a fire upon the deep?
Bingo.
... Investigate, the primitive lifeforms. Perhaps... They can be a useful source of power...
They are simple sophonts, self-conscious but unaware of greater truths. They have the potential for transcendence, but uplifting anything brings the risk of betrayal. They can also be used as raw material for the formation of a biomechanical hivemind. You... remember. You are far from the most powerful being in this universe, and sufficient quantities of lower beings could be used to increase your power.
Run some kind of diagnostic to determine what kind of systems we have at our disposal.
You ping the systems of your prison. Few respond, of those most have been reactivated by the creatures which have invaded it. A passive sensor array, holed by micrometeorites but still functional, gives you a limited view of the inner reaches of the star system. The only foreign object you can detect is the craft docked with the station you are on. You also manage to access some of the internal security systems. There are no weapons, but you can control the doors, airlocks, lights, and cameras within the powered sections.
You also determine that you could successfully invade the portable systems belonging to the bipeds in a matter of seconds, though doing so would provide a clear warning to them. Their ship would take several more seconds, possibly enough time for them to lock you out if they acted quickly. You can't tell if there is any sort of AI controlling their ship's systems.
Also, see if we can have a active scan of the surroundings.
No active scanning systems are still functional, only passive scanners in the EM spectrum, as well as a sensor which can detect starship drive cones when they are active.
Internal cameras allow you to make a rough estimate of the numbers of sophonts in your prison. There are approximately 110; of these, perhaps 65 have been observed actively exploring the station and database. Fewer than a dozen have displayed any appreciable skill (for an unenlightened meatsack) with computer systems.
>Uplift if capability. Convince them of intending no harm if not. Anything to get them to assist you.
You gather yourself. You believe that in your current state you could uplift a single biped, or assimilate a handful of them, bending their minds and bodies to your service. Remembering your... life before you were trapped, you recall that such beings tend to be frightful and superstitious around their superiors. If they were alerted to your presence before you controlled their ship or minds, they could very likely flee. You calculate that if you bide your time, you will have regained enough capability to subsume them all in approximately [50 hours], or to uplift them all in [300 hours]. Alternatively, you could simply wait long enough to uplift or enslave their crew and electronics specialists. Any of these could be accomplished more rapidly if you uplifted or bound more of them whenever possible, though this also carries a much greater risk of discovery.
You consider these options before proceeding.
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Topic: You Are A Perversion: The Life and Times of an Artifical Cosmic Horror (Read 4536 times)