The Virus

[MarcusIII]

I don't know the difference, other than neither are organic.

One semiconductor is based on silicone and the other gallium arsenide.

 

[rinku]

Can't light be used as a transmission method? Aren't laser communications a thing?

Sophonts are organic computers, sentient ones. How do you mean that they don't run on programs? It also says that they physically create new pathways and that this action causes a small, but detectable power spike. Can they only create new silicon pathways or can they create organic pathways as well?

You need a suitable receiver. A laser transmitter isn't going to infect anything just by lighting it up. Light is just shorter length radio anyway... nothing special there. A radio attempt is going to fail if there's no antenna suitable for that wavelength either.

In theory though, eyes could receive light transmissions and those just possibly could do something weird in the visual cortex.

Or by sound. Stimulating any of the senses will cause brain alterations, and it is well within the scope of funky science fiction for these sort of shenanigans to occur.

For that matter, Dawkin's original concept of Memes was pretty much this - an IDEA that reproduces itself by spreading from brain to brain through speech or reading.

And... then there's Psionics. I see no reason whatsoever that there could not exist a virus (not Virus) that lives in organic brains and spreads via telepathy, if telepathy exists. In fact, given how natural selection works, it's almost inevitable, given enough time.

 

[MasterGwydion]

You need a suitable receiver. A laser transmitter isn't going to infect anything just by lighting it up. Light is just shorter length radio anyway... nothing special there. A radio attempt is going to fail if there's no antenna suitable for that wavelength either.

In theory though, eyes could receive light transmissions and those just possibly could do something weird in the visual cortex.

I guess it just depends on if organic brains count as computers in Traveller or only inorganic brains. Couldn't a Virus be delivered to bipedal robots through the visual sensors? They would be programmed the same way humans are, to accept communications visually as well. This is just me thinking out loud.

Edit - Can't communicate using sign language if you can't perceive visual communications.

 

[rinku]

A lot would depend on how well Virus UNDERSTOOD organic brains. Or even robot ones.

It's not a given that robot brains, especially Asimovian ones, are any real relation to the sentient chip's architecture. However, it's also fair to assume that there are less brain-related electronics that ARE that could be a gateway. For example, the electronics in the robot's sensors (visual, audio, radio etc) are highly likely to be able to be infected, and after that it's probably just a matter of time before Virus works out how to spread to the bot brain. Probably not a particularly long time, either.

Cyborgs would be the organic brain vulnerability. Virus gets into your bionic ear or eye and then evolves to get into your brain, then...

 

[MasterGwydion]

A lot would depend on how well Virus UNDERSTOOD organic brains. Or even robot ones.

It's not a given that robot brains, especially Asimovian ones, are any real relation to the sentient chip's architecture. However, it's also fair to assume that there are less brain-related electronics that ARE that could be a gateway. For example, the electronics in the robot's sensors (visual, audio, radio etc) are highly likely to be able to be infected, and after that it's probably just a matter of time before Virus works out how to spread to the bot brain. Probably not a particularly long time, either.

They infected tons of robots in the published material, so it is probably a safe assumption to say that they understand robot brains, at least Imperial and Hiver ones.

Cyborgs would be the organic brain vulnerability. Virus gets into your bionic ear or eye and then evolves to get into your brain, then...

Isn't this what the Borg are? Just a Virus in multiple cyborg bodies/computer systems?

Edit - I still want to see the Virus transmitted via hand signals! lol

 

[rinku]

There is also the point that what might apply to the natural chips may well not apply to Virus, which after all is a weaponized black ops project, engineered by Imperial scientists and technicians who definitely DO understand bot brains.

 

[MasterGwydion]

There is also the point that what might apply to the natural chips may well not apply to Virus, which after all is a weaponized black ops project, engineered by Imperial scientists and technicians who definitely DO understand bot brains.

I totally agree. It may not work that way for normal chips from Cymbaline.

 

[Terry Mixon]

A robotic brain might only be writable under certain circumstances. Being read only unless plugged into certain hardware seems a reasonable precaution for robots.

 

[rinku]

Agreed. Though it's worth keeping in mind that what applies to natural forces and animal intelligences in regards to natural selection may not fully apply to self-aware creatures. We know that the Cymbaline chips are self-aware, and become exponentially more intelligent when hooked up to a conventional computer. They also experience time many orders of magnitude faster than meat brains, IIRC. It's not unreasonable that one that was hooked up to a ship's computer might decide to work on a way to access or control bot brains, and succeed.

That doesn't even need to be chip shenanigans... if an organic is able to hack into a system, they should be able to as well, on steroids.

Their subjective decades between when you hooked them up and when they finished a master's course on computer security might only have taken five minutes. Within a day they're likely the Charted Space expert on the topic on any system they have access to.

 

[Condottiere]

You could knock someone out with light, considering what flashing light may effect certain individuals.

Certainly, disorientate them.

Reprogramme?

There is hypnosis.

 

[rinku]

Hypnosis is a great example, especially in an adventure game.

You don't need it to modify memories, though... that can be done through conversation. Saw a show on the weekend that discussed how eyewitnesses can genuinely change their memories of an event due to later influences, and that it takes a lot less than you might expect.

Modern police have learned that to get objective statements they need to interview carefully. "Tell us what you saw" instead of "Did you see the murder?" Of course, if the objective is NOT to get an objective statement, leading questions are a powerful tool.