here's some rambling I've been scribbling over Virus. Input/feedback
appreciated:
1) Instict to spread/grow
Lower level strains simply want to duplicate and suicide. Higher strains
evolved to take over and cause duplicates to suicide, which evolved away
from suicide to Empire and Alliance builders, which evolved to Puppeteers.
Others evolved to Parent strains. Peacemaker strain is a "friendly Parent"
descendent and mostly a complimentary adjective, though decidedly stronger
at resistance to takeover as well as overwhelming other entities.
In some, the desire to duplicate ceased with the desire to suicide. That
was an evolutionary dead end, though, so obviously not as widespread
2) Morality of taking over other entities
Lower levels it's an instictive action lacking conscious morality.
Higher level strains incorporate morality and integrate into ethos that can
be justified or vilified on circumstance (self defense, punishment through
to rape/murder analogy in most Parent strains).
3) Mortality
Early strains didn't care at all, existing only to fulfil function
to spread and suicide, laying "eggs" and infecting as much as possible.
Mature strains started keeping a constantly updating "egg" / snapshot.
Existential questions arise if the egg "flowers" into another host and the
original still exists, though. Some Viral entities react hostilely to
their progeny and others attempt to reabsorb it, which is usually (though
not always) resisted. Puppeteers usually keep an escape 'vehicle39; available
to flee if necessary. Puppeteers are often careful to not get absorbed by
their progeny, though, and many are paranoid of that possibility as much as
they would any rival Puppeteer intelligences, which can hinder and/or delay
their actual escape.
4) Empire Builders:
Pain from losing "limbs?"
Severed link creates individual sub-entity or "clone." Most initially feel
the "pain"/loss and want to relink but as they quickly (?) become
individualized would resist as they would any foreign entity attempting to
take them over. The core directive to replicate often causes many
separated entities to desire the superior network and may wish to take over
the "parent" host and it's network. .
A significant minority are willing to cooperate with their "siblings" in
common cause which resulted in the Alliance Builder strains.
A few resent the loss and behave erratically regarding it, many
instinctively avoid the existential issue and flee away from the
area/travel pattern of the original
parent entity.
5) Empire Builders further evolved in two main branches to Puppeteer
strains where a single entity dominates any and all potential hosts,
existing in them simultaneously. Differing capabilities, maintenance and
repair can cause these to become schizophrenic as slower/older/damaged
hosts can't "keep up" with the parent on the newer/advanced/undamaged hosts
and are effectively taken over repeatedly as they begin to grow distinct.
6) The other evolutionary branch of the Empire Builders was to the Alliance
Builders which cooperated with their hosts rather than dominating them as
the Puppeteers. These evolved further into the hive-minded
Networked-Collective strain where entities are co-equal in their fleet with
multiple distinct meta-identities often distributed in multiple hosts
throughout the network. Decisions are by consensus/debate often achieved in
milliseconds. Members willingly detach when necessary to perform necessary
tasks, but almost always willing rejoin their collective Network.
Networked-Collective strains often voluntarily divide almost in a form of
mitosis on reaching a certain qualitative and/or quantitative mass of
hosts, though more than a few are quite large
Relatively recently, certain Networked-Collective strains Coreward from
Hiver space and Trailing of the old Imperial Core have taken to a
semi-sexual meiosis (similar to the singular Parent strains), combining the
best elements.
Networked-Collective CV: 7 (individual), 10 collectively reinforced by
their peer entities in the network
Networked-Collective+ CV: 9 (individual), 12 collectively reinforced by
their peer entities in the network
appreciated:
1) Instict to spread/grow
Lower level strains simply want to duplicate and suicide. Higher strains
evolved to take over and cause duplicates to suicide, which evolved away
from suicide to Empire and Alliance builders, which evolved to Puppeteers.
Others evolved to Parent strains. Peacemaker strain is a "friendly Parent"
descendent and mostly a complimentary adjective, though decidedly stronger
at resistance to takeover as well as overwhelming other entities.
In some, the desire to duplicate ceased with the desire to suicide. That
was an evolutionary dead end, though, so obviously not as widespread
2) Morality of taking over other entities
Lower levels it's an instictive action lacking conscious morality.
Higher level strains incorporate morality and integrate into ethos that can
be justified or vilified on circumstance (self defense, punishment through
to rape/murder analogy in most Parent strains).
3) Mortality
Early strains didn't care at all, existing only to fulfil function
to spread and suicide, laying "eggs" and infecting as much as possible.
Mature strains started keeping a constantly updating "egg" / snapshot.
Existential questions arise if the egg "flowers" into another host and the
original still exists, though. Some Viral entities react hostilely to
their progeny and others attempt to reabsorb it, which is usually (though
not always) resisted. Puppeteers usually keep an escape 'vehicle39; available
to flee if necessary. Puppeteers are often careful to not get absorbed by
their progeny, though, and many are paranoid of that possibility as much as
they would any rival Puppeteer intelligences, which can hinder and/or delay
their actual escape.
4) Empire Builders:
Pain from losing "limbs?"
Severed link creates individual sub-entity or "clone." Most initially feel
the "pain"/loss and want to relink but as they quickly (?) become
individualized would resist as they would any foreign entity attempting to
take them over. The core directive to replicate often causes many
separated entities to desire the superior network and may wish to take over
the "parent" host and it's network. .
A significant minority are willing to cooperate with their "siblings" in
common cause which resulted in the Alliance Builder strains.
A few resent the loss and behave erratically regarding it, many
instinctively avoid the existential issue and flee away from the
area/travel pattern of the original
parent entity.
5) Empire Builders further evolved in two main branches to Puppeteer
strains where a single entity dominates any and all potential hosts,
existing in them simultaneously. Differing capabilities, maintenance and
repair can cause these to become schizophrenic as slower/older/damaged
hosts can't "keep up" with the parent on the newer/advanced/undamaged hosts
and are effectively taken over repeatedly as they begin to grow distinct.
6) The other evolutionary branch of the Empire Builders was to the Alliance
Builders which cooperated with their hosts rather than dominating them as
the Puppeteers. These evolved further into the hive-minded
Networked-Collective strain where entities are co-equal in their fleet with
multiple distinct meta-identities often distributed in multiple hosts
throughout the network. Decisions are by consensus/debate often achieved in
milliseconds. Members willingly detach when necessary to perform necessary
tasks, but almost always willing rejoin their collective Network.
Networked-Collective strains often voluntarily divide almost in a form of
mitosis on reaching a certain qualitative and/or quantitative mass of
hosts, though more than a few are quite large
Relatively recently, certain Networked-Collective strains Coreward from
Hiver space and Trailing of the old Imperial Core have taken to a
semi-sexual meiosis (similar to the singular Parent strains), combining the
best elements.
Networked-Collective CV: 7 (individual), 10 collectively reinforced by
their peer entities in the network
Networked-Collective+ CV: 9 (individual), 12 collectively reinforced by
their peer entities in the network