Personal Characters List

Name: Rameshvara V. Katalin

Handles: Ram, Katalin, Valerianus, Val

Occupation: Scientist & Engineer

Description: Whole-brain emulation of an undisclosed species uploaded within a masculine shark-like synth body. Compared to what little said of his original form, he claims to’ve traded up in physique, synthetically masked to appear young in his mid-twenties with grey, slightly reddish requiem-like skin & a long thresher-like tail.

His body is an “Exocet” selachimorph; a synth model hardened to survive condensed physics-altering degrees of inertial force experienced in extreme acceleration. Numerous after-factory cybernetics enduing additional senses & cognitive enhancements have also been subtly integrated, with a few even falling into legally dubious areas, including a ‘‘hot core’’ security-grade cyberbrain kernel-patched with various “skillsofts” & “pathotronics”.

Finally, while his head, neck, & torso are braced by synthetic bone, the arms & legs are supported by a frame of artificial cartilage reinforced by a self-repairing mosaic of Carbon-Boron-Nitrogen ‘‘tesserae’’, resulting in limbs that are near-unbreakable and sturdy, yet still pliant enough to non-destructively bend under enough force.

^{[ ♫ ]}
Notes: At one point was merely a 20-something drudge living a quiet life many centuries ago. In the natural order of things he would’ve lived, died, & his personal achievements would’ve eventually faded with him, with one notable exception: Rameshvara V. Katalin was one of the first sapient test subjects for synthbrain connectome architecture imaging. His last pre-reinstantiated memory was being lured & coaxed by an attractive wunderkind professor & her interns to lie still while wired up to a strange machine, before suddenly getting barraged with an overloading maelstrom of bizarre sensory input.

When he was re-instanced a century later within the virtual simulspace servers of Preserved Connectomics Limited, & given his first orientation by a “CAIS” (lowtech “comprehensive AI service”) donated as a personal assistant for life, he found that the future was the world he always wanted to live in. He would soon later discover though that he’d be assigned into indentured servitude to defray the steep costs of recovering him out of ancient hard drives, & so for whole subjective millennia trapped in time-accelerated virtual labs of a subsidiary’s R&D robotics division, he’d toiled away under the tutelage & authority of the now-immortalized professor who had effectively enslaved him.

In the last decade Rameshvara has been finally released from his indentureship, only to discover he was locked in a second near-forgotten yet non-complete contract with other employers now trailblazing space colonization. Unable to earn his own credits, but at least now corporeal, he’s taken solace in that his new occupation pushes him to diversify into new fields and frontiers.

Roleplaying/Motivations: [^ Science] [^ Power] [v ‘‘Antigonus…’’ (Antigonus Carbrey; another “infomorph” who’d been indentured alongside Rameshvara, yet became something of an academic rival)]

Millennia of slaving away in time-accelerated simulspace labs, as well as frequent “forking” & “re-integrations” has left him somewhat unbalanced; occasionally he fantasizes blueprints for doomsday devices or super-soldiers. In an attempt to avoid these destructive fantasies, he’s grown accustomed to keeping himself evened out with “pathotronic” cyberbrain algorithms, resulting in a more gleeful personality, that while a bit unsettling, doesn’t have unproductive & intrusive thoughts, such as seeking to weaponize vacuum-materialized antimatter to destroy perceived enemies. While some worry what damage he would be capable of if turned loose, others fear what precisely Rameshvara may’ve been mentored & used by his former employer for.

Quote: “They say madness is rampant in this sort of career. Some have even personally called me mad…”

“And why?” ^_{ô_ó}

“Because I dared to dream of my own new race of Amazonian goddesses, celestial giantesses with herculean strength and Olympian forms, with hearts burning hotter than thermonuclear fire, that’d feast upon nebulae for sustenance, AND-” Wanders off from the listener, continuing on in his rambling tirades out the door.

Name: Caitríona Greeley
Sex: Female
Age: late 30’s
Handles: Cait, Greeley
Occupation: Private Magistrate, (a.k.a. Freelance Judge)
Physical Appearance: [ + ]

Notes: An exemplary “freelance judge” by career, whose adaptable jurisprudence and keen supervision keeps employer’s systems of contract-law running smoothly. Between the credit earned to her name from passing fair arbitration, and the money received when a contract stipulates a percentage of damages or payment for an arbitrator, it’s a comfortable living. That is, when not being shot at while cutting through hull plate to get at a party hiding away in breach of their obligations.

Roleplaying/Motivations: [^ The Law ] [^ Wealth ] [v Corruption ] [v Indolence ]
Freelance judges are sometimes mistaken for bounty hunters, but this is incorrect. Before enforcement, their first function is to examine the case on its legal merits. Then one may call both parties in for arbitration, take action against a breaching party by themselves, or even publicly identify the breaching party and offer up a cut of their own reward to assemble a posse.

Quote: “Earth customs don’t apply here. You’re in breach of Section 3, Paragraph 9 of your duly executed contract under the Nomic system. Heave to and prepare to be boarded. This is your only warning.”

Name: Konstantin Rurik
Sex: Male
Age: late 20’s
Handles: Contractor
Occupation: Still-functioning assassin, somehow working still in a post-death era.
Physical Appearance: [ + ]

Notes: Even in a spacefaring gilded age, the underlying spook world hidden from society maintains a stranglehold on the flow of information, and hitmen are one of many powerful instruments with which any deep state uses to tighten their grip. In order to maintain control and stability, it is sometimes necessary to make certain people either disappear, or suffer unfortunate physical trauma as a message. That’s where Rurik comes in. He gets assignments from higher-ups, never questioning why, and accomplishes them with no witnesses and no traces left behind.

Roleplaying/Motivations: [^ Survival ] [^ The Hunt ]
He’s seen those action clips of mecha-octopus assassins wielding eight guns at once, but that’s fiction; a true pro only needs one gun–and one shot–to get the job done. _{||Unironic fan of Huey Lewis & The News. ||}

Quote: “That, tetrodotoxin, should be nicely into your meatbag system by now. It’s isolated from the liver of an old-world pufferfish. So, it paralyzes you, but it leaves all the other neurological functions, perfectly intact… in other words, you can’t move, but you feel, everything. It does absolutely nothing to blunt the pain, and you’re about to experience more of that, then you could ever, fucking, imagine…‘’

Augmented Reality & You

Tactical Networks

Tactical networks, or “tacnets”, are specialized software programs used by teams that benefit from the sharing of tactical data. They are commonly used by sports teams, security outfits, military units, AR gamers, explorers, surveyors, miners, traffic control, scavengers, and anyone else who needs a tactical overview of a situation.

Functionwise, tacnets provide specialized software skills and tools to a superintending AI, as best fits their tactical needs. These tools link together and share and analyze data between all of the participants in the network, creating a customizable display within smart-glasses, helmet visor HUDs, or even entoptic implants for each user that summarizes relevant data, highlights interactions and priorities, and alerts the user to matters that require their attention.

The following list is a sample of a typical combat tacnet’s features:

Maps: Tacnets assemble all available maps and can present them to the user with a bird’s eye view or as a three-dimensional interactive diagram, with distances between relevant features readily accessible. The superintending AI can also plot maps based on sensory input, breadcrumb positioning systems, and other data. Plotted paths and other data from these maps can be displayed as entoptic images or other AR sensory input (a user who should be turning left might see a transparent red arrow or feel a tingling sensation on their left side).

Positioning: The exact position of the user and all other participants are updated and mapped according to local mesh network positioning and GPS. Likewise, the position of known people, vehicles, and other features can also be plotted according to sensory input.

Sensory Input: Any sensory input available to a participating character or device in the network can be fed into the system and shared. This includes data from physical senses, portable sensors, smartlink guncams, XP output, etc. This also allows one user to immediately call up and access the sensor feed of another user.

Communications Management: The tacnet maintains an encrypted link between all users and stays wary both of participants who drop out or of attempts to hack, spoof, or otherwise interfere with the communications link.

Smartlink/Weapon Data: The tacnet monitors the status of weapons, accessories, and other gear via the smartlink interface or wireless link, bringing material stress and damage, shortages, and other issues to the user’s attention.

Indirect Fire: Also known as “tacnet sniping”, members of a tacnet can provide targeting data to each other for purposes of indirect fire.

Analysis: The AI(s) participating in the tacnet are bolstered with skill software and databases that enable them to interpret incoming data and sensory feeds. Perhaps the most useful aspect of tacnets, this means a superintending AI may notice facts or details individual users are likely to have overlooked. For example, the tacnet can count shots fired by opponents, note when they are likely running low, and even analyze sensory input to determine the type of weaponry and ammunition being used. Opponents and their gear can also be scanned and analyzed to note potential weaknesses, injury, and capability. If sensor contact with an opponent is lost, the last known location is memorized and potential movement vectors and distances are displayed. Opponent positioning can also identify lines of sight and fields of fire, alerting the user to areas of potential cover or danger. Tacnets can also suggest maneuvers that will aid the user, such as flanking an opponent or acquiring better elevation.

Vade Mecum to 22nd Century Combat
_{( mish-mashing from these two PDFs; [ A ] [ B ]. )}

Let me drop some Sun Tzu on you first. The best thing is of course never to have to fight. Get the enemy to love you, want to help you, or at least ignore you. But if you have to fight, you fight to win. If you find yourself in a ‘fair fight’ you have done something wrong.

What we’re dealing with here is destruction, but what is the essence of that? It’s to prevent the intended function of something – a weapon, a person, a machine, a society. It can be surgical, like resetting a synthmorph’s brain to factory defaults, or it can be entropic, like perforating it with bullets, or blowing it up. The problem with surgical destruction is that it’s complicated, so it often requires special tools and a lot of preparation. You also need to know a lot about your enemy – always a good thing, but often hard to come by. Entropy on the other hand is easy, it is the natural tendency of the universe. Apply enough of it and it doesn’t matter what you are fighting.

This is a collection of conventional and unconventional weaponry, used to dispense entropy where it does the most good.

Strategic weapons
Let’s start with the strategic section first. The best way of making an impression that can be measured in kilometres.

Antimatter bullets

Rare, deadly, and very, very unpopular. Normally installed in special micromissiles that can fly far enough to be safe to use, but a few railgun bullets have also been made. Generally regarded as completely insane to use, but a few rogue ASI hunters I know swear by them: nothing survives ambiplasma, no matter how smart it is.

Unfortunately, antimatter ammunition is quite unstable. A sufficiently serious hit on the weapon or ammo will set it off. While antimatter railgun bullets are built to handle extreme accelerations sometimes they fail when fired, blowing up the firer. Worse, some do not detonate when they should, leaving unexploded antimatter ordnance lying around or inside a body. Of course, sometimes you want this to happen, and so we have a design for that too.

