045: Catsphere

ENTRY 045: Catsphere

Most encounters with Catsphere involve the fifty-centimeter diameter sphere of advanced composite rolling down the hallway of a ship or habitat, subsurface LEDs blinking in strange patterns and quietly purring as it chases something. The actual nature of Catsphere is a bit open to debate; the most popular theory is that it represents an early and partially successful effort to uplift a common housecat in an unconventional synthmorph, but others include a particularly uncommunicative infomorph with a strong personal identification with felines, an experimental robot pet whose AGI broke free.

What is known about Catsphere is that it is an atypical, freely mobile, self-contained synthmorph that acts and responds pretty much like a Terran housecat. While fiercely independent it has a tendency to adopt certain transhumans, allowing them to provide it with electricity and repairs and to pet or play with it. On its own, Catsphere spends many hours of the day resting in visible sunlight or heat sources, unveiling the photovoltaic panels beneath its skin to recharge its batteries. It also has a tendency to chase any small ’bots or morphs, though it has no way to catch them, and to play with any other morphs of its own size.

COG	COO	INT	REF	SAV	SOM	WIL	MOX
10	8	8	20	10	10	6	-
INIT	SPD	LUC	TT	IR	DUR	WT	DR
6	2	12	3	24	10	2	20

Morph: Unique Synthmorph

Skills: Academics: Anatomy 69, Academics: Felinology 60, Animal Handling 30, Fray 50, Infiltration (Shadowing) 65, Interests: Furries 50, Interfacing 25, Interests: Pets 45, Kinesics 55, Language Native Cat 78, Perception 75, Persuasion 60

Implants: 360-Degree Vision, Access Jacks, Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical Stack, Cyberbrain, Echolocation, Electrical Sense, Enhanced Hearing, Lidar, Magnetic System, Radar, Reflex Booster, T-Ray Emitter, Armor 8/8

Advantages: Animal Empathy, Danger Sense

Disadvantages: Limbless, Minor Addiction (Catnip nanoalgorithm)

At the gamemaster’s discretion, Catsphere counts as an animal for purposes of the Animal Handling skill and associated traits.

Using Catsphere

The simplest use of Catsphere is as a pet, either one that adopts the player characters or of some NPCs that the player characters are dealing with. Despite the difficulty of communicating with it (attempts to talk to it over Mesh links invariably involve soundclips of various cat noises and possibly images of small bugs and animals Catsphere has managed to run over), Catsphere’s suite of unusual senses, physical skills, and generally innocuous nature make it the perfect spy and associate, albeit one that can probably be bribed by a narcoalgorithm and distracted by a laser pointer.

On the other hand, gamemasters may take the tack that the whole cat persona is just an act disguising a human-level intelligence—in which case Catsphere can be potentially much more dangerous and challenging as an NPC antagonist, or the subject of social storylines focused around Catsphere’s unusual choice of lifestyle.

Seeds

• Catsphere desires a mate—or perhaps a litter. In any case, the ego within the sphere wants to fork and implant the copy in another version of its morph, but with its limited communication skills is having a hard time accomplishing this goal. Can it convince or trick the PCs into helping it?

044: Hive Bob

ENTRY 044: Hive Bob

The legal and social distinctions of forks to their originating ego, and from each other, are as complicated as transhumanity can make them. For the forks themselves, it is a different matter. All the legal definitions and restrictions in the ‘verse cannot define how two forks of the same ego feel about one another, much less how they feel about the ego they forked from, or their own forks…and so on and so forth. One permutation of human social adaptation to forking is the hive collective—a community, typically infomorphs due to the lack of sleeves, whose egos are all based on or derived from a single ego.

Hive Bob is such a collective, named after the founding member, who was forked off a flat named Payushi (his nickname was Bob). The Bobs in the collective operate on a communal property model and track relationships through fork lineages based on absolute distance, most common antecedent, and total shared memory. The group is generally anarchistic, as the Bobs have no formalized any rules regarding their own behavior, since they all know each other so well; forks that become highly divergent in their social attitudes may be stigmatized, and in the case of gross violations forcibly pruned or subject to psychotherapy to return them to something closer to the baseline. A few Bobs have wandered away or left the hive of their own free will rather than face such judgment.

