digital. 2008.

"A common phenomenon at the height of the conflict was the roving
pack of Little Nemo; interlopers passing from head to head, thought
to thought, hidden in stray corners of dreams, and emerging en masse
to pick off the sick and the aged. Initially designed to trouble only
Vicarial forces as expendable distractions or part of a forlorn hope,
they learned to coordinate their efforts via an emergent hive mind
when in large enough clusters. This was quite unexpected, as
individually each Little Nemo is an easily handled encounter.

As with most Dreamer creations, the Little Nemo quickly developed
beyond the control of their masters and spread as an indiscriminate
infestation. Those beset by a sudden ambush are soon overwhelmed
in the feeding frenzy unless some means of dispersal is available.
Once divided into small groups, the chance for outsmarting their
reduced collective intellect is greatly increased. A single Little Nemo,
peeled away from the rest can be easily neutralized via any number
of "Pi In The Face" techniques. And indeed, individual constructs are
often kept as exotic pets, provoked to aggression for their oneirataxic
effects as a recreational addiction.

In the post-war Robotic Age, full swarms of Little Nemo were
increasingly rare, as encountered packs were eventually tagged for
monitoring and broken up if nearing the critical mass for hive intellect.
The once-dangerous, unpredictable plagues became safari fodder for
the wealthy and adventurous. In fact, culling the Little Nemo was a
standard rite of passage for many aristocratic adolescents. It is again
a testament to the hubris and short-sightedness of the Dreamers that
they allow the Little Nemo to persist at all, as the threat of a resurgent
hive intellect is considerable should any disruption of the culling tradition
occur."

- - -

The fetuses exhibit various psychokinetic abilities: pyrokinetic, telekinetic,
etc. or basic clairvoyance. They are used in battery cells as a power source,
or to fill modular slots depending on the requirements of the mission.
With a little electrical stimulation they can provide significant added
capability to each unit. These battery cells, first developed by the Dreamers,
were much used on both sides of the conflict.