidence recently, it remains the most popular theory by a wide
margin. It is seemingly supported by the structure of Cyangel society…
~--~
You unconsciously roll your eyes,
more theories. While the presented idea was interesting, you can’t know for
sure if that is how the Cyangels think. You shrug and decide to push ahead to
the actual facts about Cyangel society. That will give you a much better idea
of how they think. But you still wonder, what does society mean for these
machines?
~--~
…Cyangel society is based around two
primary subjects. The need to grow and expand their numbers, and the fact they
are a hivemind. The Cyangel hivemind is not fully understood, but it is clear
that it is not some grand network spread across the entire universe. Instead,
it is a series of hiveminds linked together, more like an internet than a
tightly closed network.
The Cyangels refer to the hivemind
as their “family,” each seeing the others as their “sisters.” The high-ranking
and more advanced Cyangels are the elder siblings in this arrangement. Their
overall leader is seen as the “mother.”
The standard Cyangel hivemind has
all the members linked to the “mother,” who is responsible for sending down
orders to a set of “eldest daughters.” The “eldest” then communicate these
orders further down the chain. It is best to think of the “mother” as a central
server sending out information to several switches, which in turn send the
information to all the computers on the network.
To support this built-in hierarchy,
it has been clearly observed that all Cyangel possess the ability to
communicate with each other nonverbally. One might compare it to telepathy
because they seemingly just have to “think” of an idea to share it with all
their fellows. The finer details of this communication are unknown, as whatever
signals they are sending don’t show up completely on any known spectrum…
~--~
That’s a start. You nod to yourself
as you turn the page into a more extensive explanation of their society.
~--~
…The Cyangel society begins with the
“hive” itself, a massive computer, usually stored in a giant white pod, that
can travel around space freely for a time before landing itself on a planet.
Once landed, the hive will begin converting the world into an environment more
suitable for the Cyangels. It is technically a terraforming process, but rather
than changing biomes, it turns the planet almost entirely mechanical.
This process is mainly performed by the
lowest members of the Cyangel hierarchy, the drones. The Cyangel drones are an
emotionless swarm of Cyangels, each nearly or entirely identical to the other.
They are also much smaller and younger-looking than the other members of their
race. While other Cyangels can display or at least emulate emotions, drones are
not capable of such. They are like a mass of insects, mindlessly following the
orders of their superiors. At this point, all they do is cull the planet’s
environment, flatting forests, draining bodies of water, capturing native life,
etc.
Once the hive has completed the
first stage of the terraforming process, a continent-sized area of the planet
will become something akin to a factory. At the center of this factory is the
hive, which begins producing more complex Cyangels, using all “materials”
gathered during the first stage. This included more advanced drones, soldiers,
scientists, engineers, and so on.
The more advanced drones are said to
appear first. While there are numerous types, the most commonly seen are the
“Amelias.” Referred to as such as that is what they call themselves. The
Amelias appear and act like free-spirited, comical, and overall immature
children. Their exact purpose is unknown, as they seem to be a more ineffective
version of the basic drone. However, their ability to work in mass numbers
should not be underestimated.
It should be noted that while the
Amelias are seemingly emotional, if oblivious, creatures, they do not actually
possess emotions. Like most lower Cyangels, they can only emulate emotions and
the appearance of individuality.
Cyangel soldiers, engineers, and
scientists are self-explanatory. However, it is worth noting that soldiers tend
to be among the largest Cyangels with enormous wings. At the same time,
scientists and engineers are only slightly larger than drones, with similarly
tiny wings.
Once these more advanced Cyangels
are in place, they expand their sphere of influence over the planets. Repeating
the work of the drones, but at an accelerated pace and with little tolerance
for resistance. In this second stage, the Cyangels typically terraform 70-90%
of an entire planet. Using their soldiers to suppress any native life while
their scientists analyze any new information they learn on the planet. If they
discover a new form of weapon, tactic, or some helpful trait of the native
life, it is not long before they Cyangels adopt it as their own.
This leads to the third stage. The
establishment of the high-ranking Cyangels, the conversion of remaining
portions of the planet, and crowning the queen. First off, any notable Cyangels
who performed well during the first and second stages will be promoted to higher
ranks. These Cyangels are given a degree of autonomy and possess full
individual personalities. Chief among them are the three prime designates, the
military, science, and social leaders of the hive.
Once the leadership is established,
the Cyangels take their time terraforming the last portions of the planet.
Carefully cultivating them for the strongest, most intelligent, and most
talented survivors and the highest quality materials. The Cyangels perform some
kind of rigorous experiments upon these survivors. The exact details of which
are unknown, but the end result is a Cyangel queen is born. The queen becomes
the new leader of the hive, creates a series of “princesses” to serve as her
direct subordinates (or in the worse-case future replacement).
Once the planet is fully
terraformed, the factory-like setting is disassembled and converted into
something more like a city. Once the city is completed, the Cyangels decide
whether or not to construct a new set of hives to launch into space. If not,
they simply conqueror nearby planets the old-fashioned way and install the
“princesses” as their queens.
As stated before, from the Cyangel’s
perspective, the whole meaning of this process is to expand their “family”
across the universe. In their eyes, they’re doing the worlds they convert a
favor by conquering and converting them. The feelings and opinions of the
inhabitants are not given the slightest consideration in this process…
~--~
Now that’s what you were looking
for, hard facts about how they think. You’re finally starting to get an idea of
what Cyangel society is. This hivemind that calls itself a family. These
machines that spread and conquer on principle. All they care about is
expansion. All they want is to make more of themselves.
What you don’t understand is the
vagueness around the creation of the queens. What exactly do they do with the
captured survivors? How is the queen made? Is she based upon all the best
traits of the planet’s brightest? What’s this about rigorous experiments? How
do they know about the experiments but not what the experiments are?
You start to wonder if maybe you’re
not getting the whole story. Perhaps there’s some censorship in here. Such an
idea seems ridiculous. After all, this is already a high-level document you had
to call in many favors to access. Perhaps you should dig a little deeper, find
what they don’t want you to see. You hold onto that thought as you turn to the
next chapter titled “Culture.”
To Be Continued…
~~~~
I got no clever wit nor any pseudo-philosophical ramblings today. I'm just a little out of it...How was your day?
Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy
~~~~
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