Difference between revisions of "Delver"

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(This is stated much more strongly than it is written in Starsight. I think we need to hedge a lot more bets than this currently says.)
(→‎Safeguards: apparent typo fix, 'proscribe' means prohibit.)
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The danger posed by the delvers has made it necessary to take measures to avoid catching their attention. Such measures were known even to the ancient humans, who proscribedprescribed radio silence and shielding all fast processors.{{book ref|sky1|31}}
 
The chief safeguard, maintained both by the people of [[Detritus]] and by the [[Superiority]], is to abandon all but the most crucial cytonic abilities and technologies, and surrounding inhabited spaces with '''cytoshields''', which clamp down on and limit cytonic activity. Cytonic communications have likewise been abandoned, and radio usage is greatly limited, with cables replacing it where possible.{{book ref|sky2|10}}{{book ref|sky2|11}} Artificial intelligence has been banned, and in the present times, AIs are regarded with fear by the people of the Superiority.{{book ref|sky2|45}} However, it seems that, much like few scattered cytonics don't pose a threat, lone AIs are capable of functioning without drawing the delvers' ire.{{book ref|sky2|55}}
The one cytonic technology still widely in use is FTL travel; to maintain it without delvers coming through, Superiority uses [[taynix]], a non-sapient species of cytonic slugs, as a distraction.{{book ref|sky2|34}} However, in the years since the last delver had vanished, places such as Starsight have come to once more rely on wireless communications, posing a major risk when one reemerges and targets them.{{book ref|sky2|42}}
 
It is unclear how effective many of the safeguards are against delvers. FTL travel and reckless use of AI are known to ''summon'' a delver; however, cytonic and wireless communication may only attract a delvers presence once it has entered the physical universe.
 
== History ==