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I don't care.

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I don't care.

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Total Members Voted: 0

Voting closed: January 04, 2021, 02:28:47 am

[Superdorf]

It... may behoove us to start running these notions through our own memory banks before we put them to words.
This isn't going anywhere. The Empyre would have tried this already.

[Eschar]

From Cephie's words, it seems the Empire was stuck on the idea of a coordinated swarm - an anti-Plague. Our weapon would work at the level of individual nanites. But yes, we should consult the memory banks.

[19_EgarAlnis]

Edits man.


"Nanites as weapons are-- hard to control. If we dumped a hoard on a bunch of enemies, and they did not replicate or grow, then what's the difference between using them and a conventional weapon? Besides cost and energy. Nanites aren't easy to program, and if we screw up, there could be a major disaster that we cannot stop."

[Eschar]

"Ah! See, that's why we test each prototype in tiny batches on captured Plague nanites. Extensively. We would not release trillions of prototypes at a time! And they will not replicate, remember.

Not mention even if they aren't a [silver bullet], the Plague nanites will still have to waste time dealing with the foreign bodies. A [Doberman bomb, time-waster, victory-in-numbers] approach. Meanwhile, the attacked areas of the Plague network will fall apart, its individual nanites busied."

[ZBridges]

I like the idea, but what if it gets corrupted by the plague? That's the problem with some of these technologies. They can be repurposed by our enemy.

[19_EgarAlnis]

"Ah. I see." Cephie glances at the printer, before shaking her head. "So, you know how to program them to do that?"

[ZBridges]

"Is it a high-level programming language?"

[Eschar]

"Heh. The important question here. No, we do not know how to, and don't have time to learn, what with our other duties - but Silas has expressed an interest in the Plague's workings.

And while these machines are [closed-source, handicapped], we've got something else that churns out intricate molecular level devices, in fact that is literally its very purpose in life, and has been doing so before humans walked Old Terra: the algae mats. If we cannot learn to speak the high-level language of these machines, we can have a try at the ancient language of these little plants."

[Superdorf]

Bah, this-- nanobiological warfare-- it confuses me. I am dubious. Fire is better. Simpler.

We are not so different from the Plague, recall. A machine swarm purpose-built to kill it-- what could that do to us, should the Plague take it?

[Eschar]

My enthusiasm for elegant solutions may have gotten away from me. If we cannot implement this one now, though, I will still keep it in mind for when our planet's technological skill is greater.

.. perhaps the cube that is SEED's final gift has some technology appropriate for this.

[19_EgarAlnis]

That, I am not asking. We're trying to create an autonomous entity that scans for plague creatures, attempts to disrupt them by penetrating their soft tissues, without identifying anything below a certain threshold as hostile. Then, once its complete, self-terminating. All while not coordinating with a larger entity.

[16] "That...that could do a lot of damage, especially if the Plague doesn't adapt fast enough. But nature is a far more fickle beast than even the Plague. Those Algae vats have caused a lot of damage to worlds that didn't keep them maintained properly. I heard one story of the algae leaking into the sea of a world -- it trapped the entire hydrosphere up into itself. This is the equivalent of trying to stop a nuclear bomb exploding by exploding it with another nuclear bomb. And organic matter is far easier for the Plague to corrupt."

[Eschar]

"The mats would only produce the nanites, which would then be transported to where they are needed. The mats themselves would stay where they are now, safely within our lines. But I have little experience with these mats, true, and there is still a risk they could be captured. The mats will not go to the Plague, but we may fail to stop the Plague coming to the mats. You have more experience or knowledge of these mats; your judgement should have the final say - but perhaps you could find ways of getting around the problem, too, with that experience."

[Superdorf]

This isn't feasible.

[Eschar]

I will continue to do the elegant thing, then: I will defer.

[ZBridges]

I think it's worth exploring. We may come to a point where, if we don't do something drastic, the entire population of this world will be destroyed. When the alternative is total death, many options become more appealing.