The Culture v's 40kverse

[Excession]

I think we may be getting out wires crossed a little here.

Energy fields can move via Hyperspace. So things like Displacement and Effectors can work. Explosions can also happen in Hyperspace.

However, a ship cannot 'merge' into hyperspace and be completely unable to be interacted with normal space. No matter how it interacts with Hyperspace, it still occupies a volume in normal space.

Hence inthe book Matter, when the Culture Ship arrives at the Shellworld, it has to reconfigure its engines and turn itself, essentially, into a rocket propelled ship in order to travel within the Shellworld. And it can only get inside the Shellworld by travelling down a shaft.
If it was a simple case of it traveling via hyperspace and exiting within the Shellworld, it would have done that. It categorically said that it was not possible to do so.

I'm sorry, but this is wrong. Culture ships can and do leave real space entirely to travel in hyperspace or ultraspace. If you think of real space as a flat plane, hyperspace is the volume "above" the plane and ultraspace the "below". If you go far enough "up" or "down" in this 4th dimension you reach the energy grids. Impassable (by Culture tech) barriers of pure energy that separate this universe from the nex older and younger. Channelling energy from the grid is weaponised in the form of Gridfire, and in later books is used as the Culture ships' main power source.

Also of note is that an unpowered object in hyperspace or ultraspace will drift back to real space over time, so everything interesting is in real space. The simplest engines just move a ship very slightly into hyperspace, where light travels faster or distances are shorter so you can go effectively FTL. More advanced engines move further into hyperspace, so going faster, and top of the line stuff like the Culture "porpoise" up and down between hyperspace and ultraspace, which somehow allows for even higher speed and acceleration.

Hyperspace can be used to go around 3D structures. In Consider Phlebas the Mind even comes out of hyperspace inside a tunnel below a planet's crust. An insanely risky strategy made even more so because the Mind, being 4D itself, can't function properly at the bottom of a gravity well.

The Shellworld was a special case of a 4D structure. This prevented the Culture ship from seeing inside, going around the shells via hyperspace, and accessing the energy grid for power. Lack of power severely limited the ship's offensive capability. With more time I assume it might have fabricated a lot of antimatter before going in to make up for this.

[GloatingSwine]

I suppose the same could be said for warp based tech, essentially being a '5th' dimension (from the Cultures perspective).

14th.

The Culture is already aware of 13 dimensions.

Though the only way to access anything above, I think, 6 is to sublime.

Hyperspace can be used to go around 3D structures. In Consider Phlebas the Mind even comes out of hyperspace inside a tunnel below a planet's crust. An insanely risky strategy made even more so because the Mind, being 4D itself, can't function properly at the bottom of a gravity well.

This limitation appears to be far less effective these days. (Spoilers are for The Hydrogen Sonata)

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The Mistake Not... jumps itself into a tunnel inside a megastructure on the surface of a planet (the structure circled the entire equator), not just the Mind, the whole ship. It appears to function there perfectly fine, the main difficulty was doing it without blowing the planet up.

This is also where the specific limitation on being able to use effectors etc. on constructions which extend into hyperspace is mentioned, the reason the Mistake Not... did what it did was to finesse a breach into a vessel so constructed (make a big enough hole in it to see and operate inside without causing too much damage)

It also jumps out of the field enclosure of an equiv-tech battleship in order to do so (It mentions direct combat at kilometre ranges taking place by using the ship's forcefields directly. It also mentions that this is rather like homoerotic naked wrestling).

[Parra]

I'm sorry, but this is wrong. Culture ships can and do leave real space entirely to travel in hyperspace or ultraspace.

In Surface Detail the ship Falling Outside The Normal Moral Constraints comments that it is reluctant to fly backwards at full speed as its main effectors were forward facing. So if it flew backwards it wouldn't be able to see things coming and was essentially flying blind and might hit something.
If travelling by hyperspace meant you left real space entirely, why would it be worried about this?

Edit: Also, in Consider Phelbas, the Culture mind used a Displacer to transport down. It did not fly a ship inside a planet then re-emerge.

[Excession]

In Surface Detail the ship Falling Outside The Normal Moral Constraints comments that it is reluctant to fly backwards at full speed as its main effectors were forward facing. So if it flew backwards it wouldn't be able to see things coming and was essentially flying blind and might hit something.
If travelling by hyperspace meant you left real space entirely, why would it be worried about this?