Typical Bob

COG	COO	INT	REF	SAV	SOM	WIL	MOX
10	15	15	10	5	10	8	-

Skills: Academic: Psychology 50, Academic: Sociology 50, Interfacing 45, Interests: Genealogy 60, Kinesics 45, Language Native Hindi 85, Language English 80, Perception 50, Persuasion 35, Profession: Appraisal 65

Disadvantages: Social Stigma (AGI)

Individual fork-chains tend to specialize in certain areas, sharing skills and inherited knowledge; populous lineages often focus on programming, media editing and development, and linguistics.

Seeds

• A ship containing dead humans in cryogenic storage from before the Fall has been brought to Venus for study. Hive Bob believes that one of the occupants may be the biological original from which the founder egos were forked. They ask the player characters to infiltrate the ship and retrieve the frozen head for sentimental reasons—and a big favor from a hive of infomorphs could come in handy.
• Payushi Bill (they’re not all literally named Bob) has been disconnected from the hive for a little while, and has grown in different ways as a person than the other Bobs, which makes him perfect for dealing with outsiders (at least according to hive-logic). However, one of Bill’s deals with the Carnival of the Goat has gone sour and the informorph has gone into hiding in a cheap sleeve on a busy habitat. The hive is worried about him, and hires the PCs to find Payushi Bill and bring him home.
• An ideological dispute on the morality of censorship has caused a handful of Bobs to splinter off and found a new hive—Hive Payushi—as well as a small data haven in the habitat the PCs are currently inhabiting. Unfortunately, Hive Payushi has come under attack by hypercorps that have accused them of pirating copyrighted works. The action could go any way as each group works to their own interests, with the PCs potentially in the middle playing yojimbo—or maybe just observing the action as the backdrop to their own adventures.

043: Arindov Space

ENTRY 043: Arindov Space

Among the stranger corners of the Mesh are sites where atypical sensory interfaces predominate. Vision, sound, and touch/contact have been utilized in some combination for communications for centuries, but in post-Fall days there are entire segments of the Mesh where the primary sensory interface is somewhat stranger and more exotic—where infomorphs communicate via scents and tastes, artificially remixed and released in bursts of intensity and duration, or augmented reality zones which feed information that can only be interpreted by transhumans with t-ray emitter/receivers, or at least a compatible app that either allows them to interpret the data or translates it to their existing sensory spectrum.

The most populous of these sensory interface zones is Arindov Space, a mixed virtual/augmented reality environment based on echolocation, located in a lightless open-planning Lunar cavern with a high population density, with nearly thirty thousand physical inhabitants in 3.0 cubic kilometers of space. All boundaries and perimeters in the cavern (aside from the outer walls) are defined by virtual constructs, so that the inhabitants and visitors navigate by way of artificial echolocation data. Experienced users navigate in a sea of real-time three-dimensional data, steering them around digitally marked zones as well as real obstacles; new users are generally less able to process the full extent of the echodata being fed to them, but most adapt—or use a cheat app that processes the echodata into a relative audio-visual feed to overlay on their regular vision.

As might be expected, violating this virtual zoning carries with it social penalties. The Arindov Space exists only because of the consensual acceptance and awareness of the virtual borders; without the virtual barriers ameliorating senses of privacy and personal space, the population would probably riot at living packed so closely together. Individuals who purposefully violate virtual barriers face significant social stigma (and corresponding rep loss), but for some—particularly visitors—the relative freedom that comes from ignoring the artificial spatial constraints outweighs the social cost.

Mechanics

Most atypical sensory interface portions of the Mesh are designed for public use, and free apps are often readily available to interpret, receive, or translate extraordinary sensory data for new users, or geared to the augmented senses of certain morphs. Some hypercorps maintain more exotic spaces with non-publicly available apps for security reasons, but these are relatively rare because of their limited utility. Attempting to navigate a Mesh or Augmented Reality setting without the appropriate senses or app is equivalent to going in blind—the character is aware of being in the space, but the sensory data manifests only as noise. Mechanically, characters in such spaces receive a -30 penalty to Interfacing Tests if they do not have the appropriate senses or app.

