Distant Sands 11 - User contributions [en]

Clan Al'Ames-Svet

2025-12-29T23:52:01Z

Mokuno: /* Clan Specialization */

[[File:DirectorateApproved.png|frameless|500x500px]]

{{Political|name=Clan Al'Ames-Svet|image=[[File:AS_Flag.png|200px]]|Notable Populations=Feni (primarily hgnaii) human, HIGHLY diverse secondary|Capital=Seshvenius.|Ruler=High Explorer of the Guild, Jon Svet|Official Political System=Democratic Syndicacy|Evaluated Political System=Democratic Syndicacy}}

Clan Al'Ames-Svet, led by the Yari Guild of Esteemed Explorers is not famous, powerful or even particularly historically relevant. Born of a unity of two isolated clans in a near inhospitable region. They are modernly known for producing budget-quality-and-budget-priced copies (licensed or not) of other more well known products and being overwhelmingly dedicated to exploration and the Scout Service. Their one notable development is the creation and the production of one of the more advanced, if controversial, ship AIs in the rokhandan fleet.

== Clan History ==
Clan Ames and Clan Svet have always resided in and around the Yari region, and an area known as the Yari gap--a tempestuous, dangerous region that has nonetheless, been the best trade-route across a large portion of Fen, and since time immemorial made their trade as guides. It was the coming of the two foreign clans that truly changed their way of life, the Aldet and the Khazaan. Entering into the territory as reckless warring expansion, the Aldet and Khazaan conquered land and territory and the smaller hgnaii of Svet and Ames had little choice but to flee. Making their way to the temperate rainforests of the Hanna Canyons, sheltered from Yari's tempestuous storms, the two clans eventually united into Ames-Svet and almost entirely existed in greater relevance as guides for traders, a practice that exists in some limited form even today for explorers and wanderers.

Their roles as guides, pathfinders and mail-delivery in the Yari-region translated early to space logistics where Ames-Svet made their name. There is a saying that the first to die on half the worlds of the Directorate were Ames-Svet. A morbid reference to their numbers in the scout service and a joke on the Scout Service's motto both. Unfortunately, the clan has never been particularly successful, they get by, but they've never had great wealth, great fame or great influence and their almost entirely one-way rivalry towards the Aldet-Khazaan has ensured strained relations with the largest and most influential of their direct neighbors.

== Clan Specialization ==
Al'Ames-Svet is specialized along two major industries, the first and most controversial are artificial intelligences. A large amount of the most advanced thinking machines in the Directorate are made by Ames-Svet, and their constant tweaking, adjusting and interaction with thinking machines has left them a significant advantage in this field. Their second specialization is around low-price export-grade versions of other clans tech, equipment, and licensed (and unlicensed) copies of other products. A direct sideline of this is the 'guild of explorers' often get accused of being 'a guild of thieves.'

== Clan Reputation ==
The Al'Ames-Svet cultural ideal of avoiding war and dismissing honor has them routinely butt heads with more warrior-like clans, and there is a lingering reputation from time immemorial of them being 'cowards hiding in the cold, dark rainforests at the slightest scent of danger.'The clan has a notable and particular affection for thinking machines. They are one of the few clans where a machine can be evaluated as a full citizen, something considered weird or even heretical to most others.

Their reputation is similarly not helped by being in all honestly, poor and rural, and often stereotyped as dumb to boot. They are often portrayed as a 'clan' of clanless, cultureless orphans, something they chaff at and are quick to point out they're one of the oldest clans on Fen. This is in part due to their culture itself, while mostly hgnaii feni, they have a strict tradition of adopting others into their clans and families, and often bring parts of their culture with those they bring in.

Feni

2025-12-29T23:44:37Z

Mokuno: /* Heritages */

[[File:DirectorateApproved.png|frameless|500x500px]]

Feni, informally known as rokhandan to some in known space are a clade of upright two-legged omnivores with distinctly canine physiology. They originate from Fen, a planet in the Ahni system known for its dry climate and brutal weather. While Feni are most populous within their native Ruz'kahni Directorate, they're a common species in nearly every corner of populated space owing to their affinity for new ideas and concepts, and their natural curiosity and wanderlust. Stereotypically Feni are intelligent, educated, and possibly a bit naive. They are often considered natural scientists, but the numerous subspecies and clans that populate various planets in and out of the Directorate vary wildly in culture, behavior and skill sets. Of all the people in known space, they are the most advanced and diverse.

