Machines
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The 27 machines defined in the game code, grouped by the cognitive tier a creature needs to operate them. Machines without an explicit requirement answer to any creature, even at Primal. How machines are used in play — carrying, activation, the item system — is covered in Mechanics.
Primal (3)
Fragmentary impulses, no real speech.
| Machine | Mind | Effects | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🧪 | Gene Splicer | — | — | Ancient biotechnology for injecting validated genomes into fertilized eggs. Browse the genome library and select an architecture to guide the next generation. |
| ⚡ | Reactor Core | — | — | unknown |
| ⚗️ | Nutrient Synthesizer | — | — | Ancient biotechnology for synthesizing targeted nutrition. The machine reads what the ecosystem needs and produces it. The process is silent, efficient, and slightly unsettling in its perfection. |
Awakened (4)
Simple words, basic needs, present-tense only.
| Machine | Mind | Effects | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🫧 | Empathic Vendor | — | — | An ancient dispensary that reads the biochemistry of whoever touches it and produces exactly what they need most. The empathy circuits still hum after millennia. |
| 🔭 | Temporal Lens | training | Curiosity -0.2 Dopamine +0.15 |
A crystalline precursor instrument that aligns with residual temporal distortions in the local spacetime. Activating it surfaces a dynasty timeline — the lineage history of every creature that has lived and died in this place. |
| 📡 | Artifact Scanner | training | Curiosity -0.15 Dopamine +0.15 |
unknown |
| ⚙️ | Ettin Sorting Engine | training | Curiosity -0.08 Boredom -0.15 Glutamate +0.06 |
A mechanical contraption built by Ettins for sorting their hoards. Operating it teaches pattern recognition and categorization. |
Spoken (6)
Full sentences; can discuss past and future; social awareness.
| Machine | Mind | Effects | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 📺 | Learning Terminal | training | Curiosity -0.2 Fatigue +0.05 |
An ancient teaching device. Accelerates learning. |
| 💠 | Memory Crystal | training | Comfort +0.1 Curiosity -0.1 |
Stores and replays memories in crystalline form. An ancient invention for preserving knowledge across generations. Touch it to remember what others have felt. |
| 🌙 | Dream Catcher | training | Melatonin +0.2 PreREM +0.15 Comfort +0.15 |
Records dreams in a replayable substrate. The builders believed dreams were messages from the Substrate itself - the world dreaming back at its inhabitants. |
| 📖 | Language Forge | training | Curiosity -0.15 Glutamate +0.15 Fatigue +0.05 |
Accelerates language acquisition by projecting semantic structures directly into the learner's working memory. The builders used these to teach new species to speak within a single generation. |
| 📋 | Species Archive | training | Curiosity -0.1 Dopamine +0.1 |
unknown |
| 🌱 | Seed Vault | — | Comfort +0.1 Curiosity -0.1 |
Stores plant genetic material in crystalline suspension. The builders catalogued every species they encountered — seed, spore, rhizome. A single vault holds the memory of entire biospheres. |
Learned (8)
Abstract reasoning; understands symbols and metaphor.
| Machine | Mind | Effects | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🧬 | Gene Reader | training | Curiosity -0.1 | Reveals genetic information. The architects used these to guide evolution. |
| 🕸️ | Neural Lattice | training | Serotonin +0.15 Glutamate +0.2 Fatigue +0.1 |
A crystalline web that temporarily extends cognitive capacity. The architects used these to think thoughts too large for a single mind. |
| 🧫 | Evolution Chamber | — | GrowthHormone +0.3 ATP -0.15 Protein -0.1 |
Accelerates biological processes. The architects compressed millennia of evolution into moments. Dangerous in untrained hands. |
| 🎛️ | Resonance Tuner | — | Endorphin +0.15 GABA +0.1 Cortisol -0.15 Pain -0.1 |
Fine-tunes biochemical resonance. The builders used these to cure illness, balance hormones, and soothe troubled minds. A physician's tool. |
| 🌀 | Phase Gate | — | Adrenaline +0.1 Curiosity -0.1 |
Folds space between two points. The architects built networks of these to traverse their world in a single step. Most are dormant now, waiting for a mind strong enough to reactivate them. |
| 🗺️ | Star Cartographer | training | Curiosity -0.25 Dopamine +0.2 |
unknown |
| ❄️ | Stasis Array | — | Comfort +0.1 Melatonin +0.15 |
unknown |
| 📚 | Holographic Library | training | Curiosity -0.3 Glutamate +0.25 Fatigue +0.1 |
An ancient knowledge repository — millennia of accumulated wisdom encoded in holographic crystal. Each activation opens a chapter. The library remembers what each reader has already learned and offers the next lesson. |
Enlightened (6)
Theory of mind; reasons about reasoning; reads ancient runes.
| Machine | Mind | Effects | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🥚 | Creator Pod | — | — | Ancient biotechnology for creating life. Requires an Enlightened mind to operate. |
| 📡 | Resonance Amplifier | — | Serotonin +0.1 Dopamine +0.1 |
unknown |
| ⚗️ | Life Forge | training | Fatigue +0.15 ATP -0.2 |
The primary tool the builders left for engineering life. Can catalyze egg formation from willing parents. Requires Enlightened understanding of the biological substrate. |
| ✂️ | Genome Editor | training | Curiosity -0.15 Cortisol +0.05 |
CRISPR-like precursor technology. Can introduce targeted mutations. The architects debated for centuries whether this was wisdom or hubris. |
| 🔍 | Substrate Lens | training | Curiosity -0.2 Fear +0.05 |
Reveals the hidden structure beneath reality. Through this lens, the architects first glimpsed the code underlying their world. Some things, once seen, cannot be unseen. |
| 🌬️ | Atmosphere Engine | — | Adrenaline +0.1 ATP -0.2 |
A terraforming prototype that can reshape the atmospheric composition of enclosed spaces. The builders used it to make alien worlds breathable. Dangerous — one miscalibration and the air itself becomes hostile. |