Primordial

A better brain, capable of pioneering better brains than their own.

“If that mind had a body to suit, this would be that body,” she said. - Excerpt from Bleeding Edge 8.10

Details

Self constructed life. A colony organism that tries to find new and better ways of living often in unheard of ways.<ref>“A colony,” Lillian said. “A hundred or a thousand individual lifeforms, operating as a coordinated being. There are some very basic and very complex principles at work here, but once you create a balance, and get it to the point where it’s capable of self-advancement while maintaining a stasis where it doesn’t destroy itself while doing so…”

“You get life that designs itself,” Jamie said. “Sometimes very rapidly.”

Lillian nodded. “Right now, it’s trying things at random. It barely has any intelligence at all. If something works to any degree, then it’s going to keep that, but it’s going to keep stuff that doesn’t work, that gives it false impressions. It’s going to run into dead ends, and it’s going to reach the limits of its confines and shed or self-cannibalize parts at random, hoping to discard loose ends. This kind of thing crosses a certain milestone, and then it starts developing with purpose. It starts to recognize the dead ends. [...] It’s already off to the races, like Sy said. It’s got a kind of nervous system or communication system running through its body, it’s developing parts with individual, coherent purpose. It might be inspired on some level by what it’s been fed or given…” - Excerpt from Bleeding Edge 8.11</ref> Because a Primordial is capable of altering their own design, including the ability to develop and improve intelligence, these creatures are exceedingly dangerous, capable of spreading uncontrollably. Many advances were culled from primordial experiments but also Horrors.<ref>“Because I thought we’d eventually run into one,” Lillian said. “And later, because I was trying to think about what I might do for my big project, to get my white coat. A lot of innovations have come about from this sort of thing. It’s inspiration, if nothing else.”

“Inspiration incarnate,” Jamie said. - Excerpt from Bleeding Edge 8.11</ref>

The dangers of Primordial life are such that even the Academy does not research them.<ref>Lillian pursed her lips together, paused, then said, “I know the Crown is far from perfect. Very far from perfect. They’re hungry for power. We agree on this?”

“Yes,” Candy said, her voice harder than it had been.

“As hungry for power and advancement as the Academy is, after the first experiments with the primordial life, life created from scratch and very quickly brought up to speed with current standards, they looked at the results, at the dangers, and they said no. Not yet. Not with the risks involved,” Lillian said, her voice as soft as Candy’s had been hard. - Excerpt from Bleeding Edge 8.11</ref>

A Primordial has a chapter from it's perspective, Interlude 9.x (Enemy; Primordial)

Examples

• God and its brothers
• Immortal Primordial Emily Gages creation
• Jagour Primordial
• The Duke's experiments

Relatives

• Castle dogs of New York
• Golden Calf

Trivia

• Has been compared to the dangers of runaway artificial intelligence or a Gray goo scenario.

References

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