=== '''Physical Description''' ===
Owing to their origin as a number of closely related species, the average Fenian is incredibly diverse in appearance. From hyenaoids to vulpinoids to the more common canoids and some even more exotic species adapted to various environments. Nearly all however are rugged, capable of surviving a variety of difficult climates and tend to be light in build. Despite appearances, Feni are not related to terran canines and have an entirely different evolutionary path. Though some theorists insist the appearance is evidence enough of 'precursor meddling' with the major species of the galaxies, these are usually considered crackpot theories.
==== Heritages ====
Feni are less a singular species and are instead a cluster of related species originating from Fen. A list are presented:
* '''Hgnaii''' The species that above all others are scrappy, relatively diminutive scavengers and survivors. They resemble terran wild dogs, jackals and coyotes. They're by reputation opportunistic and their population centers are considered highly influenced by humanity.
* '''Hethi''' Large tailed, elegant and with sharp features, the hethi are agile, aloof and traditionally enjoy hunting for wild prey. They resemble vulpines, urocyons and chrysocyons of earth.
* '''Sekki''' More powerfully built than most, they are the largest on average of all the feni species and evolved around the northern and southern hemispheres of Fen as nomadic, tribal families. They most closely resemble wolves and other lupines of earth.
* '''Varski''' Rugged canines that came to dominate the most ecologically stable portions of their world of Fen, they're diverse and highly morphic in appearance and resemble many varieties of domestic canines.
* '''Kholi''' Powerfully jawed and highly divergent from most of the species of Fen, the kholi vary from very small insect-eating scavengers to powerful obligate carnivores. They originate from the dryer regions of Fen and resemble terran hyenas.

=== '''History''' ===
Prior to space travel, the Feni were simply numerous competing tribes across Fen. On the eve of interstellar travel, however, they formed an organization meant to offer a united voice of the people of Ahni to anything they might encounter, and so the first colonization attempts were conducted by the Directorate of Interstellar Affairs. This body initially colonized two worlds in two systems after over a hundred years of near-light speed travel. The trials of both colonies shaped their future philosophy of slow careful expansion, with the near total loss of indigenous life on Jesoba, the first of the two worlds barely having its intelligent life preserved via the cryo-stasis systems in the hope treatments would be developed. The second, while struggling in its alien environment, discovered W-1, and soon after, managed to break the code of FTL. Within the decade, the Directorate had gained enough political support to exert itself over the clans and reformed simply as the Ruz'kahni Directorate, named for the home system of the Feni. Although the clans themselves remain independent polities, the Directorate is the union that binds them into the greatest force for peace and progress yet created or discovered. The native Jesobans were revived and treated, and they formally joined the Directorate in the years that followed. Other species were encountered, and many elected to form their own clans to give themselves political representation. The first true trial for the Directorate was in the deadly war against the Styx AI, a thinking machine of great evil created by humankind. More recently, the War of Ruz'kahni Survival has depopulated worlds and forced a war economy that is still in the process of returning to its former state.

=== '''Society''' ===
Fenian culture is curious, adaptive and prone to fascination with other peoples. Originating out of nomadic clans and tribes, each clan differed from the next, and the tribes they made up similarly differed from other tribes, sharing different language, cultures or traditions. These ethnicities and various subspecies are visible today in the diverse appearance of the Feni people, as well as their diverse and integrated cultural centers. The most important aspect of Feni social life is the clan, essentially the nation within the Directorate that the person is part of. These are more than social familial structures or simple allegiances but determine cultural and historical identity for the Feni and changing from one clan to another is often a serious process that means leaving your family, nation, history, etc. for another. Sometimes this is done for work, but more commonly for marriage, and sometimes out of abduction or coercion in times of clan wars. Feni names are in the format of Name | Family Name | Clan Name. There are no specific formats for given names and Feni have a tendency to have given names from other cultures.