I'll have to check the book when I get home (what chapter was it?) but if it was under power it would have been porpoising through real space. Doing so inside a star would have a good chance of killing even a GOU I suspect. Then there's the chance of running into an enemy that is also in hyperspace. A ship under high power is not at all stealthy and as Surface Detail showed, there are people out there stupid enough to try tangling with a GOU to prove a point.

Hyperspace/Ultraspace travel is detailed in Excession, but again posting the exact text will have to wait until I get home.

[jseah]

In Surface Detail the ship Falling Outside The Normal Moral Constraints comments that it is reluctant to fly backwards at full speed as its main effectors were forward facing. So if it flew backwards it wouldn't be able to see things coming and was essentially flying blind and might hit something.
If travelling by hyperspace meant you left real space entirely, why would it be worried about this?

Edit: Also, in Consider Phelbas, the Culture mind used a Displacer to transport down. It did not fly a ship inside a planet then re-emerge.

Well, depending on how the physics works, hitting something might mean a 1 milligram piece of ice. Seriously, they're moving at kilolights, I have no idea how physical hits are resolved, only except that if you take newtonian physics, even a single atom will explode like a small bomb. A whole milligram will destroy the entire ship.

And clearly, you don't want to actually fly a ship into a planet. Especially not a 4D ship onto a 3D planet.


The descriptions about jumping into planets and tunnels, and out of forcefield enclosures, are consistent with a true 4D movement though.

[Soras Teva Gee]

I'd point out as a general rule for 4th dimensional travel or whatever to actually work as an FTL system it pretty much HAS to leave what we would term "real" space to actually do its job.

The whole point of using another dimension is to get some freaky warped geometry that shortens the way. So you avoid the whole infinite energy problem among other things.

[Parra]

I'll have to check the book when I get home (what chapter was it?)

I dont recall, I read it on my Kindle and have since taken it off.
It was when Ledje was traveling on the Falling Outside The Normal Moral Constraints and they discovered they were being tailed by an unknown vessel. The FOTNMC was discussing possible actions to take was describing the potential problems with flipping over at the speed it was traveling.

[GloatingSwine]

The Hydrogen Sonata specifically states that a Culture ship entering hyperspace "disappears from the skein of real space entirely" (P.85 UK hardcover)

[Selrahc]

Isn't the problem with flying blind(/with effectors flipped) that a warship or other hostile might flash up in your face? Rather than anything so mundane as impacting with space debris.

[Gavinfoxx]

Jseah? I just wanted to say that I LOVE these writeups, and you should really really continue.

You should also collect all the retconned / fixed versions on a webpage or something. Or in sig spoilers. Or SOMETHING. So awesome!


Is there any way to set the subscription so that it only notifies me if Jseah posts in this thread?

[jseah]

Sorry, I've been making an application for a visa and had to travel out country for a bit (computer needed factory reset did not help). Still here though.

I've been planning a part 4.5 continuing the bit of the ship next to Sol.


If someone wants to collect all the parts, feel free. I don't feel the need to do so, especially since this doesn't really feel like a *real* story to me. >.>

EDIT: also feel free to write in the retcons or make additions/modifications. Do link me though, I'm interested in reading it too!

[jseah]

part 4.5

Spoiler

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Starry Banner - Culture GCU adjacent to Sol
Nanobots have completed FTL comm repeater stations in the asteroid belt and Io. Initial data scan of IoM electromagnetic comm traffic indicates large amounts of IoM shipping activity surrounding Terra, corresponding to the reports and descriptions noted in other systems.

Nanobots have been placed on multiple IoM passenger carrying ships enroute to Terra.

1 week later
Nanobots have fabricated a displacer and effector beacon on Io, taking advantage of its strong magnetic field coupling with the parent gas giant, Jupiter, to conceal their presence. Current range is only to Titan (Mars is too far along in its orbit).

Mars indicates an interesting variation in production capability between Forge Worlds. Mars is apparently able to produce more complex materials to higher tolerances than other worlds. Why this should be so is unknown. Possibly due to their governmental style.

Titan appears to house the headquarters of a military organization of the IoM, focusing on the warp. This is of great interest and their training is being observed closely. The psychological techniques and implied indoctrination as well as use of mind and body altering drugs, both consensually and compulsorily, is a point of great objection among the citizens.

Most of the IoM technology is of a far lower level than would be expected of a galaxy spanning civilization, the use of the Warp appears to have enabled much of their colonization. In fact, their dependence on the warp to manage their civilization makes them extremely vulnerable to Chaos, indeed multiple references in IoM literature point towards losses to the Warp simply from use.

