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Have it been described somewhere in the fluff? Maybe in one of those Titan-centered books? I have not read them so far, unfortunately...

Is it like a voice inside your head? Some kind of virtual reality? A whisper? Anything else?

I'd really like to have some kind of description for it. Thanks.

Titanicus by Abnett is the best shout for any fluff on titans.

MIUs show up in a number of different settings, they're not unique to 40k. If you're at all familiar with the works of William Gibson or Mike Pondsmith, both Cyberpunk writers, these sorts of things are called "smartlinks" and allow direct neural connections between the person and a device, whether that's a weapon, a vehicle, a computer, whatever.

So how it "feels" is going to depend on what it's connected to. If it's a vehicle, I would imagine that the various systems and such become like extensions of your own senses, you'd be able to pilot the vehicle by thought, the motion of your arms may direct the weapon-limbs (of, say, a Titan) or adjust the tilt of wings (of a Valkyrie or Lightning, for example), turning your head guides the turret/auspex/whatever, so on and so forth.

 Deadshot wrote:
Titanicus by Abnett is the best shout for any fluff on titans.

Yea, I've heard... but I'd like a shortcut and just a small description of what princeps and/or moderati feels when he is connected to Titan instead of a full book.

 Psienesis wrote:
So how it "feels" is going to depend on what it's connected to. If it's a vehicle, I would imagine that the various systems and such become like extensions of your own senses, you'd be able to pilot the vehicle by thought, the motion of your arms may direct the weapon-limbs (of, say, a Titan) or adjust the tilt of wings (of a Valkyrie or Lightning, for example), turning your head guides the turret/auspex/whatever, so on and so forth.

Yea, I've read about it on Wiki. It also says, that if Titan is shot, princeps feels pain as well... and many other stuff.

I'm more interested in the aspect that Titan's Machine Spirit said to consume mind of the princeps over time. It also mentions some types of mind links between Titan and human who controls it. What does it mean? As I've asked, is it some kind of voice inside your head?

So yes, I'm more interested about actual process of interaction between MIU and human, and all the related feelings. Like, it is said, that Titan should be 'harnessed' in order to control it. How do you harness it? Does it mean, that you do not just think about moving your legs in order to walk, but somehow... convince the Titan to move its legs?

Those are all possible interpretations, yes... but 40k doesn't work under the idea of "because it works this way in one book, it always works this way in the setting". Maybe some Titans speak to the Princeps in a telepathic manner. Maybe others don't. Maybe some provide neural feedback when they are damaged, maybe others don't.

 Psienesis wrote:
Those are all possible interpretations, yes... but 40k doesn't work under the idea of "because it works this way in one book, it always works this way in the setting". Maybe some Titans speak to the Princeps in a telepathic manner. Maybe others don't. Maybe some provide neural feedback when they are damaged, maybe others don't.

So, like, everything is canon on this one? Well, thanks. Still, if someone knows how it had been described in that book or the other, he is welcome, because I personally read none so far...

Basically, yes. You can pretty much make up whatever you want for your own stories/armies/games/what-have-you, so long as it "feels" like 40k... which will, of course, vary from player to player.

It's more fundamental than the "everything is canon" argument, as well.

MIU essentially connects your brain to the engine. Your brain rationalises the information it receives in a way you can process.

How your brain perceives this may be totally different to how someone else perceives it, because it's just your subconcious' attempt to rationalise totally alien information being dumped directly into your central nervous system without being filtered through your senses.....


Titanicus, Titan, Priests Of Mars and Mechanicum are consistent about a few things:

a) The Princeps is 'awake', not in a close-eyed trance. There is a 'virtuality' environment called the mindscape, but it's overlaid, not replacing, concious reality. He can speak to the other bridge crew, but to an extent can speak directly to friendly princeps at the same time.

b) You still see through your eyes, visual displays are still relevant, but you also 'feel' the titan's body as your own.

c) Psychosympathetic pain - to the point of stigmata-esque pulled muscles and haemorrhage - are common in a titan princeps connected to an engine which suffers serious damage. Blown out void shields or lost weapon emplacements hurt, and tactile feedback is often mentioned. A loyalist warhound in Betrayer charges its plasma blastgun and the princeps feels heat prickle in his right forearm as a result.

d) Titans don't normally 'speak' per se. A Titan's machine spirit is more like an almost-feral animal - it's not 'smart' (which is why it doesn't fall under the mechanicus' "no AI" rules) but it is capable of basic emotion-equivalents like aggression and loyalty. Some princeps - especially warhound drivers - have to actively mentally force the titan to do what they want, because what it actually wants is to run amok causing havoc and destruction, not 'scout'.

locarno24 wrote:
How your brain perceives this may be totally different to how someone else perceives it, because it's just your subconcious' attempt to rationalise totally alien information being dumped directly into your central nervous system without being filtered through your senses.....

That's an interesting point. And pretty reasonable one.

locarno24 wrote:

d) Titans don't normally 'speak' per se. A Titan's machine spirit is more like an almost-feral animal - it's not 'smart' (which is why it doesn't fall under the mechanicus' "no AI" rules) but it is capable of basic emotion-equivalents like aggression and loyalty. Some princeps - especially warhound drivers - have to actively mentally force the titan to do what they want, because what it actually wants is to run amok causing havoc and destruction, not 'scout'.

While I've heard everything, this aspect is very well explained this time.

Overall, thank you. I guess, it is your answer I wanted to hear, and I patched the empty spaces in my knowledge about MIU. I think, I understand now how these things work.

 Psienesis wrote:
...so long as it "feels" like 40k... which will, of course, vary from player to player.

That's probably the worst and the best part of it all, ain't it?