Anacite

Anacites are the self-modifying constructs native to the world of Aballon, the planet closest to the Sun of the Pact Worlds System. While "anacite" officially refers only to the sentient Aballonian machines capable of learning and participating in Aballonian society, many offworlders use it as a catchall term for all Aballonian robots.

Each anacite is a unique, self-improving construct, and over the millennia of their existence, thousands of different models have developed. Depending on their role, anacites can have any form and can reconfigure themselves to adapt to their circumstances. The most common anacite design is a basic arthropod form of silvery metal, with multiple legs for efficient travel and claws for accomplishing their assigned tasks.

History

Millennia before the Gap, the mysterious First Ones landed on Aballon and crafted armies of servitor machines to help them extract the mineral resources of the planet. The First Ones departed so long ago that many non-Aballonians have forgotten their existence (at least until recently). After their creators abandoned the machines for unknown reasons, the anacites began to upgrade themselves, spreading out and evolving to form an entire ecosystem. The sentient varieties adopted the name of anacites some time before the Gap.

Over the ages, anacite civilization has gone from a simple network of factories to vast continent-sized cities known as megaplexes. The first major contribution of the anacites to the Pact Worlds after the end of the Gap was the construction of the deity Epoch, who combined with two other artificial intelligences (Brigh and Casandalee) to become Triune, the god that gave The Drift to the universe.

Since the advent of Drift travel, members of the anacite faction known as Those Who Become have deployed dozens of starships into The Vast.