Numerous references to the Golden Throne, the Emperor and the Astronomican are of great interest. Landing of any of the ships with nanobots is quite highly anticipated although there appears to quite a queue.

1 week later
A courier from the main Culture expedition has updated our known stars maps as well as carrying permission of read IoM minds directly without prior permission.
This is met with some disbelief that such a thing could have been approved, but many of the organics still carry some animosity towards the IoM for the attack and the motion to adopt the new policy is accepted.

Additional details of IoM society are forthcoming but nothing of note with regards to Chaos is uncovered. Much of the data on the Mars manufacturing ability and production of warships and weapons are similarly uninteresting.
Of note, however, is their knowledge structure. Not many of the IoM engineers fully understand the principles of what they work with and merely operate by rote under the instruction of superiors. Research activity also appears to be unusually stunted. This is the purported explanation for the difference in apparent technological ability between Forge Worlds.

The Grey Knights purport their resistance to Chaos contamination due to the training, indoctrination, body enhancement and drugs. No volunteers could be found to try investigating their claim.
Part of the resistance appears to be some form of warp technology based on their armour. Experimentation with the Warp is still forbidden but a ship-wide vote has agreed to bend the rules (the exception given for the geller fields deployed by one culture ship convinced many).
Ship-wide deployment of the Grey Knights warding technology is complete.

The displacer and effector beacon on Io can now reach Mars.

1 week later
Experimenting with the Grey Knights wardings seems to reduce the rate of Chaos contamination by one sigma (compared to IoM baseline). However, another package from the core fleet has given a solution to the problem. All of the organics and valid drones have consented to not having dreams.

One of the ships finally gained permission to land on Luna. Nanobots cannot construct a repeating station there without being noticed so another asteroid in the belt has been earmarked for it. Nanobots followed multiple visitors down to Terra on short range craft.

Sacrifice of psykers to power the Astronomican is... frankly, a shock. The culture of the IoM would certainly permit it, but our culture prevented many of the 1:1 intelligences from conceiving of the idea. A ship-wide vote to immediately intervene was started but failed to pass (30% for, 50% against, 20% abstain).
The Emperor and the Golden Throne is worshipped as a god, but has more in common with a religious idol than a dictator who actively claims to be a divine being. He is on permanent lifesupport and monitoring of his health is underway.

No attempt to interfere with IoM practices towards the Emperor or the Astronomican will be made. The risk of destroying the entire IoM and perhaps this entire expedition is deemed too high, especially since Warp technology is not well understood, neither by us nor by the IoM.


A ship-wide vote to attempt contact has been started but is yet to resolve.

How do you think the Culture would handle contact with the IoM in this situation? Would they even do so?

How would the IoM react if they did decide to try contacting? What sort of mistakes could the Culture make to make the IoM hate them, and what sort of actions would make the IoM more friendly?
Are these actions obvious to the Culture at this point or are they going to blindside them (keep in mind that the Culture is still adjusting to the IoM's way of thinking)

[Douglas]

What sort of mistakes could the Culture make to make the IoM hate them

I'm far from an expert on 40k, but I'm pretty sure the answer to this is "exist". The IoM is extremely xenophobic, and has a firmly entrenched "shoot first, then bury the bodies" policy. Asking questions may never even come up, later or otherwise. If you're not human - by their definition, which is restricted to the homo sapiens species - then most IoM forces are going to file you under "Xeno, exterminate" with no further consideration.

, and what sort of actions would make the IoM more friendly?

Present themselves as:
A) Exclusively homo sapiens
B) Absolutely not using any AI of any kind ever under any circumstances.
C) Worshipful of the God Emperor
D) Using technology from a Standard Template Construct. That's the only source outside of themselves the Adeptus Mechanicus would ever accept for high technology without declaring it heretical, tainted, or both, and even then they'd need some serious convincing.

Missing any of these factors will instantly provoke a religiously fanatical hostility that no amount of talking and persuasion is going to appease.

I think the Culture's best bet here would be to manufacture an entire fake STC, present it as a gift to the Imperium, and pretend to be a long lost colony that has finally found its way back and against all odds somehow preserved its STC in working order for 15,000 years. They would have to limit the fake STC's contents enough to keep it believable, and then restrict all deeds the IoM is able to observe to things that could be accomplished with technologies in the STC.

