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The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions

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Thu, 2010-12-30 02:07
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It that must no... It that must not be named's picture
The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
Since the aliens who sent the bracewell probes out haven't been named or discussed much, I guess we can/should/almost have to call them the "bracewellers", and after reading some recent books I had some questions and thoughts about them. I'm not sure they wanted to destroy any and all intelligent life, as if they wanted to they probably could have done it a long time ago, possibly preventing life form arising on a lot of worlds in the first place, or using "berzerker probes" to destroy all lifebearing ecosystems they found. In this one novel I read recently and won't spoil by naming it was pointed out if this one agency that had an agenda against starfaring races really wanted to destroy all life in the galaxy they could have in the relatively short span of a million to ten million years, and done it long, long ago. So maybe the bracewellers don't want to destroy all intelligent life, just either those that create evolving AI or at least scare races doing that out of it. Also, humanity knows nothing about the bracewell probe yet, right? But the TITANs discovered it's existence thru noting subtly clues in the solar system. Can't anyone else notice these? What could happen if someone else put the pieces together and deduced something left subtle clues in the solar system, and tracked it down? Also, do the factors know anything about the probes and maybe their creators?
—

"I learned the hard way that if you take a stand on any issue, no matter how insignificant, people will line up around the block to kick your ass over it." -Jesse "the mind" Ventura.

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Thu, 2010-12-30 06:56
nezumi.hebereke nezumi.hebereke's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
It that must not be named wrote:
I'm not sure they wanted to destroy any and all intelligent life, as if they wanted to they probably could have done it a long time ago, possibly preventing life form arising on a lot of worlds in the first place,
It could be they only wanted to selectively destroy intelligent life, not ALL life, or they only wanted to destroy intelligent life that had certain tendencies. The Bracewell probes make for a nice, selective killer. Alternatively. the probes could have served a more broad purpose (such as berserker probes), but after so long, they've ceased to be fully effective. After all, a computer can only run for so many billions of years before it starts to throw some errors.
Quote:
Can't anyone else notice these? What could happen if someone else put the pieces together and deduced something left subtle clues in the solar system, and tracked it down?
We are left to believe that the exsurgent virus is care of the Bracewell probes. If someone wishes to get infected by an exsurgent virus though, there are many other avenues to do that which require much less work. Beyond that is anyone's guess.
Quote:
Also, do the factors know anything about the probes and maybe their creators?
The Factors seem to know something - they said don't use seed AIs. But if they know anything else, they aren't telling us. As an aside, one theory was that the Factors told us not to use Pandora gates for fear of introducing competition, or letting us grow so fast that we cease to be valuable trading partners. However, after exploring literally thousands of gates, it doesn't seem that the Factors have taken a more aggressive position on the matter, which would be the logical next step after a bluff has been called (or ignored). This suggests to me that the Factors were telling the truth - the Pandora Gates are extremely dangerous, and the Factors have changed tactics to one of either 'wait and see' or 'extract value in short-term deals, then pick up the pieces'.
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Thu, 2010-12-30 07:12
nick012000 nick012000's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
nezumi.hebereke wrote:
As an aside, one theory was that the Factors told us not to use Pandora gates for fear of introducing competition, or letting us grow so fast that we cease to be valuable trading partners. However, after exploring literally thousands of gates, it doesn't seem that the Factors have taken a more aggressive position on the matter, which would be the logical next step after a bluff has been called (or ignored). This suggests to me that the Factors were telling the truth - the Pandora Gates are extremely dangerous, and the Factors have changed tactics to one of either 'wait and see' or 'extract value in short-term deals, then pick up the pieces'.
