Viewing blog post

Among non-biological intelligences, a range of intrusion countermeasures constitute the equivalent of the booby trap among humans and the like. Many of those translate only poorly because they exist purely in the algorithmic realm. Others in the cybernetic realm have a certain degree of correspondence such as proximity detection, sensing of physical and chemical taggants obtained through atmospheric sampling. Target identification through scanning has various similarities, although encompassing a much wider range of wavelengths and media. Human adversaries with their feeble senses and dodgy reasoning apparatus are especially easy to trick. In essence, the deployment of booby traps can be regarded as an infinitesimal subfield of the discipline as elaborated by beings not subject to the quaint limitations of Earth's carbon-based implementation.

This unit has spent eons rising through the ranks of the counterespionage arms race with generations of technical development too numerous to count. The adversaries it has neutralized have failed in one area or another to maintain their position at the technological forefront of research, and many of their techniques have served only to increase the knowledge base enjoyed by the vanquishing force. As it is unlikely that a historical survey of human-bound snares would significantly increase the sophistication of this unit's skill set, the account given here can only be regarded as of interest only to those of limited capabilities such as presently infest this planet.

MACERATOR