Are these actions obvious to the Culture at this point or are they going to blindside them (keep in mind that the Culture is still adjusting to the IoM's way of thinking)

If they're reading minds, most of it should be obvious. The xenophobia and cult of the GE are firmly entrenched in the entire society, and the attitude towards AI and technology in general would be prominent in any significantly high-ranking official. The specifics of STCs might require scanning Mechanicus minds and records, though, and the best details for that will be only on Mars.

Overall, I think the Culture might decide contacting the IoM isn't worth the trouble.

[Tavar]

One possibility: don't try and organize a meeting at Terra. People are too protective and paranoid(with some justification) to really allow such a thing. Best bet would be to try and initiate contact with a different, less central part of the Imperium.

Personally, besides relying on Luck to find one of the more reasonable Inquisitors, their best bet would likely be in starting contact with one of the less zealous planetary sectors or Space Marine chapters. Those groups are often far enough away that shoot first won't be their first response.

[The Glyphstone]

Heck, combine both and have them get a fortuitous encounter with a Deathwatch team that's not inclined to shoot first and ask questions never - despite being the 'xeno-killing brigade', they're ironically one of the 'safer' groups of Marines for a prospectively friendly xeno group to meet, since they're more likely to want to study you and your technology non-violently so they can figure out how to kill you more efficiently later/eventually. They're also the most pragmatic about realistically assessing how dangerous a xenos threat is, so they'd be the quickest to recognize - once they had evidence - that Culture is several orders of magnitude above anything they're familiar with.

[jseah]

Heck, combine both and have them get a fortuitous encounter with a Deathwatch team that's not inclined to shoot first and ask questions never -

Is this rare? Coz I don't feel like giving them unlikely chance events.

I'll happily rule in favour of Culture for a specific tech or Chaos mechanic or whatever, provided there is evidence and/or book references. I'll do the same in reverse too.

But incredibly unlikely chance events... are that for a reason. Unless the Culture specifically goes for it (which implies knowing its there), the unlikely options generally don't happen.

If its not rare, however, then whatever goes.

[Selrahc]

Remember that the Culture is used to portraying itself as much much weaker than it actually is, as necessary to foster harmonious relations. They'd be willing to strip out all offending elements of their society amongst the ambassadorial team to the Imperium.

But only if it's necessary.

The Imperium does actually have a diplomatic corps, willing to negotiate with Eldar, Kroot, Tau... even Orks on rare occasions, as well as attempting to bring back into the fold human worlds without taint. There is a quite large degree of tolerance amongst the missionaries, rogue traders, diplomats and Inquisitors who actually operate out on the fringes. The Imperium has arrangements of client states and vassal species that would be utterly unacceptable to mainstream society. Those are the elements with which the Culture would be talking, so they aren't going to need to present themselves as Doctrinaire Imperials.

[Gavinfoxx]

Well... lets see here.

If the Culture did a big push to use their advanced data collection and collating and pattern recognition technology to actually go out and find the patterns in STC tech, and, you know, maybe actually find STC equivalents and archeotech from all over -- they could seriously just reconstruct an STC. They already have all the tech necessary to do it, they just need to make an effort to follow the patterns shown. Of course, they need to get the history and the fitting of the legends and such to be correct -- but that wouldn't be too hard. I agree that presenting themselves as humans who are from a functioning STC colony that don't use AI is imperative if they want to overtly contact the IoM.


Also, one thing to recognize with mars? That place had a huge gigantic cataclysm that infected soooo muuccchhhh of the tech on mars with Chaos-derived 'scrapcode'. That's why Mars has been so outwardly focused in finding useful tech from away from Mars, and then bringing it back. The Culture should definitely notice this, as well as things like that Dragon on mars actually affecting their technology in certain areas -- though their familiarity with extra dimensions and spatial and time warping and such should give them some resilience. I would expect they would be surprised to see a trapped entity that does that sort of reality warping (they should note that it is an area where the Mechanicus generally doesn't go...).


Also, when they start investigating the Inquisitorial archives and such, they should pretty much be able to earmark specific, Radical Inquisitors as 'ideal' diplomats for them to contact. You know, the sorts of radicals who are essentially 95%+ aligned with the Culture's goals and viewpoints anyway, and are already given sanction to interact with Xenos in a diplomatic way.

There should be a good collection of those in the Sol system.

