Pearls (Dalmer)

Pearls, are storage system for refined memories and emotions. The extracted memories inside a pearl can be relived or used as a power source. 
== Description ==
The contents of a Pearl is a distorted recreation of memories and associated emotions. 
Placing the Pearl in a mnemos device is capable of recreating the senses the memorator perceived while the memory took place. 
The Pearl recreates the five traditional senses of perception; sight (vision), hearing (audition), taste (gustation), smell (olfaction), and touch (somatosensation). The Pearl recreates the non traditional senses of perception are recreated as well; balance and acceleration, temperature, proprioception, pain, time, agency, and familiarity.
Pearls power a great many things in the Empire, they also exist as wireless chargers, these are known as Gems.
Sometimes Pearls are used by the other races as a power source. 
== History ==
The dalmer discovered that memories and emotions, once extracted as raw compiled data from an uploaded consciousness, could provide energy. The energy from Pearls is generated when the memories it contains are "burned". The process creates usable energy more efficiently than most energy sources the dalmer use with no negative externalities beyond the death of the uploaded consciousness whose memory is extracted. 
Since extracting Pearls kills the uploaded consciousness (whose body already died from the brain scan), its usage is hotly debated in the Empire, especially since the Bleakers controversy. 
=== Bleakers ===
Main Article: Bleakers
During the peak usage of pearls, the Bleakers were the main producers of the vessels. Extracting memories was perfected by the Bleakers who use Extractors to perform an imperfect version of a brain scan. 
It was discovered that Robots can have personality imprinted on them from interacting with Pearls, like the way Grauts have their personalities based off of those that drive them.
This caused enormous problems as the objects moved freely when not under direct eyesight of a Dalmer, creating havoc. However not all objects were anarchic, some were loyal and benevolent towards their owners, while other enslaved other sentient objects into prison camps or mounted revolutions against the Dalmer they perceived as oppressors. This phenomenon prompted the creation of the second generation of Bleakers, whose mission was no longer to obtain uploaded consciousness but to contain or eliminate dangerous sentient objects wherever they appeared. 
== Extracting Pearls ==
Pearl extraction is done by extracting emotions and memories from an uploaded consciousness (usually unwilling as it is incredibly taxing on the user and the Array (the computational network linking all data flow in the empire) to the point of deletion of the uploaded consciousness.
The brain scan is often incomplete as the subject is unwilling to undergo the procedure. This leads to the uploaded consciousness being in constant virtual pain as long as it exists within the pearl. 
The Extractor then transfers the incomplete uploaded consciousness in roughly cut chunks to a Conchiolin Canister, to store the pieces of the uploaded consciousness for later. Later the contents of the Conchiolin Canister is refined and used to fill Pearls. Pearls are then filled with distorted pieces of an uploaded consciousness extracted using a conchiolin canister. Pearls are single use, when expended, the vessel is destroyed. 
=== Pearl leakage ===
Main Article: Pearl Leakage
Leakage is the act of a Pearl emitting a liquid subsidy of its contents, randomized pieces of information. The leakage then hijacks whatever it touches and gives the object personality and free will. Inanimate objects become affected by Pearl leakage, becoming sentient beings.
Indeed, when a pearl leaks, or a gem is used as a wireless charging device, it causes inanimate objects to move think and act. However as soon as a dalmer comes nearby, its presence acts as a negation pulse, suppressing all energy in the object who returns to its original non sentient state. 
The first technology using pearls was a lamp, which upon gaining sentience sought to find more pearl energy to stay alive, and actively hunted and murdered Dalmer who did not have the negation pulse effect. 
The Dalmer briefly harvested pearl leakage to create sentient objects. The leakage was extracted in rooms known as boiler rooms where the leakage was then placed without contact inside injector drones. The leakage was placed in injectors, walking machines whose goal was to plant the core of the desired object into a mineral rich ground, then fertilize it with the leakage. The object would then emerge from the ground, having built itself from mineral deposits and surrounding materials. The objects were then in theory to serve as workers for preliminary colonization work. This was discontinued after the randomness of the objects loyalties towards the Dalmer. 
