• Probe History… and the History of all you see before you.
  • 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.





  • Probes “Now”
  • 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.)






  • Probe unknowns
  • 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.