This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/Storms_Wrath on 2024-04-10 04:59:11.
“So,” the Pan-Andes Union diplomat said. “You made a special type of nanite?”
“Not exactly,” the hivemind replied. “I made a far smallr machine that is capable of generating its movement using psychic energy as fuel. Notably, it also can take conceptual energy, and does not lose its abilities after being exposed to a psychic power suppression field. The Lien Principle, which is that all atoms have the capability to store, act, and be acted upon by psychic energy according to their mass, charge, and size, has been proven as true.”
“And do you believe the possibilities of this outweigh the potential damage it could do?” Juan Pedros asked. “I, for one, remember reading several articles about ‘Grey Goo’ apocalypses. And while most of those no longer apply on the whole due to the Human Diaspora, Earth, Luna, Skandikan, and several other highly populated planets should be entirely off-limits for this type of technology to come to use. If the Sprilnav can corrupt it, which they might, we would all be killed with no defenses we can use to prevent that.”
“I concur,” the American President said. “We will not support any efforts in cislunar space. However, we can discuss opening a testing facility in a more proper location, secured, but capable of quick destruction if necessary. I would propose having a station to test this on, inside the orbital radius of the DMO’s satellites, so we can manually push the thing into Sol if we must.”
“A fine idea,” the Russian President agreed. “My American counterpart’s words are sensible for us as well. I do not believe you would find any objections here.”
Blistanna nodded. The Guulin Congressional Republic had joined the UN now and was fully recognized by every nation on Earth. Canada had led the outreach efforts and was rapidly moving up through great power status on Earth. The hivemind knew that such labels had limited application in the context of the Alliance, though. Even Dilandekar ruled an entire planet, and Izkrala had several under her thumb.
The most powerful Earth nations generally could collectively equal the might of Izkrala, if the DMO was factored in. And the rest of the Alliance combined could roughly equal about half of Phoebe’s presumed economic and social influence. The hivemind had fought hard to ensure that Edu’frec knew the bounds Phoebe already would not cross.
Self-determination was a paramount value of Humanity, even with the messy history that had resulted. But a mess could sometimes be considered art with the right eye. So, too, could the complex dances that made up Earth and Luna’s geopolitical scenes constitute a grand tapestry of common struggle and communion.
“So,” the Chinese diplomat said. “It seems we agree on that, then. We will draft a full resolution soon, after the hivemind gives us more information on what, precisely, this achievement could mean, and also could not mean. It is crucial for us to know exactly how dangerous this could be if things go wrong.”
“That’s the thing,” the hivemind said, pulling up several documents that simplified the complex scientific theories and concepts as far as they reasonably could be.
"There is reasonable evidence that we have just managed to create a tiny quantity of true programmable matter. There are many applications for this. The primary application is in manufacturing. Factories could quickly adapt their production lines on the scale of minutes to accommodate needs. Production of incredibly complex objects could become increasingly simple at scale, with no major economic costs besides the opportunity cost present when a factory produces anything at all.
There are more benefits possible. Better graphene meshes. Purer superconductor coils for quantum computers. Faster microchip fabrication, and increased satellite and civilian ship production. Personal shields, hard light holograms, firearms, oxygen tanks, space stations, personal computers, communicators, and wireless broadcasting devices with finer tuning and larger ranges. The secondary benefit is military.
Programmable matter, in a possible respect, might enable the creation of self-repairing material. Armor in suits, or hulls on smaller spaceships that could reasonably support the movements with extra psychic power. Psychic suppression field shielding with direct objects. Mindscape-adjacent shielding, and possibly even methods to produce the ultra-strong alloys the Sprilnav use when neutronium is too expensive. There are more uses, of course.
As for what we cannot do, we cannot use it to make self-replicating technology. That law is enforced by the Source to an uncanny and intelligence degree. All attempts to circumvent that directly have failed, including the construction of purely biological Von Neumann probes. With even Skira unable to breach that ironclad rule, it is unlikely that our programmable matter might do the same. There is also no guarantee that this could not be controlled by an enemy, like the Sprilnav.
We have a few records of the existence of programmable matter, mostly from older and more advanced civilizations than any but the Sprilnav. Most of those civilizations are either in the galactic core or entirely gone. We do not have information from the Sprilnav that confirms any more than our suspicions. Phoebe has been unable to retrieve information related to programmable matter from Sprilnav networks, civilian, academic, or military.
In the same thread, we do not know if the Sprilnav would be able to directly harness this against us, or how to stop such a technology if it was turned upon us. With further study and full authorization from the UN, I can direct more scientists and funding from the DMO and the United Nations Technological Organization. If there is more information you wish to have on this topic, it is inside the Technological Council database and can be accessed through a connected terminal."
“You have done quite a lot of work for Humanity, hivemind,” the Australian Prime Minister said. “We are quite grateful.”
“Some might say too much. That said, we would prefer a testimony from the scientists involved in this project as well, when your research is fully finished. We understand that you called this meeting to help us get ahead of the severe consequences of this technology’s revelation inside our growing arsenals.”
As each person expressed their concerns and ideas, the hivemind expanded its considerations for impact even more. Humanity as a whole wasn’t ready. Sure, they might be soon. But now? Certainly not. And given the problem of the Sprilnav, things such as this would likely only continue to happen.
Eventually, it was all finished. Everyone took a short recess, reorganizing their documents and getting food and drinks. Then they returned, windows flicking online or holograms appearing in the actual meeting room.
“So,” the Chinese diplomat began. “Now, we must discuss the collective action Humanity will take regarding Penny Balica. Her actions have been shown as reckless recently, endangering the security of the Alliance and Humanity. Little has been done about this matter besides lectures. She has no real familial ties, or serious enough friendships to tie her down to either Earth or Luna. As she gains conceptual and psychic powers, she seems to be slowly losing either her Humanity, or her concern for it. With the Judgment hanging in the balance, as well as the potential extinction of the entire human race, I demand that actions are taken to rectify her attitude in more impactful ways.”
“I second the motion,” the American President said. “If she does not return to the fold, then we will need to make her do so.”
“The situation is… complicated,” the hivemind said. “Penny is emotionally unstable currently. This is true. But she will not abandon us.”
“No, she might not. You do not know whether she will or not, hivemind,” the European diplomat said. “And might is not enough to bet our existence on. Similarly, it seems that Phoebe is now no longer in contact with Penny, which conveniently leaves us unable to communicate our concerns. Given her importance to not only the Alliance through Kashaunta, but also to Humanity as a whole, do you, hivemind, plan on convincing Phoebe to give up the act?”
“There is no act. Penny is no longer in contact with her, due to the complicated and unique challenge her location presents, and yes, I have a plan.”
“And how exactly is her location on Justicar a problem, with a Q-comms link established between us and Phoebe’s android there? The Sprilnav are not blocking our communications. All the codes are still being sent along with our messages. So clearly, there is a disconnect between the information that you have and the information that Phoebe has shared with us. You might understand how that would be a problem in our positions, hivemind.”
“I understand quite well. And the simple answer I can give you is that Penny is in an isolated location.”
“Well, then, where is she?”
“The risk of Sprilnav listeners to this meeting means I cannot give you all an answer in a way that would not risk her life.”
"Her life is at risk, then. I am aware tha…
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