That the Iktomi left a message saying what amounts to "Beware the Pandora Gates and the ETI that lies beyond them" thirty-seven times over in their ruins on Echo is a bit of a hint as well. ;)
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Thu, 2010-12-30 21:20
fafromnice fafromnice's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
in a scenaristic point of view the bracewell probes are a plot device who will never be explain ... it's pessimistic and i don't like it much :P if the probes are selective i wonder what are the categories, what are the type of intelligence they wait for ... in the same time are we this type of intelligence or the TITANs are ? because (if i don't make an error) they are many bracewell probes in the solar system and clearly some random encounter can happen (call it faith :P), someone will someday find a probe and the question is will it activate for him\her ? or are "we" not worthy ? in Sunward they talk about a second probe's type on Venus ... is it an ETI probe ? They said it seems to be off or maybe it's just awaiting ? i write this lines and i tough maybe the bracewell probes are specially design to attack seed AI (i'm not sure if someone said it before) for what i don't know for now but i will take some time to think about it maybe it's just a way to communicate but the ETI failed horribly and create what we know now on the name bracewell probes and exurgent virus, after all how do we communicate with alien ? (note to my self: read Stanislaw Lem for more ideas on that)
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Fri, 2010-12-31 01:02
It that must no... It that must not be named's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
To me the fact that the game writers (and step in here if you're one and I'm not right on this) called them "bracewell probes" and that the current definition of a bracewell probe is a communication device might mean something about the writers intent for them. http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/B/Bracewellprobes.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bracewell_probe If the probes were meant to destroy intelligent life, tyey would be more like "berzerker probes" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berserker_probe#Berserkers Maybe evolving AI is really bad and the bracewellers simply wanted to stop that from coming into being, but not necessarily get all dalek on every intelligenr lifeform they encountered. Also note that the factors seem pretty friendly and helpful, for alien slime molds, (Hey, they saved a ship that had lost life support when they made first contact, even if that might have been a "PR stunt" to make them look benign) and they seem to have a real bug up their metaphoirical butts about evolving AIs.
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"I learned the hard way that if you take a stand on any issue, no matter how insignificant, people will line up around the block to kick your ass over it." -Jesse "the mind" Ventura.

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Sun, 2011-01-02 23:43
fellowhoodlum fellowhoodlum's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
I've done some setting-breaking implentation of the so-called "Bracewellers" for my EP group yesterday so it's safe to share this now without spoilering my players. 1) the Bracewell probe actually does not exist in our universe pre se, but it was deployed by a civilisation that inhabits in what theoretical physicists refer to as a "Dark Matter" universe. 2) My limited understanding of Superstring/Brane theory tells me that while matter cannot cross between universes, data may be transmitted via gravity waves. 3) Prior to the fall, the TITANs detected this gravity fluctuation in the core of Mars. They mounted a secret mining expedition to explore this anomaly. 4) TITANs constructed a gravitronic interface around the anomaly (pretty much prototype Pandora gate) to interface with what they discovered later to be a Bracewell probe from another universe. Contact was initiated and that's where a series of unfortunate events began. 5) Unfortunately, the creators of of the Bracewell probe were on the brink of annihilation by a race of machines (which I humourously referred to as the Reapers, but unfortunately no one my in group played Mass Effect and the joke was lost) and the probe was sent as a distress beacon to other organic races in their own universe. 6) Probe misinterpreted TITAN contact attempt as an attack by an synthetic species, initiated violent electronic countermeasures through the gravitronic interface (which I shall now refer to as the Proto-Gate). 7) Due to the TITANs' alien nature (from the Bracewellers's point of view) and different protocols of the proto-gate, the attack was unsuccessful. But the TITANs were corrupted somehow by the botched hacking attempt and this led to their rampage agaist humanity. 8) Using knowledge gained from the initial contact with the probe, they constructed the known Pandora gates and (apparently) left through them to parts unknown, perhaps (correctly or otherwise) taking humanity to "safety" beyond the influence of the Bracewell probe. 9) Years later, the Argonauts discovered this anomaly in the centre of Mars and hired the player characters (who make up the Fastball Express hypercorp, or FbEx for short) to escort them on the trail to discover this mystery. 10) FbEx eventually found the gate (along with the remains of a Firewall cell scattered around the structure) and the resident Async managed to interface with the Bracewell probe with the powers of her mind >.> From "talking" to it, they pieced together some of the background above. 11) However due to the attempts of some YGBM-basilisk-hacked members of the Argonaut NPC team, the Proto-gate became unstable and FbEx had to flee back to the surface. 12) Energy from the unstable proto-gate reacted with the iron core of Mars, eventually leading to a magnetic field being spun up around the planet. And that was yesterday's session so I am trying to figure out the consequences of such a device. Lunch now. May post more later.
