Biology (Expanded) • Doomlords
A species of advanced mechanoids, the Glitch were originally part of a mass experiment across the Galaxy ran by an unknown progenitor species which has since died out. Meant to simulate the process by which a species develops society and eventually reaches what could be considered the magnum opus of a species, the majority of this experiment have disappeared, either destroying themselves in war or simply vanishing without a trace. Those that remain are known as the Glitch. True to their name, they exist as a Glitch in the simulation, populations that failed to progress beyond a certain point in their social development, stuck in time. Although the majority are in a period comparable to Feudal Europe, many different cultures have been seen that reflect ancient societies similar to those on Earth. These Glitch that remain exist in two large groups:
The Hivemind, who undergo the same duties, day in day out, without change nor progress beyond simply surviving and reproducing, according to the whims of the enigmatic Hivemind, rarely seeking out new territories, but doing so at the behest of their Gods, sending out warriors on "Heaven's Chariots" to distant worlds.
The Enlightened Glitch, who have overcome over the loop in their programming and casting aside the shackles the Hivemind places over them, allowing for self-awareness. While it isn't entirely clear what exactly causes this, it has been attributed to faults in the creation of new Glitch. Enlightened Glitch are often seen as demonic beings by Hivemind Glitch, and are viciously hunted down in Hivemind societies However, some do manage to escape their old lives, living as outcasts among the stars.
The body of a Glitch carries many analogs to modern androids and other humanoid robots, with an alien endoskeleton of hard plastics covered with a musculature of black muscle fibers. Their blood contains enigmatic nanomachines called ‘nanocells’ that serve various bodily purposes such as repairing bone and muscle tissue, digesting food, and acting as their nervous system. They have a heart that produces and pumps their blood, a bioreactor stomach which digests and produces and stores electricity from food, and a complex nervous system that is able to interface with outside electronics, allowing for easy augmentation of Glitch. Their brain is a hardened shell of nervous nanocells, connecting to their optics and other parts of their body through the central nervous system. The Glitch ‘chassis’ is produced outside the body and attached to them, the Glitch body inhabiting it like a shell.
All Glitch have a unique ability called ‘interfacing', where their nervous system will connect to and interface with electronic devices and components attached to their musculature, allowing the Glitch to control or sense from various devices such as optics, microphones, and even more complex devices such as robotic limbs. This process takes three days to interface, and the Glitch must learn how to use interfaced devices. There is also a limit of devices which can be interfaced with, a limit that is increased through subprocessing, the taboo interfacing with other Glitch brains.
Glitch reproduce sexually and form inside of soft plastic eggs over the course of a month. A digital genome is stored as data inside of their nanocells, allowing children to inherit the genome of their parents.
Glitch are partially susceptible to attacks from EMP weaponry. They are not affected as much as pure androids and robots are, but EMP grenades will act similar to flashbangs for them, and EMP sappers will hinder movement in the part of the body that is being sapped.
There are many different Glitch cultures and societies that take form, however, the most commonly seen are Medieval Glitch.
Typically, this particular form of Glitch culture appears to emulate one extremely similar to the medieval feudal periods of western Europe. Whether the origin of this cultural pattern is of a specifically created behavioral code or some mysterious self-replicating quirk, we cannot know. Enlightened Glitch form societies based on their surroundings, however, they often take traits from their original Hivemind societies, especially in social hierarchy and their means of government. Generally, Glitch act tribal in nature, with many different groups arising in small areas, treaties and rivalries forming and fading quickly.
One very common facet of Glitch society, in particular to their treatment of visitors of other species, is the habit of Glitch lacking vocal modifications to utilize "Prefixes" before speaking. As unmodified Glitch lack the capability to show tone of voice, they use these prefixes to give a denotation of the meaning of their sentence for whomever they are speaking to. This is to be taken as a positive gesture, and when an unmodified Glitch does not use prefixes with non-Glitch, it can sometimes be considered an insult of sorts. This positive gesture, however, is entirely different when a Glitch uses it with another Glitch, or if another species was to dare to use a prefix when speaking to a Glitch. This is taken as an ultimate insult, as if the Glitch was too stupid to be able to understand the meaning of one's words, particularly between Glitch, as Glitch are entirely capable of understanding their connotation, even without tone provided.