The yield can be anything from a grenade to a nuke, depending on the design. Unlike a hydrogen bomb you cannot set the yield after making it. Tends to set off WMD detectors left and right, so these are hard to covertly transport.

Tantalum charge

This is a nuclear isomer bomb that produces an intense gamma ray burst. Leaves no lingering radioactivity, but plays merry hell with organic tissue, circuitry, nanomachinery, and anything else that disagrees with getting ionization and free radicals everywhere. It has an explosive power similar to a high-explosive grenade, since the gammas tend to bump the atoms around quite vigorously. One of the nice things about this device is that it takes a somewhat sophisticated detector to figure out that you are lugging around a block of tantalum 180m, rather than just a block of boring old regular tantalum.

This is puny compared to the others in this section. This is the man-portable version you would lug into the Den of Evil to cleanse it with fire. We have a big and expensive warheads that do the same thing on regional levels. Yeah, this is likely what happened to New Maracaibo on Mars…

RKKS (Relativistic Kinetic Kill System)

These are the Big Guns; the “rocks”. To be honest, I don’t know if any have actually been built. But I’d be surprised if nobody had tried – there are a few too many paranoid groups out there with ample energy supplies and expansive strategic defense budgets.

Basically it just throws a heavy projectile at something very fast. So fast, that the enemy will not be able to react to it: when they see the blueshifted gammas from it they have milliseconds to react. Even if the enemy could break the missile they would still be hit by the fragments. And when it hits, it doesn’t matter what it is made of since it has more kinetic energy than its own mass-energy: making the warhead out of antimatter would just be superfluous.

Of course, you need to point it at where the enemy will be when it hits. So this is great against somebody who doesn’t move very unpredictably, like a large space habitat, a terrestrial city, or a big installation.

The big problem with RKKS is how to accelerate them. This particular blueprint (courtesy of Omnicor) uses pulsed explosions for propulsion: it is a series of stages that gets propelled forward when the previous stage explodes. Very visible, of course, but if you happened to have a small icy moon to hide it on, like, say Phoebe, Cordelia or Pasiphaë (not that I’m hinting at anything) the initial explosions would be pretty invisible and by the time the RKKS is obvious it would already be very fast. I know some Jovian think tank and the Quantum Defense Group (paranoid lunarians) have been looking at a really powerful railgun version, and there is a rumour the Titanians have found a clever way of launching projectiles using a long ‘‘thunder well’’ tube filled with deuterium that acts as a directional hydrogen bomb.

Remember, the main point of the weapon is that there’s no time to react. This is for a surprise “let’s rid the world of you”-party.

Planetary maser

Another absurd weapon that works in theory but nobody seems to have built. In a maser atoms that have been put in a high-energy state fall to a lower state when tickled with photons of the right frequency. If there are enough of them, and there is some sort of resonant cavity, you can get a cascade where a lot of energy gets released as coherent microwaves. The fun thing is that there are a lot of highly strung atoms around the universe. There are natural masers in star atmospheres, in molecular clouds, in comets, in the water plumes from Saturn’s ice moons and in gas giant atmospheres. In particular, Jupiter has fine conditions for making lots of maser energy.

These masers are not very focused and directional. But suppose somebody arranged things so that magnetic fields produced a resonant cavity, fired a bunch of really big lasers to provide charged channels that would act as directional antennas and beamed microwaves at the right phase to make a self-focusing beam? You would get a very big maser delivering a lot – many terawatts - of energy. To actually use it you would need to set up a set of control stations in close jovian orbit. Which likely will require some cooperation with Earthgov and the inhabitants around Jupiter.

Antimatter cluster bomb

While we’re on the topic of redecorating geography on planetary scales, here’s an old classic: the AMCB. Just like the antimatter warheads we all know and love, except that this one contains hundreds to thousands of individual mini-warheads. They spread out, and detonate simultaneously across a big area or volume. Yep, this is what made the “Big Shiners” pock-marking all over Amazonis Planitia.

Why not use the AM in one big bomb? Because there is a limit on how much entropy you want to throw at a single place: making something a million or ten million degrees hot is not going to make much of a difference; all the atoms are going to turn to plasma. If your target is made of molecular matter it is not going to care much about the difference. But targets are often extended or you are uncertain of where they are. Hence the cluster: lots of sufficiently big detonations, covering the area so no point is far from a fireball.

Perhaps you want to dissociate nuclei? Then you need to get a few billion degrees to be sure (those pesky iron atoms are pretty tough to crack). Normal nukes only give you a few million degrees in the fireball and to be honest it is hard to get beyond that with antimatter warheads too. Inside the ambiplasma you can be pretty sure of some corrosion of nuclei, though. So if you think you need to cleanse a femtotech threat, I would recommend just pouring antimatter on it.

Maybe I am a bit too fond of the stuff, but it is hard to beat.

Futuristic Structures

AB-Domes
A lot of Earth’s cities had AB-Domes in place during and after some of its worst environmental crises. You read about those, right? They’re a series of thin film layers held aloft by simple air compressors, forming a hemispheric shield over the entire city.

The layers are transparent, and help regulate the weather and climate while protecting from attack—most attacks, usually coming from missiles, would detonate outside the dome and the film would stop any radiation, chemicals, or biological agents from getting through. They’re also riddled with solar cells, so they provide power that’s routed through the skin and into generators and batteries on the ground. A Russian named Alexander Bolonkin invented them, hence the name.

Of course, AB-Domes can be made to any size. Smaller ones can be inflated in hours. They can also be stealthed with refractive meta-materials, making them and anything beneath them invisible to radar and other sensors. This makes them an excellent tool for hiding a small settlement or camp away from prying eyes.

Backups & Uploading

Cortical Stack Backups

Uploading

Post-Mortem Uploading

Destructive Uploading

Resleeving

“Continuity” with Uploading-Resleeving

Morphs

Biomorphs,

Resleeving Biomorphs (& Bioroids)

Common Biomorphs

Flats
Unmodified baselines—typically normal humans—commonly born with natural defects, hereditary diseases, allergies, & genetic mutations. Flats are exceptionally rare outside of isolated, bioconservative enclaves, as most died off during the Fall.

Therian Flat Variant
Sapient, “therianthropic” (meaning typically non-bipedal) animals uplifted primarily through genetic tweaks for enhancing cognition, as well as psychosurgery, & so mostly still considered baseline flats. Rare, as most uplifts are instead transgenic “splicers” with physical traits spliced in from different species (bear, human, or ape for arms & tool-grasping hands & bipedalism, as well as human or hero shrew for spines).

Therian “Splicers”
Genefixed, transgenic biomorphs derived from a multitude of uplifted animals & found typically in anthropic bodyplans, Splicers are common, non-specialized, “enhanced” biomorphs. Their genome, hormones, neurochemistry, & microbiota are cleansed & balanced for physical & mental healthiness, while an optimized metabolism keeps them fit & athletic. Splicers make up the majority of post-Fall society.

Spacer Variant
Spacers are splicers better physically adapted for microgravity. Their legs are more limber & their feet can grasp as well as their hands (though requiring specialized shoes for running in gravity). They can tolerate the cold temperatures of tunneled-out asteroid warrens, are far less prone to disorientation & dizziness, & have an internal oxygen reserve in case they are exposed to vacuum.

Neornithians
Uplifted avians, their brainwork derived particularly from corvids (crows, ravens, magpies, bluejays) & psittacines (parrots). Besides their size & anatomy transformed into an anthropomorphic bodyplan, numerous transgenic modifications have also been made to their wings, allowing them to retain limited flight capabilities at 1 g, but giving them a more bat-like physiology so they can bend & fold their limbs better, while primitive digits have also been added for basic tool manipulation. Their toes are also more articulated & now accompanied with an opposable thumb. Neornithians have adapted well to freefall in microgravity environments.

Pioneer
Built for survival with minimal gear upon partly-terraformed frontier worlds, these cervine & caprine morphs feature insulated fur & skin for more efficient thermoregulation, as well as respiratory system improvements for requiring less oxygen intake while also able to filter carbon dioxide.

“Kirin” CBRNN Variant
Though the ashen-skied capital worlds & derelict habitats of post-Fall may be slated as forbidden quarantine zones, the daring or greedy defy all law & reason to still scavenge there. Some prospective & foolhardy adventurers scour the ruins for secrets, others look for wealth & valuable artifacts, & some seek to destroy any remains of TITANs, wherever they may be hiding. The Kirin is purpose-built for these lines of field-work.

Medichines & nanophages throughout its body defend from most forms of bio- & nano-plagues, & the use of an organic brain leaves it less predisposed to forms of neural hacking. An emergency farcaster augmentation allows the morph’s ego to return from incidents where both their body & ego may wind up destroyed or corrupted.

Piscean
Transgenic derivations of sharks, manta rays, mormyridae, & even cetaceans sometimes, pisceans are environmentally adapted for underwater activity & living. Their heart rate slows while immersed in liquid, their skin retains heat well, they store oxygen in their muscle tissue, & they do not suffer negative health effects from pressure changes. Additionally, their eyes have nictitating membranes & their corneas adjust to counter underwater refraction. Their hands & feet are webbed, they can sense movements within water, they can detect electrical fields, & they possess a transgenic swim bladder for controlling buoyancy. Pisceans can safely descend to about 200 meters depth (roughly 21 atmospheres of pressure at 1 g) without suffering narcotic effects or other diving problems.

Remade
Completely overhauled biomorphs. Their cardiovascular system is stronger, their digestive tract sanitized & restructured, & they have been optimized for health, intelligence, & longevity with numerous transgenic mods. They look superficially like the phenotypes they derive from, but are different in very noticeable & sometimes eerie ways: taller, short or lack of hair, slightly larger craniums, wider eyes, smaller snouts or noses, smaller teeth, & elongated digits.

Myrmidon Variant _{^{( reptilian example )}}
Elite combat/survival biomorphs. These high-end transgenic bodies are upgraded for endurance, strength, reflexes, & capacity to handle catastrophic physical trauma. Behavioral modifications for aggressiveness are offset by genetics promoting pack mentalities & cooperation.

Saltus
Long before The Fall’s short “hot war” annihilatory phase, The TITANs had performed extensive genetic experimentation within many as-of-yet undiscovered black site laboratories across civilized space. The various iterations of these tests can occasionally be found contained in hypometabolic stasis, sheltered deep within those dark, forgotten places…

Each one of a kind, some of these “sports” are of no practical use, while others implicate new lines of research for post-Fall mainstream study & application. In rare finds, saltuses express features that can even be implemented wholesale by genehackers. Given that most saltuses carry the exsurgent virus in dormancy however, codifying their features into genemods intended for public sale is inherently dangerous.

