Ordered matter is similar to goo pools in that it is a result of superscience gone wrong. It usually has a blocky, metallic appearance but some look like clusters of wires or piles of nails. They are a result of mass being reorganized and can be made from just about any substance. Most are small, no more than a few tons but there are some hiding in the ground that are the size of city blocks. In any case, all ordered matter nodes have intelligence, though it is alien even to robots and androids. I came up with two uses for them in the wastes:
Nodes need power and usually get it in the form of power cells or artifacts that are captured and added to the ordered matter mass. To obtain this power, the node intelligence splits off part of itself in the form of robots. They are usually asymmetrical and look like a pile of loose parts. Shatter bots, from Wisdom from the Wastelands, make for a quick and easy stat block. Though they are a danger if of themselves, these robots pose a much greater threat as other machines look to them as spare parts. This is bad as any incorporation of ordered matter into an existing robot or basic android will result in a software rewrite- they become loyal to the node and try to join it as soon as possible. Worse, the affected are repaired or enhanced and become much greater dangers until they join their node. And after they join, the node becomes larger and stronger…
Some nodes try to communicate with the outside world and do so with VR equipment. Those who use this gear find themselves in a nightmare, one that may consume their minds. However, it can also result in power, wealth and protection as those who do successfully communicate with the ordered matter mind can form a trading alliance. Technology with strange powers (ala the Unique Superscience Artifacts series in Wisdom from the Wastelands) are provided to those who give the nodes power, information and defense. These nodes are not trying to convert all matter, rather they desire something else, something alien to the human mind.