==== Cuisine ====
Of particular note is the Feni palate. As Fen is somewhat but not extremely dry by the standards of many life-supporting worlds, the chemical compounds of native plant life tend to be less diluted by water, or in other words more concentrated. This includes compounds that cause flavor. As a result, the average Feni palate has evolved with this plant life to be somewhat dulled by galactic standards, and foods that are extremely flavorful to most sophonts (eg. Earth's capsaicin, Charum's emberpetal, etc) are considered somewhat average or bland by most Feni. Feni cuisine is therefore somewhat divisive among other species, with some embracing the overwhelming sensations and some finding the intensity intolerable.

'''Example Names''' Lira, Hidari, Syrius, Hakim, Jack, Caroline

=== '''Beliefs''' ===
Feni tend to believe strongly in the significance of their culture, history and importance of their clan, and their clan traditions often are the basis of their personal belief systems. Exact beliefs can vary dramatically from clan to clan, as well as individual religiosity; however, nearly all clans have a tendency for adaptation of others beliefs into their own. This has led to a plethora of micro-cultures and micro-religions throughout the directorate. The mystical traditions of the Abrahamic faiths of earth saw particular adaptation and influence within the Directorate’s religious landscape. The native Feni faiths, while diverse, heavily leaned towards monotheistic or pseudo-monotheistic systems with a deeply mystical bent and the faiths found numerous reasons to consider a shared truth between them.

Feni

2025-12-29T23:44:04Z

Mokuno: /* Heritages */

[[File:DirectorateApproved.png|frameless|500x500px]]

Feni, informally known as rokhandan to some in known space are a clade of upright two-legged omnivores with distinctly canine physiology. They originate from Fen, a planet in the Ahni system known for its dry climate and brutal weather. While Feni are most populous within their native Ruz'kahni Directorate, they're a common species in nearly every corner of populated space owing to their affinity for new ideas and concepts, and their natural curiosity and wanderlust. Stereotypically Feni are intelligent, educated, and possibly a bit naive. They are often considered natural scientists, but the numerous subspecies and clans that populate various planets in and out of the Directorate vary wildly in culture, behavior and skill sets. Of all the people in known space, they are the most advanced and diverse.

=== '''Physical Description''' ===
Owing to their origin as a number of closely related species, the average Fenian is incredibly diverse in appearance. From hyenaoids to vulpinoids to the more common canoids and some even more exotic species adapted to various environments. Nearly all however are rugged, capable of surviving a variety of difficult climates and tend to be light in build. Despite appearances, Feni are not related to terran canines and have an entirely different evolutionary path. Though some theorists insist the appearance is evidence enough of 'precursor meddling' with the major species of the galaxies, these are usually considered crackpot theories.
==== Heritages ====
Feni are less a singular species and are instead a cluster of related species originating from Fen. A list are presented:
* '''Hgnaii''' The species that above all others are scrappy, relatively diminutive scavengers and survivors. They resemble terran wild dogs, jackals and coyotes. They're by reputation opportunistic and their population centers are considered highly influenced by humanity.
* '''Hethi''' Large tailed, elegant and with sharp features, the hethi are agile, aloof and traditionally enjoy hunting for wild prey. They resemble vulpines, urocyons and chrysocyons of earth.
* '''Sekki''' More powerfully built that most, they are the largest on average of all the feni species and evolved around the northern and southern hemispheres of Fen as nomadic, tribal families. They most closely resemble wolves and other lupines of earth.
* '''Varski''' Rugged canines that came to dominate the most ecologically stable portions of their world of Fen, they're diverse and highly morphic in appearance and resemble many varieties of domestic canines.
* '''Kholi''' Powerfully jawed and highly divergent from most of the species of Fen, the kholi vary from very small insect-eating scavengers to powerful obligate carnivores. They originate from the dryer regions of Fen and resemble terran hyenas.

