Pneumatic Inception

Pneumatic Inception is in simple terms, the process by which Pneumatics are either born, or die. Composed of five key actions of which can be taken, Inception/Separation, Fusion, Transformation, Translation, or Assimilation.
Note that these concepts, aside from Fusion and Translation, have not been known to occur after the Pneumatics discovery, thus, the United Empire does not know about these processes, aside from the aforementioned.

Causes

Pneumatic Inception does not occur randomly, it was a core factor of the Pneumatics before their discovery.
Inception occurs when a key factor, whether an aspiration, behavior, or the like, crosses a certain threshold. Say for instance Widow becomes exposed to many scientific beliefs and concepts, giving him more aspiration to learn about science. Eventually as that aspiration and desire to learn grows, it could eventually branch off to become its own characteristic, a Pneumatic. 
It should be noted inception does not occur on demand; it is a process typically caused by Widow's interaction in his environment.

Symptoms

So, the Pneumatics have this concept called Inception, of which there are five types of: Assimilation, Fusion, Separation, Translation, and Transformation. We will go through the processes, reasons, and causes for each individual types of Inception in this header. Further note though that the inceptions of Translation, and Fusion, have/will have, their own article, because they are the only alleged inceptions that can occur after the Pneumatics discovery.
Separation is the most common form of Inception and is the cause for almost every current Pneumatic. Separation is the process of one or more Pneumatics splitting, their contents somehow growing into its new form, instantly.
Separation will result in at least one new Pneumatic, the new Pneumatic being called a recessive separatory, and the Pneumatic(s) they grew off of being called the dominant separatory. Very rarely, sometimes one Pneumatic would split into two, equally different Pneumatics, they would both be called recessive separatrices, with the old Pneumatic no longer represented physically being called the dominant separatory still.

Assimilation is the exact opposite of Separation, where, instead of a net gain of Pneumatics in population, there's a net loss. Assimilation occurs when two or more Pneumatics fuse into one, becoming a completely new Pneumatic. Assimilation would only occur if the two or more Pneumatics have been overlapping in their characteristics almost entirely, negating any reason for there being two of them, creating a need to Assimilate.

Fusion is the second most common, but Fusion has its own designations and sub-types, these sub-types being very different from one another, named: Chaotic Fusion and Complete fusion. Fusion is temporary, it's kind of a downgraded version of Assimilation, but it shares that trait with Translation and Chaotic Transformation (mentioned later on). Essentially, Chaotic Fusion is a process that occurs between two or more Pneumatics after both undergo or receive certain stimulus, such as stress about a certain topic. Complete Fusion, however, is kinda like a lower version of Assimilation, but still comes with the temporary attributes of Chaotic Fusion. Complete Fusion, however, comes with a more controlled mindset, creating a stronger bond than Chaotic Fusion, usually allowing Complete Fusion to last a lot longer.

Translation is the only other possible Inception after the Pneumatic's discovery. Translation of course, having two sub-types as well, Respawn Translation, and Chaotic Translation. Translation is when a certain Pneumatic, deconstructs into Chaotic Substrate (ChStr), and splits off and reassembles from another Pneumatic.
Like teleportation essentially, and to make it clear when denoting who's teleporting, we designate the names of the Traveller (The Pneumatic being sent to the other's location), and the Receiver (The Pneumatic causing the Translation). Note when the Traveler reaches the Receiver, the Traveller is a part of the same mass as the Receiver, leaving its original mass to turn into Chaotic Substrate. (May need later context) If the Traveller is not undergoing Chaotic Fusion or Chaotic Transformation with the Receiver, the two will split into 2 somewhat equal in weight, separate masses.
Chaotic Translation occurs like Chaotic Fusion and Chaotic Transformation, occurring when under certain types of stress or mental pressure, Translation however can occur in tandem with the other Chaotic Inceptions. What Pneumatic becomes the Traveller depends on what mentals pressures are being put on the Receiver.
Respawn Translation is necessarily, the only Inception that can be forced to occur. Since Chaotic Substrate is a physically compatible particle, the Pneumatics can be damaged by standard weapons. When sufficiently damaged to a grave enough degree, a Pneumatic can lose its form and Translate to the Pneumatic with the closest mental relation (the one that's most alike mentally).

History

Inception is only a factor that can cause other Pneumatics to be made, like stated, the Pneumatics are personalities inside of Widow's mind. With that in mind we need to understand that when Widow was born, personalities didn't directly take shape. The Pneumatics weren't always beings, the first Pneumatic descendants (call them influences) were more abstract, very in tune with emotion since Widow's aspirations had not completely taken shape yet. 
Emotions like anger, sadness, and joy were the first sort of influences for Widow's behavior. they were still just as important as the Pneumatic though, providing a groundwork for the future. As Widow grew up, when he started becoming conscious of ideas like emotion, recreation, knowledge, and creativity, more refined influences started taking shape, with more human characteristics. Dominantly separating and splitting off from some of the current influences. These early Pneumatics would begin the full line of modern Pneumatics.

Type

Mental

Origin

Natural

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired & Congenital

Rarity

Rare

Affected Species

• The Pneumatics