THE ANNACHIE OPTION"Please, we're talking about the MAlign.
It will be targeted nanotec."
—
Annachie—SOL System ca. 2017 A.D.
I must make clear that the premise of this thread can be carried out at
any Malign opportune time, in the distant future, orchestrated by the shockingly helpful hand of Aldona Anisimovna.
To get us back on topic, there is something that
puzzles me. It should be common knowledge by now that the Mesan nanotec needs to be
previously targeted to a
specific DNA to function. We all seem to take that as a built-in limitation of the tech. After all—without such a limitation—it would make Annachie's theory that the premise of this thread would be carried out by targeted nanotec, very plausible.
However, what if it
isn't as much of a limitation as it is an inconvenience? Regardless, what makes up for any inconvenience is the shocking ease of acquiring a sample. In the 21st century, forensics can work with the smallest samples of DNA that have aged considerably, even one that is decades old and obtained from the unlikeliest source. The police consistently obtain samples from discarded soda cans. A strand of hair. Lipstick on a glass. Saliva on a straw. That's all 21st century tech. Project that notion onto the Honorverse.
Which brings me full circle to what plagues me. That business with Lt. Meares all happened when he was on shore leave. Is that also when the Malign surreptitiously acquired his DNA, then cooked up the nanite to later administer it to him by aerosol, while he still remained on planet? It seems unlikely that the Malign would have known—enough ahead of time—that Meares would be ground side, or rather, any conditional lead time would have been insignificant if it involved a subsequent travel element from another system. It is also intuitive that the plan called for someone who routinely comes within a reasonably close proximity to Harrington.
It is also unlikely that a DNA sample was obtained prior to that incident, spirited off-planet to a lab on Darius or Mesa, then hypered back to Manticore in time to infect Meares
on his next shore leave. That synopsis is much too sententious and requires too many moving parts. Which leads me to think that Lt. Meares was an incidental and convenient target whose DNA was acquired on that same outing and the Meares-nanite was developed in some type of a very portable setup on Manticore. Perhaps in a lab contained in the confines of a briefcase. If present logic holds water, then the implications of the ease of acquiring DNA and time to deployment is frightening.
Examining Annachie's notion of the premise of this thread being carried out by targeted nanotec a bit closer, brings me to question whether one concoction of aerosol spray can contain a mixture of many different targets, but infecting only one host -- being that any "one" of many specific strands of DNA is present in the mist.
Of course, this would introduce questions of required concentrations to remain effective, but if it is as potent as Ebola or Solly stupidity then the consideration is rather moot.
"Which brings us full circle to Annachie's notion," says Anisimovna. "We may be able to blanket significant areas with nanite tainted aerosol from vectors as common as air ducts to the disarmingly beautiful, innocuous and sexy parfum-samplers in malls -- who routinely spray unsuspecting passersby without permission."
