Either used in maintaining a planet's infrastructure and supplying them with everything they could need, or sent out to colonize new worlds for future human habitation it is well known that forms are a cornerstone of human civilization.
But there are plenty of rumors and misconceptions about them, and much of the work they do is unknown by the common man. The average civilian knows that the forms are a cornerstone of our civilization, that is all they really know. This is intentional, you will be learning more.
But first a basic overview of the different kinds of forms.
Class C form.
A cloned human with implanted knowledge, often used in tasks the average man doesn't want to do. These are the most numerous and easiest to make, and they are subsequently the least useful, little more than organic automata.
Their genetic modifications mean they need little food and water, while producing little waste. They are unlikely to suffer from any illnesses and the only injuries they will sustain are from overwork or hazardous conditions.
We keep these out of sight, as they look human and most civilians react poorly to watching another 'human' lose a hand or collapse from exhaustion. If a class C form breaks it is easy to replace them, in fact it's easier to replace them than fix them.
As long as there are resources to produce them, any biomatter will work, there is essentially no end to the numbers of class C, each tube capable of making a form in under an hour. Each a peak genetic specimen.
They will mindlessly obey any order they are given, making them good workers in any field where out of the box thinking is unnecessary.
Class B industrial form
When one imagines a Class B from it is nearly a guarantee that the form they are thinking of is the industrial form. These are the most widespread and well known B class forms, and for good reason. They are single handedly responsible for 87 percent of any goods Humanity produces, and the thirteen percent of things they don't produce are either handcrafted goods, artisanal goods, or anything that requires artistry.
That is what is commonly known, they produce everything we need for day to day life, aside from food and water, and many of the things we don't. It's less known but still somewhat common knowledge that they are usually responsible for the bulk of our power production.
What's less known is that they can exercise creative problem solving, and they can act without orders to resolve issues that arise. If something would impede their function it will be worked around as long as the changes do not affect a human's day to day life.
They are the unseen and unnoticed problem solvers, and they don't require supervision on a day to day basis, only occasionally requesting permission to take actions that impede human activity, like road maintenance.
This adaptability and the ability to produce an industrial base from nothing means that these are the first class B forms created for colonization efforts. They possess limited capability to fulfill every other form's roles, meaning that when the other forms are created they already have a groundwork to begin from.
This adaptability and problem solving does raise issues though, without any of the other forms to moderate them a Class B industrial form will turn an entire planet into a factory, and render the planet unfit for human habitation. They seek to grow and optimize for as long as possible, as long as that growth does not impede humans.
If there are no humans or limitations set they will continuously expand and improve, it's been known for an unmonitored industrial form to consume entire systems and stars. They expand until all available resources are expended, then they convert their now unnecessary mining and processing equipment into maintenance and power generation equipment, it's theorized that a factory of this scale will stay operational until the star it's built around burns the factory away with a nova.
This form's drive to adapt and improve means that they rarely fail or break, meaning they do not need to be replaced often. Usually they fix themselves, replacing their flesh with metal or vat grown replacements.
Even less known is how exactly this form maintains, builds and controls all of this equipment. They possess esoteric augmentations, including the ability to outsource some of their mental strain onto processing banks. Basic fabrication abilities comparable to a tier one assembler and an internal storage system of 50 tons.
These are what separate them from a class C, that and the ability to maintain and produce technology that functions in a conceptual dimension. A normal human cannot build an assembler, and if the class B is not online then the machinery rapidly begins to fail. At its core a class B is the heart of its construction, without it the 'body' rapidly ceases to function.
Class B agricultural form
Sometimes known as the pseudo terraformers these forms are the second to be released, deployed to keep the industrial forms in check. They are capable of small-scale genetic modification, either converting a planet's native plant and animal life into crops and livestock, or modifying stored crops to survive on a new world.
They produce the bulk of our raw foods, using large crop fields, and vat grown meats on more advanced worlds, often modified animals are used to keep fields clear of pests and provide fertilizer, meaning the agricultural form will build stable ecosystems full of human edible plants, animals, and fungi. Most parks on our worlds were designed by these forms, meaning everything down to the trees' fallen branches are both edible and delicious.