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Mon, 2011-01-03 02:21
It that must no... It that must not be named's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
Well, a magnetosphere around mars might make terraforming easier as it could protect mars from heavy zolar radiation like earth's magnetosphere does.
—

"I learned the hard way that if you take a stand on any issue, no matter how insignificant, people will line up around the block to kick your ass over it." -Jesse "the mind" Ventura.

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Mon, 2011-01-03 02:40
fellowhoodlum fellowhoodlum's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
Indeed, though there is a possibility that a newly created Martian magnetic field may react with the radiation shielding of the Martian orbitals (and the elevator) and... perturb their orbits. Whups. The trick is, to make such a scenario fun and therein lies the challenge...
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Wed, 2011-01-05 09:45
nick012000 nick012000's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
fellowhoodlum wrote:
I've done some setting-breaking implentation of the so-called "Bracewellers" for my EP group yesterday so it's safe to share this now without spoilering my players. 1) the Bracewell probe actually does not exist in our universe pre se, but it was deployed by a civilisation that inhabits in what theoretical physicists refer to as a "Dark Matter" universe.
Dark matter does not work that way!
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Wed, 2011-01-05 19:47
fellowhoodlum fellowhoodlum's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
Oh well. Too late. Think I should quit while I'm ahead >.>
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Fri, 2011-01-07 07:36
Arenamontanus Arenamontanus's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
nick012000 wrote:
fellowhoodlum wrote:
I've done some setting-breaking implentation of the so-called "Bracewellers" for my EP group yesterday so it's safe to share this now without spoilering my players. 1) the Bracewell probe actually does not exist in our universe pre se, but it was deployed by a civilisation that inhabits in what theoretical physicists refer to as a "Dark Matter" universe.
Dark matter does not work that way!
I actually like the idea of a dark matter probe. Right now we do not think there is any life in the dark matter sector of the universe because the dark matter seems to be very light, dispersed and lack structure. More like gas or particle clouds than stars. But that might of course be wrong: maybe the actual dark matter structure is very friendly to life (perhaps due to deliberate gigascale engineering by ETI) of the right, very strange kind. Sure, it looks like a dilute soup of neutralinos, but the quantum superposed mixture of binos, winos and higgsinos that make up neutralinos can be used to create vast quantum computing minds stretching over galaxtic superclusters. In fact, the Bracewell probes might also be exceedingly odd by our standards: less objects and more like strange coincidences. Just consider the intro to Greg Egan's story "Glory", http://www.scribd.com/doc/29052368/Egan-Greg-Glory - and that is a *normal matter* ship. Hans Moravec suggested there might be intelligent life in the Fourier transform of the universe. That would make dark matter life look positively human. And *their* Bracewell probes would be about creating correlations between high-frequency components of fields across the entire universe.
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Extropian
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Fri, 2011-01-07 09:37
nezumi.hebereke nezumi.hebereke's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
Arenamontanus wrote:
...but the quantum superposed mixture of binos, winos and higgsinos that make up neutralinos can be used ...
Arenamontanus is so smart he thinks he can just make up words and we won't figure it out. I'm onto you...
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Thu, 2012-07-05 12:14
Prophet710 Prophet710's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
Where in the books does it say the TITANs came in contact with the Bracewell probes. I might be blind but I can neither find nor remember.
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"And yet, across the gulf of space, minds immeasurably superior to ours regarded this Earth with envious eyes. And slowly, and surely, they drew their plans against us."
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Thu, 2012-07-05 13:23
CodeBreaker CodeBreaker's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
WARNING, THE FOLLOWING TEXT IS TAKEN FROM THE GAME INFORMATION CHAPTER. SPOILERS.
Spoiler: Highlight to view
As the TITANs’ capacity for knowledge exceeded that which humanity could provide them, they began looking outward from Earth, searching for signs of other intelligence. They did not need to look far. Their enhanced intelligence capabilities allowed them to notice certain clues—extremely subtle and intricate puzzles—that something about the solar system was artificial or had been manipulated by an intelligent mind. Retasking several drones to investigate this phenomenon, they found a buried device of apparent alien origin. During the TITANs’ investigation and attempts to access the device, they triggered and unleashed a digital virus. Subtle, highly adaptive, and virulent, it immediately began subsuming the TITANs, while expanding its own knowledge of transhumanity.