=== '''History''' ===
Prior to space travel, the Feni were simply numerous competing tribes across Fen. On the eve of interstellar travel, however, they formed an organization meant to offer a united voice of the people of Ahni to anything they might encounter, and so the first colonization attempts were conducted by the Directorate of Interstellar Affairs. This body initially colonized two worlds in two systems after over a hundred years of near-light speed travel. The trials of both colonies shaped their future philosophy of slow careful expansion, with the near total loss of indigenous life on Jesoba, the first of the two worlds barely having its intelligent life preserved via the cryo-stasis systems in the hope treatments would be developed. The second, while struggling in its alien environment, discovered W-1, and soon after, managed to break the code of FTL. Within the decade, the Directorate had gained enough political support to exert itself over the clans and reformed simply as the Ruz'kahni Directorate, named for the home system of the Feni. Although the clans themselves remain independent polities, the Directorate is the union that binds them into the greatest force for peace and progress yet created or discovered. The native Jesobans were revived and treated, and they formally joined the Directorate in the years that followed. Other species were encountered, and many elected to form their own clans to give themselves political representation. The first true trial for the Directorate was in the deadly war against the Styx AI, a thinking machine of great evil created by humankind. More recently, the War of Ruz'kahni Survival has depopulated worlds and forced a war economy that is still in the process of returning to its former state.

=== '''Society''' ===
Fenian culture is curious, adaptive and prone to fascination with other peoples. Originating out of nomadic clans and tribes, each clan differed from the next, and the tribes they made up similarly differed from other tribes, sharing different language, cultures or traditions. These ethnicities and various subspecies are visible today in the diverse appearance of the Feni people, as well as their diverse and integrated cultural centers. The most important aspect of Feni social life is the clan, essentially the nation within the Directorate that the person is part of. These are more than social familial structures or simple allegiances but determine cultural and historical identity for the Feni and changing from one clan to another is often a serious process that means leaving your family, nation, history, etc. for another. Sometimes this is done for work, but more commonly for marriage, and sometimes out of abduction or coercion in times of clan wars. Feni names are in the format of Name | Family Name | Clan Name. There are no specific formats for given names and Feni have a tendency to have given names from other cultures.

==== Cuisine ====
Of particular note is the Feni palate. As Fen is somewhat but not extremely dry by the standards of many life-supporting worlds, the chemical compounds of native plant life tend to be less diluted by water, or in other words more concentrated. This includes compounds that cause flavor. As a result, the average Feni palate has evolved with this plant life to be somewhat dulled by galactic standards, and foods that are extremely flavorful to most sophonts (eg. Earth's capsaicin, Charum's emberpetal, etc) are considered somewhat average or bland by most Feni. Feni cuisine is therefore somewhat divisive among other species, with some embracing the overwhelming sensations and some finding the intensity intolerable.

'''Example Names''' Lira, Hidari, Syrius, Hakim, Jack, Caroline

=== '''Beliefs''' ===
Feni tend to believe strongly in the significance of their culture, history and importance of their clan, and their clan traditions often are the basis of their personal belief systems. Exact beliefs can vary dramatically from clan to clan, as well as individual religiosity; however, nearly all clans have a tendency for adaptation of others beliefs into their own. This has led to a plethora of micro-cultures and micro-religions throughout the directorate. The mystical traditions of the Abrahamic faiths of earth saw particular adaptation and influence within the Directorate’s religious landscape. The native Feni faiths, while diverse, heavily leaned towards monotheistic or pseudo-monotheistic systems with a deeply mystical bent and the faiths found numerous reasons to consider a shared truth between them.

Technology

2025-12-29T23:43:10Z

Mokuno: /* Marshmelon */

The Distant Sands 11 universe is set at a specific time and place in technological development, and

== Directorate Technology ==
Technologies particular to the Directorate or originating within it. Directorate technology tends to be non-digital in nature, or rather post-digital. As a result, it often looks outdated despite its sophistication.

=== Blaster ===
These are heat weapons and tools that serve a large range of purposes. They can disintegrate objects and people on the highest settings, but on lower ones they can start a fire, weld metal, or a variety of other tasks. If you need heat on demand, chances are you'll use a blaster.

