Anacite

Anacites are native to Aballon, the Pact World closest to the sun. A race of machines left behind by eons-departed masters, these constructs developed the capacity for evolution and self-improvement, creating an entire mechanical ecosystem. The most common design for anacites is a basic arthropodan form of silvery metal, with multiple legs for efficient travel and claws or manipulators for accomplishing their assigned tasks. Depending on their role, however, an anacite might be anything from a bulldozer-sized mining specialist to a floating electronic brain designed for advanced problem-solving, and even those anacites who fit the stereotypical metal-insect design usually have a modification or two, and almost all anacites can reconfigure parts of themselves to adapt to their circumstances. In the uncounted millennia since the departure of the so-called “First Ones,” anacites have not been idle. The two primary factions of anacites, Those Who Wait and Those Who Become, have very different ideas of their purpose in life, yet the two are more alike than different. While they variously wait for the First Ones to return or work toward taking on their progenitors’ mantle, anacites endlessly strive to acquire wealth and influence in preparation for their great goal’s fulfillment. While “anacite” officially refers only to the sentient varieties of Aballonian machines—those capable of learning and participating in Aballonian society—many offworlders use it as a catchall term for the world’s mechanical life. Dragonflylike wingbots are an example of Aballonian technobiology. These artificial creatures lack basic sentience yet nevertheless reproduce and fill one of the planet’s ecological niches. These 4-foot-long machines whir from ridge to ridge on wings glittering with solar panels, feeding on the blazing light of the sun. Wingbots can be territorial, and they occasionally attack offworlders or other anacites. Anacites have varied general designs, but some have evolved for specialized tasks. Two such specialists are the ambassador and the predator drone. Anacite ambassadors travel to foster diplomatic relations. Most often members of Those Who Become, anacite ambassadors serve on Aballonian seedships as emissaries. Anacite ambassadors can easily learn languages. Further, although they are not warriors, ambassadors can protect themselves with built-in lasers. To avoid tension during diplomacy, ambassadors keep this weapon retracted until it’s needed, though they usually notify their hosts about the laser unless there’s a good reason to keep it a secret. An anacite predator drone resembles a rhinoceros beetle made of silvery metal with a reddish shell that opens to reveal enormous wings. The drone’s weapons are part of its body, leaving its wings and appendages free. Countless drones police the megaplexes of Aballon. Others serve as soldiers for anacites that have greater authority, fighting in places such as the Midnight Trenches. Anacites are truthful and peaceful by nature, but are surprisingly capable of deception or violence when necessary, especially when confronted by organic intruders from beyond Aballon. To safeguard their businesses, factories, homes, and public buildings, anacites developed the dustar. These small constructs have domed shells and glide silently across the floor on dozens of tiny legs concealed beneath their carapace. Every day, they go about their work: sweeping floors and walls, sucking up dirt with tiny vacuums mounted on their underside, and disintegrating this debris in a specialized internal chamber. They even polish glass, metal, and other materials with a simple pop-up laser—but every anacite dustar is also a hidden spy and potential assassin. Typically communicating with higher-ranking anacites, such as monitors or ambassadors, the dustar keeps an eye on non-anacite visitors while pretending to be a simple cleaning robot. When intruders threaten to trespass into sensitive areas, the dustar doesn’t issue a warning, which would blow their cover. Instead, they inform other anacites of the danger, coordinate with other dustars within communication range, and lay a trap to exterminate the threat. Monitors are one of the many specialized forms of intelligent anacites. They provide unobtrusive security wherever anacites anticipate physical violence but also desire to avoid an overt display of force. It is not unusual for anacite ambassadors to be assigned a pair of monitors as guards, for example, and anacite facilities with a large number of non-anacite visitors or employees—such as the Horse Eye Orbital Plate—are home to many of these silent, nearly-invisible warriors. A single monitor is often given authority over security in a given facility; there, they maintain shortwave communication with nearby anacites, extending the monitor’s surveillance range and ability to observe threats. If necessary, the monitor can even direct nearby anacites to intercept security threats. An anacite monitor is mantis-like in shape, with two delicate-looking wings, six long legs, and a distinctive triangular head. Although they have the same unusual eye pattern that all anacites share, the monitor is further equipped with rotating pods on the side of their head, each armed with a deadly electric ray. Despite their large size, they are also surprisingly agile, with two powerful forelegs that end in slashing edges. A monitor’s natural armor is burnished red, but through the use of their chameleon circuits, the anacite monitor can adopt any color or hue, making them surprisingly stealthy.