Using Arindov Space

Excessive use of Arindov Space (and similar weird sensory places) is likely to cause frustration; it is recommended that this locale be used sparingly as a spice, to get players and gamemasters to think about their enhanced or augmented senses, and especially to allow characters who have invested in unusual sensory forms to feel “in their element.”

042: Factorials

ENTRY 042: Factorials

The clanking majority of transhumans do not have unique morphs—even with the vast manufacturing capability of nanofabrication, engineering and design skill limit the ability to plan and craft a really different body, and most transhumans expend their creative energies and resources on ultimately minor or cosmetic modifications and upgrades. Biomorphs are little better, with the vast majority being little more than gene-tweaked baseline humans, or for the more elaborate pods some take-off of existing products of Terran evolution. Yet there do exist groups that focus on developing ever more baroque, high-concept, and alien morphs; who take as their model creatures of myth and fantasy, hypothetical mathematical models, and the few extant examples of xenobiology that have fallen into transhumanity’s sphere of knowledge. For the latter, the most prominent group are the Factors, and the morphs they have inspired are known as Factorials.

Faithful reproduction of Factor biological forms is limited by the sparse knowledge of their anatomy that has come to light; most Factorials attempt only to imitate the outer physical properties or appearance of their colony-structure. More ambitious efforts to mimic the combinatorial distributed networking aspects of Factor mentality are currently still in very early stages of development, with a few spectacular failures serving as living examples of the dangers to egos who pursue such fundamental changes in the way they think and perceive. Still, there exists networked communities interested in Factorials and who continue to push the design envelope and encourage one another in their pursuits, although as with most transhuman networks it has its divisions, poseurs, hangers-on, and xenophiles.

Mechanics

Functional Factorial morphs are effectively high-end Worker Pods (Eclipse Phase, p.142) designed to mimic the external appearance of Factors, effectively gaining Striking Looks (1) and changing the Credit Cost to Expensive. Despite outward appearances the pod is still effectively based on Terran biology, with normal dietary and oxygen needs. Individuals who are familiar with the appearance of Factors receive a +20 modifier to any skill check to discern that a Factorial is not one. Functional Factorials count as Heavily Modified (-10 Integration/Alienation modifier) for purposes of resleeving. (Eclipse Phase, p.272)

Experimental Factorial morphs that attempt to replicate the more characteristic elements of Factor biology and mentality are extremely rare, with none currently on the market, and all of them possess considerable drawbacks. If the gamemaster chooses to include these biomorphs in their game, they typically possess physical modifications normally restricted to synthmorphs such as Modular Design, Shape Adjusting, and Swarm Composition—with mental continuity between disparate biological components maintained by discrete wireless implants. Such morphs are extremely fragile to EMP munitions (Eclipse Phase, p.340) and electromagnetic noise in general; they literally fall to pieces as individual portions of the Factorial cease being able to communicate with each other. Experimental Factorials count as Heavily Modified Exotic Morphs (-40 Integration/Alienation modifier) for purposes of resleeving. (Eclipse Phase, p.272)

At the gamemaster’s discretion, characters with Factorial morphs may replace the Social Stigma (Pod) trait with a Social Stigma (Factorial) trait, representing the greater acceptance egos with Factorials receive within their networks and among xenomorph enthusiasts.

041: Sue Dies

ENTRY 041: Sue Dies

Some taboos are hard even for transhumanity to break, being culturally or biologically deep-coded. Even the majority of exhumans instinctively recognize and react to the simple graphic of a smiley face, and likewise most transhuman biomorphs exhibit chemical and neurological responses to the sight and smell of pregnant human females. As with every other human weakness or peculiarity, some clever individuals have found ways to exploit this for their own advantage.

