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Drifter Discussion: In Search of Answers
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Ferrucio Surge
The Bag Cartel
#1 - 2015-09-14 04:04:07 UTC
The Drifters, as we all know, are being incredibly silent of their intentions. We also seem to know very little of their origins. I would like to ask, as a starting question: If they are so advanced, and have been able to "possess" dead bodies belonging to humans, why couldn't they just clone their own bodies? And why do they need mortal bodies, to begin with?
Deitra Vess
Non-Hostile Target
Wild Geese.
#2 - 2015-09-14 04:35:22 UTC
I'm assuming for biomass, but I'm really no scientist... I think we can rule out they're after trophies.
Arrendis
TK Corp
#3 - 2015-09-14 05:03:32 UTC
Well, if they're a Jovian offshoot, they may be investigating the Jovian tech in our heads.
Ferrucio Surge
The Bag Cartel
#4 - 2015-09-14 05:11:58 UTC
Perhaps, but it seems like they use Jovian bodies as well as bodies of capsuleers, possibly normal humans as well. And the technology we use is supposedly well behind contemporary Jovian technology. So besides needing a host for their informophs(or whatever it is they are), I'm not sure of why they couldn't use the Jove tech they possess to clone their own human bodies using perhaps stolen DNA to keep it fresh or something.
Arrendis
TK Corp
#5 - 2015-09-14 05:26:17 UTC
Ferrucio Surge wrote:
Perhaps, but it seems like they use Jovian bodies as well as bodies of capsuleers, possibly normal humans as well. And the technology we use is supposedly well behind contemporary Jovian technology. So besides needing a host for their informophs(or whatever it is they are), I'm not sure of why they couldn't use the Jove tech they possess to clone their own human bodies using perhaps stolen DNA to keep it fresh or something.


They're clearly connected to the Sleepers in Anoikis. As a result, I think it's safe to say they're not playing with cutting-edge Jovian tech, either. So it's entirely possible that they're collecting Capsuleer corpses not to reuse the biomass, but to see how much of a threat we represent.

And by that, I'm not talking about our weapons technology. I'm talking about to what degree our implants can interface with their technology. After all, we can make use of their Entosis Links to connect our minds to independent structures. If you were them, wouldn't you want to know if the tech in our heads allows us to make use of a salvaged Lux? Presumably before we went ahead and used them on you?
Ferrucio Surge
The Bag Cartel
#6 - 2015-09-14 05:40:58 UTC
Speaking in strategic terms, sure. But if I were them, I wouldn't be giving the people of New Eden a reason to salvage/revere-engineer my weapons and use them against me in self-defense :P
Diana Kim
State Protectorate
Caldari State
#7 - 2015-09-14 06:01:30 UTC
Deitra Vess wrote:
I'm assuming for biomass, but I'm really no scientist... I think we can rule out they're after trophies.

Resource, indeed.
They don't grow clones out from vacuum.

Honored are the dead, for their legacy guides us.

In memory of Tibus Heth, Caldari State Executor YC110-115, Hero and Patriot.
Ferrucio Surge
The Bag Cartel
#8 - 2015-09-14 06:21:19 UTC  |  Edited by: Ferrucio Surge
That's true, they don't. Biomass is one good reason to harvest dead bodies. So, perhaps they're doing it to reproduce? But again, why go through the trouble of adapting mortal bodies to their specifications instead of just building robots to put their infomorphs in, or something?
Elmund Egivand
Tribal Liberation Force
Minmatar Republic
#9 - 2015-09-14 07:12:19 UTC
Ferrucio Surge wrote:
That's true, they don't. Biomass is one good reason to harvest dead bodies. So, perhaps they're doing it to reproduce? But again, why go through the trouble of adapting mortal bodies to their specifications instead of just building robots to put their infomorphs in, or something?


Probably because they got sick of dreaming of electric lifestock.