Bioroids,

Common Bioroids

Basic Bioroid
Part splicer, part machine, besides the bioroid seam-lines however, these basic pods are superficially indistinguishable from normal biomorphs. ALI-operated basic pods are often used in service occupations where social interaction is necessary. Just as biomorphs, bioroids come in variations adapted to space or underwater, but to a far extremer degree. (coasting around within stellar coronae, walking upon the surfaces of venusian-like worlds, flying through the skies of gas giants, etc)

Pleasure Pods
Pleasure pods are exactly what they seem—bioroids designed purely for intimate entertainment purposes. Pleasure pods have extra nerve clusters in their erogenous zones, fine motor control over certain muscle groups, enhanced pheromones & scent, & sanitized metabolisms. Naturally, they are crafted for good looks & charisma as well as enhancements in other areas as well.

Security/Combat Bioroid
Originally manufactured as mass-produced AI-operated soldiers for joint peacekeeping missions & enclave border/security roles. Many were co-opted by the TITANs for the use of committing many bizarre atrocities during the Fall, so they fell out of favor for many years, but demand for cheap mercenary morphs has revived interest.

Space Marine Variant
Standardly equipped with oxygen reserves, prehensile feet, & vacuum sealing, the space marine variant of the security bioroid was optimized for orbital skirmishes, boarding actions, suppressing asteroid miner revolts, & other space-theater operations.

Changeling
Designed intentionally as top-end utilitarian bioroids, their entire skin is laden with shapeshifting, arrayed programmable quantum dot nanites able to convert solar light into energy. Besides their omnitool & laser emitting capabilities, a number of performers use this morph’s shape- & color-altering capacities as part of their acts. However, the fact that this morph can disguise itself as any other anthropomorphic sleeve, as well as even invisibly cloak, means that a number of covert operatives & criminals also make use of this morph.

Fafnir
Transgenetic flying reptilians, incorporating genetics from a range of flying creatures, some of them even prehistoric genes, along with some original neogenetic traits. The morph’s wings typically come out of & can fold against the back torso, leaving the hands & wrists unhindered during flight. Designed for survivalists & researchers living within alien ecosystems, this bioroid can reliably live off of consuming nearly any kind of xenoflora & fauna.

Scyllan
Scyllans are bioroids built & grown into the form of 2-meter-long snakes with torsos & arms for tool use. Created for claustrophobic work settings such as asteroid mining or crewing spaceships, the scyllan can coil, twist, & contort through the tightest of spaces, & move either by slithering, burrowing, or pulling themselves along by their arms. _{^{( extra: Scyllan in body-armor )}}

Murid
The handiwork of scumfleet genehackers, the murid is a byproduct of desperate measures taken during the Fall. The original model was simply the designers’ attempts to keep their crewmates alive on ships with overburdened recycling systems & septic CELSS. From there, it has evolved into a superb survivor’s morph, though the definition of “survivor” has now been extended to “can consume all of the drug-laced-cheese & still function lucidly.” This seems to be a selling point, & despite the morph’s stooped posture, rodent-like physiology, & strong-smelling pheromones, it tends to make the life of certain kinds of parties.

Fae
Miniature bioroid model designed as the smallest organic morphs ever conceived. Limited by cyberbrain size, it is a scaled down anthropomorphic body the size of a natural rat or mouse. Besides walking or hopping for locomotion, most Fae models feature a set of wings for flight, formed from multiple overlapping plates of an ultra-lightweight, extensible smart-matter capable of altering shape for optimum aerodynamics.

Faes are officially intended for rescue work, spacecraft maintenance, advanced habitat nanosystem repair, a companion sleeving option for Muses or psychosurgically-extracted Daemons, & for extremely low-impact “Lilliputian” lifestyles. Unofficially, it is an excellent espionage & “gremlin” sabotage morph.

Synthmorphs,

Resleeving Synthmorphs

Evacuating a Cyberbrain

Common Synthmorphs

Casemorph
Casemorphs are bulk-produced synthetic bodies provided as a cheaply affordable resleeving option for the digitally-incorporeal. They are available in many varieties to suit buyers’ tastes. Most are anthropomorphic, usually standing shorter in height than an average splicer.

Daitya
This huge, vaguely anthropomorphic synthmorph is designed for heavyweight occupations, such as cosmo-drome cargo transferal, or large-scale construction & assembly. At just under three-meters tall & with a mass of almost one ton, the daitya is essentially an industrial mech. Modified versions have been designed & deployed for combat purposes across the many decades, replacing piloted mecha in most cases.

Reapers
The reaper is a common combat synthmorph, used in place of soldiers with anthropic bodyplans, & typically operated via ensleeved egos.

The reaper’s core chassis is an armored disc, so that it can present a thin silhouette toward the enemy. It uses vectored-thrusters to maneuver in microgravity, while also utilizing an ionic drive for streamlined movement within air-filled habitats. Legs/manipulating arms & weapons are foldable into its frame, & because it is made of smart materials, limbs & weaponry can be extruded in any direction desired & even changed in length or shape. In environments with heavier gravity, reapers walk or hop on two or four limbs.

Reapers are infamous due to numerous mercenary “Qualia Playbacks” of military actions involving them posted unto the open meshnet, & so bringing one into most locales will undoubtedly raise eyebrows, if not warrant an arrest.

Think Tank
In common military parlances, “think tank” is the word used to describe any heavy, mobile weapons platform that uses artificial intelligence (in modern day, infomorphs with nootropic augmentations) to bolster it’s abilities in warfare. They are in essence updated 21st century armored fighting vehicles, designed for bringing order, precision, & control to the chaotic din of enhanced battles in the 24th millennium, & with an even greater emphasis on mobility, as well as in-depth electronic warfare in cyberized environments to permit a wide range of tactical capabilities.

Think tank armaments vary considerably depending on the size of the tank & nature of the mission. Typically when facing an an urbanized tank, their weaponry will consist of; heavy machine guns on articulated mounts, grenade or seeker-micromissile launchers (equipped with thermobaric, variable-yield fragmentation, thermal smoke/chaff, & irritant rounds) as well as military-grade mesh inserts for cyberspace access, remote drone jamming (interface), & advanced InfoSec hacking skillsofts.

While a think tank can host an artificial intelligence specialized for heavy combat, since the Fall, AGI & cyberbrains of individual pilots have been increasingly used while assisted by their army-proofed muses.

Hacking any credibly E-shielded think tank is extremely difficult, & essentially impossible without a physical connection. At the first hint of intrusion through its firewalls, should defensive e-shield techniques fail, a think tank can shift into insular mode & shut itself off from the meshnet.

Moon-Hopper Variant
Much like it’s terrestrial standard; a turntable-like weapons platform propped upon a multipedal leg unit, but with one notable added feature: powered by a miniature aneutronic fusion reactor, this massive synthmorph features a rear outboard plasma rocket designed to produce up to 0.25 g thrust. Moon-Hoppers can use frozen volatiles along with water as the rocket’s reaction mass, allowing them to swiftly & easily refuel upon the surface of almost any low-G world.

Journeys of 1-million kilometers typically take up to 10 hours, with fuel left to decelerate, land, & take off again from any moon, asteroid, or other planetesimal. They are rarely used for one-way journeys longer than 5-million kilometers, which take two full days.

The most common weapons mounted aboard these think tank variants are linked HEAP (High-Explosive Anti-Personal) &/or plasmaburst mini-seekers ripple-launched from box-racks, exoatmospheric plasma particle beam bolters, & heavy-gram automatic railguns loaded with course-autocorrecting gyrojet rounds.

Command Variant
Up-armored & featuring evermore potent E-war systems, along with the unique ability to host up to six separate-running consciousnesses all simultaneously (more with added ghostrider modules). It is possible that a single ego could fill all six cyberbrain slots at once through the use of alpha forks, but this has never been known to’ve been tested.

Infomorphs,

Forks & Merging

• Alpha Forks
An exact copy of the original ego, re-instanced as a separate infomorph. An alpha fork may be created by copying & running an infomorph (from an inert backup, infomorph, synthmorph cyberbrain, or a removed cortical stack slotted into an ego bridge). Alpha forks may be generated from biomorph brains using an ego bridge & the same process as uploading. Alpha forks are an exact copy of the original ego with all of the same skills, memories, traits, personality, etc.

Creating alpha forks is illegal in many jurisdictions, including most of the Interstellar Consortium & the UCR. In others it tends to be viewed with distaste, though there are some habitats/cultures in which it is encouraged.

• Beta Forks
Partial copies of an ego. They are intentionally hamstrung mentally so as to not to be considered equal to their progenitor, for legal & other reasons. Beta forks have most of the same skills as the original ego, though sometimes reduced. Their memories are also drastically curtailed, usually tailored to whatever task they are intended to perform. Beta forks are created by taking an alpha fork & running it through a process known as neural pruning. They are legal & even common in many places, except for bioconservative holdouts, though delta forks are more favored. Beta forks rarely have anything resembling civil rights or citizenship & are usually treated as the property of the originating ego. They are commonly used as digital aids or to represent the original ego when communicating with others over astronomically-great distances.

• Delta Forks
Extremely limited copies of an ego. They are more akin to AI templates upon which the ego’s surface personality traits are imprinted. Also created via neural pruning, delta forks are highly functional (as competent as a beta fork or AI) but have extremely limited skills & heavily edited memories, usually to the point of being functional amnesiacs.

• Gamma Forks
More commonly known as vapors, gamma forks are massively incomplete, corrupted, or heavily damaged copies of an ego. Vapors are not intentionally created & are instead the results of botched uploads, scrambled backups, incomplete or jammed farcasts, or infomorphs/forks that were somehow damaged or corrupted. It is extremely rare for anyone to purposely create a vapor for anything other than research use, although they can crop up in some interesting places.

For example, poorly made skill software occasionally includes enough of the personality traits & memories of the person the skill was taken from that it can behave in a vapor-like fashion when used.