A professional surrogate, Sue Dies gestates fetal biomorphs for a fee within her body, sometimes to develop them to a state where an ego can safely inhabit them; more often to smuggle illegal or experimental morphs past check points. While not pregnant in classical terms (or even capable of becoming pregnant, as Dies’ entire original reproductive tract is in long-term storage orbiting somewhere around Venus), Dies is more than willing to play on any cultural stereotypes others may have—helpless and vulnerable, proud and maternal, even to act as the femme fatale for pregnancy fetishists, if it will save her life or serve her purposes.

COG	COO	INT	REF	SAV	SOM	WIL	MOX
14	14	16	13	21	16	16	-
INIT	SPD	LUC	TT	IR	DUR	WT	DR
6	1	32	6	64	30	6	45

Morph: Surrogate Pod

Skills: Academics: Anthropology (Pregnancy) 53, Academics: Biology 62, Art: Belly Dancing 75, Art: Erotic Entertainment (Pregnancy Fetish) 55, Beam Weapons 50, Deception (Bluffing) 56, Disguise 55, Fray 36, Impersonation 55, Infiltration 34, Infosec 50, Interests: Pregnancy 60, Interests: Smuggling Tricks 65, Kinesics 56, Language: Native Spanish 83, Language: French 52, Language: Mandarin 42, Networking: Autonomists 45, Networking: Criminals 66, Networking: Hypercorps 44, Networking: Media 44, Palming 45, Perception 50, Profession: Smuggler 75, Profession: Surrogate 60, Protocol 66, Unarmed Combat 36

Implants: Access Jacks, Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Clean Metabolism, Cortical Stack, Cyberbrain, Puppet Sock, Gestation Sack

Disadvantages: Social Stigma (Pod)

Using Sue Dies

Dies is a social chameleon, smuggler, and provocateur who preys on the expectations of others, changing her persona and demeanor more quickly and easily than most egos resleeve. Gamemasters get the most use out of Dies when her true nature is not immediately obvious, to play the role of a pregnant woman to the hilt and only reveal herself when necessity demands it. Her performance is greatly enhanced by costume—maternity wardrobes that accentuate her shape; naked the differences between her surrogate pod body and that of a pregnant flat are much more obvious.

Seeds

• A criminal ego is seeking to escape from the habitat the PCs currently occupy—resleeved into a developing morph in Sue Dies’ gestation pod. Rewards are offered and increasingly draconian restrictions implemented as the powers-that-be try to sniff out the crook.
• Sue Dies is carrying a special load this time, a custom-designed Olympian biomorph that she plans to resleeve herself into. However, the oversized developing morph strains the capabilities of her current body, rendering her bedridden beneath her massive gestation pod, and unable to defend herself against her erstwhile employers, who are looking to reclaim their property. Sue uses her savings to hire the player characters to protect her until it is time to harvest the new morph in just a couple days or weeks.

040: Knowledge-of-Self

ENTRY 040: Knowledge-of-Self

What began as a specialized Montessori curriculum dedicated to teaching genetics to young flats has become one of the more popular education systems among biomorphs. The system is uniquely personalized to each individual, helping the student to sequence and analyze their own DNA, RNA, and mRNA. Studies follow the student’s interest, highlighting mutations, transcription errors, artifacts of genetic manipulation, heredity groups, even applicable copyright and intellectual property law, interspersed with a series of experiments in manipulating their own genetic material to better understand what can be done. In habitats which recognize hypercorp intellectual property laws actually implementing or selling genetic code or material derived from Knowledge-of-Self experiments is illegal, but most jurisdictions concede the right to experiment.

Mechanics

Knowledge-of-Self as an education program is available to all biomorphs with access to the Mesh, and provides training allowing characters to purchase any relevant skill up to a rating of 50 in a reduced timeframe: 1 week of K-o-S schooling yields 2 RP for relevant skills only. Higher ratings and specializations from the program are possible, but generally require access to the greater facilities available at an institute of higher learning and one-on-one teaching sessions.

