Notes On the Genetic Machines From the FutureThis is a listing of some, but not all, of the genetic machines brought back from a future where genetics and nano-technology have combined to create a sustainable Eden. The motif of this technology is plant-life, specifically the flower and it's creators were far removed from their industrial past when nano-genetic warfare destroyed not only the people but all animal based life and technology upon the face of planet earth. Charlotte has brought back a scattering of their self replicating ruins focusing mostly on certain larger structures, but getting other things caught up in the flotsam of time. Kristallstraub - (infrastructure)
Near the center of every ten square mile parcel of land rises a round green crystalline spire thirty feet around the base and rising 500 feet into the sky. Spiraling around this stem are gigantic flower shapes. Each tower has it's own chosen flower, and each type of flower glows in the night with it's own unique color. Thick roots of this mighty stone flower reach through metal and stone descending deep into the earth to pull forth water and nutrients from up to a mile beneath the earth's surface, and heat energy from up to twenty miles down. Over time these crystal-organic roots connect together to form a high speed network that can share resources over a wide area.
These crystalline towers were the center of the zone controlled by the Stadtblume, the flower city. It's borders were once controlled by the dynamic growth of the towers of other polities, but only this one set was brought back by the goddess Charlotte. The living root network within the zone controlled by the spires will grow a new tower in about 100 years time if one is destroyed and are programmed to maintain the zone controlled by the people.
Each flower is a massive organ-crystalline computer gathering data about sunlight, heat, air flow, and weather patterns. They also serve as construction devices creating crystalline seeds in a special chamber at their base that are able to grow within the area of their root network and become a wide variety of different structures that would form the normal basis of the flower city. Each seed is born with an internal sensor that knows where other plant-buildings have been placed within the root network, and where other seeds are currently growing. A seed glows when it is in a spot that it would be fertile, and goes dim elsewhere. Generally full grown structures must be a minimum of 1000 feet away from one another leaving ample space between them for gardens or wilderness areas. Generally these seeds would bury themselves, or if symbiotic with an animal would attach to the animal at a good location, but could be removed by a human being at will anytime within the first week, only starting to actually grow after that time period.
Men and women would enter the seed chamber via oval openings spaced out along the bottom walls of the spire. The chamber itself is climate controlled to an even 70 degrees and glows endlessly with a green light. Within the chamber are thousands of baskets that would fill with the seeds. Normally these seeds would be designed by specially gene-engineered humans who were interfaced with the computers and trained in it's science and art from birth onwards, unfortunately none of these individuals survived the plague and many of the programs were lost during the period of endemic warfare, often purposefully erased to prevent them from falling into the hands of the enemy.
Where a tower grows submerged in an ocean it rises all the way to the surface with no flowers along it's stem. Once it reaches the top it then sprouts into a lilly pad shape 1 mile in diameter, with a single glowing white flower rising up ten feet tall and twenty feet around at it's center. Round arches lead into this structure and it's interior is covered in a soft white rubber-like substance that is semi clear. Light shines through the outer walls and through this substance providing light during the day, while at night the glow of the crystal itself provides a constant soft white-green illumination without any hint of shadow. Controlled flow of air and water throughout the crystalline outer structure keeps these giant structures at an even 70 degrees all year around no matter what the weather might be like. As with the land spires this chamber contains thousands of bins that would have auto filled with seeds to grow structures within the surrounding area.
New Kristallstraub grow from seeds that could appear within the seed chamber, and are the ONLY seed that can actually grow outside the network because they serve as the anchors that extend and maintain it's function. A new seed can only grow within ten miles of the border, in an area not already claimed by a rival network, or where that network has been somehow suppressed or destroyed. It takes one hundred years for the initial seed to grow during which time it is extremely vulnerable to destruction and has NO combat values of it's own. After the first hundred years it has a minor network of it's own capable of supporting a town one square mile in area. After that it grows 1 square mile each century for nine hundred years until it eventually fully connects to the network.