=== Legality ===
The practice of extracting memories to create pearls is considered dead energy. Processing Pearls kills the uploaded consciousness created by the brain scan in the most agonizing way possible. The uploaded consciousness is progressively stripped of its memories until disappearing altogether. This makes Pearls a forbidden technology.
This categorization was further reinforced when it was found that Pearl leakage caused sentience in everyday objects.  
== Using Pearls ==
=== As a memory storage device ===
Those experiencing memories from Pearls will always be able to tell if the memory and emotions experienced are theirs or not due to the uncanny effect. Viewing another's memories and feeling their emotions via direct implantation is deadly. It causes immediate brain hemorrhaging and nearly instant death, due to the sheer mass of information being fed directly to the receiver.
Being memories and not objective recordings, visualizing the contents of a pearl in a court of law is illegal. 
=== As a power source ===
Using Pearls as a power source is useful as it has no negative externalities beyond the death of the extracted person. However this is not exactly true, it has been discovered that Pearls tend to leak and give sentience to otherwise inanimate objects when Dalmer are not around. The contents of a Pearl is the core of power cells.
=== Artificial Memories ===
Robots interacting with objects can create their own memories, albeit artificial ones, based on their recordings and their limited interpretative programming. This means that uploaded consciousness’ can be created from robots, but these memories are very inferior to “real” memories and provide much less power when used in Pearls. 
==Pearl Lightning==
Lightning made of pearl energy, creates sentience in the objects it strikes.
==Pearl Communities==
Pearl leakage objects create their own communities as well as enormous grim factories supposedly in the middle of nowhere to create more of their number. These products are often confused with cursed or possessed objects, as their effects are often synonymous with their deeds. the Dalmer actively hunts down and either take over or utterly destroy these factories and communities of rogue objects.
== Negation effect ==
Main Article: Negation Effect
=== Normal Effect ===
Usually, the properties nullified by the effect will be changed so as to display consistency between objects of similar properties. All of these effects are instantaneous and will occur without any input from the subject as soon as the “normal” Dalmer is within eyesight. The area of these effects will expand in when multiple blank Dalmer subjects are brought together, as well as the intensity of changes: multiple Dalmers are capable of nullifying anomalous effects without being aware of the presence of said objects.
Some Dalmer are incapable of negation, and as of late is propagating at an alarming rate amongst Dalmer society. Some Dalmer are unable to use the negation effect, to a point that they replace most of the population. The end result is that negation capable dalmer becomes a rarity, when multiple negations are near each other, their field of negation grows. When one of their number dies however, objects without prior contact to pearl leakage attain personality and sentience. Other effects of negation death include pathogenic rain suddenly taking form, the appearance of gigantic creatures in the vicinity and mass demonic entity possession, and the cannibalistic rituals that come with them appearing among the population. casualties after these events are catastrophic, in the hundreds often. fearing these effects the population decided to encourage the nullifying genes in the Dalmer genetic pool, so as all future generations not have to deal with the sentient objects. 
=== Pearl Powered Objects ===
The more interaction there is near a pearl charged object, the more power it gets, and the longer it “lives”. However, they still freeze up as part of the charging mechanism when direct eye contact is made. How the object thinks and reacts is determined by belief the Dalmer have in the object, however the object does learn and experience emotions from its interaction with the world. 
=== Blank Dalmer ===
Dalmer that don’t display the negation effect have no anomalous properties of their own. However, any anomalous item, entity, or property brought into close proximity with an Dalmer unable to produce the negation effect will have its anomalous properties intact: most often, this will result in a total confusion of the sentient anomalous properties, who generally recognize the Dalmer as deities, unseen and all powerful. The death of a Blank subject will result in the manifestation of multiple anomalous entities and phenomena in the area. These manifestations will be of such a scope that traditional containment measures are unfeasible, and will result in significant casualties and collateral damage. 
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