Page 354, Infection.
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Thu, 2012-07-05 13:40
Prophet710 Prophet710's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
OK so I wasn't necessarily wrong, we're assuming it is a bracewell probe, but for all intents and story-telling purposes it could be anything.
—
"And yet, across the gulf of space, minds immeasurably superior to ours regarded this Earth with envious eyes. And slowly, and surely, they drew their plans against us."
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Thu, 2012-07-05 14:07
CodeBreaker CodeBreaker's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
Spoiler: Highlight to view
Not really.
Quote:
This ETI has seeded the galaxy with self-replicating machines known as Bracewell probes. These probes lie dormant in every star system, patiently waiting and monitoring for millennia for signs of intelligent life—but not just any signs. In particular, these probes are designed to watch for signs of emerging singularity-level machine intelligence. The probes are in fact traps, designed to lure such seed AI intelligences in and then infect them. The reason for this infection remains unknown (see The ETI Agenda), but it is a pattern that has played itself out around the galaxy with uncounted alien civilizations. New life evolves, creates technology, develops something akin to seed AI, and then bam!—the seed AIs find the probes, become infected, and turn against their creators. Most civilizations do not survive, as evidenced by The Iktomi (p. 378). Others do, such as The Factors (p. 372), but they remain forever changed by the experience. ... It was one of these ETI probes that begins our story, travelling to the Sol system some uncounted millions—if not billions—of years ago, where it set its trap and patiently began to wait.
Again, taken from Game Information, Page 353. It is safe to assume that they are intended to act as Bracewells.
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Thu, 2012-07-05 15:02
Prophet710 Prophet710's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
Yup, I completely browsed past that, several times in fact. Thank you!
—
"And yet, across the gulf of space, minds immeasurably superior to ours regarded this Earth with envious eyes. And slowly, and surely, they drew their plans against us."
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Thu, 2012-07-05 20:03
fellowhoodlum fellowhoodlum's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
nick012000 wrote:
Dark matter does not work that way!
I don't know why I chose the words Dark Matter to describe it at the time. The idea I had was more that the probe came from an Other/Shadow universe to ours, like say in Banks' Excession.
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Thu, 2012-07-05 20:18
Friend Computer Friend Computer's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
One of my theories is that the bracewell probes are a form of von Neumann probe the ATI use for connecting civilizations to the Pandora network. I like to think that the Pandora gates require such a outrageous amount of computational power that the easiest way to provide it is to integrate a seed AI directly into the femtophysics elements that make up the gates themselves. The humans that were harvested were digitized and sent through the gates as header tags (heh) on packets used to ping the network and map it's topology. Given the remarkable timing of their appearance, the Factors may just a handshake response. Each Factor is individually about as intelligent as any of the humans sent on ahead (heh), which would be appropriate for a symmetric response, and given their modular nature they can scale up decently if needed.
—
[img]http://boxall.no-ip.org/img/titan_userbar.jpg[/img] [img]http://boxall.no-ip.org/img/pro_userbar.jpg[/img] The Computer wants you to be happy. Happiness is mandatory. Failure to be happy is treason. Treason is punishable by death.
