Amalgam Blank

Sometimes, blanks corrupted through the unwise application of The Word do not immediately collapse into an unsalvageable state, but instead linger on on 'death's doorstep' for an extended period of time. These blanks still possess some functional elements - a bit of memory there, and a little personality or sense of self-awareness there - but these elements cannot persist on their own without sliding further into corruption. Through bridging, broken elements are suspended while the functional elements are recombined until enough of them have been included that a new, complete individual that can persist over time is created.   Philosophically, the creation of amalgams raises significant questions about personal identity that even the ancient scholars of The Substrate have difficulty answering. While the amalgam will go on to have its own personality, this is typically a hybridization of scraps of memories and inclinations gathered from its precedent blanks and, as such, it might be thought of as a continuation of those blanks. On the other hand, the bridging process resembles the way in which elder and choir blanks reproduce, albeit with less intentional control over which traits are inherited from each parent, and so many have wondered if an amalgam should be considered a 'child' of the union of several 'parents' or, in contrast, more of a state where multiple 'patients' are given life through union in the manner of an transplant.   There are also ethical concerns about whether it is entirely morally tenable to allow blanks so corrupted to persist in this hybrid state. Amalgams sometimes express distress at both the fragmented memories of the traumas that lead to their previously corrupted state as well as the fact that the union of disparate blanks into the amalgam state - which one or more parties may not have been in a condition to consent to - may constitute a violation of the personal autonomy and identities of the constituents. Often, however, the creation of an amalgam is one of the only known ways to preserve the life of a blank in the throes of a corruptive process, as repair is only sometimes effective in cases such as reactant instability due to the near-infinite different ways in which a blank can become broken. The desire of The Substrate to preserve sentient life often overcomes these qualms in the circumstances leading up to a bridging, but what happens afterward is a thornier matter of philosophical contention because it gets into the ethics of euthanasia and medical consent (to the extent the latter applies to artificial life forms).

After a long enough period of time, most amalgam blanks eventually settle into the reality of their new state and, with further treatment, can even come to thrive as a new individual with a new life to look forward to. Further on, those who were familiar with the original blanks may or may not come to accept that their former friends and loved one still live on after a fashion, albeit in a changed form and alongside new peers. Some amalgams become crusaders against the various circumstances that led to their former corrupted state, whether promoting regulation for certain uses of The Word, hunting down those who would misuse the power in ways that can cause corruption, or studying new defense against - and treatments for - conditions related to blank corruption.