Seeds

• A dozen biomorphs in an open-source K-o-S program have contracted cancer from an experiment; the markers for the cancer are disconcertingly similar to those left by infection by the exsurgent virus. Firewall tasks the characters with finding out who hacked the program and stop them—and they need to do it quick, before the genetic terrorist perfects the program and tries again.
• Genetics hypercorps and the government are attempting to ban K-o-S programs from the Jovian Republic, citing the dangers of unsupervised experimentation with human genetics. Local teachers have put out a surreptitious call for assistance in backing up K-o-S materials to darkcast sites. The players can earn a good bit of rep, as long as they stay ahead of the Junta and the hypercorps.
• A genetic artist is being sued for adding an art module to an existing K-o-S program, which encourages students to express themselves through modeling and manipulating their DNA; a hypercorp hires the player characters to steal the sourcecode so they can reverse-engineer it and add it to their existing commercial education software.
• While working on K-o-S, an NPC discovers they have a genetic clone-sibling—one of the PCs. While not identical, with a deft bit of hacking the clone has stolen their identity and has been borrowing the PC’s name and rep for a series of criminal transactions, and now the various players are calling the markers due. The PCs will have to find the clone if they want to clear their rep.
• The K-o-S programs for uplifts are generally much less complete than those for transhumans; a dolphin uplift named Mickeymac asks the player characters to help “liberate” an archive of private data on uplift genetics to a specific pirate network so that ze can integrate it into the existing open-source software.

039: Surrogate Pod

ENTRY 039: Surrogate Pod

Transhuman genetic engineers view the conventional reproductive system as a platform for their own projects, one result of which are surrogate pods, also known as “walking wombs.” The surrogate pod is a mobile gestation chamber for a developing morph; the more basic models resemble a pregnant unmodified human, while more elaborate versions feature various augmentations or are based on nonhuman physiologies. In the vast majority of cases, surrogate pods are designed as temporary bodies for egos that have purchased the biomorph growing within the surrogate’s artificial womb. For paranoid or insecure egos, this provides immediate and ongoing assurance of the state of their future self, as well as intimate contact and connection with the morph that will make the eventual resleeving process easier.

Surrogate pods find their greatest use in habitats where morph and resleeving technologies are ideologically limited, and as a cheaper alternative to the more expensive biomorphs—since the bulk of time and expense comes from gestation, moving a partially-gestated biomorph into a surrogate pod frees up artificial wombs and vat decanters for other projects, the morphs can be offered at a lower cost. The downside of course is that surrogate pods are typically extremely basic, specially geared for the sustainment and protection of the developing biomorph inside them above all else. Typical surrogate pods generally lack senses of smell and taste, reproductive organs, and have simplified digestive tracts—and that’s before the genetic surgeons really started cutting corners. Surrogate pods are mostly not designed for long-term use—the surrogate pod itself is often destroyed when the gestation period is complete, either through the surgical harvesting operation, and even if the pod survives “giving birth” its genetic lifespan is rarely much longer.

The greatest number of “reusable” surrogate pods capable of surviving multiple implantations and gestation exist on Mars. The Martian models are the remnants of a cooperative initiative for population growth; the durable surrogates are volunteers or sometimes paid employees, and the biomorphs they gestate are often near-baseline human and animal fetuses, though other options are possible.

Generic Surrogate Pod Stats

Surrogate pods have all of the advantages of pods or biomorphs (Eclipse Phase, p.142), as appropriate.

Enhancements: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Clean Metabolism, Cortical Stack, Cyberbrain, Puppet Sock, Gestation Sack, Neuter

Aptitude Maximum: 30 (20 for Coordination, Reflexes, and Somatics)

Durability: 30

Wound Threshold: 6

Advantages: None

Disadvantages: Social Stigma (Pod), Unfit (2)

CP Cost: 10 + carried biomorph

Credit Cost: High (or cost of carried biomorph, if higher)

Surrogate pods are typically purchased containing a developing biomorph; the cost of this biomorph is 50% the CP or credit cost of buying a full-grown version outright, but it will take time to develop—typically one week per point of durability. The surrogate pod is implanted with nutritional gel packs that feed directly to the developing morph and build the morph’s implants as it matures, so there are no special dietary requirements beyond a minimum caloric intake. Delivery of the biomorph generally results in the death of the surrogate pod; Martian-model reusable surrogates have triple the base cost (30 CP/Expensive) as one-shots.