A Minmatar warship is like a rusting Beetle with 500 horsepower Cardillac engines in the rear, armour plating bolted to chassis and a M2 Browning stuck on top.
Solu Terona
Alexylva Paradox
#10 - 2015-09-14 07:33:32 UTC
Ferrucio Surge wrote:
That's true, they don't. Biomass is one good reason to harvest dead bodies. So, perhaps they're doing it to reproduce? But again, why go through the trouble of adapting mortal bodies to their specifications instead of just building robots to put their infomorphs in, or something?


Robotics are still MILES behind wetware when dealing with complex tasks that require adaptability and or evolution on the fly. Even the rogue drones can't match something with neurons behind the controls of a ship.

Although being Jovian or Sleeper in origin, the Drifters could just be robots based in wetware with an extremely advanced learning algorithm.

Humans must eventually break out from the limits of biology, its not radical to accept the inevitable.
Vollhov
Viziam
Amarr Empire
#11 - 2015-09-14 07:57:16 UTC  |  Edited by: Vollhov
Del.
Upon the request the working people.

End of Time. I'm not fanatic, I'm just a servant by Her Majesty the Empress Jamyl Sarum I. It's time to leave this world to me. YC111 to YC117.12.10 20:00
Skyweir Kinnison
Doomheim
#12 - 2015-09-14 08:54:37 UTC
Pure speculation, of course, but one wonders whether there may be a connection with the Jovian Disease. Perhaps the Drifters are the result of excessive genetic experimentation gone awry. If I were to experiment on the very fringes of science as the Jove may have done, I might be inclined to try to build a safeguard into the results, such as a finite lifespan.

Perhaps the Drifters seek less genetically ravaged bodies to obtain 'blueprints' so that they may return their genetic code to something approximating normal? Cloned humans would be a very good test bed because of their genetic consistency.

Humanity has won its battle. Liberty now has a country.
Corraidhin Farsaidh
Federal Navy Academy
Gallente Federation
#13 - 2015-09-14 11:03:54 UTC
Perhaps clones as engineered bodies are immune to whatever genetic problems ravage the Jove bodies
Sinjin Mokk
Ministry of War
Amarr Empire
#14 - 2015-09-14 12:15:09 UTC
Ferrucio Surge wrote:
Speaking in strategic terms, sure. But if I were them, I wouldn't be giving the people of New Eden a reason to salvage/revere-engineer my weapons and use them against me in self-defense :P



"But if I were them..."


Right there is perhaps the greatest mistake we're making. We're trying to figure their motives, needs and agendas based on our frame of reference. Truthfully, their agenda is probably something that seems very basic to them, but is exceedingly alien to us.

This goes a bit beyond thinking outside the box. We need to think outside the species.

"Angels live, they never die, Apart from us, behind the sky. They're fading souls who've turned to ice, So ashen white in paradise."
Arrendis
TK Corp
#15 - 2015-09-14 13:52:57 UTC
Ferrucio Surge wrote:
Speaking in strategic terms, sure. But if I were them, I wouldn't be giving the people of New Eden a reason to salvage/revere-engineer my weapons and use them against me in self-defense :P


We've already shown that we'll do exactly that without any aggressive moves on their part. When the Circadian Seekers first started showing up, they didn't shoot back. They scanned things, but they never initiated actual hostilities. Yet we've got Entosis Links. We didn't come up with the idea on our own, you know. We destroyed thousands of Seekers to get the Antikythera Elements. Unprovoked.

So who's using weapons in self-defense here?
Tyrel Toov
Non-Hostile Target
Wild Geese.
#16 - 2015-09-14 15:50:14 UTC
Arrendis wrote:
Ferrucio Surge wrote:
Speaking in strategic terms, sure. But if I were them, I wouldn't be giving the people of New Eden a reason to salvage/revere-engineer my weapons and use them against me in self-defense :P


We've already shown that we'll do exactly that without any aggressive moves on their part. When the Circadian Seekers first started showing up, they didn't shoot back. They scanned things, but they never initiated actual hostilities. Yet we've got Entosis Links. We didn't come up with the idea on our own, you know. We destroyed thousands of Seekers to get the Antikythera Elements. Unprovoked.