An immature plant can support a further extention of the network so long as it is within 100 miles of the actual border. Unfortunately these connecting, weak, Kristallstraub, are destroyed all the immature plants that are suddenly disconnected will also die. This is important to remember because combat values for an immature Kristallstraub increase by 10% each century until the plant is fully mature. So a three hundred year old Kristallstraub would have 30% of the combat values enjoyed by a fully mature adult. Currently no such seeds are being dispersed as the civilization did not want this "technology" to be analyzed by their enemy.
Gewebeblume - (Infrastructure)
The flower web grows up from the roots of the Kristallstraub and served as a means of distributing resources over the area controlled by the Stadtblume. On the surface of the ground they appear as curving green basins shaped like lilly pads and with glowing white flowers rising from their center. These bowls are ten yards in diameter and a yard deep. Each one is kept constantly filled with pure clean water. Meanwhile below the surface the network distributes minerals ranging from iron and potassium, to salt evenly monitoring lakes, rivers, even pieces of salt water ocean for optimum growth levels.
Beneath the sea these change shape taking on the semblance of flower-like sea anemones which glow like dim sunlight creating narrow corridors where surface marine life can flourish and promote a richer presence of deep sea forms beyond it's pale embrace. From these shapes comes a soft flow of water well mixed with the right amounts of air, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. This causes a profusion of sea life for several yards around it, and rich biodiversity in the darkness beyond.
This network forms a web beneath the surface of the Stadtblume even where surface structures don't show up. Most of the technology used by the natives of the Stadtblume have "roots" that reach down to connect with this web getting their power or fuel from the network itself. The surface structures appear based on need, but in extremely dry areas you will probably find one fountain at the center of every square mile region. Keeping these pools filled may dry up rivers and small lakes causing more pools to form over time as the network seeks to maintain a set balance within it's area of control.
Kristallblume - (seed)
These are organo-crystaline homes planted by the people and used for the purpose of basic shelter and sleeping space. They are one of the few seeds kept in the computers even during the war as they were constantly needed and had no potential for true abuse by the enemy. A single Kristallblume takes about ten years to grow. Each home has a green stem that is 80 feet feet tall and ten feet in diameter. Leaf shaped green crystal steps spiral around this stem passing arched open doorways every ten feet. Each doorway leads into a single circular room 9 feet around and 9 feet tall. The interior of this room is coated in a soft rubbery white substance that conforms to the body of a person or animal laying on it, and cushions the feet as you walk. Air and water flows within the organo-crystaline structure keeps the temperature in each room at an even 70 degrees.
The bottom floor of the stem is cut up into stalls with swinging doors, inside of which are seats shaped like Tulips, with a thick soft top layer to the flower making a perfect seat. These flowers act as toilets pulling down excrement and absorbing it, and it's nutrients, back into the Gewebeblume network.
These flower-homes can thus house one fairly "wealthy" family, or a small community who live simply in the individual rooms and work together. However if the toilets are not used by someone, or something at least once a month once the house is mature it will die and begin to crumble from the top down becoming harmless soft bits of white and green rubber and crystalline powder.
At the very top of the structure sits the final room of the structure, a large flower shape. Each structure has the shape and coloration of a different flower. Inside is a larger room, at least 50 feet in diameter and twenty feet tall. If the structure dies this "community center" or "Living room" is the first part of the flower to go. Other than being differently shaped this chamber is like any other room within the building.
Mutterheim - (seed)
The mutterheim, or nut home, is a much smaller structure used by the people for solitary, simple, living. The base of this structure is a rounded brown acorn shape complete with crenelations. This nut has a single ovular opening in it's base large enough to allow a human sized animal to enter. In the center of the nut rests the tulip shaped toilet structure. A set of interior steps that mimic thick "branches" complete with glowing green leaves both provide light for the interior and gives access to the upper room.
