Many of the texts and remnants from the Takmahl space temple point to the importance of cybernetics and bio-engineering in their civilization. When we think of cybernetics, we think of augmenting a human with implants, nanocoatings, perhaps artificial limbs. But the core of the system remains the human.
From the recovered pieces it appears to me that it may have been a two-way concept in the Takmahl empire. Robotics and machinery based on rudimentary AI were "augmented" with biological grafts, such as nerves and ganglia for fast preprocessing of sensory inputs, or organs for the careful control of enzyme reactions turning plants into food. Biodroids could be anything from a mere 10% to 95% biological and were designed for specific tasks mostly related to argiculture on barren or ocean worlds.
The blurring runs in both directions. Just as mechanical systems are mass produced nowadays, biological bases for the biodroids were mass produced in clone factories. As the Takmahl inherited the blood religion from the Sani Sabik ancestors, one cannot help but think that also the sacrificial victims were factory produced...