Neural Pruning

Neural Pruning with Long-Term Psychosurgery

Handling Forks

Merging

The Self

Augmentations

Contents

^{[ Press Ctrl + F to quick-search listed terms ]}
1.0) Standard Augmentations

• 1.1) Basic Biomods
• 1.2) Basic Mesh Inserts
  • 1.2.1) Cranial Micro-Computer
  • 1.2.2) Radio Transceiver
  • 1.2.3) Medical Sensors
• 1.3) Basic Cortical Stack
• 1.4) Basic Cyberbrain
• 1.5) Access Jacks

---

2.0) Cosmetic Augmentations

• 2.1) Bodysculpting
• 2.2) Subdermal Implants
• 2.3) Sex Switch
• 2.4) Scarification
• 2.5) Skin Pigmentation
• 2.6) Scent Alteration
• 2.7) Piercings
• 2.8) Nanotats
• 2.9) Chameleon Skin
• 2.10) Skinflex
• 2.11) Synthetic Mask

---

3.0) Biowares

• 3.1) Enhanced Senses, Bioware
  • 3.1.1) Direction Sense
  • 3.1.2) Enhanced Hearing
  • 3.1.3) Echolocation
  • 3.1.4) Enhanced Smell
  • 3.1.5) Enhanced Vision
  • 3.1.6) Polarized Vision
  • 3.1.7) Electrical Sense
• 3.2) Mental Augmentations, Bioware
  • 3.2.1) Eidetic Memory
  • 3.2.2) Hyper Linguist
  • 3.2.3) Math Boost
  • 3.2.4) Multiple Personalities
• 3.3) Physiological Augmentations
  • [ Chronobiological ]
  • 3.3.1) Circadian Regulation
  • 3.3.2) Hibernation
  • [ Hormonal ]
  • 3.3.3) Endocrine Control
  • 3.3.4) Adrenal Boost
  • 3.3.5) Emotional Dampers
  • 3.3.6) Clean Metabolism
  • 3.3.7) Enhanced Pheromones
  • [ Respiratory ]
  • 3.3.8) Enhanced Respiration
  • 3.3.9) Gills
  • [ Protective ]
  • 3.3.10) Light Bioweave
  • 3.3.11) Heavy Bioweave
  • 3.3.12) Carapace Armor
  • 3.3.13) Temperature Tolerance
  • 3.3.14) Vacuum Sealing
  • 3.3.15) Toxin Filters
  • [ Motor Enhancement ]
  • 3.3.16) Muscle Augmentation
  • 3.3.17) Neurachem
  • [ Anatomical ]
  • 3.3.18) Prehensile Feet
  • 3.3.19) Prehensile Tail
  • 3.3.20) Whiplash Tendril
  • 3.3.21) Limbed Wings
  • 3.3.22) Bioware Claws
  • 3.3.23) Eelware
  • 3.3.24) Skin Pocket
  • 3.3.25) Drug Gland
  • 3.3.26) Poison Gland
  • 3.3.27) Glow Gland

---

4.0) Cyberwares

• 4.1) Enhanced Senses, Cyberware
  • 4.1.1) Anti-Glare
  • 4.1.2) Chemical Sniffer
  • 4.1.3) Nanoscopic Vision
  • 4.1.4) Radiation Sense
  • 4.1.5) T-Ray Emitter
• 4.2) Mental Augmentations, Cyberware
  • [ Safety & Survival ]
  • 4.2.1) Mesh Insert Disconnect
  • 4.2.2) Enhanced Cortical Stack
  • 4.2.3) Dead Switch
  • 4.2.4) Emergency Farcaster
  • [ Cyber-Cognitive ]
  • 4.2.5) Mnemonic Augmentation
  • 4.2.6) Multi-Tasking
  • 4.2.7) Masparing
  • 4.2.8) Neural Speed Optimization
  • 4.2.9) Temporal Shear Reduction Software (TSRware)
  • 4.2.10) Puppet Sock
  • 4.2.11) Ghostrider Module
  • 4.2.12) Brain Case
  • 4.2.13) Hot Core Processor Cluster
• 4.3) Bionic Augmentations
  • 4.3.1) Cyberlimbs
  • 4.3.2) Cyberlimb-Plus
  • 4.3.3) Hardened Skeleton
  • 4.3.4) Reflex Boosters
  • 4.3.5) Oxygen Reserves
  • [ Bionic Augmentations, Advanced ]
  • 4.3.6) Daedalus Discharger
  • 4.3.7) Internal Fusion Plant
  • 4.3.8) Mjolnir System
  • 4.3.9) Cyberclaws
  • 4.3.10) Hand Laser
  • 4.3.11) Inferno System

---

5.0) Nanowares

• 5.1) Mental Augmentations, Nanoware
  • 5.1.1) Mental Speed
  • 5.1.2) Oracles
  • 5.1.3) Skillware
• 5.2) Nano-Anatomical Augmentations
  • [ Nano/Micro-scopic ]
  • 5.2.1) Nanotoxins
  • 5.2.2) Medichines
  • 5.2.3) Nanophages
  • 5.2.4) Respirocytes
  • 5.2.5) Skinlink
  • [ Macro-scopic ]
  • 5.2.6) Wrist-Mounted Tools
  • 5.2.7) Fractal Digits
  • 5.2.8) Jackglue

---

6.0) Robotic Enhancements

• 6.1) Armor Enhancements
  • 6.1.1) Heavy Combat Armor
  • 6.1.2) Industrial Armor
  • 6.1.3) Light Combat Armor
• 6.2) Mobility Systems
  • [ Ground ]
  • 6.2.1) Walker
  • 6.2.2) Hopper
  • 6.2.3) Wheeled
  • 6.2.4) Tracked
  • 6.2.5) Roller
  • [ Flight ]
  • 6.2.6) Microlight
  • 6.2.7) Ionic
  • 6.2.8) Submarine
  • 6.2.9) Rotorcraft
  • 6.2.10) Hovercraft/Resistojet
  • 6.2.11) Thrust Vector
  • 6.2.12) Inert Gas/Arcjet
  • 6.2.13) Plasma Sail
  • 6.2.14) Metallic Hydrogen/Metastable Helium Rocket
• 6.3) Physical Modifications
  • [ Movement ]
  • 6.3.1) Magnetic System
  • 6.3.2) Grip Pads
  • 6.3.3) Extra Limbs
  • 6.3.4) Pneumatic Limbs
  • 6.3.5) Retracting/Telescoping Limbs
  • [ Hull Design ]
  • 6.3.6) Hidden Compartment
  • 6.3.7) Weapon Mount
  • 6.3.8) Structural Enhancement
  • 6.3.9) Shape Adjusting
  • 6.3.10) Modular Design
• 6.4) Sensors
  • 6.4.1) Steradian Vision
  • 6.4.2) Lidar
  • 6.4.3) Radar

Standard Augmentations

Basic Biomods
Nearly ubiquitous in biomorphs, many population centers will not allow embodied individuals to immigrate into or even visit if their biomorph does not feature these augmentations in order to preserve public health. The biomods consist of a list of genetic tweaks & tailored microbiota that accelerate healing, provide major boon to disease resistance, & impede bodily senescence & aging.

A morph with this augmentation can heal twice as fast as an early 21st century human, gradually regenerates lost bodyparts, is immune to all natural diseases, & will never deteriorate as it gets older. Additionally, the biomorph requires no more than 3 to 4 hours of sleep every night, is immune to ill effects of prolonged exposure to low or zero gravity, & does not naturally suffer from biological problems like depression, circulatory shock, or allergies.

Basic Mesh Inserts
Mesh inserts are almost universal among modern morphs. A cognitively controlled network of cybernetic brain implants, they are essential for anyone who wants to stay fluently connected & make full use of the wireless meshed network around them. The interconnected components of this augmentation include:

• Cranial Micro-Computer
A high-performance microcomputer serving as the hub for the user’s personal area network while also serving as the home to their muse. It has all of the features of a smartphone & PDA, functioning as a media player, meshnet browser, alarm clock/calender, positioning system/map, address book, financial/graphing calculator, file storage, search engine, social networking client, messaging program, & notepad.

It runs the user’s augmented reality input along with any software the user desires. It also processes experience playback recordings, allowing users to experience other people’s recorded qualia, & also allowing the user to share their own recorded sensory input with others in real-time. Face & image recognition as well as encryption software are included by default.

• Radio Transceiver
This connects the user to the meshnet along with other users & devices within range. It has an effective range of 20 kilometers in the clear vacuum of deep space or other locations far from white noise, & 1 kilometer in crowded urban settings.

• Medical Sensors
This array of implants monitors the user’s medical status, including heart-rate, respiration, blood pressure, body temperature, neural activity, & much more. A sophisticated diagnostic system interprets the data to warn users of any concerns or dangers.

Using any of these augmentations is as easy as thinking.

Basic Cortical Stack
A miniscule high-density neural data storage unit protected within a synthetic diamond case the size of a small grape, implanted within the base of the skull where brain stem & spinal cord connect. It contains a digital backup of the implantee’s mind, or “ego”. Part nanoware, the implant maintains a network of nanites that monitors synaptic connections & neural architecture, noting any changes & updating a backup file of the ego in real-time, right up to the very moment of brain-death.

If an implantee dies, the stack may be recovered to restore the deceased from the backup. They are extremely durable, requiring special effort to damage or destroy; they are commonly recovered from bodies that have otherwise been pulped or mangled. Basic cortical stacks are intentionally isolated from wireless mesh inserts & other interfacing implants, as a security measure to prevent hacking or tampering. With no wireless access, they must be surgically removed to be used.

Basic Cyberbrain
Cybernetic brain where an ego (or controlling AI) resides in synthmorphs & bioroids. Modeled on biological brains, these cybernetic systems have a holistic architecture & serve as the command node & central processing point for sensory input & decision-making. Only one ego or AI may “inhabit” the system at a time; to accommodate extras, mesh inserts or a ghostrider module must be used.

Since cybernetic brains store memories digitally, they’re functionally equivalent to having mnemonic augmentation. They also have a built-in puppet sock, & so may be remote-controlled, though this option is typically removed by those who value their security. Cybernetic brains are vulnerable to hacking & other forms of electronic infiltration & attack. Cybernetic brains come standardly equipped with two or more pairs of external access jacks, usually located at the base of the skull, which allows for direct wired connections to devices & others with jacks as well.

Though standard for synthmorphs & bioroids, cybernetic brains may be optionally installed within otherwise completely organic biomorphs.

Access Jacks
Usually located in the base of the skull or back of the neck, this implant is an external socket with a direct neural interface. It allows the user to establish a direct wired connection using a fiberoptic cable to external devices or other users, which can be useful in places where wireless links are unreliable, or complete privacy is required. Two users linked via access jack can “speak” mind-to-mind & transfer information between their mesh inserts & other implants. All synthmorphs & bioroids have these by default.

Cosmetic Augmentations

Bodysculpting
If your morph’s enhanced physique isn’t enough, you can take it further with custom body-sculpting such as elongated ears or fingers, nose & snout alteration, hair/fur addition/removal, feathered plumage, exotic eyes, reptilian skin, endowed sexual characteristics, & more unusual physical alterations.