So who's using weapons in self-defense here?

I don't think the "but we fired the first shot" argument is a valid one anymore. They're shooting at us, and don't appear inclined to negotiate a cessation of hostility in the near future.

I want to paint my ship Periwinkle.
Deitra Vess
Non-Hostile Target
Wild Geese.
#17 - 2015-09-14 16:43:39 UTC
Arrendis wrote:
Ferrucio Surge wrote:
Speaking in strategic terms, sure. But if I were them, I wouldn't be giving the people of New Eden a reason to salvage/revere-engineer my weapons and use them against me in self-defense :P


We've already shown that we'll do exactly that without any aggressive moves on their part. When the Circadian Seekers first started showing up, they didn't shoot back. They scanned things, but they never initiated actual hostilities. Yet we've got Entosis Links. We didn't come up with the idea on our own, you know. We destroyed thousands of Seekers to get the Antikythera Elements. Unprovoked.

So who's using weapons in self-defense here?


Self defense is pretty subjective... We shot at them so they shot back. In the end were both defending ourselves, so really who cares who shot first or the reasonings behind them? Personally, unless I missed something they are shooting people who never shot them now. Were both fighting in self defense, I'd rather they lose the self defense fight instead of us, don't you agree?
Arrendis
TK Corp
#18 - 2015-09-14 16:45:32 UTC
Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying 'look at us, we're so terrible'. Did capsuleers fire the first shots? Probably. Does it matter? Nope.

Now, you might ask: Why not? Why, as a reasonably moral individual, do I feel it doesn't matter?

And really, the answer's pretty simple: Because it's me they're shooting at, so slag 'em.
Rauour Engil
Rabies Inc.
#19 - 2015-09-14 18:31:19 UTC
Ferrucio Surge wrote:
The Drifters, as we all know, are being incredibly silent of their intentions. We also seem to know very little of their origins. I would like to ask, as a starting question: If they are so advanced, and have been able to "possess" dead bodies belonging to humans, why couldn't they just clone their own bodies? And why do they need mortal bodies, to begin with?

One theory is that the drifters had been inhabiting the virtual substrates found embedded in the sleeper infrastructures, but have now decided, for whatever reason, they want/need to come back to the physical world. Perhaps destroying all those sleeper drones and structures turned us into their number one threat? Perhaps there are far more trans-human consciousnesses than available bodies, hence the 'harvest'. Perhaps consciousnesses can breed in virtual constructs and they've run out of physical housing?
Ferrucio Surge
The Bag Cartel
#20 - 2015-09-15 05:57:59 UTC  |  Edited by: Ferrucio Surge
Rauour Engil wrote:
Ferrucio Surge wrote:
The Drifters, as we all know, are being incredibly silent of their intentions. We also seem to know very little of their origins. I would like to ask, as a starting question: If they are so advanced, and have been able to "possess" dead bodies belonging to humans, why couldn't they just clone their own bodies? And why do they need mortal bodies, to begin with?

One theory is that the drifters had been inhabiting the virtual substrates found embedded in the sleeper infrastructures, but have now decided, for whatever reason, they want/need to come back to the physical world. Perhaps destroying all those sleeper drones and structures turned us into their number one threat? Perhaps there are far more trans-human consciousnesses than available bodies, hence the 'harvest'. Perhaps consciousnesses can breed in virtual constructs and they've run out of physical housing?


That's an interesting idea. Reminds me of a science fiction holoreel I once watched called "Ghost in the Shell".

Deitra Vess wrote:


Self defense is pretty subjective... We shot at them so they shot back. In the end were both defending ourselves, so really who cares who shot first or the reasonings behind them? Personally, unless I missed something they are shooting people who never shot them now. Were both fighting in self defense, I'd rather they lose the self defense fight instead of us, don't you agree?


If they didn't like us messing with the Sleepers in Wormhole space, I don't see why it wouldn't have been easier to just tell us instead of just lashing out. Of course, if that's really the reason behind their attacks upon us.
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