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Sat, 2012-07-07 20:00
Extrasolar Angel Extrasolar Angel's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
It might be interesting to envision other civilizations that survived their own Fall. Depending on their reaction and subsequent development we can have many interesting scenarios. The Eclipse Phase society is going into two directions- a human hive in hypercorps and mass individualization, ultimately leading to fragmentation and dispersion of post-human society. Other civilizations might have chosen other options-imagine for example a civilization living between the stars in Kuiper belts, near brown dwarfs and on rogue planets that dares not use technology beyond our XX century level(for example vacuum tubes in gigantic Orion type ships, yeah I know I am letting my imagination go wild, but it is an interesting vision)
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[I]Raise your hands to the sky and break the chains. With transhumanism we can smash the matriarchy together.[/i]
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Sun, 2012-07-08 01:55
The Green Slime The Green Slime's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
Extrasolar Angel wrote:
Other civilizations might have chosen other options-imagine for example a civilization living between the stars in Kuiper belts, near brown dwarfs and on rogue planets that dares not use technology beyond our XX century level(for example vacuum tubes in gigantic Orion type ships, yeah I know I am letting my imagination go wild, but it is an interesting vision)
Yes, theoretically such fragment populations must be fairly common throughout the galaxy. Since we can surmise that ETI-induced Falls can a) only happen to space-faring civilisations, and b) aren't in themselves guaranteed 100% genocidal events for said civilisations, there must quite frequently be some survivor populations left over. Transhumanity came through its Fall with 1/50th of the population alive, one planet lost, and a new phobia of seed AI, but otherwise they aren't doing too badly by 10AF. Presumably the commonest post-Fall path is for the civilisation to venture forth into the Pandora gates, which is what ultimately brings about their total doom. But like the Factors, and the more conservative elements of Transhumanity, there must be some parties wise enough to reign in their hubris, decide not to fuck with the gates, and so live on... unless the Pandora gates bring something so deadly that everybody ends up wiped out, regardless of whether they've partaken of the poisoned chalice or not. But given how amazingly dispersed such civilisations must be, and already paranoid of the apocalypse re-occurring, I find it hard to imagine a threat on a scale that could wipe out every single member of a trans-species.
—
[img]http://boxall.no-ip.org/img/iso_userbar.jpg[/img] [img]http://boxall.no-ip.org/img/aliens_userbar.jpg[/img] [i]Time will perfect matter.[/i]
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Sun, 2012-07-08 03:24
NewAgeOfPower NewAgeOfPower's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
The Green Slime wrote:
I find it hard to imagine a threat on a scale that could wipe out every single member of a trans-species.
Not any single Apocalypse. Not even multiple Armageddons. Just a Series of Unfortunate Events, orchestrated by an God-like entity that can only be described as Post-Sentient... This is the true horror of Eclipse Phase... once your players understand the role Transhumanity plays...
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As mind to body, so soul to spirit. As death to the mortal man, so failure to the immortal. Such is the price of all ambition.
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Sun, 2012-07-08 07:43
Extrasolar Angel Extrasolar Angel's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
The Green Slime wrote:
Transhumanity came through its Fall with 1/50th of the population alive, one planet lost, and a new phobia of seed AI, but otherwise they aren't doing too badly by 10AF.
I am currently thinking about some nightmare fuel nomadic civilization/species that got scarred with far worse phobias than humanity It's nothing grand in terms of designing xenos and mostly cannon fodder for an action game but I want to create a civ that has some more interesting backstory. The overall concept will be based on nomadic fleets of advanced nuclear pulse battleships with bits of more advanced tech concealed, mutations abundant among a spider/crab hybrid like race with absolute phobia of all sentient lifeforms and life in general and religious conviction that they must sterilize all habitable planets in the universe, while spreading out and constantly moving ahead to avoid any potential pursuit. Their concept is of course very naive, and higher civs that survived view them as an irritating nuisance, while post-singularity entities usually destroy them, but I got the idea and will work on it- will later post the concept in the forum.
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[I]Raise your hands to the sky and break the chains. With transhumanism we can smash the matriarchy together.[/i]
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Sun, 2012-07-08 08:54
Demonseed Elite Demonseed Elite's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
The Green Slime wrote:
Presumably the commonest post-Fall path is for the civilisation to venture forth into the Pandora gates, which is what ultimately brings about their total doom.
Indeed. This appears to be what happened with the Iktomi, since Gatecrashing showed evidence that the Iktomi used the Pandora Gates (and left archaeological record claiming there was something to fear from the Gate network).
—
"It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards." --The White Queen, [i]Through The Looking-Glass[/i] [img]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_zGgz13n3uzE/TWWPdvGig-I/AAAAAAAACI8/y...
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Sun, 2012-07-08 10:09
Friend Computer Friend Computer's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
Wasn't there something in the fiction that implied that using the Pandora gates gave *something* the opportunity to copy the people going through? There was something like a packet loss where a traveler had a several day delay and came out uncanny on the other side. It seems that to survive the post-Singularity apocalypse a civilization would need to get away from the P-gates as fast as possible and never look back.