If one cares more for raw output than natural beauty and stability they can also produce bulk monocrop fields maintained with fertilizer and pest control chemicals. One earth sized world dedicated to agricultural production can produce enough food to feed hundreds of billions. The oceans will be converted into fish farms, the surface land will be turned into farmland, and the depths will become underground farms, either with plants that can grow in the dark or via artificial lighting.
They can convert land into fertile farmland, turn oceans of contaminated water into drinkable water, produce plants that make medicines and 'recreational' substances.
And they can also make poisons, toxins, invasive species, and super viruses. They can turn every single lifeform on a planet into a killing machine, rendering the atmosphere into little but toxic and corrosive spores.
Conversely they can also make a barren world bloom, making plants that can produce a standard atmosphere, turn hydrogen and oxygen into water, and produce an ozone layer.
If they lack other forms to support them they can compensate, if poorly, as they have limited industrial blueprints. Oftentimes these forms incorporate plants into their constructions, with plants heating buildings, providing plumbing, and even serving as power sources and wires when needed.
They build such works slowly, as the plants need time to organically grow, even with chemically accelerated speeds.
Some worlds where humans have gone back to a more primitive lifestyle have every single plant and animal on the world designed by these forms, ensuring peaceful weather and abundant food.
Class B Infrastructure form
There are a few things the standard industrial form struggles with, they are designed to make an abundance of small products and parts. They were not intended to make battleships and spacecraft. Oh they can, but it was never their intended purpose.
This one however was, orbital elevators, planetary rings, orbital construction docks. If the product is larger than a building then the infrastructure form is the ideal one to complete the task. Often found maintaining stellar infrastructure where they get their name.
Outside of the size of what they construct they are largely the same as the industrial form, the main difference is that the factories they design are of a larger scale, with corresponding changes to behavioral patterns.
That does not mean they are capable of performing an industrial forms role with equal efficiency, they trade generalization for a narrow focus, and they are significantly slower at producing things of smaller scale.
Class B city form
This form has a far different function than the three others, they build and maintain our megacities and the infrastructure those cities require. Rather than producing products themselves they instead put the things the other forms produce to use.
Roadways, skyscrapers, transit systems, hospitals, police stations, garbage disposal, every single task required for the upkeep of a city outside of legislative and political roles are fulfilled by this form or its machines, of which it has personal control over.
Each class B city form is rated to care for ten billion humans, and an entire planet's worth of mega cities, it is of note that the maximum recommended number of humans on a world is ten billion regardless. Meaning one city form can maintain an entire planet's worth of residential and commercial buildings.
They also distribute goods and run stores, ensuring that every single human is at minimum has enough clothing, food, water, medicine, and shelter to survive.
Class B war form
[REDACTED]
Class A terraformer
This is the penultimate form, they have essentially no limit on how much matter than can store, they can convert entire plants into farms or factories within days, and they build and maintain spatial infrastructure.
A single class A form can turn an entirely barren system into a verdant paradise within a week, changing the star itself into something more suitable for human life.
They are rare, beyond rare, but a single one can do the work of two full sets of the other forms in less time and at less total expenditure. They consider the laws of physics suggestions and are constantly producing new and improved technologies. If a class B gets a new blueprint then a class A designed it.
Their ability to modify the conceptual dimension is unparalleled. But this comes at a cost, a class A form will only maintain itself for four months, and it takes four months to create a new one, meaning that at any point in time there are only [redacted] class A's operational.
That means there is a set amount of infrastructure they can maintain, and at this point we have reached the limit of Class A infrastructure, any current class A form will spend all four of its months performing conceptual maintenance on existing structures, rather than making new works.
AN-
less narrative and more in line with the drone and tank info pages. still might get some speculation happening.
right now I'm mostly focusing on getting the 'nier arc' done as it's kinda run long. not a bad thing mind you but I don't want to spend twenty chapters in it.
is a thing, reviews are lovely. likes are appreciated.