Telepaths and the Shadows.

[DanteC]

This has just started to bug me, so I'll ask people who have a good chance of knowing. I know the Shadows have problems dealing with telepathy, so why do they use telepaths? If they screw up the signals of their technology, why did they form alliances with Psi-Corp and inplant telepaths into their ships?

Probably a stupid question but I've no idea what the answer is.

 

[Waylander.]

It is a long time since I saw season four but I think it is related to control : their living ships need telepathic energy to control them but I thnik that does noet affect them when it is used like this...

 

[Tegman]

They use living beings as CPUs in their ships (and other constructions) and have a vulnerability vs telepathy.
IIRC, they wanted telepaths in their ships because one telepath can block another one. So, by using telepaths as CPUs, they could then block other telepaths that were trying to jam them.

 

[migutse]

Anna Sheridan was inside a shadow ship and she wasn't a telepath, so the ships clearly do not need telepaths. I think that what Tegman says is true, they used telepaths to block other telepaths.

 

[lastbesthope]

Shadows use living beings as CPUs for their shadow ships. These need not be telepaths. However, these CPUs, like any living being, are susceptible to intergerence by telepaths.

So the idea the Shadows had of using teeps and strong teeps at that as CPUs in their ships was that a strong teep could withstand and block the attempts at telepathic disruption, allowing the Shadow vessel to continue about it's evildoing!

LBH

 

[Traveller-61]

So the idea the Shadows had of using teeps and strong teeps at that as CPUs in their ships was that a strong teep could withstand and block the attempts at telepathic disruption, allowing the Shadow vessel to continue about it's evildoing!

LBH

Hence Bester describing the cargo of blips as "Weapon components" before he found out what they were.

DW

 

[lastbesthope]

Exactly!

LBH

 

[DanteC]

Thanks everyone for the responce.

 

[lastbesthope]

Most welcome.

LBH

 

[Hellhawk]

This is described in more detail in the third Technomage novel, where we actually SEE a telepath being used as a Shadow ship CPU, for exactly the reasons mentioned.

Rainer

 

[Celisasu]

allowing the Shadow vessel to continue about it's evildoing!

Just because you caused deaths of hundreds of billions and millenia of warfare and nearly exterminated all the races in the galaxy doesn't make you evil.


It was just a small misunderstanding. Someone told the Shadows "We come in peace". Unfortunately "peace" in Shadow means "Tie your genitals into knots". [/quote]

 

[dorward]

As for the other half of the question (forming an alliance with the Psi Corps), not only would this give them a supply of telepaths but if the Shadows are in control of most human telepaths then they can't be used against the Shadows.

 

[aelius]

And it also makes Psi Corps more evil. Not that they need the help :wink:
A fellow gamer read the Psi Corps book. He is generally considered to be the sneakiest and most underhanded in the group. Before he read the book he thought of evil sneaky things the Psi Corps could be doing. He was most gatified to find that the author had lived up to his expectations. Gotta love the Corps!