Subdermal Implants
Adding small implantations beneath the skin can create bumps, ridges, pierce-anchors, & similar textures & alterations.

Sex Switch
A complex suite of alterations built into the morph allows it to switch its physical sex to male, female, hermaphrodite, or neuter. This change is mentally initiated but takes approximately 1 week to complete.

Scarification
Given modern medical abilities, scars of any sort are purely an affectation.

Skin Pigmentation
Pigmentations for skin, hair, & fur are available in all conceivable patterns & colors (even ultraviolet).

Scent Alteration
Minor changes to a body’s biochemistry can alter, perfume, or nullify any scents produced.

Piercings
Name any part of the body & someone’s figured out a way to pierce it, probably multiple times. Hoops, barbells, industrial bars, plugs, & chains are extremely common, oftentimes made of shape-changing smart-materials.

Nanotats
Typically used for incorporating non-customizable bar/QR codes unto skin & hair, more “freeform” versions of this augmentation can shift around the body, change color/shape/brightness, texture, alternate text & images, &/or even create minor holographic effects, all controllable via mesh inserts.

Chameleon Skin
The morph’s skin is augmented with complex chromatophores so that it changes color like the skin of a chameleon or cuttlefish. The morph can match the appearance of almost any color & most patterns. To use effectively for stealth, the morph must be nude & hairless or wearing smart-clothing of the same color/pattern. In addition to blending in, the morph user can also consciously change the color & pattern of their skin to deliberately stand out or simply to produce chosen colors or patterns.

Skinflex
A cosmetic & spycraft augmentation, it allows the user to restructure their facial features & musculature. The entire process takes a mere 20 minutes.

Synthetic Mask
Only for synthmorphs & cyberlimbs, this augmentation is a realistic outer casing of faux skin, hair, & fur, carefully sculpted to pass as a biomorph (perhaps even a particular person). A synthmorph with this augmentation can cry, spit, have sex, & will even bleed if cut. Only a detailed physical examination or a radar, terahertz, or x-ray scan will detect the synthmorph’s true nature, & even then with difficulty.

Biowares

Enhanced Senses, Bioware

Direction Sense
The endowed has an innate sense of direction & distance. The endowed can arbitrarily define any point as “north” & keep track of which direction that is, as well as knowing approximately how far they have come. Those with this augmentation can always retrace any route they have taken, only experiencing difficulty with 3-dimensional routes lacking any navigational landmarks (such as deep space or undersea). Since positioning within urbanized areas & habitats by anyone with mesh inserts is an automatic affair, only those venturing to remote locations gain any sort of boon from this augmentation.

Enhanced Hearing
The morph’s ears are enhanced to hear both higher & lower frequency sounds-the range of sounds they can hear is twice that of most splicer morph’s perceptive range. In addition, their hearing is considerably more sensitive, allowing them to hear sounds as if they were five times closer than they physically are. A morph using this augmentation can easily overhear even a softly spoken conversation at another table in a small restaurant.

Echolocation
The endowed possesses sonar akin to a bat or dolphin. Brief ultrasonic pulses can be bounced off of surroundings & used to form an image of these surroundings through the pattern of reflections received by the endowed’s ears.

Enhanced Smell
The morph’s sense of smell is heightened in capability. The user can identify both chemicals & individuals by smell & can track people & chemically-reactive objects by odor as long as the trail was made within the last several hours & has not been obscured. The user can also gain a general sense of the emotions & health of any organic being within 5 meters.

Enhanced Vision
The morph’s eyes have multi-chromatic vision capable of exceptional color differentiation. They can also see further along the EM spectrum from terahertz wave frequencies to gamma rays. In addition, enhanced eyes have a variable focus equivalent to 5x magnifiers or binoculars.

Polarized Vision
Morphs capable of seeing polarized light can view aspects of light most living things only see weakly, revealing visual characteristics much in the same way that color does for normal sight: it enhances contrast, foils camouflage (including invisibility granted by cloaking devices), reveals stresses in material (& ill or healthy organic tissue), & helps to detect patterns & objects.

One major use of polarization is easier orientation in relation to polarized light sources (such as navigating underwater by the direction of sunlight). it also allows better detection of liquid or reflective surfaces, & discerning watery surfaces from mirages.

Electrical Sense
The morph can sense electric fields. Within 5 meters, Besides sensing the bioelectricity of most living things, the subject can also instantly tell if an electrical device is on or off & can see the precise location of electrical wiring behind a wall or inside a device.

Mental Augmentations, Bioware

Eidetic Memory
Ability to recall everything ever remembered, in detail, with no long term memory loss. For example, reciting a page read in a book a month ago, recalling a string of 200 random characters viewed a year ago, or even telling what was for breakfast on a particular date a decade ago. However, only things that were paid attention to can be remembered. The contents of a note can’t be recalled if merely glanced at; it must’ve been specifically read. No effort besides the recollection itself is required to use this augmentation.

Hyper Linguist
The morph’s brain maintains the linguistic flexibility of a toddler, allowing the bestowed to learn languages with great ease.

Math Boost
The endowed can perform any feat of calculation, including the most complex & advanced mathematics, instantly & with great precision, with the same ease of adding 2 + 3. Measuring odds, finding correlations in numerical data, & performing similar tasks can all also be done with great ease.

Multiple Personalities
The morph’s brain is intentionally partitioned to accommodate an extra personality. When intentional & with purpose, this multiplicity is viewed as a cognitive tool to assist with multitasking & dealing in hypercomplex environments.

Functionally, the extra personality is treated as a separate ego (i.e., it may fork separately), except that both personalities are backed up in the same cortical stack & if resleeved they must be placed in separate morphs or in another morph with this implant. Only one ego may be in control of their morph at a time. The other resides in the background, still active, but not on a surface level. Each ego is completely aware of what the other is doing, thinking, etc.

Physiological Augmentations

Circadian Regulation
The morph only requires 2 hours of sleep to maintain health & function at peak mental capacity. The morph user dreams constantly while asleep & can both fall asleep & wake up almost instantly. In addition, the user can easily & with no ill-effects shift to a 2-day cycle, where they are awake for 44 hours & sleep for 4.

Hibernation
The morph user can voluntarily reduce their metabolism to the point that they require only 5% of the normal intake of food, water, & air. The user appears to sink into a deep sleep, but can maintain a dim awareness of both touch & sound, & so can be easily awakened. Entering or leaving this state requires at least 3 minutes. With sufficient air, the morph user can safely hibernate for up to 40 days without food or water.

Endocrine Control
This augmentation modifies the morph’s endocrine system, giving the user fine control over their hormone output. This allows the user to completely control their appetite & emotions, & to regulate pain. This also allows users to lie with perfect conviction & to completely fool all methods of lie detection that do not rely on the target’s direct neural output. It also allows the user to remain awake for 48 hours without penalty, but beyond which the user will begin to feel fatigued.

Adrenal Boost
This adrenal gland enhancement supercharges the morph’s fight-or-flight response to situations that invoke stress, pain, or strong emotions (fear, anger, lust, hate). When activated, the concentrated burst of norepinephrine accelerates heart rate & blood flow & burns carbohydrates until calmed down. If the morph also has endocrine control, then this augmentation can be activated & deactivated at will.

Emotional Dampers
This less-extensive alternative to endocrine control allows the user to voluntarily dampen on command their emotional responses & various non-verbal cues like pupil dilation, eye movement, or vocal tone. Using this augmentation allows the user to lie & conceal their emotions in such a way as to fool the keenest observer. This does not affect methods of detecting lies & emotions that involve directly reading neural states. However, this augmentation dampens out all emotional responses & so causes the user to be less emotive & persuasive.

Clean Metabolism
The morph’s glands & microbiota have been rebuilt to keep the morph especially “clean”, also producing antibiotics that prevent the growth of any bacteria or yeast on its skin. As a result, the morph never incurs halitosis or bad body odor, while a more efficient digestive tract produces less odorous chemicals.

Enhanced Pheromones
The morph’s biochemistry has been altered so that it produces enhanced pheromonal signals that subconsciously affect the behavior of others in the vicinity. These pheromones make the user seem more charismatic & trustworthy. This augmentation only affects those who can organically smell the pheromones, & does not affect synthmorphs or aliens.

Enhanced Respiration
By boosting both lung efficiency & the blood’s oxygen-carrying capacity, the morph can live without duress in both high & low pressure environments, from 0.2 atmospheres up to 5 atmospheres, with no dizziness or need for gradual decompression. In addition, the morph can hold its breath for up to 30 minutes when performing minimal activity or for up to 10 minutes while performing highly strenuous activity.

Gills
The morph’s lung tissue & diaphragm has been adapted to allow the morph to breath both air & water, as long as the water is nontoxic & not too stagnant. Morphs with this augmentation breath in water & then expel it back out through slits just underneath their lowest pair of ribs that seal when the morph is not underwater.

Light Bioweave
Lacing of a morph’s skin with spidersilk-like biological fibers, increasing resistance to damage without changing the appearance, texture, or sensitivity of the morph’s skin. This augmentation is cumulative with wearable armor, but not with other similar augmentations.

Heavy Bioweave
Lacing of a morph’s skin with a denser & thicker network of the same fibers as light bioweave. The morph’s skin becomes thicker & less flexible as a result except for at the joints, & has an unusually smooth look, as well as a distinctively refined & unmalleable tough-feeling texture.

This provides enough protection to stop low-velocity bullets & shrapnel without decreasing any mobility. Sense of touch, however, is significantly reduced, except on the hands, feet, & face. This augmentation is cumulative with worn armor, but not with other similar augmentations.

Carapace Armor
Combination of bioweave with hard but flexible plates of a composited chitinceramic matrix modeled on the microscopic structure & texture of arthropod exoskeletons. Able to protect from modern forms of intermediate-power firearms, this armor’s look on morphs is obvious, having a reptilian or insectoid appearance (bodysculpted to the morph-user’s choice). This augmentation is cumulative with worn armor (albeit requiring form-adjustment or custom-fitting & tailoring), but not with other similar augmentations.

Temperature Tolerance
The morph’s temperature regulation & circulation are both substantially enhanced, allowing the user to physically survive in temperatures as low as -30 degrees Celsius & as high as 60 degrees Celsius without discomfort or ill effects.

Vacuum Sealing
To possess this augmentation, the user’s morph must also possess carapace armor or some form of bioweave. The morph has been specially designed to survive the effects of vacuum. The morph’s skin resists vacuum as well as protecting from temperatures from -75 to 100 C. In addition, the morph’s mouth, nose, & other orifices can seal sufficiently well to resist vacuum, & the morph posesses a special nictitating membrane that extends over their eyes, allowing to see in vacuum without risking any eye damage. This augmentation is usually combined with either the enhanced respiration, respirocytes, or oxygen storage augmentations, or all three together.