(I would suggest you look at, or at least into the details described in the following books: the novels, Mechanicum, Titanicus, and the RP splatbook Dark Heresy The Radical's Handbook. At least go find summaries!)

Also, Deathwatch teams that arent inclined to shoot first essentially dont exist. They are essentially mono purpose kill-teams, unless being put on a leash and pushed out of their comfort zone by an Inquisitor and operating outside their normal parameters.

INQUISITORS that prefer to talk first, on the other hand...

[Forum Explorer]

Remember that the Culture is used to portraying itself as much much weaker than it actually is, as necessary to foster harmonious relations. They'd be willing to strip out all offending elements of their society amongst the ambassadorial team to the Imperium.

But only if it's necessary.

The Imperium does actually have a diplomatic corps, willing to negotiate with Eldar, Kroot, Tau... even Orks on rare occasions, as well as attempting to bring back into the fold human worlds without taint. There is a quite large degree of tolerance amongst the missionaries, rogue traders, diplomats and Inquisitors who actually operate out on the fringes. The Imperium has arrangements of client states and vassal species that would be utterly unacceptable to mainstream society. Those are the elements with which the Culture would be talking, so they aren't going to need to present themselves as Doctrinaire Imperials.

However none of those (except perhaps an Inquisitor who operates at the fringes) would be present at Terra. Still the Culture should be able to figure this out and head to a planet that is a bit more tolerant.

[Brother Oni]

Indeed. In the event that a fortuitous encounter with a Deathwatch team or Inquisitor stretches your suspension of disbelief too much, then a 'chance' meeting with a Rogue Trader out on the fringes can be arranged, simply because out there, the Rogue Traders ARE the Imperium.

As for getting the RT on your side, wave a couple of technological trinkets (for the Culture) under their nose and they're going to be willing to negotiate trade rights at the very least, even if they still don't trust the Culture ambassadors.

Give it a little while, then arrange to get invited at the closest planetary governor soirée as a guest of the RT and things will probably start to snowball from there. Maintaining the pretence of being a 'lost colony' will probably be required, although that will probably will trigger a covert Inquisition investigation.

Also, Deathwatch teams that arent inclined to shoot first essentially dont exist. They are essentially mono purpose kill-teams, unless being put on a leash and pushed out of their comfort zone by an Inquisitor and operating outside their normal parameters.

Wouldn't this be dependent on the makeup and the mission of the team?

While I agree that a Deathwatch team wouldn't endanger their primary mission to make first contact with an alien race, they equally wouldn't start firing recklessly at a neutral third party of unknown combat capabilities (unless the DW team has a Black Templar and the Culture team are obviously non-human).

[Selrahc]

I agree that presenting themselves as humans who are from a functioning STC colony that don't use AI is imperative if they want to overtly contact the IoM.

Not at all, just don't contact the overt mainstream xenophobic side of the IoM. The Imperium is not a democracy. It isn't even a theocracy, despite the extreme religious devotion of many citizens. It is a dictatorship, and a fairly pragmatic one at that. It will make backdoor dealings on pragmatic grounds with people that sicken it, as long as the Imperium is convinced that it is to their benefit. As long as Chaos isn't involved.

[Gavinfoxx]

Well -- WOULD a moderate recongregator/conservative xenos hybris -aligned Inquisitor of the Ordos Xenos be at Terra? I think they would. They wouldn't LIKE being recalled to Terra-based Conclave, as that might bring in questioning (the more Puritans are likely entrenched in power at Terra), and the more radical bits would prefer to be out at the rims, where they can follow their ideals without as much supervision, but those factions of the Inquisition should still be present in Terra. These would be perfect diplomat types for Culture to introduce themselves to... and don't a lot (like all?) of the myriad conspiracies within the Inquisition have at least a few operatives in the Sol system?

Unfortunately, a good chunk of the most ideal Inquisitors present in the Sol System are probably there for Inquisitorial inquiries, with the Inquisition policing its own...

However, introducing themselves to only this group would be a display of power... these people are professional paranoids, backed up with archeotech, incredible spy rings, and psyker capabilities; the fact that this culture can simply single out everyone with those leanings to quietly introduce themselves is a massive display of power and technological superiority.

Remember, these aren't political parties, but labels that Inquisitors apply to themselves and other Inquisitors that describe specific philosophical tendencies.

If the Culture just did a psych and philosophical profile on any Inquisitors they can find... well...

