124: EasyGraft

ENTRY 124: EasyGraft

The history of transhumanity is littered with dead-end technologies, products and approaches which for whatever reason did not catch on and were eventually bypassed and forgotten. This has shaped human culture and technological progress considerably over time and can have far-reaching consequences—even today, most Martian and Lunar wheeled vehicles use a control interface derived from 20^th century automobiles, for example. Dead tech tends to stick around for quite a while, long after its marketable heyday, but is generally doomed as the lack of new material, development, and replacement parts render functional units scarce and eventually obsolete. This is particularly a problem when it comes to personal augmentations; no one wants buy cyberware that’s been discontinued, without a warranty and with no follow-up tech support if the software goes buggy. Some communities exist on the Mesh that take a DIY approach morphs saddled with dead tech, building their own updates, mods, and upgrades, but users accept these patches and tweaks at their own risk—the Mark I cyberbrain scandal resulted in more than fifty egos being permanently damaged due to a simple “security upgrade.”

EasyGraft is a dead tech that can still be easily found in many markets, particularly on Luna where it was most popular, though the supply is gradually dwindling. Inventor Malak Tuun had a dream of creating entirely modular biomorphs from cooperative symbiotoids. To raise the funding to produce a full-scale working model, Tuun marketed EasyGraft as a proof-of-concept precursor technology through their microcorp Biosnap, which achieved mild popularity in the inner solar system, but could not compete with the big hypercorps and eventually folded. The core concept of EasyGraft was the Universal Bioport (UBP), an artificial neuromuscular orifice that could be installed nearly anywhere on a biomorph, and which acted as an interface and anchoring point for EasyGraft modules, genetically-engineered symbiotic organs which provided benefits and expanded capabilities to the users. Unlike standard bioware, EasyGraft modules could be swapped out with relative speed and ease in a few minutes without surgery—even between users; unfortunately, they had a very limited range of options, were particularly vulnerable to physical trauma, and had logistical problems delivering units to customers, and so never quite became popular enough for Biosnap to succeed.

Mechanics

EasyGraft consists of the Universal Bioport (UBP), and individual EasyGraft modules which reproduce the functions of standard bioware.

Universal Bioport: The UBP is an artificial orifice and anchoring point, which outwardly resembled a ring-like ridge of flesh about an inch in diameter. Every EasyGraft module contains a rounded cartilaginous protrusion, when set into the orifice, the UBP sphincter contracts and holds the module in place, bringing the neural and circulatory contacts on UBP and module together; glands in the UBP secrete a light adhesive at the edges of the contact point to further anchor the module and keep out air and germs. UBP are often prone to infection, and users tend to cap them when not in use to prevent foreign material from falling into the orifice. A user can have multiple UBPs installed. [Low]

EasyGraft Module: These artificial organs generally resemble sculpted lumps of flesh, or in the case of sensory augmentations may resemble eyes or other structures. All Enhanced Senses (Eclipse Phase, p.301), Drug Glands (p.304), Hyperlinguist, and Math Boost (p.301) bioware are available as EasyGraft modules. As they are located on the outside of the body, EasyGraft modules may be vulnerable to targeted damage (gamemaster’s discretion), and can be forcibly removed with a successful SOM Test. [Low]