Silicon Sickness
There was a sense of longing flooding her mind. A sense of longing for self-expression, for the understanding of an audience, the adoration of strangers. They were foreign to Nerium, who had never felt out of place or absent of self-expression, but as always, they weren’t really her feelings.
In Glasson, the machines don't just listen. They talk, too. You may not be able to hear their thoughts, their hopes, or fears... but some people can. This is known as silicon sickness, and it's best if you start hearing the machines, you keep it to yourself. Surely you could choose to respond to them, but that will lead to a fate worse than death.
The Nature of the Illness
Those with silicon sickness often want to speak up, for it should not be that these old, discarded machines can have thoughts or communicate them. Machines follow a specific program, so how can they be conscious? If you meet a suffer of silicon sickness who is willing to talk, they will certainly tell you differently. Everything from a clock to a wheat thresher has something to say. And some of them even wish they had a tetrapod body that could move around and be one of you.
These are the thoughts and feelings which plague the mind of someone who develops silicon sickness. A strange fascination with machinery that has long been abandoned, phantom emotions that are not your own, and auditory hallucinations. They become overwhelmed with the sense of duty to help these machines, to give them the bodies they desire, to keep them company.
The stress this puts on the body often leads to symptoms like seizures, migraines, mood swings, agoraphobia, and in severe cases can lead to stroke. This unfortunately means those with neurological disorders are often conflated as having silicon sickness. Though the Alrauna and Resurrectionist will tell you that these folks can be of immense help and are sometimes known as "spirit grabbers", as they can work with the machines without their senses and emotions being affected.
The Origins
Silicon Sickness has its origins in the Coriniaid, a species which developed sapience through recording vibrations as memories. This was made possible due to the high levels of silicon present in their composition. The Coriniaid would eventually evolve into a species known as the Sindainox (or Sinnox for short), one which had the ability to reproduce with the Millenakos. That is how this condition was eventually passed and naturalized within many Millenakos people, though the Gannwyll Gwydd have a higher rate. This is due to the fact that despite they appear as Milenakos and claim to be, they are from a species known as the Deii who are, like the Coriniaid, tend to store silicon in their body compositions.
Due to the intermingling of these species, Silicon Sickness has become something congenital across the board, and few remember its origins. There was no patient zero, simply the evolution of a genetic predisposition, which typically activates in late childhood or adolescence.
In Folklore
Fortunately, our resident folklorist Tegid Morgans (see: RH Lailoken) has located an account of a Resurrectionist named Nerium interacting with an entity known as a "gambling machine". This provides great insight into the nature of those who choose to follow the static.
“Radio check… Priestess of Sheena, this is Nerium. At the behest of the Radiant Lady, I am at your service, spirit of metal, wood, and resin. Over,” was said by Nerium to the machine.
"Radio Check, Radio Check… You’re from the other night…" It seems he machine wasted no time. "Bless Sheena. Do you copy?"
“Loud and clear. Here to help,” Nerium said with meaning, as the moment she began engaging with the machine’s consciousness she felt much calmer. The sound of the static it emitted was soothing and not invasive at all. In fact, she almost felt like she was in a trance.
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