Information creep

This article is about the condition that affects Transformers. ForCrosscut's piece of experimental theatre named after it, seeInformation Creep.

Information creep is an illness from the2005 IDW portionof theGeneration 1 continuity family.

Information creepis a malady that afflicts robotic lifeforms: i.e.Transformers.It consists of the corruption of data in thebrain modulethat results in memories being subconsciously (or rather, unconsciously) re-interpreted.

Contents 1Fiction 1.12005 IDW continuity 1.2Beast Wars: Uprising 2Notes 3External links

Fiction

2005 IDW continuity

In the earliest days ofCybertron,Adaptusproposed invading alien planets so that the crucible of conflict would force the Cybertronian race to evolve into something stronger. Cast out by the rest of theGuiding Handfor his ideas, Adaptus fled toLuna 1where he blasted the planet with an electromagnetic weapon, wiping the memories of the population and creating what would become known as "information creep". Having absorbed the brunt of the blast,Primusnot only forgot his own identity but became compulsively forgettable by everyone.The Unremembering

Under undivulged circumstances, Primus – or Rung as he now called himself – rediscovered his ability to producephotonic crystals,manufacturing them atNova Prime's order, before theexpansionwas halted and Rung once again forgot his talent.The Divided SelfModes of Production

While rummaging around inOverlord's brain,Chromedomecommented that Overlord was showing signs ofeidetic decay,ormemory fatigue:in Overlord's memory of a crowd during a gladiatorial battle, most of the crowd was the same color, and one out of every three or four faces was missing. He estimated that level of imperfect recall meant Overlord was about 4.2 million years old. Chromedome doesn't refer to this process as "information creep", but since it involves the gradual corruption and loss of old memories, it's possible that memory fatigue or eidetic decay are the same or related to information creep.Remembrance Day

Following the disappearance of theLost Lightand the necessity of 20 'bots cramming into theRodpod,they began talking amongst themselves. During one of the conversations,Ammo,Riptide,andGetawaytoldNauticaabout the "Ten-Step Program" that MTOs had to pass in order to be declared "world-ready" (which Riptide hated),Ratchetweighed in with anecdotal info about the high percentage of MTOs who claimed to have had mystical experiences, which he claimed were neurological hallucinations that were a product of their virtually-newborn senses.Swervetook offense, pointing out that faith wasn't a new idea, but Skids countered that with a brief lecture on a condition known to affect long-lived robotic lifeforms known as "information creep" —over a long period of time, the corruption of brain data results in memories being unconsciously reinterpreted. Nautica was familiar with the condition, which was known onCaminusas "blurred data".

The playwrightCrosscutalso revealed toCyclonusthat he was working on a play inspired by the condition calledInfo Creepthat was more experimental than his previous workMy Shovel, Your Face.Twenty Plus OneOn an alternateLost Light,Crosscut finished the play and performed it in theship's theatre.slaughterhouse

During a conversation onEarth'smoon,Optimus Primecited information creep toAlpha Trionas the reason why present day Transformers were unable to remember "legendary" figures from their past like theGuiding Hand,despite having been alive during that era.The Crucible

While onNecroworld,Rung revealed toNightbeatthat he was so old that information creep had caused him to forget much of his past, including his ability to forge photonic crystals.Modes of ProductionAdaptus later identifying Rung and Tyrest as the new identities of Primus andSolomuscaused their ancient memories to be restored.The Return of the KingThe Unremembering

Beast Wars: Uprising

The phenomenon of information creep had distorted the memories of theUnicron Warcausing some to doubt thatUnicronhad ever even existed.Delugewas spared this and educatedRampageabout information creep.The Inexorable March

Notes

• In real life, human beings are subject to "memory errors", which includes memory loss, remembering events that never occurred, or remembering them differently from the way they had actually transpired. They can happen for a myriad of differing reasons, including emotions/stress level during the particular situation, expectations, and changes to environment. This sounds much like "information creep" in robotic lifeforms.
• "Information creep" is a term used by Wikipedia to describe the slow feed of information into an article that winds up shifting its perspective and/or readability over time.
• The concept of Cybertronians losing their memories of their pasts as a result of their brain compartmentalizing and suppressing older data was also a plot point inTransformers: Retribution.

External links

• Memory errorsat Wikipedia