Xenos: Eat, enslave, purge or..

[CiderMuffin]

So one thing in Stellaris is that there are numerous ways to deal with xenos. Soon they'll be food, we could just purge them or turn them into slaves but playing Horizon Signal made me realize another potential, turning the xenos into your own race with a biochemical virus or setting up a facility where they're forced to change into your race. This could lead to new events like a revolution or (with the aid of a mind control ray and state propaganda) lead to a more peaceful way to change them.

 

[iniudan]

Well, we still don't know that the second level of biological ascension actually do, so it might permit what you want.

 

[Elfwind]

Why don't we introduce mind control or servitude on a genetic level or trick them into becoming servant AI?

 

[BlackUmbrellas]

So one thing in Stellaris is that there are numerous ways to deal with xenos. Soon they'll be food, we could just purge them or turn them into slaves but playing Horizon Signal made me realize another potential, turning the xenos into your own race with a biochemical virus or setting up a facility where they're forced to change into your race. This could lead to new events like a revolution or (with the aid of a mind control ray and state propaganda) lead to a more peaceful way to change them.

In fairness, it's a bit of a leap from "using a retrovirus to revert ourselves into an earlier genetic ancestor species" and "using a virus to transform aliens into our species".

Not that I'd be opposed- there are some great stories about culture-shock and exploring alien mindsets based around people being transformed into another species (for instance: District 9).