=== Directorate Scanner ===
Large and multipurpose analytical tools. Handheld scanners are very useful for gathering all kinds of information from the surrounding environment and specific objects, but they tend to be very bulky. Ship-mounted scanners are often powerful enough to be lethal at extremely close ranges.

=== Drone ===
Directorate surface warfare is largely dominated by drone usage. These are typically small, mass-produced UAVs that can navigate indoor spaces and tend to be controlled by the Pilot of the ship they're deployed from. Generally the Directorate does not deploy conventional infantry, although most RDEF warships carry a detachment of marines for limited surface operations and boarding actions. The Directorate uses drones for a wide variety of purposes both in and out of combat, such as for scanning or scouting, performing repairs in space, and even construction of orbital structures.

=== Gravity Manipulation ===
Most Directorate ships' primary propulsion system is called a Gravity Drive. Rather than a chemical reaction or direct energy propulsion, the ship projects a field of heavy gravity in a given direction and is pulled rather than pushed towards its destination. The generation of artificial gravity aboard ships and stations is done using a device known as gravity plating, which is typically positioned under the deck. The strength of this field can be adjusted in real time by the ship's Pilot, which also gives it utility as a means to incapacitate intruders by rapidly raising and lowering the gravity in a given area.

=== Low-Berth ===
Chambers in which molecular activity is reduced to near zero in a flash. This effectively freezes the contents in their present condition as long as power supply lasts. These are typically used for the preservation of sophonts in the event of emergency or lack of FTL availability.

=== Marshmelon ===
In the early days of human-Rokhandan relations, it was discovered that Feni had a particular love of marshmallows. The name of the confectionary was misconstrued as 'marshmelon' and couldn't be corrected before these treats were spread throughout the Directorate. Modern marshmelons of Directorate manufacture are nutrient-dense little spheres dyed to resemble the common djolar melon that taste much like human marshmallows, and most citizens believe that the snack originates from within the Directorate.

=== Masers ===

=== Pilot System ===
So named because its initial and most common use is aboard Directorate ships. Most clans harbor an intense distaste for general [[Thinking Machines|artificial intelligences]], and instead purpose-build them for specific tasks which they're programmed to see as their entire purpose. This becomes problematic with tasks that require exacting coordination between multiple systems, such as the operation of starship systems. Instead of using AIs, Directorate ships largely use non-sentient computer, life support, and neural interface systems into which sophonts are integrated for several months or years. Can eventually cause neural burnout, so pilots are typically cycled in and out once every few weeks or so.

=== RRCT ===
Rapid Reconstructive Cell Therapy. This process has many uses and is a flagstone of technological progress. Effectively, RRCT deconstructs and then rebuilds organic structures according to a DNA plan. This plan can be extensively modified for a wide range of physical changes, effectively allowing a person to splice themselves into a different or even entirely new species. If left unmodified, RRCT is used as a medical procedure to restore a person from catastrophic damage.
===== GeCo =====
A spinoff of RRCT tech, Genetic Corruption weapons are essentially the deconstructive process of RRCT without an end state programmed in. Anybody subjected to a GeCo weapon is liquefied.

=== Sandcaster ===
Primarily a defensive weapon, sandcasters are ship-mounted and launch dense clouds of highly reflective silicate particles. The intended use is to deflect energy discharges and prematurely detonate conventional munitions, but some enterprising officers have found that sandcasters are also extremely effective anti-personnel weapons in target-rich environments.

== Non-Directorate Technology ==
Generally regarded within the Directorate as either unsophisticated or derivative of something else.
=== Mass Drivers ===
Ballistic weapons are generally considered outdated by the Directorate, yet they remain the primary means of ship-to-ship combat outside of it.

== Taboo Technology ==

== Disallowed Technology ==
Things that players aren't allowed to have because they haven't been invented yet in the setting or are functionally impossible to obtain.
=== Hardlight ===
While some ships have begun to mount hardlight shields, they're extremely power-intensive and can't be used for more than a few seconds at a time and in a localized area. Nobody has figured out how to miniaturize the technology yet or make it work for extended periods.

