Worldbuilding: The Cyion

My loose ideas for a fiction partially inspired by the style of Metroid Prime Hunters and the old Ben 10 series, but more mature and intended for teenagers and adults.

The Cyion are a race of naturally occurring humanoid silicon based lifeforms from the planet B-23-C. Over many eons, a form of naturally occurring data streams and circuits evolved akin to Earth machinery which lead to the first generation of Cyion. These Cyion are mostly composed of minerals and sediments.
They reproduced and evolved by building and sculpting new bodies out of various alien stones, salts, and metals, and integrating relatively advanced weapons onto these vessels. They then copy and transfer their energy and data stream to these new bodies, which then become a new generation of Cyion that reproduced in the same fashion.

Technically, these second and onwards generations of Cyion have the same consciousness as their creators, as they were given life by the copied consciousness of the first generation of Cyion, but the independent nature of these living automatons lead to them drawing different conclusions and thought processes then their predecessors, and essentially becoming their own individual.

Cyion can still be born over long periods of time on B-23-C via the same natural processes that birthed the race in the first place. For all intents and purposes, these are still first generation Cyion. It is unknown why this process only occurs on their home planet.

The planet B-23-E is located in the Triangulum galaxy, and is a rocky planet only dimly lit by a brown dwarf star. It is the only planet in it's system.

Cyion are powered by an odd, harmlessly radioactive substance dubbed "ether", which has the quality of radio waves or microwaves and is "wirelessly" absorbed by the Cyion into their circuits. This radiation is present everywhere in the universe, and this essentially gives the Cyion an indefinite natural lifespan, however, there is a limit to how much ether that a Cyion can have present in their bodies at once. Cyion can only die if they are damaged beyond repair or if this ether is blocked for long periods of time.

Early generation Cyion do not have specialized senses, instead they sense the world and the events that take place around them via vibrations. They can detect even the most minute vibrations from miles away. However, later generation Cyion have optimized instruments for sight and hearing built in.

The Cyion do not have voices or vocal cords in the traditional sense, first generation Cyion are limited to communicate by a language of sequential scratching, drumming, and slamming on a nearby surface or off of their own sturdy bodies. Generations of Cyion after this have specialized noisemaking mechanisms and instruments in their bodies, parts on their arms, necks, legs, and back, parts that move up and down, clamp and clap down or vibrate to create certain noises. These systems are most advanced and intricate in metal-based Cyion, who have a system of loose, scalelike plates all over their arms and legs for the purpose and also can communicate via deep mechanical whirring, similar to an engine in a vehicle or old computer starting up. The length, pitch, position, and sequence of these noises are what form the context and meaning of their communications. It's theorized that the reason why Cyion have not developed any analogue to vocal cords or a voice is so they can continue to communicate with older generations of Cyion.

Cyion do appear to have some sort of culture, sentient thoughts and memories and free will. However, they are deeply isolationist individuals and their entire race as a whole is the same way, only interacting with other species sparingly and going on incursions to collect materials and exchange information with each other. Some Cyion go dormant for long periods of time for seemingly no reason, awakening from this hibernation of sorts with no real damage or harm.

One thing that is for certain, however, is that the maintenance of a bipedal, vaguely humanoid form is sacred to Cyion culture. While more than two legs, arms or additions to stature are acceptable, and while any wheels and legs that allow the individual to have an alternative low gait or have an animalistic running stance are acceptable, the individual must keep the ability to stand, walk, function, and appear bipedal. Any individual that is built, designed, or altered to be outside of this specification is violently attacked and killed. The reason for this behavior is unknown, but it appears to be instinctual, more than likely because the first generation of Cyion were humanoid.

As detailed above, Cyion technology is quite advanced, with integrated cooling systems, tension limiters, subdermal armor, propulsion and flying capabilities on later generation individuals, and swordlike and firearm like weapons.They can adapt to integrate any new materials and forge weapons at will. This isn't limited to the creation of new individuals, newer generation Cyion can easily shift around parts, operate and weld on themselves, and shave off or attach new minerals or metals in order to retrofit new expansions and repair themselves. The armor on metal and mineral based individuals is extremely durable, with multiple layers being supported by advanced temperature control technology and being able to effortlessly survive nearly indefinite exposure to extreme temperatures, such as blizzards or even being submerged in magma.

Cyion, on average, can range anywhere from 9 to 50 feet tall, though there are recorded individuals who are far smaller or larger.

Due to the necessity of needing minerals, metals, salts, and sediments, and silica to reproduce and the fact that these hardy creatures can have an indefinite lifespan if not ended by injury or outside sources, having to find new planets to settle on was an inevitability. After scoping out hot, volcanic, and mineral rich planets, Cyions would attach themselves to huge chunks of rocks which were then ejected into the cold depths of space towards their destinations, crashing down to these planets as meteors.

One such planet that was scoped out was the Earth during the Hadeon era, the still young, forming planet having the perfect abundance of minerals to perpetuate the machine race and craft from their data and life streams. However, it appears that most of them were wiped out from the Earth right around the beginning of the Triassic era, except for a few individuals that now lie dormant and buried under the deepest, darkest stretches of the ocean floor and a specimen that we have classified and named "Alpha" that has been observed rising out of the ocean and taking flight to scavenge for metal, information, and weapons from human military installations and settlements.

~The Archivist

Author's Note

I have no plans for a full story based on these ideas yet.

The image is from Armored Core 3, and is intended as more of a general idea or placeholder for the appearance and characteristics of Alpha. All rights related to this picture go to their respective creators and FromSoftware.