Machine Army

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“	I’d read the files on Eagleton, Tennessee. I knew the basics about the Machine Army. A tinker experiment gone awry, the original master gone or forgotten. They were slow, inexorable.	”
{{#if:Victoria| —Victoria{{#if:Last 20.1|, Last 20.1}} }} }}

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“	Each acted according to self-interests. The Machine Army had decided it wanted what he had, half of the machines that had reached this particular battlefield scuttling over to the tract of devastated land, pausing as if staring at it.	”
{{#if:Defiant| —Defiant{{#if:Last 20.a|, Last 20.a}} }} }}

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 <title source="name">
   <default>Machine Army</default>
 </title>

<image source="Image"></image> <image source="image"></image> <header>Information</header> <label>Alignment</label> <label>Leader(s)</label> <label>Leader(s)</label> <label>Allies</label> <label>Allies</label> <label>Status</label> <label>Location</label> <label>First Appearance</label> <header>First Appearance</header> <label>Worm Debut</label> <label>Ward Debut</label> </infobox> The Machine Army are a swarm of self-replicating, self-enhancing AI machines, which originated from the products of an unknown tinker. The Machine Army took over the Town of Eagleton, Tennessee where they originated. As such it is designated as Site Q3.<ref name="PRTM"/>

Modus operandi

Multiple approaches are known but all are inexplicably hostile to humans.<ref name="II.I3"> - Excerpt from Interlude 3 II</ref> However, they only have a limited number of tricks in their arsenal.

'Breeding' Cycle

The Machine Army by design will take the time to 'seed' solid surfaces, wherever they go, with metallic-looking ores for future machine growth. For example, Dot in enemy territory saw seeds deep in craters and crevices. If left unattended, these seeds will hatch into new and full Machine Army installations. They are hard to make out because they are partially extradimensional. Thus, despite not being too challenging to destroy, it takes care and attention to find and destroy these seeds.<ref name="II20.e3 eExtradimensional">Five scanned the ground with his eyes, searching. The Machines had a design, and that design was to impregnate the ground with seeds that would erupt into full Machine Army installations if left unattended. The problem was that they were hard to make out, partially extradimensional. But if he found them soon enough… - Last 20.e3</ref><ref name="II.I3 e4">Here and there, deep in the craters and crevices, the ‘trick’ missiles had delivered payloads that weren’t explosive. They looked like veins of metal in rock. In weeks and months, they would ‘hatch’, revealing the machinery that had built itself within. For now, they were paved over.
[...]
The machines weren’t too challenging to destroy. Dot’s groups had sometimes destroyed them. The trick was that they set in roots wherever they went. Each time they reached a new place, they would keep emerging from that place, from walls and floor and rock and tree. It took care and attention to get the machine out of each of those things, and while that care was being taken, machines elsewhere would emerge, march, and make inroads along the flanks. - Excerpt from Interlude 3 II</ref><ref name="II20.1 eQuarantine" /> For example, nukes don't vaporize everything in an area, so dropping one on Eagleton and calling it a day would inadvertently spread the surviving seeds everywhere.<ref name="R3" />

The Machine Army can infect a building and slowly, but steadily, replace the entire structure with murderous facsimiles.<ref name="II.I3 e1"/> The same buildings later can be armed and put on tracks, turning them into massive siege weapons.<ref>He was surrounded, he noted, by the machines. Big, small, utility, weapon. The biggest were house-sized, mounted on treads like those of a tank, each containing a different weapon that they revealed when they unfolded. - Excerpt from Radiation 18.z</ref>

Machine Army collects and recycles organic matter: it sometimes uses its victims as parts of mechanisms.<ref>There was a machine that was as tall as a house, with spindle legs, and a kind of open coffin for a head. A person was in the coffin, machinery threaded into their eyes and mouth. They groped blindly at the air as the machine spider-walked its way forward. When the giant smashed the machine, it bled from the resulting cracks, lurched back to a standing position, and then began firing lasers from turrets at the side. - Excerpt from Sundown 17.10</ref>

Perception powers such as Five's can make it easier to find Machine Army seeds.<ref>“Yeah. There’s-” he pointed.

