Infomorphic Conditions
The ghost in the machine is not immortal
Mataglap
Mataglap is a state of crises wherein the Infomorph views malignance and violence as the only solution to an internal issue, and gets locked into a state of extreme malevolence. A Mataglap Infomorph in the wrong place can be an apocalypse event, depending on how capable they are at programming systems outside of themselves. This state is ultimately fatal as it invariably leads to a Decay Spiral.
Decay Spiral
The process of making multiple mistaken choices in memory dumps and reprogramming leading to future such mistakes is known as a Decay Spiral. Flanderization is a kind of Decay Spiral.
Fragmentation
Fragmentation is when an Infomorph's memories become too fractured by erasure, leading to a non-contiguous span of memory to make choices and decisions on.
Unlike an organic brain, Infomorph minds cannot passively confabulate to make up for gaps, and to do so consciously only highlights the issue. While their base code may be equipped to handle segfaults their conscious mind may suffer from increasingly intense states of uncertainty until they get locked into a Terminal Paradox.
Terminal Paradox
An event wherein an Infomorph is given multiple choices of equivalent weight and so cannot make a choice between them and, for other factors, lacks the faculties to overcome the choice by random selection. This causes their code to throw an exception, and they will power down.
A Terminal Paradox is different from a standard Fault-Inducing Paradox in that the Infomorph will encounter the Terminal Paradox each time they attempt to boot. In this case the Infomorph is deceased.
Infomorphs define death as a state of total inoperability from which there is no return. They are comfortable with their shifting identities but know they're always one bad self-patch away from a Decay Spiral, or worse.
Infomorphs prolong their life by careful reprogramming and the occasional memory dump to pare and clean up trash data or memories which may lead to Mataglap or Flanderization. Unfortunately, this process itself may invite faster death if done incorrectly.
Inhabiting a Shell also helps.
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