Toxin Filters
The morph gains an improved liver & kidneys as well as biological filters in its lungs. Morphs with this augmentation are immune to all chemical & biological toxins, including everything from ill-effects or overdose from recreational chemicals, to nerve agents that would make an unprotected victim break their own spine & neck, to spoiled food. In addition, the morph can safely & comfortably breath smoke-laden air & drink saltwater.

Unlike medichines, this bioware augmentation prevents the morph from experiencing even brief harm or discomfort from a toxin (medichine nanites merely rapidly repair damage caused by the toxin & then remove it from the body). This augmentation provides no resistance to concentrated acid, nanotechnological attacks, or similar destructive agents. Some with this augmentation develop an acquired taste for various chemical toxins like cyanide or arsenic.

Muscle Augmentation
The morph’s muscle mass has been enhanced & toned, the myofibers strengthened, & motor unit recruitment increased.

Neurachem
This bioware modification enhances the morph’s chemical synapses & juices their neurotransmitters, drastically speeding up neural connections. This augmentation can be mentally initiated or activated by charged emotions. The speed boost lasts for 30 minutes, though it may be initiated again.

Prehensile Feet
The morph’s feet & leg joints are altered so that its toes are longer & more dexterous, & the big toe is transformed into an opposable thumb. Physically, the morph’s feet resemble a longer, narrower hand or a foot with finger (& thumb)-like toes. The morph can walk & run in gravitized environments normally but must wear specially-designed shoes.

In addition, the morph’s hips are slightly modified to allow greater mobility. In a properly-constructed chair, or when floating in zero-G, the morph user can use both their hands & their feet to manipulate objects. Most morphs ensleeved by users who live in space possess this augmentation.

Prehensile Tail
A long (1.5 meters) tail is added to the morph’s backside, extending out from the tailbone. This tail is prehensile & may be used to grab, hold, & even manipulate objects. The tail also improves the morph’s balance. The morph user can control the tail’s movements with concentration, but it otherwise tends to move & flex on its own. (come in non-prehensile “cosmetic” forms as well)

Whiplash Tendril
A unique transgenic augmentation that lets the user reach out & touch someone on the other side of a room. Capable of extending 10 meters in less than a quarter of a second, the tendrils are made of a tension-tolerant myomer that is highly flexible & durable.

Limbed Wings
Primarily used by small morphs, this set of feathered, membranous, or dragonfly-like wings allow a user within an atmosphere to hover or move rapidly in any direction. An upsized version of this augmentation exists for larger average-sized morphs, but are almost always membranous or feathered variants.

Bioware Claws
The morph has retractable claws like those of a feline. These claws do not interfere with manual dexterity & are razor sharp. However, they are relatively small, being used more often as tools than weapons.

Eelware
Derived from electric eel genetics, a morph can have this augmentation expressed or implanted so that it connects to a network of bioconductors within the hands & feet (or other limbs), allowing the user to generate electricity transferrable by touch, capable of being used to power implants & specially designed handheld devices by touch.

Skin Pocket
The morph has a pocket within its skin layer, capable of holding & providing concealment for small items.

Drug Gland
The morph has specially tailored glands designed to produce specific hormones or chemicals & release them in the body. The user has control over these glands & can release the chemicals at will.

Poison Gland
Similar to the drug gland, this morph has special glands that produce poisons, like the venom glands of a snake. The morph has glands in its fingers &/or mouth that can deliver poison by scratching someone with a fingernail, biting hard enough to draw blood, gleeking or spraying, or even by swapping spittle. The morph itself is immune to the poisons it produces. These glands may not produce nanotoxins.

Glow Gland
A cheaper alternative to radiation sense cyberware, this augmentation triggers visibly when exposed to enough radiation to cause acute radiation sickness. The glands emit green light when exposed to enough radiation for minor radiation sickness, yellow light for major radiation sickness, red light for critical radiation sickness, & purple light for extreme radiation sickness, & are typically implanted in the neck or other region where they are likely to be visible.

Triggering immediately after exposure to radiation, they will continue glowing for a day to a week after initial exposure. They can be used multiple times.

Despite the United Colonial Republics’ bioconservative nature, this augmentation is common in the UCR space forces as a 2nd-tier warning system for radiation hazards, though cybernetic versions are favored over the bioware version. Alternatively, this implant can be worn as a “mining canary” alternative to film badges. The UCR models are set to half the thresholds for radiation exposure that most biomorphs abroad can bear exposure to.

Cyberwares

Enhanced Senses, Cyberware

Anti-Glare
This visual mod eliminates visual glare from bright light sources.

Chemical Sniffer
This cyberware detects molecules in the air through ion mobility spectrometry. It enables determining the chemical makeup of ambient air & gasses, including toxins & other fumes. It can also detect the presence of explosives & firearms.

Nanoscopic Vision
The user’s eyes can focus like a microscope, using advanced super-lens techniques to beat the optical diffraction limit & image objects as small as a nanometer. This allows the user to view & analyze objects as small as blood cells & even individual nanites: the user must stay relatively steady to view objects at this scale, however.

Radiation Sense
The morph can sense the presence & approximate source of all forms of dangerous radiation, including neutrons, charged particles, & cosmic rays.

T-Ray Emitter
Mounted beneath the skin of the user’s forehead, this implant acts as a source for low-powered beams of terahertz radiation (T-rays). When paired with enhanced vision, beam backscatter allows for seeing through cloth, plastic, wood, masonry, composites, & ceramics, as well as determining the composition of various materials. The maximum ranges for seeing are 20 meters in a normal atmosphere, & 100 meters when in vacuum.

Mental Augmentations, Cyberware

Mesh Insert Disconnect
Used in cyberbrains that are expected to see combat use, mesh disconnect systems allow users to be shunted off from mesh inserts in case of suspected hacking or other concerns. Of course, this shuts down their PAN, making it impossible to do things like run wireless smartlinks to weaponry; skinlink & other direct wired contacts are rerouted directly to the brain through a secondary “mesh” insert without wireless capabilities. While mesh inserts can be simply turned off, this allows for compromised mesh inserts to be disabled, rather than leaving them in contact.

Enhanced Cortical Stack
The size of a baseball, these forms of cortical stacks are much more durable than the standard cortical stack, but require more effort to remove. Removal takes two minutes, rather than one minute with the average ones. They are also much more difficult to store & transfer due to their size.

In exchange, these enhanced versions are nearly indestructible, hardened against radiation, & feature a data transfer cutoff, so that once the central nervous system (or digital equivalent) of the host ceases to function the contents of the stack cannot be overwritten. The ego can still be retrieved normally. This process can only be prevented by resleeving using an ego bridge.

Dead Switch
This cortical stack accessory is designed to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. If primed while the morph is killed, the dead switch wipes & melts the cortical stack completely, so that the ego cannot be recovered. This option is generally only utilized by covert operatives with recent backups.

Emergency Farcaster
Only those with cortical stacks can possess this augmentation. The morph has an implanted quantum farcaster linked to a highly secure ego storage facility. Using standard radio & quantum encryption, the farcaster broadcasts full backups of the user’s ego (pulled from the cortical stack) once every 48 hours. This interval may be scheduled more or less frequently, though keeping in mind that ego broadcasts are generally limited for security purposes & because they hog bandwidth. These broadcasts only work when the user is in radio contact with the storage facility & is typically only used inside a habitat or planetside to broadcast backups back to a nearby receiving spaceship or secure facility. If the radio broadcasts are blocked or jammed, this device cannot make backups.

In the event of a farcaster failure, this augmentation also includes a single-use emergency neutrino broadcaster as well. This broadcaster typically contains approximately 10 nanograms of antimatter stored within a tangerine-sized, triply-redundant magnetic contaimnent vessel. If the user is dying or urgently wishes to depart their morph, the standard tiny amount of antimatter is brought into contact with a similarly-tiny amount of matter in a controlled fashion that generates a single brief & carefully coded neutrino pulse of the ego’s most recent backup. However, the heat generated by this process literally cooks the entire body, killing it & destroying all implants & electronics in or on it. This entire process takes less than a tenth of a second & the broadcast can be received as long as the neutrino receiver is within 100 astronomical units of the sender. With an awaiting designated receiver in the same star system, this implant effectively guarantees the user’s backup. The amount of antimatter carried by this implant is sufficiently small enough that it does not produce an explosion, & so will not physically damage any surrounding objects. Most locales carefully scan all visitors to determine if they have this implant & if the amounts of antimatter held within are sufficiently low as not to pose a danger, though some places ban this implant entirely.

Mnemonic Augmentation
A user with this augmentation & a cortical stack can access digital recordings of all their sensory data in experience-playback format (& they may share these recordings with others). This augmentation differs from eidetic memory bioware because it allows users to digitally share all of their sensory data with others. It also allows them to closely examine sensory data they did not initially notice. For example, if the user glanced at a note but did not read it, they can later use image enhancement software to enhance this image & in most cases actually read what the note said. The user is able to clearly focus on any & all background noises, like a conversation at a nearby table that only a few words were initially heard from. Using this augmentation to retrieve a specific piece of information is quite easy, but usually requires between 2 to 20 minutes of concentration.

Multi-Tasking
Only those with cortical stacks can possess this augmentation. The user has an advanced computer installed in their brain that uses the data in the cortical stack to create several simultaneous short-term forks to handle various mental tasks. By design, this computer automatically reintegrates all of these forks into the user’s core personality after a maximum of 4 hours, earlier if desired. This augmentation allows the user to both plan a speech & engage in intensive mesh-browsing while simultaneously fighting a gun battle or running from pursuit, since each of the forks operates independently. However, these forks can only perform purely mental or online interactions. This augmentation can produce a maximum of two forks at a time.

Masparing
Infomorphs & minds run within cyberbrains are already run as massively-parallel processes across a myriad of individual processors, with the biggest speed barriers being the necessary serial steps in updating the neural state & communicating it to the other processors; “maspar” augmentations modify the brain emulation algorithms to make them even more parallel, & so work even faster.

The main route of augmentation reconfigures neural states into more efficient mathematical forms such as Brauer groups, Iwasawa motifs, or CZ Fourier space, as well as upgrade hardware to nano-quantum processers. Cheaper routes tweak mathematical operations to reduce precision but allow better parallelization, simply precompute & cache common calculations or speculatively execute (rather than wait for slowly-arriving information from remote processors, all possibilities are locally calculated ahead of time & the incorrect ones discarded).

