Identical Man
A Machine, also known as an Identical Man, was a construct made by the Proto-Viyrans to avoid overpopulation on inhabited planets.
Appearance
The Machine at Embankment had the form of a naked man with a smooth area in place of genitalia, (AUDIO: Embankment Station [+]Loading...["Embankment Station (audio story)"]) leading Rab to liken it to Action Man. (AUDIO: Ruffling [+]Loading...["Ruffling (audio story)"])
Abilities
Machines were indestructible, able to kill with a single touch (AUDIO: Embankment Station [+]Loading...["Embankment Station (audio story)"]) and to send out a coded message which transformed people's brains, affecting their ability to feel empathy. (AUDIO: Seed of Chaos [+]Loading...["Seed of Chaos (audio story)"]) They could also create copies of themselves from their bodies, called "factors", hence why they were known as the Identical Men on Earth. (AUDIO: Embankment Station [+]Loading...["Embankment Station (audio story)"])
Machines were capable of controlling people with a modification pulse, turning people into zombies and sending them to complete tasks. These zombies were capable of restoring themselves when they were damaged, although this ability was limited and they could ultimately be damaged so much that they were unable to bring themselves back together. (AUDIO: Ruffling [+]Loading...["Ruffling (audio story)"], Seed of Chaos [+]Loading...["Seed of Chaos (audio story)"])
History
In the early days of the universe, the Proto-Viyrans began creating the Machines from orange coral found in the seas of Gelrasi, enslaving humanoids to harvest it and regularly culling those who fell ill. They sent Machines to different worlds to affect the empathy of a certain number of people in a species, causing an increase in death rates and a decrease in birth rates so as to avoid overpopulation. At least one Machine had been sent to Earth by 1912. (AUDIO: The Destructive Quality of Life [+]Loading...["The Destructive Quality of Life (audio story)"])
In the early 21st century, a Machine was based in the London Underground near Embankment (AUDIO: Embankment Station [+]Loading...["Embankment Station (audio story)"]) and sent out its pulse to affect those who travelled on the trains. (AUDIO: Seed of Chaos [+]Loading...["Seed of Chaos (audio story)"]) It detected Charlotte Pollard, Robert Buchan and the Rogue Viyran's arrival through the Prolixity and labelled them as threats, sending two factors to destroy them, dressed in the clothes of two humans whom they killed. (AUDIO: Embankment Station [+]Loading...["Embankment Station (audio story)"]) However, the Rogue Viyran's ruffling power was able to stop them.
The Machine used a modification pulse when Captain Hardwick and his men searched the Underground for it, then using the soldiers to find out from Woking where the three travellers were. (AUDIO: Ruffling [+]Loading...["Ruffling (audio story)"]) The zombies were destroyed by a train and further factors were impeded by the Rogue Viyran, after which the Machine released a pulse to affect the travellers, as well as Woking, Naomi Davies and Rab. When Charley, Robert, the Rogue Viyran and Woking returned to Embankment, factors attacked them until they teleported away using the Prolixity. With the threats gone, the Machine shut down. (AUDIO: Seed of Chaos [+]Loading...["Seed of Chaos (audio story)"])
By Robert's time, at least five Machines in total had been sent to Earth. The Rogue Viyran credited these for Charley and Robert's births, saying that the Earth would have suffered from overpopulation and they would not have been born without the Proto-Viyrans and their Machines. (AUDIO: The Destructive Quality of Life [+]Loading...["The Destructive Quality of Life (audio story)"])
Behind the scenes
The Identical Men were voiced by Colin McFarlane.