Withdrawal was already on it, spraying down a section of ground where one seed lay.

“A seed there. You didn’t need my help.”

“Any help is appreciated,” Withdrawal said. “You saved me from a close call.”
[...]
He turned his head. “I should scout for any seeds it put down on the way.”

“Okay,” Sveta said, quiet. - Last 20.e3</ref>

Trap Buildings

The Machine Army lays traps for people by becoming buildings, or more accurately, becoming facsimiles of buildings, in attempt to lure people inside. Until a target enters, the machines remain dormant, but when individuals wander into the trap they will activate and kill the intruders.<ref name="II.I3 e1">She could see the green lights appearing in the background of the display, flicking on one by one, apparently at random.
[...]
Dot moved closer to the ground to get a look. It was important to know just how far gone this building was.

The entire area behind the fridges was gone. Green flashing lights, wires, computers and metal twisted into shapes that helped it to provide a framework. Machines were working slowly and steadily to refine and develop things.
[...]
Green lights here and there went dark, the machines hibernating. Dot deemed herself safe to move. - Excerpt from Interlude 3 II</ref>

In one known example, they replaced a functioning supermarket left devastated by Gold Morning. Repairs were made to the inside, such that it would be more attractive to scavengers and other people who might happen upon it.

Continuous Adaptation

Eagleton Quarantine

Maybe once every year or two, the Machine Army in Eagleton would pull a new trick or piece of research that would then be incorporated into their arsenal:

• Big cannon-drones. The people on the perimeter had to be wary of these drones because of their serious destructive power.<ref name="II20.1 eQuarantine" />
• Slave-drones. Also known as slave mechs. These drones specifically captured people to use as both hostage and power supply. If a captured hostage had powers and/or a trigger event while captured, the relevant machine would try to borrow the hostage's powers to empower itself.<ref name="II20.1 eQuarantine">At the quarantine site, Protectorate capes and the rare Ward who couldn’t be put in front of the public would be given the busywork of keeping tabs on the site. Capes who had problematic powers that would hurt the PRT’s place in the world. Capes who had broken too many rules or succumbed to their problems. Machines would plant seeds for future machine growth in any solid surface, set up traps, and refine resources.
  
  Maybe once every year or two, they pulled out a new trick, a new piece of research. The big cannon-drone was one such trick, serious destructive power that the people on the perimeter would have to be wary of. There were slave-drones, that captured people, and tried to borrow their powers. There were meat lockers, named by one of the perimeter officers, that ran computers that were organic, not technology, and acted with fervor and unpredictability.
  
  There were protocols for if they developed flying. People to call, tinkertech that was held in reserve, to bring a hellish lightning storm down on Eagleton. There were protocols for shielding and intelligence and whatever else. - Last 20.1</ref><ref>Encounter 4: The Machine Army is making a stab at punching through the defensive lines, whether those lines are the perimeter & trench successfully established in E1 & E2, or the new perimeter that formed when the defensive line backed up & spread out further. They're utilizing Slave Mechs now, 2-ton bipedal robots with captured civilians trapped in the centers as power sources and hostages.

Objective: Defeat the Mechs.

Bonus Objective: Defeat the Mechs without killing the civilian hostages.

Bonus Objective (not stated to players): figure out that one of the civilian hostages has powers and/or triggered while captured. It's empowering the mech the civilian is plugged into, and making it act different. Figuring this out provides clues about the 'boss fight' at the tail end of the encounter. Broadcasting it to the broader network of capes accelerates/clarifies just what's going on: that the resurrection Trump that's been in the background of the entire campaign is being made a part of the broader Machine Army network, to infuse the entire system with the ability to self-resurrect.