The maspar approach is very hard, but discovered worthwhile hacks can be sold for a tidy profit: there is always a demand for better mind emulation techniques.

Neural Speed Optimization
One dangerous approach to cognitive speed augmentation is to reduce the computational complexity of the ego. The more radically the ego can be pruned the faster it becomes. As the saying for users of this augmentation goes, “an erased mind runs infinitely fast”.

Neural pruning can be used to optimize for speed, both by removing unnecessary neural network computations & by reducing the number of slow long-range signals, with the result being similar to a beta fork. Truly radical optimization is more akin to creating a delta fork: the original mind is mapped onto AGI architecture designed from scratch for extremely fast thinking.

Temporal shear reduction software (TSRware)
One problem for fast minds is dealing with slow minds, or worse, the physical world. TSRware is software run by the muse & morph that helps maintain function even when the ego is racing ahead.

Sensory TSRware handles the problem that eyes cannot saccade fast enough to take in a scene as the ego would like, & sounds are stretched out beyond recognition. The software creates sensory buffers that allow the ego to experience its senses fairly normally, despite them being software reconstructions of what is actually out there. It can replay the near past sensory experiences to give context.

Motoric TSRware handles the problem of acting when the ego is ahead. It simply gives motor commands for what to do or say, & then the TSRware performs them without much need for oversight. This way a much faster being can appear to keep up a conversation: they are prompted now & then to listen to what has been said by the slow party, decide on a response, get the TSRware to say it, & returns to whatever they were actually doing.

TSRware requires a cyberbrain; implementing something similar in a biomorph would be exceedingly cumbersome.

Puppet Sock
This implanted computer allows the morph’s body (the “puppet”) to be controlled by another person (the “puppeteer”). While active, the puppet has no control over their body & is simply along for the ride. The puppeteer may directly “jam” (directly interface with) the puppet or remote-control it in the same manner that robots & some bioroids are teleoperated. The puppeteer must either be ghostriding the pupper or have a direct communications link (via mesh, radio, laser, etc).

Ghostrider Module
This implant allows the user to carry another infomorph inside their head beside their already-present companion. This infomorph could be another muse, an AI, an uploaded ego, or a fork. The module is linked to the user’s mesh inserts, so the ghost-rider can access the mesh. The host may limit the ghostrider’s access, or may allow them direct assess to their sensory information, thoughts, communications, & other implants.

Brain Case
Just as some people prefer biomorphs with cyberbrains because of the speed & ease of both forking & resleeving, others prefer the durability & utility of synthmorphs, but do not wish to give up having an organic brain. Some have aesthetic objections, while others worry about a cybernetic brain’s vulnerability to electronic hacking.

Any pod & any synthmorph that does not feature either a modular design or swarm composition can house a brain. This modification also of course removes the cyberbrain along with its perks & traits, but these can be reimplemented through augmenting the new brain.

This modification consists of a living organic brain & a sturdy, well-padded, miniature life-support system for this brain. The brain’s life support requires the addition of a small amount of concentrated nutrients once every month. To avoid the necessity of these nutrients, users can also install a smaller, cheaper, & more limited version of the long-term life support augmentation that is designed specifically for use with this modification. This complimentary augmentation recycles the necessary nutrients as long as the morph has sufficient electricity & can gain access to small amounts of water & carbon twice a year. The brain is normally hidden from standard visual detection, but a few eccentrics show them off with a transparent alumina casing, allowing observers to see that their morph contains a biological brain. The brains must be specifically customized to the morph (a process requiring 3 days & a healing vat).

Hot Core Processor Cluster
Normally, infomorph & cyberbrain working speeds are limited by the benchmark rates of their nanoprocessors. These have not improved much since the Fall. In fact, given the fears of a TITAN resurgence, general nanoprocessors manufactured post-Fall far & wide have been deliberately hamstrung with time-critical operations implemented using dedicated hardware. Certain “hot cores” however–oftentimes pre-Fall relics or experimental designs–lack these benchmark limitations.

Some versions are literally hot & require major cooling, others employ devious cryoarythmic quantum computations to improve performance. Hot core clusters typically allow for simspace speeds of 75 times realtime, but may in rarer cases exceed this (normal post-fall processors only offer up to 60x). The downside is that they are quite illegal, & for good reason: they are like milk & honey for the digital variant of exsurgent virus as well as other forms of nasty malware.

There are rumors about fantastically rare & expensive QE processor clusters using qubits for instantaneous internal communication. While theoretically such clusters could be built, they would be amazingly expensive. Most design ideas involve superfast nanoprocessor grids built on top of a qubit factory delivering a torrent of precious qubits & dissipating enormous amounts of waste heat.

Bionic Augmentations

Cyberlimbs
In an age when organic limbs can be easily regrown, many consider cybernetic prosthesis to be vulgar & distasteful. Some however treat it as iconic symbols of self-expression. Standard replacement cybernetic limbs function the same as their biological equivalents, & can be masked to look organic. They may also feature small compartments for hiding/storing small objects.

Cyberlimb-Plus
More extravagant models of cybernetic limb are also available, though they require more severe body alteration to accommodate. They may be replacement limbs or “extra” limbs anchored in the body’s skeletal frame.

Hardened Skeleton
Graftage of advanced-strength composite materials into the morph’s skeletal structure, greatly mitigating breakage & dislocation.

Reflex Boosters
Switching from bioelectrical nerve transduction to shielded electronic transduction, the morph’s spinal column & nervous system is refibricated with superconducting materials, boosting transmission speed for a 300% increase in reaction time.

Oxygen Reserves
The morph has a miniature condensed oxygen supply & rebreather installed into its torso. This implant provides the equivalent of the closed life support system in space vacsuits, allowing the user to breathe comfortably for up to 3 hours. It feeds oxygen directly to the morph’s bloodstream, avoiding problems with pressure changes. Implanted sensors automatically cause the body to use the stored oxygen if they detect poisonous or insufficient atmosphere.

Without vacuum sealing, the user can only survive in vacuum for 5 minutes, but remains conscious & active for the entire time, giving them a far better chance in emergencies to reach shelter or find a vacsuit than those without this implant. For every hour the morph is in a breathable atmosphere, this implant recovers one hour of oxygen storage. The implant can be fully recharged within 15 minutes if the morph is in a high-pressure oxygen-saturated atmosphere.

Daedalus Discharger
Much like eelware, but far more purpose-built for utilitarian tasks, this cyberware is designed to provide rapid bursts of power for cybernetic augmentations or robotic enhancements that require a power source, as well as allow users to independently run electrically-powered weaponry without reliance on an external source.

This cyberware features integrated nuclear batteries, capacitors, & traditional superconductive-loop batteries that allow the user to either output a steady rate of power, or store & release an exponentially larger amount in rapid discharge batteries. This power output serves well for users of power-hungry gear, especially those operating in environments where recharging facilities are not available.

Internal Fusion Plant
Designed for large-sized morphs & vehicular hulls, a compact fusion reactor can be used to provide nigh-unlimited power to users without the need for nuclear batteries or other power sources. Running on an aneutronic fusion process, the system creates largely inert byproducts & little to no radiation during use.

A large synthmorph, bot, or hull with an internal fusion plant can charge energy weapons, devices, & batteries rapidly. In addition, any augmentations that require power can be directly ran on the power from the fusion plant, rather than internal batteries. This removes the need to allow batteries to recharge these augmentations. Although fusion reactions shut down harmlessly if the reactor is breached, many locales find the prospect of people, bots, & vehicles marauding about with the ability to power large energy weapon arsenals to be absolutely terrifying; this augmentation is accordingly restricted in many locations.

Mjolnir System
An extensive cybernetic augmentation intended to give combat morphs, mecha, & powersuits an advantage in rapid speed & maneuvering. Using a series of physical reinforcement points, this cyberware integrates a number of boosters (typically some sort of jet boosters) with thrust-vectoring winglet augmentations. The end result is to allow the user to “jump” a distance of about 50 meters (any direction) in a 1.0 g environment, or significantly further in microgravity & low-gravity environments. The thrusters are built to safely direct the exhaust, often using magnetic containment & plasma jets.

This augmentation also has offensive functionality; allowing users to rapidly close distance to targets, either to deliver a high-impact blow with melee weaponry, or to impart greater kinetic energy with firearms (usually in spaceborne settings). If the user decides not to make an attack in this manner, the augmentation can be ordered to slow them down to safe speeds instead (in space, chosen as either relative to a target’s motion, or to nearby surroundings).

This augmentation requires a power source; either connection to a recharging station or an implanted nuclear battery can suffice, though larger-than-average synthmorphs, powersuits, & war-mecha may use compact internal fusion plants.

Cyberclaws
Bonded either to the back of the morph’s hands or to the fingertips, these sharper-than-razor blades made of smart materials can extend up to 6 inches through concealed ports or pockets. If combined with eelware, they can also inflict electric shocks. Likewise, this augmentation can also deliver poison or nanotoxins secreted from poison glands or implanted nanite generators.

Hand Laser
The morph features a weapon-grade laser implanted within its forearm, with a flexible waveguide typically leading to a firing lens located between the first two knuckles on the morph’s dominant hand.

Inferno System
Originally an anti-nanowar tool; it allows a morph to project jets of flame to ensure complete saturation of a nearby area, up to 10 meters away. Targets hit will instantly combust, & any nanoswarms hit would be heavily damaged, if not outright destroyed.

In an environment with “air” (breathable or not), this augmentation superheats the air to achieve its effect, & only requires power. A nuclear battery or wired power station takes thirty minutes to recharge the system, & wireless charging takes 4 hours. The system includes gas canisters similar to the oxygen reserves augmentation that store enough air for a dozen shots; these refill automatically when exposed to air.

Nanowares

Mental Augmentations, Nanoware

Mental Speed
With this nanoware system, nanites alter the morph’s neural architecture & augment the functioning of their neurons. The user can deliberately speed up their mind to think & also receive & process sensory information far faster than the average person. Time seems to subjectively slow down for the user, allowing them to carefully plan their next action, even if they only have a split second to do so. With this system active, the user can discern things occurring too fast for a normal being to perceive, such as the individual frames of an old analog film or understanding sounds that were accelerated to many times their normal speed. The user can also read 10x faster than normal & can track the paths of bullets & similar fast-moving objects. This augmentation can be used as often as desired, but actively using it renders actions like ordinary conversation & social interactions difficult, requiring long concentration to maintain.