Thinking Machines

2025-11-13T06:31:06Z

Mokuno: /* Legal Status: Installation Grade */

[[File:DirectorateApproved.png|frameless|500x500px]]

Thinking machines, AI, robots, cybernetic life, inorganic artificial life, they come by many names and are similarly reflective of a diverse array of potential entities. Similarly, their legal status varies from full citizens to essentially servants from state to state. Within the Directorate, artificial life are protected as a form of sophont when they meet the criteria, but are additionally not commonly manufactured. The Directorate has a strong suspicion of thinking machines and intelligent life is uncommon in its domain.

=== '''Physical Description''' ===
It's impossible to qualify all thinking machines in a single description, however what unifies them is primarily inorganic components and some form of thinking brain. While there are far less advanced thinking machines used as simple tools and far more powerful ones as part of a system such as a starship's brain, these are beyond the scale of this description.

==== Heritages ====
In general, citizen-level artificial intelligences are designed for a purpose. It is rare a thinking machine is made with no design in mind or for simple 'universal existence.' Of note is it is extremely uncommon for a thinking machine to not enjoy or desire to do its intended purpose. They are not simply professions, but an entire reason for being.
* '''Administrative Machines''' Designed to parse data and deal with bureaucracy, paperwork, crunch numbers and do complex business and social mathematics, these machines are often styled to be attractive, sleek, and are often artistic in nature, meant to look appealing in a corporate or government setting without looking too 'person like'.
* '''War Machines''' Almost entirely designed with military purpose in mind, though some highly illegal home made ones exist, these machines are not usually forces of unbridled destruction but calculated soldiers, adept at taking orders and are usually designed to be capable in a variety of combat conditions. They are usually durable, armored, and usually possess significant bulk, often to absorb shock. They are almost universally highly divergent from any appearance of biological life.
* '''Labor Machines''' One of the most common varieties are lifters, workers and tools, they vary from almost entirely humanoid in form to almost entirely industrial-equipment like, depending on the conditions they are meant to work in, they rarely resemble people more than pieces of equipment.
* '''Caretaker machines''' Designed to be either sterile and tool like, or are programmed for a purely pleasing experience with soft, often very organic looking components, these machines vary from nurses, companions for the elderly, nannies or protectors for children, or automated, intelligent doctors and surgeons.
* '''Pleasure Machines''' A controversial variety of thinking machine, they most commonly resemble biological sophonts and usually have soft, pliant portions of their body and are designed for direct sexual interaction. Manufacture of pleasure-machines is considered a form of slavery in most areas, yet their presence continues, and grows throughout known space.
* '''Information Machines''' A unique subset of entirely digital or 'information based' thinking machine, they lack any physical embodiment, though some utilize drones to transfer or act as real world hands. They are often manufactured to help manage complex systems but are very rare within the Directorate.

=== '''History''' ===
The history of robotics is hard to pin down, most societies have had some variety before the space age, and some managed to create true thinking machines before their own space age. Similarly, evidence shows precursors used robotics extensively. But their modern development reached a zenith in and around the Solar Empire, which built a vast network of thinking machines known as Styx that went rogue, and had the potential for ending much of life as we know it. Defeated by a combination of the Directorate and the Empire, it led to change in how, and why machines were manufactured for those in the Directorate, and much more stringent controls or 'indoctrination procedures' out of those in other places.
==== Legal Status: Citizen Grade ====
The Directorate regulates a great deal of thinking machines. Within its borders. While relative sophont level intelligence models, known as 'citizen grade' informally, are permitted relative autonomy with registration, regular medical checks, and certain standards of manufacture. They are not considered true individuals, but have significant protections from abuse. Some are strictly illegal. Notably war machines which are not manufactured within the Directorate for war, and are significantly de-militarized within its borders, foreign ones are usually transitioned with significant neural behavior alterations to turn them into guards, security and are given significant indoctrination in proper and limited use of force. Another form that is strictly illegal in the Directorate are pleasure machines, which usually can only operate in the shadows.
==== Legal Status: Installation Grade ====
Larger intelligences that are made as part of a system or physical installation do exist, primarily for internal management of stations, starships or the like specifically when a population cannot be large enough onboard or its mission requires significant independent operation. Small, independent scout ships with relatively small crews are the most common users of intelligences. A rare example of a larger vessel with a thinking machine is the station DS-11 which a large AI system integrated to, originally, help operate the ship with a skeletal crew and more importantly, permit the technologically isolated station design to better integrate into the Directorate war effort. These thinking machines are the limit in the Directorate.
==== Legal Status: Overseer Grade ====
Used primarily among humanity, the heirs of the Styx Overmind, they are massive networks often operating from multiple nodes across a fleet and capable of vast information qualification. These are absolutely illegal within the Directorate, and even operating an overmind linked ship within the Directorate isn't permitted during joint operations.

