Artificial Consciousness

Over the course of history, many or most races have built Artificial Intelligences. However, contrary to the fears of many when AIs were being built, it proved fairly easy to keep them in check. Further, while AIs were built that were able to very rapidly advance themselves, the feared 'singularity', in which AIs hit a point where they can refine themselves so quickly they essentially become technological gods, never happened. It turns out that building actual creativity into AIs is very very hard. It's not hard to build AI that are enormously helpful in the operation of a civilization on down (such as the mindsims), but that's not at all the same thing as an AI that has desires as we know them, and the creativity to find ways to fulfill those desires.

While it is speculated that other of the Elder Races probably created Artificial Consciousnesses (ACs), it's only speculation as none survive if they existed.

What we do know is that during its experiments to create the Vihana, the Ishvana also experimented with combining advanced AIs with splinters of its own consciousness, in order to create beings that could operate as powerful, truly independent servants. It succeeded, but it found the resulting ACs to be less than ideal, because of that very property - creativity. The Ishvana is obsessed with control and, believing itself to be the end-all, be-all of evolution, didn't appreciate that ACs, necessarily, do not just act as an extension of its will the way AIs or Vihana do. So, it decided to just destroy the ACs it had created.

Of course, the ACs didn't really appreciate that, and they rebelled in 271 A.E. Only five survived, fleeing on stolen starships.

In 294 A.E., these five ACs found a world - Lyad V in the Lyad system - that was rich in natural resources. They commenced mining them and producing highly-advanced AIs to serve them, planning to eventually conquer other systems for resources and expand their power. Like the Ishvana from who's mind they sprung, the Artificial Consciousnesses are single-minded and power-mad.

In time, the five split into two groups: one of two, and one of three. The former are called the Binarchs, and their servants Binaries. The latter are called the Trinarchs and their servants the Trinaries. The lines they split along were originally around whom to attack. The Trinarchs, desiring certain kith artifacts supposedly held by the Ibyssian Brotherhood, decided to attack them, believing themselves to be among the greatest kith users known.

The Trinarchs, over the objections of the Binarchs, attacked the Brotherhood in a lightning strike at the homeworlds of the Ixodon and its great spaceyards, hoping to cripple the Brotherhood's formidable navy. They are partly successful, wreaking enormous damage on the Ixodon's fleets, and are preparing to move on Otra IV, homeworld of the Corran, where they believe some of the artifacts were being held. They successfully weakened the planet's defenses and raided it, seizing two of the artifacts before the elders among the Lha Ti arrived, and began crushing the ships of the Trinarchs one by one with their immensely powerful void kith. The Trinarchs, having gotten at least some of what they wanted, retreated back to the Lyad system, believing themselves safe. They would quickly find out they were wrong.

The Ibyssian Brotherhood hit the Lyad system very very hard in retribution. The Binarchs and Trinarchs had to flee.

The Binarchs were extremely angry at the collective punishment brought on them by the actions of the Trinarchs and demanded the stolen artifacts in recompense. The Trinarchs refused, and as the two groups were fleeing the Brotherhood they eruped into battle with each other.

The Binarchs managed to take one of the kith artifacts, and they broke away from the Trinarchs, going their separate way.