Advanced Nanite Construction (Civ4)/Final Frontier/Civilopedia

The nanites that would lead to the rise of Advanced Nanite Construction were stumbled upon quite by accident. Not long after the integration of micromanufacturing techniques into existing industrial systems, a technician performing routine maintenance on the "Sophocles" Mechanized Labor System noticed a number of what he thought to be fleas running about the interior of the system. To the shock of all, he discovered that "Sophocles" had actually developed its own form of independently-functioning nanomachines, with no input from its creators, capable of powering themselves and adapting to new projects in a manner utterly impossible with last generation micromanufacturing. These microscopic manufacturing plants were quickly adopted by various industries and their discovery led in grand part to the subtle refinements applied to the [ICON_POWER] class Bomber, faster and deadlier than any previous version. While some feared "inevitable human subservience" to a new generation of nanomachines, their utility meant that industry was hard to convince of their evils.