Conspiracy at Hand?

[____________Darkvine]

The media has claimed that the Dust Brigade operates from a "hidden location" in the Outzone: this is in all likelihood untrue. Access to the Outzone is strictly regulated, specialised equipment is reserved Omni-Tek personnel, and all communication with relays in the Outzone is monitored. While we are unable to maintain visual surveillance of non-terraformed areas, we do have full control over all OT-owned facilities in the Outzone, and any and all disturbances and/or intrusions are reported promptly. There have been no reports of activities by non-OT personnel in the Outzone, and thus we are confident that the Dust Brigade is based somewhere in the terraformed regions.

I know this sounds a wee bit paranoid, but has anyone given the thought that OmniTek may be behind the Dust Brigade? Or maybe its the ICC or the Council of Truth.

Think about it, A rebel organization strikes BOTH sides of a potential conflict. If the Dust brigade HAD planned on trying to start a civil war, wouldn't the most logical plan be to strike one side or the other? Not both...striking both lets each side know that the other wasn't responsible. Thus making them think (whether they admit it or not) that not only revoking the amnesty was a mistake but perhaps an alliance against the Dust Brigade would be the best plan. Indeed, it would be.

An Alliance, especially after this type of terrorist act, would bring the two factions of our planet closer together in purpose. Only an idiot fights two different wars at once. Even if their soldiers ARE essentially immortal. What happens if someone sabotages the Reclaim Terminal System? The Peoples of Rubi-Ka become mortal, very quickly. People would start thinking quite differently about their positions then don't you think?

Now, what if the Media is correct in the placing of the Dust Brigade, wouldn't that mean, with the statement(s) that OT made in their press release, that OT is harboring them. Or at least letting them use facilities in the Outzone, so that they are pretty well out of range of any Department within OT and any Faction within the Clan. Something to ponder isn't it?

Or perhaps OT doesn't have as tight as control as they would like us to think when it comes to the Outzone. I urge people to look into these matters indepedantly. I think we are being kept in the dark by both OT and the Clans. Those in the neutral cities, may be our best hope to learn the truth. Or perhaps they are supporting the Dust Brigade to bring all the dischord on Rubi-Ka to an end.

I'm sure there are plenty of other angles that I've overlooked or just not thought of. What are your opinions fellow citizens of Rub-Ka? Speak out!

[________The Returned]

A thought has occurred to me...

Now I'm just a run of the mill soldier I travelled from my home planet of Verena
in a cryo ship to help fellow clanners fight the corporate menace, I'm not a
specialist in nano-tech or anything.

However on the planet Verena we refer to nano-machines as "intelligent-dust",
"I-dust" or just "dust".

Rubi-ka is important to OT as it has the highest (or one of the highest)
concentrations of Notum in the known universe. Notum is used to make the
nano-machines that help us fight better, service our weapons, heal us
when we are wounded, and reconstruct us when we die. Everything on the planet
is saturated with nano-machines, as is every building, every bit of water, even the
countryside. In any system of sufficient complexity you will get emergent behaviour
(First Rule of A-Life if I rememeber my college nanotech classes) and the nano-spores out
there could be mighty complex by now.

Might the dust brigade have been formed by the nano-machines themselves?

They know how to make people, they do it every day at the reclaim booths.
The know how to boost us and weapons, they do it everytime we run a Buff.
They could if intelligent watch everywhere all at once.

Perhaps that is why we should fear the dust brigade... perhaps they are inside us right now..

[____________Darkvine]

The thought that has occured to you is quite disturbing, to say the least. Nano-bots that collectively have enough intelligence, to find others of their own kind, and assemble humans to rebel against...

What...what are they rebelling against? Their servitude of mankind? Indeed. If Nano's have truly become sentient, wouldn't that mean that they are vertiable slaves to mankind?

If that's the case, does it become morally reprehensible to buff one's self, use implants and/or continue mining Notum for the creation of more slaves(nanos)?

That would explain though, the reason that OT hasn't seen the Dust Brigade in the Outzone. Of course, if the Dust Brigade is the tool of the Nanos then they could easily hide right among us. Look like an Atrox one moment, the next a Solitus wman, or a Opifex man.

Quite a disturbing thought indeed. Of course you could be from OT and just trying to knock the whole train of thought of course too.

Who do you believe, who do you trust?

Indeed.