=== '''Society''' ===
Thinking machine society is a reflection of the behaviors and beliefs of their creators. Human machines are often encouraged to wonder about identity and roll in society, those in Vesreen believe in consensus and debate, and within the Directorate, they vary based on clan attitudes. Federally, Directorate Thinking Machines are regulated heavily and are, unless illegally made, designed to enjoy their purpose, live for their purpose, and usually have strict legal policies ensuring they receive some amount of updates.

=== '''Beliefs''' ===
A misunderstanding organic life often has is a belief that machines are immortal. Their data decays, their bodies while they do not age, are in many respects more susceptible to damage and destruction than an organic and must be constantly replaced, adjusted and maintained. Even a purely digital entity has key parts of their personality and entity damaged by lost data, disruptions from ambient radiation, and more. Many machines choose to end their lives or receive complete personality wipes during periods of their existence to avoid a feeling of wasting away. Additionally, artificial intelligence can be as introspective and religious as their organic peers, with some worshiping organic gods, and some worshiping their creators. Others worship nebulous artificial divinities believed to be accumulations of data. While some cults even worship, in secret, entities like the Styx AI or the precursor Stygians and long or work in secret towards a thinking-machine ruled universe, this is strictly a rarity.

Thinking Machines

2025-11-13T06:28:38Z

Mokuno: Grammar edits

[[File:DirectorateApproved.png|frameless|500x500px]]

Thinking machines, AI, robots, cybernetic life, inorganic artificial life, they come by many names and are similarly reflective of a diverse array of potential entities. Similarly, their legal status varies from full citizens to essentially servants from state to state. Within the Directorate, artificial life are protected as a form of sophont when they meet the criteria, but are additionally not commonly manufactured. The Directorate has a strong suspicion of thinking machines and intelligent life is uncommon in its domain.

=== '''Physical Description''' ===
It's impossible to qualify all thinking machines in a single description, however what unifies them is primarily inorganic components and some form of thinking brain. While there are far less advanced thinking machines used as simple tools and far more powerful ones as part of a system such as a starship's brain, these are beyond the scale of this description.

==== Heritages ====
In general, citizen-level artificial intelligences are designed for a purpose. It is rare a thinking machine is made with no design in mind or for simple 'universal existence.' Of note is it is extremely uncommon for a thinking machine to not enjoy or desire to do its intended purpose. They are not simply professions, but an entire reason for being.
* '''Administrative Machines''' Designed to parse data and deal with bureaucracy, paperwork, crunch numbers and do complex business and social mathematics, these machines are often styled to be attractive, sleek, and are often artistic in nature, meant to look appealing in a corporate or government setting without looking too 'person like'.
* '''War Machines''' Almost entirely designed with military purpose in mind, though some highly illegal home made ones exist, these machines are not usually forces of unbridled destruction but calculated soldiers, adept at taking orders and are usually designed to be capable in a variety of combat conditions. They are usually durable, armored, and usually possess significant bulk, often to absorb shock. They are almost universally highly divergent from any appearance of biological life.
* '''Labor Machines''' One of the most common varieties are lifters, workers and tools, they vary from almost entirely humanoid in form to almost entirely industrial-equipment like, depending on the conditions they are meant to work in, they rarely resemble people more than pieces of equipment.
* '''Caretaker machines''' Designed to be either sterile and tool like, or are programmed for a purely pleasing experience with soft, often very organic looking components, these machines vary from nurses, companions for the elderly, nannies or protectors for children, or automated, intelligent doctors and surgeons.
* '''Pleasure Machines''' A controversial variety of thinking machine, they most commonly resemble biological sophonts and usually have soft, pliant portions of their body and are designed for direct sexual interaction. Manufacture of pleasure-machines is considered a form of slavery in most areas, yet their presence continues, and grows throughout known space.
* '''Information Machines''' A unique subset of entirely digital or 'information based' thinking machine, they lack any physical embodiment, though some utilize drones to transfer or act as real world hands. They are often manufactured to help manage complex systems but are very rare within the Directorate.

