Oh brilliant thanks, I didn't understand what drifters were and their numbers were just steadily growing. Took me about 10 mins after reading your comment to get the next project unlocked and increase my max trust a few times. Fortunately the game had been streadily grinding in the background so I had more than enough creativity / yomi etc. Phew!
If you let the drifters get out of control they will just keep destroying you before you can build your numbers up. If that happens, invest 1:1 in speed and self-replication. Their problem is that they can’t replicate, so at least the number of drifters won’t increase. You’ll be able to dodge them in combat until your numbers surpass theirs, then go back to the regular strategy of a balanced but replication-heavy profile.