[____________Sllaagor]

Truly a disturbing thought, and worthy of much discussion and debate. I doubt, however, that OT higher-ups would ever give credence to this theory (and would try desperately to cover it up if ever proven true) as they would then lose a huge source of income. They weren't above falsifying Rubi-Ka's survey results, letting Atrox die because of "cost", or creating life willy-nilly, and letting the failed experiments loose on the planet.

OT is not above exploiting sentient life for gain. My "breed", the Atrox, comes quickly to mind. We are exploited as machines in the notum mines, worth less than the equipment we employ.

If the nanos truly were sentient, would they bother serving mankind at all? If they rebelled, what could we do?

- Sllaagor
Clan - Atrox Enforcer

[Blyzzard]

Not posable, the Nano bots might put together a body, but there would be no soul.

Nano bots were used to make adult clones before, but they were lifeless, without soul.

It is a physical imposability that a sentient colection of nano bots made the Dust Brigade.

As for Omni Tek being behind the dust brigade, it is posable, but doubt able. If Omni was to blow up their own appartment building to try to start a war, it would plant evidance that pointed directly to the CoT, insted of to a third party group.

[LLJKTonitrum]

A disturbing thought, to be certain, and as has been stated, worthy of discussion.

The question remains, though, if all nanos are sentinent, or merely the ones that (for purposes of this discussion) from the Dust brigade.

If only the Dust nanos are (perhaps as the result of an experiment), then they are rebelling because they see beings like themselves being 'enslaved', and can therefore be reasoned with.

If all nanos are sentient, though, then we have embarked upon a course that shall forever taint our souls.

[____________Darkvine]

Not posable, the Nano bots might put together a body, but there would be no soul.

Can I ask you a question then? If that is indeed the case, that nano's may build a body but that body would have no soul. Then explain us. We die. We are rebuilt from our last Insurance Scan, and we go on. Now if your statement is correct, after our very first death...we lost our soul. For if nano's cannot inhibit a body with a soul...then an insurance term can surely NOT save our souls for later use.

I'm quite intrigued about the thoughts that brought that very interesting statement about. Are we all walking undeads without sould then? A soulless army for the commanders that would use us?

Please, enlighten me.

[_________MikeWeather]

Read up on how insurance works.... Page 6 of the timeline is a good place to start.

[____________Darkvine]

Danke, will do.

[LLJKTonitrum]

I have reviewed a recording of a Dust Brigade broadcast. What follows is a transcript:

"There will be no amnesty for crimes against humanity or against our planet. There are no innocents.

Omni-Tek is guilty for their slavery and cruelty. The clans are guilly for being collaboraters in the treacherous peace talks, and for giving in to propaganda. The neutrals are guilty for their cowardly refusal to fight the oppressers.

There will be no amnesty! There will be no peace, until this planet is clean of the Omni-Tek scourge! Ashes to ashes, dust to dust!"

Having watched this, I feel that the the sentient nano possibility seems less likely. Instead, the Dust Brigade seems closer to the rogue Clan Sentinels lead by Simon Silverstone. I suggest that Omni-Tek and the Council of Truth both look there for answers to this Dust Brigade.

[________The Returned]

I'm clan actually.

Anyhow as I said it was worthy of thought, I do however dispute the fact that the nanos could not build a "person" because it would have no soul. If the nanos have achieved sentience and therefore life then it seems likely that they would have their own "souls" albeit of a different nature to our own. this would allow them to emplace such a soul in one of their created people to use as shock troops.

If the nanos HAVE become sentient it may not be all of the nanos, just one area of them...

Mawdrigen
Clan Soldier
Proficiency level 13

[Jhoanna]

Do not dig to deep... You will be contacted.
Oshovah

[________The Returned]

I should point out that I am on RK2.

Mawdrigen
Proficiency level 13 soldier

[____________Darkvine]

Anyhow as I said it was worthy of thought, I do however dispute the fact that the nanos could not build a "person" because it would have no soul. If the nanos have achieved sentience and therefore life then it seems likely that they would have their own "souls" albeit of a different nature to our own. this would allow them to emplace such a soul in one of their created people to use as shock troops.

Disturbing thought here, indeed if sentience indicates that the "sentient" being or beings has a soul...(going back to the "If I think, therefore I am") then wouldn't it be conceivable that when (and if) the nano's were to create a body or creature, that the body/creature not only have one soul, but many souls?

What about the possibility of a group soul (oversoul?) or perhaps a group concious, much like the hive mentality of bees and ants.