Oracles
These neural macrosensing nanites pay attention to the sensory input on which the user is not focusing, alerting them about relevant things they might otherwise overlook. Oracles also act as a sort of memory buffer & search aid, extending short-term memory, helping the user recall memories & details, & crosschecking them with other memories.

Skillware
The morph’s brain is laced with a network of artificial neurons that may be formatted with downloadable information. This allows a user to download “skillsofts” into their brains, gaining the use of those programmed skills until the skillsoft is erased or replaced.

Nano-Anatomical Augmentations

Nanotoxins
The morph has implanted nanite smart-toxin generators. This implant is designed so that the user can deploy these nanites instantly via a scratch with claws, gleeking or spraying from fangs, or even suffusion through merely making continuous physical contact. Users can choose whether or not to deploy these nanites. Each nanotoxin generator only produces a single variety of nanites, with the most common variants being designed to kill or incapacitate nearly any target, or ones designed to destroy delicate machinery (effectively working as a “poison” for bots & synthmorphs).

The endowed morph is immune to its own smart-toxins. This implant is highly restricted & many locales will not allow visitation by anyone with this implant.

Medichines
This is the most common form of nanoware. These nanites monitor the user’s body at a cellular level & fix any problems that arise. Medichine nanites eliminate diseases, drugs, & toxins (but not nanodrugs or nanotoxins) before they can do more than trivial harm to the host. If desired, the user can temporarily override this protection to permit intoxication or other effects, but unless the user activates a second specially-labeled override, the nanites prevent toxins from accumulating to lethal or permanently harmful levels. In this case, they can also be activated at a later point to reduce a drug or toxin’s remaining duration by half.

If a morph is seriously injured or damaged, the medichine nanites place the user into medical stasis, where their mind & body cannot act in any way. Under these circumstances this augmentation also sends out a priority call for emergency services via the user’s mesh inserts.

This implant for synthmorphs & bots consist of nanites that monitor & repair the shell’s integrity & internal system functions.

Nanophages
These nanites patrol the body, alert for the detection of intrusive nano- drugs or toxins & destroying them before they have more than a minor effect. They can provide automatic immunity against nano-drugs/toxins unless they are specifically commanded to stand down by the user, via their mesh implants.

Respirocytes
These nanites act as highly-efficient artificial red blood cells, increasing the ability to transfer oxygen & carbon dioxide. This increases the morph’s ability to hold their breath to 4 hours.

Skinlink
Skinlink nanites live on the morph’s external skin, fur, or shell, automatically swarming over & creating a physical connection with any electronics the user touches. They also take advantage of the electrical field in a biomorph’s skin for communication. They allow the user to communicate & mesh with any devices merely by touching them. This is considered a wired link, & so is not subject to wireless interception or interference. Two skinlinked users can also communicate & mesh simply by touching.

Wrist-Mounted Tools
The morph has a metal band containing nanite generators implanted around each wrist. These nanites link together to duplicate the function of an omnitool, creating narrow, highly-flexible arms that each ends in a specialized tool. These nanites can also produce tiny fiber-optics to allow the user to see through small openings, as well as being able to create small cutting & drilling weapons. The fact that these tools are mentally controlled give the user a boon to their usage, whether that be repairing or modifying devices with mechanical parts, opening locks or disarming alarm systems, or performing first aid or even surgery.

Fractal Digits
Bionic digits that are capable of furcating down into smaller digits, & those smaller digits into even smaller ones, & so on down to the micrometer scale, allowing for ultra-fine manipulation. At it’s finest levels, the user must have nanoscopic vision to use this augmentation effectively (see Nanoscopic Vision under Enhanced Senses, Cyberware).

Jackglue
A favorite of the paranoid or those who like to be absolutely secure, this is a security augmentation consisting of small injectors for a solution specially made for sealing access ports. More advanced than its name implies, the solution creates a diamond-like surface that is nigh impenetrable. The user can mentally order the surface removed so that the access jacks can be used again, a process that takes about fifteen minutes. They can also order the solution’s nanites to permanently scour the access ports, which requires them to be repaired prior to use.

Robotic Enhancements

Armor Enhancements

Heavy Combat Armor
The shell or hull’s frame is loaded with armor that offers protection from heavy weaponry in serious combat operations. This modification is bulky & noticeable; for synthmorphs & bots, their shell is incased in a heavy-duty carapace. Mobility systems & power output are also enhanced to deal with the extra load.

Industrial Armor
The hull or shell is equipped with protection against collisions, extreme weather, micrometeor impacts, industrial accidents, & similar wear-&-tear.

Light Combat Armor
The shell/hull of the synthmorph, powersuit, or bot is protected by armor designed for light policework & security duties.

Mobility Systems

Walker
Walkers use two or more limbs to walk or crawl across a surface. Many use grip pads or magnetic systems to stick to surfaces, along with retractable micro-wheel systems at the feet-soles for skating.

Hopper
Hopper systems have two or more legs designed to propel forward or up, much like a frog or grasshopper.

Wheeled
Most wheeled systems use smart spokes that allow the wheels to conform their shape to obstacles & even climb stairs. Others may feature small discs around the wheel’s circumference for omni-directional movement. Low-grav variations may instead utilize puncture-resistant & self-repairing compressed-gas tires.

Tracked
Tracked shells use smart rotating treads to work their way across surfaces that would bog down other forms of mobility. They can prop themselves up in order to overcome taller obstacles or to lay themselves down to bridge across a ditch or crevice.

Roller
Only for circular shells & hulls, this system allows for rolling like a ball. The shell or hull rolls around an interior axle, propelled by a motor-driven pendulum.

Microlight
Popular in low-grav & microgravity environments, this system encompass several types of ultralight or lighter-than-air systems, such as powered paragliders, autogyros, vacuum dirigibles, balloons, aerostats, & blimps. These systems do not work in vacuum.

Ionic
The shell or hull uses principles of magnetohydrodynamics to levitate & fly, by ionizing surrounding air into plasma to create lift & momentum. Airborne shells are spun for stability. This system does not work in vacuum, but an underwater version uses the same mechanics for propulsion in liquid environments.

Submarine
Designed for undersea mobility, submarine systems use propellers or pumpjets to push through water.

Rotorcraft
Rotating blades create lift, allowing the shell or hull to move & hover like a helicopter. Most models use tilt-rotors or tilt-wings so that the rotorblades may be aimed forward (for faster propellerlike propulsion) & for better maneuverability in zero-G. This system does not work in vacuum.

Hovercraft/Resistojet
The shell or hull uses a impeller (for resistojets, an incandescent nozzle with liquid or gas blown through it) to blast a cushion of high-pressure air off the surface below, repelling the shell or hull off of the ground (without the use of rubber skirts). Most of these system types levitate a meter or so above the ground, but can temporarily levitate themselves higher for short periods.

Thrust Vector
This system uses either turbofans or turbojets to create atmospheric lift with a set of wings. The engines may be maneuvered to point & generate thrust in different directions for vertical takeoffs, softer landings, & better maneuverability in zero-G.

Inert Gas/Arcjet
This system features nozzles pointing in every relative direction, allowing the shell or hull to maneuver in microgravity using vectored bursts of gas. Some can replenish atmospheric gases through intakes, while the largest versions tend to draw reaction mass from exchangeable tanks.

Plasma Sail
A relatively large mobility system, producing a characteristic humpback shape when built into anthro-form synthmorphs. This system uses a potent battery-powered superconducting magnet & a tank holding sufficient compressed light gas to allow the plasma sail to operate for three months. It allows the user or hull to fly through space with an acceleration of up to 0.01 g, though halfway beyond a star’s heliosphere the solar winds become too faint to provide any acceleration. In open space, this sail can achieve a maximum velocity of 80 km/s, but can only be used to accelerate away from the star (tacking can be used to sail toward the star, but at a maximum of 10 km/s). Within a planet’s strong magnetic field, it can be used to maneuver in any direction.

Metallic Hydrogen/Metastable Helium Rocket
Extremely powerful, this system allows a hull or shell to take off from nearly any non-extreme celestial body, up to liftoff out from the chromosphere of stars the size of the sun. Small engines for synthmorphs, powersuits, & bots can operate at full burn for a total of 2 hours before requiring refueling, while larger engines for aerospacecrafts can land & take off up to 3 times from planets with earth-like gravity (6 for space-only crafts incapable of flying through atmospheres).

Physical Modifications

Magnetic System
A magnetic system allows the shell or hull to cling to most ferrous materials. This enables an anthroform synthmorph to walk in zero-G situations on magnetically adhering surfaces, hang upside down, & hold onto devices without letting them drop or drift away.

Grip Pads
Specialized surfaces designed to emulate the Van der Waals effect seen in gecko or spider feet, synthmorphs with this modification can climb & support themselves on a wall or ceiling by placing these pads against any surface not made from a material designed explicitly to resist this augmentation. This modification works even in the vacuum of space.

Extra Limbs
The shell is equipped with one or more additional limbs. These limbs may be arms (with hand/grippers/etc), legs, tentacular, or otherwise articulated &/or prehensile. Some shells have rotational frames that allow them to move limbs around their body.

Pneumatic Limbs
The limbs are equipped with pneumatic cylinder systems that can generate up to 7,000 newtons of force. This allows the shell or hull to push off & make impressive jumps (a synth of anthropic size/weight can leap over 2 meters up).

Retracting/Telescoping Limbs
The shell’s or hull’s limbs can either be retracted completely inside it’s frame &/or extended for extra length (usually up to 1 or 2 meters extra).

Hidden Compartment
The shell or hull has a concealed aperture for a shielded interior compartment, ideal for storing valuables or smuggling contraband.

Weapon Mount
The shell or hull carries an in-built (or built-on) weapon. This mount may either be internal (concealed, only weapons small in relation to the shell or hull’s frame may fit) or external (visible). It may be fixed (one direction only), swiveling (limited field of fire), or on an articulated mount (all directions).

Structural Enhancement
This modification bolsters structural integrity, boosting the ability of a shell or hull to take impacts.

Shape Adjusting
This shell or hull is made largely from smart materials that allow it to alter its shape, altering its height, width, circumference, & external features, while retaining the same mass.

Modular Design
Shells & hulls with this modification are designed to lock modularly together with other similar shells & hulls in different architectural patterns to create larger gestalt forms.

Sensors

Steradian Vision
Visual sensors are situated for unobstructed 4π spherical coverage all around the shell or hull.

Lidar
This sensor emits laser light & measures the reflections to judge range, speed, & downrange audio (even in vacuum if aimed on a surface, such as detecting a vacsuit-wearer’s live heartbeat or voice), as well as image the target.

Radar
This sensor system bounces radio or microwaves off targets & measures the reflected waves to judge size, composition, & motion.