Nanobots
Overview
Nanobots are a class of autonomous, inorganic machines whose physical dimensions do not exceed a micron (In vernacular, they may be as large as a millimeter cubed. For the purposes of this article, the distinction is fairly unimportant). Used almost literally everywhere, nanobots easily outscale sentients by a factor of quintillions by mass, found in every crack of every sidewalk on every world. Nanobots may perform almost any function, whether flying, embedded, or in a fluid-like mass, making them difficult to categorize, so the paperwork's a headache.
History
The first computer-interfaced nanobots were produced in the 24th century. Prior, you would need a very forgiving understanding of the words "nano" and "bot" to accept anything as nanobots. These bots performed simple tasks, such as environmental purification, energy collection, and invasive spying procedures. A few prototypes were even developed to produce additional nanobots.
In the 29th century, the EZ transmutation process was invented by Elbert Zn't, shortly following the discovery of dimensional catalysts. At this point, nanobots had become cheap to make on an individual basis, but their lack of reusability, hyperspecialization, and the presence of simply better alternatives had driven them to become an industry-specific tool. In particular, medical nanobots had begun to increase human longevity, but not to its current, unbounded state. By this point, so-called "endless" atomic relays provided enough small-scale battery power to make nanoscopic EZ transmutation possible.
The EZ transmutation, however, changed all of this. In 2897, the first true "Grey Goo" nanobots destroyed the South Red Planet Illusive Academy in a matter of seconds after an unknown grad student finalized a self-replicating nanobot. Had it not been for a frankly egregious design flaw and a well-timed EMP from an orbiting military base, Mars, and quite possibly the Terran solar system, may have been lost. In their press release, the base also accidentally admitted to the full scope of their nanospy network. These events, along with some other concerning incidents, sparked the regulations discussed below.
Today, nanobots are much more capable than these single-minded machines. They are barely autonomous, running complex systems, especially in human health (those problems perfect genetics can't fix anyways) and infrastructure.
Current Regulations in the FRP
(1) No nanobot may have the capacity to create another nanobot. Replicators with secure FRP software should be the only point of creation. Raise those little bots up, carefully.
(2) All nanobots must have a FRP provided cryptographic killswitch. Make them respect us.
(3) (Thought to be obsolete) All nanobot-based sentients must transfer their consciousness to a macroscopic form by the end of next year. A government stipend will be provided to afford this new cost, along with several grants to provide research funding into this transmission. We wish you a good day and best of luck.
(4) All nanobots must provide easy-to-use access to all personal data collected.
(5) All nanobots ...
(1,000,000) Nanobots may not be used in the treatment of Degenerative Mime Disease, for obvious reasons.
(1,000,001) No nanobots may be used to create a coat of oil or grease on the coat of any macroscopic, still-living subsentient, and in the case one does, it is illegal to then attempt to grab or ride said subsentient, until such a time as the oil or grease is cleaned off, excluding in cooking processes.
The problems with these ever-expanded laws are popularly criticized in Caasi Vomisa's hit series, "Us, Nanobots". Even so, they've avoided any and all problems in the last ten centuries or so, so.
Skaoi IV
Don't you think I've forgot about you, Skaoi. Scans indicate that Ruined Zones on Skaoi IV contain a vast multitude of nanobots, but the Redshirts have yet to locate any live ones. We are further unsure, additionally, if these bots might contain the EZ / atomic relay combination. This would make "ruining" the zone a simple matter, while still not penetrating the Omnisuit Mark IV.0.1.97's atomic protection.
Kelsey Khan, Director of Travels and Communications, The Ashbery, Federated Republic of Planets