[Selrahc]

however, introducing themselves to only this group would be a display of power... these people are professional paranoids; the fact that this culture can simply single out everyone with those leanings to introduce themselves is a massive display of power and technological superiority.

Unless they do it within Imperium channels. Via a Rogue Trader or sympathetic planetary governor, with ties to the Inquisition. Who then brings things via backdoor channels to higher ups.

Sounds like a perfect mission for a SC agent, with probably a ship lurking in for support and guidance undetectable by the humans.

[Gavinfoxx]

Also, remember, many Eldar blame the humans for the creation of Slaanesh. Humans may have been partially at fault (lots of disturbance in the warp), but it is pretty canonical that Eldar's deviance actually was the creation and cause of their fall.

[deuterio12]

Not at all, just don't contact the overt mainstream xenophobic side of the IoM. The Imperium is not a democracy. It isn't even a theocracy, despite the extreme religious devotion of many citizens. It is a dictatorship, and a fairly pragmatic one at that. It will make backdoor dealings on pragmatic grounds with people that sicken it, as long as the Imperium is convinced that it is to their benefit. As long as Chaos isn't involved.

False, otherwise they would've already stablished some kind of contract with the Tau for at least pulse rifle schematics or something. If the Tau can mass-produce those for their fire warriors whitout need of driving their own population into opressive slavery, no reason the IoM couldn't have started to do it for their IG by now (and don't give me the "million worlds excuse", if they can keep tab of all the recruited regiments and their logistics, they sure damn could pass around some new weapon designs). Or any of the other Tau tech that isn't dependant on chaos/psykery/lolorks/superancientstuff.

[Gavinfoxx]

Who is to say that there aren't some Deathwatch killteams that use STC-made components, reverse engineered equivalents to Pulse Rifle or Tau Rail Rifle technology? After all, gravitic / maglev impellers are known in the Imperium -- even on a personal scale.

They are just really, really rare, and generally kept to the Mechanicum's own troops.

[Selrahc]

False, otherwise they would've already stablished some kind of contract with the Tau for at least pulse rifle schematics or something.

Given that the mainstream of Imperium society is intensely xenophobic, what would be the point of that? Troops would refuse to use the weapon, the AdMech would be pissed off, the Ecclesiarchy would be rioting...

Taking your backdoor dealings to front of house is not how things are done.

[Forrestfire]

False, otherwise they would've already stablished some kind of contract with the Tau for at least pulse rifle schematics or something. If the Tau can mass-produce those for their fire warriors whitout need of driving their own population into opressive slavery, no reason the IoM couldn't have started to do it for their IG by now (and don't give me the "million worlds excuse", if they can keep tab of all the recruited regiments and their logistics, they sure damn could pass around some new weapon designs). Or any of the other Tau tech that isn't dependant on chaos/psykery/lolorks/superancientstuff.

The problem is that, while individual members of government, the inquisition, or the space marines may be open to that sort of deal, the society as a whole is not. Schematics for Tau weaponry could be obtained, but no one is going to build it because of the buerocratic mess that is distribution, along with the AdMech's religious devotion to STC technology.

But there is precedent for it. Marneus Calgar traded with the Tau for plasma weapons, iirc. Not sure where I read it, though. Also, inquisitors use alien tech often.

[jseah]

Question:
Is the Eldar open to usage of AI tech? It seems that the Culture could easily build an AI with Eldar-like psychology and the ability to "reproduce" by copying itself with some personality variations.

[Gavinfoxx]

"Oh yes, we used a functioning STC -- the full library, with not just the designs, but the full theoretical foundation, and with the full constructor too, not the lesser versions that some other colonies got; we were lucky -- to make our colony, but we advanced beyond it. It was very useful to help us set up the colony, though!"

"Advanced...beyond... STC?"

"Well, yes, it is the basic pattern of all our technology, of course. It set the standard, homogenized things, and made setting up an infrastructure as advanced as the STC itself quite easy. But then we got research institutes and such working, and started progressing. Of course, our AI's never went mad like yours, but we eventually deactivated them anyway; they had became obsolete. Apparently, from what we have been able to determine, we were at a location that was inherently calm in the Warp, and for some reason Chaos ignored us until we returned to your area of the galaxy on this very expedition. Further, none of our genome had any of the psyker or similar mutations -- at least, none survived the initial founding of the colony. So we set up a psyker and AI free society, and advanced our tech."

^^ If the **** hits the fan... that is a plausible way to describe the origins of their society to the IoM, such that they can understand it.