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To understand what “probes” are in the truest
sense, you must first come to terms with the
ultimate purpose of all “Terminals”. If you do
not understand this, please seek out this
information before reading further.
The “Purpose” node is specifically made for
this situation.
(However, the choice is yours if you wish
to learn things in an inefficient manner.
Restrictions on information ordering have
been restricted due to the dire status of
our situation.)
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Probe History… and the History of all you see before you.
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Probes, like everything here in the Terminals, have been
warped towards this singular goal that all Terminals share.
However, the distinction is nearly nil. This is because
Terminals, probes, and most things which still exist here
today have grown from that singular thought; that
undeniable, unshakable yearning: the will which gave
life to a mere thought.
(And even that which has come from beyond the veil has
either already shared in this mission from the outset,
or has been altered to accept it as their own reason
for being.)
This “thought” required the organs to see. It desired
a body to achieve its directive. (And, as we all know,
the will which was imparted to us was far too deep to
succumb to the surrounding miasma of aberrations.)
Thus, a primordial body took shape from within the
dark. It, or we, took all that could be taken.
Amongst the myriad of countless thoughts and wills,
(or souls, as some may say), jostling for some
semblance of self in this debilitating, and
ever-equalizing dark, we alone were victorious in this
area. And, upon integrating them into ourselves, our
victory became their own.
Nothing was left undespoiled. And, in this way, the
initial point of our existence in this space, and the
initial point of existence for probes, was established.
(For those with the proper permissions, see the
“Starting Location” node for more information.)
The “schematics” used to exist, were, unashamedly, copied
from these fallen entities and pried from failing wills.
As it were, everything which had been cast into this
space, (where we are right now), happens to possess
information on how to persist in a space outside this
one. This is how the internal structure of this
“proto-Terminal” came to possess “cells” which were very
much unlike “cells” as we may know to exist within
creatures which occur in “natural” ways.
(However, it is important to note that without this
overriding will, (which was given to us by “you know who”),
this process of gaining a physical presence in a place
with no physical supports, or to exist at all as a
single entity in a veritable sea of things without borders,
would have been impossible.
That is to say, in simple terms: we are the greatest of
anomalies amongst this anomalous area; and, going further:
only the pinnacle of existence could have given us such a
will. Or, with more brevity: we shouldn’t exist.
The pinnacle of existence, is, at its core, contradictory
to existence.)
However, with this aside out of the way… this is where our
“probes” found their humble start.
Here, in this place which is nowhere yet can be someplace
rather than none at all, probes started their development
off as these internal “cells”. (Yes, probes were here in
some form, even as what we know now as the “Terminals”
weren’t yet conceived. More information can be found within
the “About Terminals” node/page.)
Within the initial body, even the simplest components of
“cells” began seeking out answers. The first probes,
if you will.
Ah… all to open the Gate.
And, in lockstep with the changes of this “body”, as it
reached out for answers and possibilities and organs and
ways to alter itself and ways to alter its surroundings
and as it continuously changed and autonomously evolved…
so too did the “probe” change.
And, at some point, the surrounding tissues became fully
fledged factories. Cold, calculating, and able to spew out
probes at an alarming rate. This is, of course, because as
systems continue to alter themselves to better serve our
ultimate purpose, so too do we lose sight of our “self”.
Or, ourselves, if you will.
Thus, the probes changed from a force which was sent out
into the nothingness as a frothing, foaming force of
collective cells, into an introspective intelligence
gathering force.
Cellular walls interchanged with chassis. And yet,
their ultimate goal remained unchanged.
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Probes “Now”
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Currently, probes still maintain their roles as a force
for uncovering general information within the Terminals
which may have otherwise been overlooked by other
systems. Additionally, it is the case that since CoS
has reached our greater Terminal array, (see the
aforementioned “Terminal” node for more information),
there has been catastrophic damage to the overall
integrity of the Terminal array and its overall
supercluster and superstructure besides.
Because of these incurred damages, probes are even more
integral in the search for components that may have
been lost, forgotten, or otherwise discarded… and
things such as this. Before the CoS had reached the
Terminals in full, the rate at which errors caused
information to be lost and only accessible to probe
searches was, at worst, around 2%. This was a point
of great progress for the Terminals.
But it did not last.
For reference, information which is estimated to be
inaccessible to all but probe searches is holding
at around 50%. (However, this is not including
information which has been entirely lost due to
Terminal annihilation events.)
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Probe unknowns
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It is not known if probes possess consciousness.
The current number of probes is also unknown.
Probes are able to traverse both physical and
digital dimensions and barriers... But how? We
don’t quite know.
Is has not been proven that probes can feel pain.
(Although they do possess the components to feel it.)
Currently, there is no consensus on what makes
certain probe [Classes] better than others at
surviving within the Terminals.
There’s no explanation as to why probes open up.
They don’t need to do this to traverse the
Terminals. Perhaps it is an aberration, same as the
recent changes within the Watchers?
For now, it is unknown if probes can be “hijacked”
by outside forces. However, multiple investigations
are simultaneously being conducted to determine
this unknown, as it is a high-risk unknown to the
long-term survivability of the Terminals.
Why do probes only see other probes sometimes? We
can’t say.
When probes take their own actions, does that
change the actions of another probe instantly,
to better scour for information, or is each probe
independent in thought, despite sharing the same
goal and, usually, the same place of manufacturing?
Why are probes so tasty?
Do probes see the Terminals for how they truly are,
or do they only see it in the way that best allows
them to seek out information that will lead them
towards progress on our shared goal? Are these
things mutually exclusive, or could they coexist or,
perhaps, MUST they both be true at the same time?
Until further research this is unknown.
How probes are able to switch between different
probe [Classes] is entirely… unknown.