The upper room is shaped like one of any number of flowers and completely conforming to the design specifications of the Kristallblume's main room. The acorn also is about the same size as one room within the stem of that structure. As this building is smaller the bathroom only needs to be used once every six months to keep it active and alive making it a perfect retreat or vacation home. Also due to it's smaller size this structure grows twice as fast reaching maturity in only five years.
Taschenrechner - (seed)
The seed attaches to the base of a humans neck. Over the course of a year the neck-seed grows into the nervous system of it's "host" and transforms their bones into a single clear green bio-organic computer complex. This computing complex makes the host count as four people for the purpose of sustenance needed. However it also provides them with complete instant memory recall and instant mathematical computation functions. The people need some knowledge of mathematics and geometry to really get use of this. For example if you know how long in "days" it takes to reach city x, and city y is further they could instantly figure out the travel time in days for city y. It makes them very good with judging distance, angles, etc . . . But an infected baby has very little knowledge or structural framework that they can use to apply this ability. Unfortunately the new computer-skeleton only works within the area controlled by the Stadtblume and an infected person becomes instantly, and completely paralyzed the moment he/she leaves that territory.
Stuhl - (seed)
The stuhl is a bio-organic chair shaped like a half tulip and able to provide back support and comfort to a normal sized human male or female. It's soft interior form conforms to the back and rear of the person providing perfect comfort and warmth. The seed of the stuhl must be placed within one of the rooms of the people's houses (but not the seed chambers or bathroom), and grows over the course of a day into a fully developed piece of furniture. The stuhl has a lifespan of five years, after which it must be replaced.
The Initial seed attaches to the foot thick crystaline floor of the structure and gets it's energy and food through the same network that feeds the house. It can not be lifted up from this floor, but can be pushed along it as the attachment is magnetic and allows for rolling if given a firm "push". Removing the stuhl from the floor is possible, but instantly kills it, causing it to begin to crumble into small, rubbery, pieces almost instantly.
Schrottplatz - (seed)
The schrottplatz is the stadtblume's answer to trash. It takes the form of a large
pitcher plant with green crystal "pitchers" 3 feet tall and two feet wide. The pitchers close when filled with trash and powerful acids digest the garbage, fungal roots, plant roots, and stomach skin then all serve to break up the garbage over the course of a week or so.
Seeds reach maturity within a month's time and if the pitchers are constantly filled on one plant it will send out a root and sprout an exact copy within three feet of the first, eventually forming a full circle of trash absorbtion centers around the original central trunk. If these centers aren't used, or see reduced usage the shoots will die and crumble into soft crystaline chunks within about a weeks time, though the main trunk can go for up to a year without being "fed" trash before it too dies of starvation since the Edenic civilization wasn't wasteful and did not plan for a constant stream of trash to be present at all times.
What was brought back and what wasn't Aquired - (Notes)
Much of the information needed to run the full civilization was held in a heavily fortified central computing complex during the war, and only the most menial and basic things needed by everyday folks, like homes, chairs, and trash cans were available to the public. The main computer unfortunately was partially organic and had it's own human brain, plus the genetically engineered human artists to help with it's working. The plague that destroyed the animal life on planet earth also destroyed this network of engineer-artists and it's super computer hub.
Currently the goddess charlotte is the exact center of the genetic web. She doesn't have exact knowledge of the system in action and still must use genetic engineering to create new "seeds", and those seeds must conform to the motiff and structural elements outlined here; she can create organo-crystaline machines that grow from seeds. All such structures can only grow or operate within the network of the stadtblume. They also must either count as a "structure" and be placed at 1000 foot intervals from one another, a peice of furniture and be placed inside or close to a certain type of structure, or as a body enhancement which grows into a person and exists symbiotically with him/her.
The real benefit to Charlotte for having this web are threefold. She gets the structures from the future, a terraforming network of sorts. She gets a seed creation and dispersal method that is extremely efficient. All such engineered structures gain the innate free combat values she aquired with her birth action, and can be further enhanced with extra combat values IF she is willing to pay the upkeep for them. Also remember that seeds for Kristallstraub follow their own special rules regarding planting, growth, and combat values.