Of course we have somewhat, diverged from the subject that was originally intended. Is there a conspiract at hand, and if so. Who's behind it?

[LLJKTonitrum]

Originally posted by Darkvine
Is there a conspiracy at hand, and if so. Who's behind it?

As I stated earlier, I believe that the Dust Brigade is acting on behalf of the rogue Clan Sentinels.

Though I have pledged myself to the Twilight Dynasty Clan, and have fought Omni-Tek at many turns, I believe that a peace can be forged. Both sides are tainted, and while Omni-Tek may have the strongest taint, they have also done much for Rubi-Ka...and for civilization itself. To extinguish Omni-Tek from existence would be short-sighted, and would have many unpleasant reprecussions. Let us not forget the Law of Unintended Consequences, after all.

Simon Silverstone may have intended this Dust Brigade to bring freedom to Rubi-Ka, but it has instead made him an enemy to all who seek that freedom.

[____________Founding]

As it once was,
it will be again,
the end comes once more,
and in its wake will be a new beginning.

[___________Avatarius]

If the "Dusters" were actually manifested out of nanobots, then it is unlikely they would need to work with humans to do their dirty work. There is a clear collaboration between humans [Solitis] and the Dust Brigade. If the little 'bots had taken on sentience then they could simply kill us all where we stand, why bother to manifest bodies to attack us with [and then flee when outnumbered].

The Dusters are a 3rd column with their own twisted agenda. And make no mistake there are traitors walking amoung us both Clan and Omni alike. The Dusters cannot be flying around in drop ships without someone purposely looking the other way to let them get away with it.

Here is a possibility, the Dusters are themselves all clones. Enough people witnessed the constructs [Alpha and Beta] in the Longest Road [and subsequent attacks on Tir and Omni-1] to know they indeed exist. Many of us have seen the "bio lab" and saw constructs there as well [hostile to all who enter, clan and omni alike].

All very troubling.

[Blyzzard]

What's even more troubling is the quality of Intel information they have.

They were able to track 6 guild leaders, one of whom was on a date, and then assassinate them.

That is disturbingly accurate Intel.

[cellestron]

While I have my own opinions about the DB, I wanted to make one other point.

Don't assume all neutrals stay neutral because they refuse to fight. Many, like me, just haven't decided who to fight with yet. As far as I am concerned, the only reason I am not fighting for OT or the Clans, is because neither side has given me any reason or incentive to risk my life for them.....


As far as the DB goes, who knows what they want......

[______________Gerinn]

The political aims of the Dust Brigade are simply nonsensical. Such a powerful entity, yet they are a "rogue clan?" I highly doubt that. Yet, who else can they be? Certainly not the ICC... despite their presence on Rubi-Ka, seemingly squirreled away in the Andromeda sector, there is neither resources nor reason for them to intervene. Their presence as a neutral entity seems to me to be obvious. Besides, why should they risk getting involved? Omni-Tek's lease on Rubi-Ka will eventually expire anyway, and then the ICC will be dealing with that whole affair. Why kick them off now when the matter is really, for all intents and purposes, under control? Yes, well, the clans are disrupting notum production and sales, but then... there is something to be said about the market at work. The ICC very likely sees no problem with a little strife on Rubi-Ka... it supports their lease revocation in the future, and allows notum prices to remain reasonable.

Now, other entities... such as Sol Banking... well, that's a very interesting theory, isn't it? That explains the illogical nature of the Dust Brigade's attacks, combined with their immense power. And Sol Banking would, alone or in tandem with other companies, have the ability to either bribe Outzone Omni-Tek officials or establish their own bases - as it is rumored that some Clans have done - in the unmonitored area. I would submit the following point: The Dust Brigade is well known for their environment-suit motif... is that merely for terror purposes, or might it have utility as well? Beyond the terraformed area even genetically-modified or constructed human beings such as ourselves cannot cope... but if they were based outside...

Anyway... I don't hold much truck with the "Sentient Nano" theory myself. However, it raises an interesting... one might even say alluring possibility. We know that skilled engineers and nano-technicians can imbue the nanobots with a degree of sentience... semi-sentience, they call it. The nanobots then are capable of directing THEMSELVES, choosing targets, identifying threats, that sort of thing.

Now, suppose some clever scientist WERE to design a sentient nanobot. The prevalence of notum, as well as their self-replicating capabilities, would allow them to spread VERY quickly. That could be a weapon of immeasurable power.