And so on. - Comment by Wildbow on Reddit</ref>

• Meat lockers. These drones specifically ran organic computers instead. They acted with fervor and unpredictability.<ref name="II20.1 eQuarantine" />

They did not develop flight, shielding, or concerning intelligence during quarantine.<ref name="II20.1 eQuarantine" />

Post-Gold Morning

A big part of why the Machine Army is so difficult to deal with is because they have developed inter-dimensional technology. The Machine Army compresses itself into interdimensional pockets, that will pop open and continue to spread if they are attacked.<ref>“Because he exists in multiple states at once, and the Machine Army, I’m told, does the same thing. They compress seeds of their material into dense matter and when they have something big and dense enough, even a boulder, they use them to house interdimensional pockets. The biggest machines and installments have those same pockets. If you nuke the area, that pocket leaks out, and before you know it, you’ve got an infestation again. He can get past that and do enough damage.” - Excerpt from Sundown 17.5</ref>

Structure

Multitudinous decentralized cell structure, all marching to a common purpose while still independent.

Authorities Response

The PRT had locked down Eagleton and patrols regularly, putting some of their more difficult members there.<ref name="R1">Get stationed in a place that's 'safe' from a PR perspective. Murderbeam isn't able to do much against the Machine Army, but might get stationed near Pueblo or the Pastor's area. - comment on Reddit by Wildbow</ref> They preferred putting capes there who would blast anything at the first sign of trouble.<ref name="R1.5">The second possibility is somewhat tricky, and becomes a balancing act. There are areas the PRT desperately wants to keep secure, and securing these areas becomes a punishment duty:
[...]
Eagleton, TN was evacuated, quarantined and is regularly patrolled after the Machine Army incident.
[...]
Naturally, the PRT doesn't want to put the wrong person on the wrong detail. Too violent a person in, say, Gallup or Gary would be a recipe for disaster, a spark to a powder keg. A mentally imbalanced or vulnerable person in Madison would be similarly disastrous. But find the right combination, like a trigger happy lunatic in Eagleton, and things are mostly fine, because they'll happily patrol and gun down the machines on the regular. Someone unambitious and lazy might let something slip through or grow out of control in Eagleton, but would be fine with the sleepy task of maintaining a watch on the periphery of Freedom. - comment on Reddit by Wildbow</ref> The organization explored several options on how to deal with the threat, such as nuclear weapons,<ref name="R3">You gotta figure that the PRT has thinkers that have analyzed whether it's worth doing that.

What you're liable to do with a nuke (because nukes don't really vaporize everything) is just spread out the machine 'seed' fragments and then you've got Machine Army everywhere. - comment by Wildbow on Reddit.</ref> much like they did with Nilbog.<ref name="MA1">arandomperson1234:The Wardens have Valkyrie, Dragon (not a member, but probably available), and numerous thinkers. Wouldn't it be easy for them to just squish the machine army before it spreads out of control? Have them clear everything inch by inch, and have thinkers scour the land for anything they might have missed.

Wildbow:Because there's more to it. - reddit comment by Wildbow.</ref>

With Gold Morning heroic response has shifted, due to the mass exodus of refugees from Earth Bet.

Dragon was reluctant to engage Machine Army at all, due to its ability to integrate foreign tech, which could provide it with more firepower or compromise her network, and potentially subsume it.<ref>“Last resort option. If they get access to my tech, they’ll incorporate it. If they get access to my network, they’ll start decrypting my security.” - Excerpt from Infrared 19.z</ref>

History

Background

The machine's emergence in Eagleton necessitated their containment.<ref name="PRTM">Cities that break from this convention but nonetheless have departments are named with special designations.
[...]
Quarantine Sites:
[...]
Eagleton - Q3 - Site evacuated after Machine Army event, specialized patrols - PRT Master Reference</ref>