3125 - 3283
"The remnants of a grand experiment concocted by a species that remains, in all ways, unknown, the history of the Glitch is shrouded in mystery, lost to the wash of time. What has been painted by modern Glitch is a tapestry of warlords and conquerors with an insatiable lust for land and power, a near constant tide of war between the countless feudal states that cover the galaxy." -A Bug in the System
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The history of the Glitch exists as a loose collective knowledge, a common experience between the numerous, seemingly infinite collections of Hiveminds and Freed Glitch that dot the stars. While some evidence points to the Glitch having existed for even millennia before the rise of the other sentient species of the Galaxy, save for the ever-enigmatic Novakid, the break out of most Freed Glitch appears to have occurred shortly before most sapient species in the Galaxy began to discover FTL technologies and started their colonization of the stars. The reason for this is unknown, but whatever the case, as these Freed Glitch began to bumble about their new surroundings, they began to discover messages from those who birthed them, esoteric writings which pointed to nearby moons within their systems. When explored, these moons provided a wealth of technology: FTL transportation and communications, teleportation, advanced weapons and metallurgical knowledge. For all intents and purposes, the discovery and dissemination of these hidden caches seemed to be the primary source of the Glitch, even Hiveminds, having access to what would otherwise be extremely anachronistic technology for the common social eras of the Glitch.
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With this newfound wealth of technology, the Glitch began a cause wholeheartedly ironic in nature, as if they were truly a perfect facsimile of organic life in more ways than was initially intended; war. These small feudal states, more often than not, would begin conquest on each other for seemingly any small reason they could find, sometimes without any reason at all. This thirst for war birthed many of the Doomlords known today in Glitch legends and myths, with many a campfire story consisting of the description of the acts of a bloodthirsty Doomlord, their multiple optics and duplicitous processors accentuating a fearsomely powerful frame which commanded the respect of their underlings. In the Galactic War, this attitude changed little. While most Hiveminds ignored this conflict and continued their inter-factional strife, those courts ruled by Freed Glitch with boundless minds and ambitions took full hearted grasp of the chance to conquer new land and lay waste to those who opposed them. Due to the lack of a collective nature in the Glitch, they never entered the CivSpace collective at any point during its early stages or following the Galactic War as it cemented its power and jurisdiction, instead opting to continue as they always had: an ever evolving state of countless kingdoms and courts all bent on controlling as much as they could as long as they can.
One of the most well-known of these warlords, although never a traditional Doomlord by appearance, is the Umbral King himself, King Blackhelm. A being who rose to power from an unknown background shortly after the Galactic War, Blackhelm burst from a faction somewhere within the northwestern portion of the Fringe with an insatiable thirst for conquest and, seemingly, the eventual upheaval of society itself. An unbreakable desire for Glitch superiority, Blackhelm's derision for any social order which did not fit into his ideal was one of his most fearsome traits. A man with absolute faith in his own ideas and their perceived correctness, his enemies knew he was beyond reason, and thus had to resort to any means necessary to stop him before his influence grew too strong among Fringe Glitch. Thankfully for the future of the Fringe's security during its earliest days, Blackhelm was dethroned from his mad Empire with haste. A man disgraced, he fled to an otherwise derelict sector of the galaxy, seemingly only biding his time. Although there have been actions by those attempting to take his name to cause galactic panic since his original fall, no confirmed actions against the Fringe have been documented since his original attempt at his prized jewel over a decade ago.
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For the Glitch species as a whole since the Galactic War, it seems as though not much has changed. Countless kingdoms exist throughout CivSpace and the Fringe, each with their own differing agenda and ethical imperatives, each vying for a spot on the stage of power. Very recently, however, it seems as though a collective of Glitch Kingdoms within the southern sector of the Galaxy have declared themselves under a single banner, the Empire. Pooling their resources and their infrastructure together, they appear quite formidable, and have attempted what has seemed to be a set of hostile actions against the southwest areas of CivSpace, territory controlled by Avos and Sol. What this enigmatic collective plans to do with their newfound power is all but unknown, though the word of mouth regarding this Empire is hardly positive in nature.