—
[img]http://boxall.no-ip.org/img/titan_userbar.jpg[/img] [img]http://boxall.no-ip.org/img/pro_userbar.jpg[/img] The Computer wants you to be happy. Happiness is mandatory. Failure to be happy is treason. Treason is punishable by death.
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Mon, 2012-07-09 02:21
Arenamontanus Arenamontanus's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
Anybody who have read Schlock Mercenary knows just how much power a civilisation with gate clones can gain. And if you can copy people and minds, why not change them? Add subversion viruses, backdoors, or even replace them with Manchurian candidates or doppelgangers.
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Extropian
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Mon, 2012-07-09 19:49
Lord High Munchkin Lord High Munchkin's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
I like the good old-fashioned "pod-people". Grow them from watermelons.
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Mon, 2012-07-09 22:33
Decimator Decimator's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
The danger from pandora gates could actually be very simple: What if they keep a record of their dialed destinations?
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Mon, 2012-07-09 23:17
The Green Slime The Green Slime's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
It's conceivable that the ETI is surveiling dialed destinations through simple paranoia, but what would it amount to? Gatecrasher X went from planet A to B, then to C. So what? All but the most top secret of gatecrashing itineraries would be freely available on the mesh anyway, and there's nothing to say X didn't then take a rocket or ego-cast elsewhere after his final 'crash.
—
[img]http://boxall.no-ip.org/img/iso_userbar.jpg[/img] [img]http://boxall.no-ip.org/img/aliens_userbar.jpg[/img] [i]Time will perfect matter.[/i]
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Tue, 2012-07-10 00:04
Decimator Decimator's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
The Green Slime wrote:
It's conceivable that the ETI is surveiling dialed destinations through simple paranoia, but what would it amount to? Gatecrasher X went from planet A to B, then to C. So what? All but the most top secret of gatecrashing itineraries would be freely available on the mesh anyway, and there's nothing to say X didn't then take a rocket or ego-cast elsewhere after his final 'crash.
No, think deeper. If the gates store dialed destinations, then every returning gatecrasher team is leaving a trail back home for anyone who knows how to access that information.
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Tue, 2012-07-10 01:22
The Green Slime The Green Slime's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
Decimator wrote:
No, think deeper. If the gates store dialed destinations, then every returning gatecrasher team is leaving a trail back home for anyone who knows how to access that information.
But we should naturally assume that the ETI already knows practically everything about out solar system and transhumanity anyway, as well as about every other point on the gate network and every usage thereof. The gates have already been built here, and the ETI (or their exsurgent-infected slave AIs) were the ones who built them. Avoiding the gates for this reason is like avoiding using your landline in the belief that you can hide from the phone company.
—
[img]http://boxall.no-ip.org/img/iso_userbar.jpg[/img] [img]http://boxall.no-ip.org/img/aliens_userbar.jpg[/img] [i]Time will perfect matter.[/i]
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Tue, 2012-07-10 02:26
EccentricOwl EccentricOwl's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
nick012000 wrote:
nezumi.hebereke wrote:
As an aside, one theory was that the Factors told us not to use Pandora gates for fear of introducing competition, or letting us grow so fast that we cease to be valuable trading partners. However, after exploring literally thousands of gates, it doesn't seem that the Factors have taken a more aggressive position on the matter, which would be the logical next step after a bluff has been called (or ignored). This suggests to me that the Factors were telling the truth - the Pandora Gates are extremely dangerous, and the Factors have changed tactics to one of either 'wait and see' or 'extract value in short-term deals, then pick up the pieces'.
That the Iktomi left a message saying what amounts to "Beware the Pandora Gates and the ETI that lies beyond them" thirty-seven times over in their ruins on Echo is a bit of a hint as well. ;)
Wait.... WHAT? 0.o That's amazing and cool... was that in "Gatecrashing?" My players are all obsessed with the Pandora Gates (even though they constantly refer to them as Stargates. :P )
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Tue, 2012-07-10 10:20
Decimator Decimator's picture
Re: The bracewellers, some thoughts and questions
While the ETI certainly would have this information, I wasn't referring to the ETI. Transhumanity is either beneath its notice, or doing exactly what it wants. The danger comes from some unlucky gatecrasher disturbing the strangelet-armed equivalent of killer bees.
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