=== '''History''' ===
The history of robotics is hard to pin down, most societies have had some variety before the space age, and some managed to create true thinking machines before their own space age. Similarly, evidence shows precursors used robotics extensively. But their modern development reached a zenith in and around the Solar Empire, which built a vast network of thinking machines known as Styx that went rogue, and had the potential for ending much of life as we know it. Defeated by a combination of the Directorate and the Empire, it led to change in how, and why machines were manufactured for those in the Directorate, and much more stringent controls or 'indoctrination procedures' out of those in other places.
==== Legal Status: Citizen Grade ====
The Directorate regulates a great deal of thinking machines. Within its borders. While relative sophont level intelligence models, known as 'citizen grade' informally, are permitted relative autonomy with registration, regular medical checks, and certain standards of manufacture. They are not considered true individuals, but have significant protections from abuse. Some are strictly illegal. Notably war machines which are not manufactured within the Directorate for war, and are significantly de-militarized within its borders, foreign ones are usually transitioned with significant neural behavior alterations to turn them into guards, security and are given significant indoctrination in proper and limited use of force. Another form that is strictly illegal in the Directorate are pleasure machines, which usually can only operate in the shadows.
==== Legal Status: Installation Grade ====
Larger intelligences that are made as part of a system or physical installation do exist, primarily for internal management of stations, starships or the like specifically when a population cannot be large enough onboard or it mission requires significant independent operation. Small, independent scout ships with relatively small crews are the most common users of intelligences. A rare example of a larger vessel with a thinking machine is the station DS-11 which a large AI system integrated to, originally, help operate the ship with a skeletal crew and more importantly, permit the technologically isolated station design to better integrate into the Directorate war effort. These thinking machines are the limit in the Directorate.
==== Legal Status: Overseer Grade ====
Used primarily among humanity, the heirs the Styx Overmind, they are massive networks often operating from multiple nodes across a fleet and capable of vast information qualification. These are absolutely illegal within the Directorate, and even operating an overmind linked ship within the Directorate isn't permitted during joint operations.

=== '''Society''' ===
Thinking machine society is a reflection of the behaviors and beliefs of their creators. Human machines are often encouraged to wonder about identity and roll in society, those in Vesreen believe in consensus and debate, and within the Directorate, they vary based on clan attitudes. Federally, Directorate Thinking Machines are regulated heavily and are, unless illegally made, designed to enjoy their purpose, live for their purpose, and usually have strict legal policies ensuring they receive some amount of updates.

=== '''Beliefs''' ===
A misunderstanding organic life often has is a belief that machines are immortal. Their data decays, their bodies while they do not age, are in many respects more susceptible to damage and destruction than an organic and must be constantly replaced, adjusted and maintained. Even a purely digital entity has key parts of their personality and entity damaged by lost data, disruptions from ambient radiation, and more. Many machines choose to end their lives or receive complete personality wipes during periods of their existence to avoid a feeling of wasting away. Additionally, artificial intelligence can be as introspective and religious as their organic peers, with some worshiping organic gods, and some worshiping their creators. Others worship nebulous artificial divinities believed to be accumulations of data. While some cults even worship, in secret, entities like the Styx AI or the precursor Stygians and long or work in secret towards a thinking-machine ruled universe, this is strictly a rarity.