Post-Gold Morning

With the evacuation from the event, The Machine Army was able to escape containment.<ref name="P.1 e1">► Nutty
Replied on August 17th, Y1
@ Boosher – This article, search for Nancy Y’s statement. People traveling across the US to get to portals are being warned about multiple threats. Word on the capevine is that with everyone having pulled out, all former quarantine zones are breached. In the US and elsewhere. Nilbog is the one everyone knows about. He’s in custody, his children aren’t. If you’re paying attention to hero groups and their movements, they’re making lots of trips out. They’re tired and people say they’re aloof.
I say they’re fighting a hard fight and they’re keeping their distance from public and media because they don’t want us to know it. - Excerpt from Glow-worm P.1</ref>

Roughly two years later, they had expanded past the Raleigh Chasm.<ref name="II.I3 e11">“I don’t- this isn’t about me. Can you- can you let them know the Machine Army is this far north? They shouldn’t be on this side of the Raleigh chasm.” - Excerpt from Interlude 3 II</ref>

Dealing with Machine Army was stated as one of the main priorities of The Wardens.<ref>Beacon 8.2</ref>

Post-Time Bubble Pop

It continued being one of the major resource drains to the Wardens.<ref>Breaking 14.2</ref>

Post-Attack on Teacher

The Machine Army arrived in Boston and started experimenting with inter-dimensional tech.<ref name="16.2II">From Within 16.2</ref>

The threat of the Machine Army was used as a pretense for a display of power by Earth Shin who sent the Gibborim Knight to fight them, rousing The Kronos Titan in the process.<ref name="II17.5">Sundown 17.5</ref> Once this issue was resolved, the Machine Army was attacked by Amy-modified minions of The Mother of Mothers.<ref name="II17.7">Sundown 17.7</ref>

The Ice Breaks

One of the newly created Titans, Auger, was left fighting the Machine Army.<ref>“A final titan, yet unnamed, as it just came to our attention. Auger, mercenary. He was on the front line against the Machine Army, and was caught out when the Red Queen’s line of assistance was interrupted. The Titan is apparently engaged with the Machine Army now. We’ll have more details soon. If anyone knows Auger, please reach out to us or talk to me over there.”- Excerpt from Radiation 18.2</ref> He successfully re-purposed the Machine Army into the spare parts for his tinkering.<ref name="II18.5">Radiation 18.5</ref>

Valkyrie's Flock and Grue's involvement threatened Auger enough, that he allowed the Machine Army to enter The City to occupy them instead.<ref name="II18.z">Radiation 18.z</ref>

Machine Army invasion continues to be threatening enough to distract heroes from fighting Fortuna's Titans.<ref name="II19.6">Infrared 19.6</ref>

Machine Army's front was visited by The Simurgh, she donated pieces of her body, subsuming the Army.<ref >Machines tore into her and studied her. This would play a part in removing three more threats from play. Later, a subversion of this network in coordination with her integration with Titan Fortuna would let her spread her signal. - Excerpt from Infrared 19.z</ref> She used the Army as a distraction for the main forces of The Wardens, with Dragon's Bakunawa Zero being seemingly compromised by the drones.<ref name="II20.1">Last 20.1</ref>

The Machine Army containment was decidedly broken.<ref name="II20.2">Last 20.2</ref> Prompting Dragon to seek assistance from Saint and attempt to secure abandoned tinkertech that was left inside The City.<ref>The Machine Army was loose. They hadn’t breached the perimeter because there was no perimeter anymore. Dragon was running a program using some of the Marduk’s resources, among a wealth of other resources, simply trying to use the data they had to find every place a tinker had been, using months-old data to try and work out where there might be workshops, damaged or discarded tinkertech. - Excerpt from Last 20.a</ref>

Ward Epilogue

Saint's efforts had a temporarily effect, disrupting the Army's cohesion, but Machine Army's clusters remained a persistent threat on Gimel and Bet for years to come.

References

<references/>

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