[Gadget] Squish-bot

[LynnInDenver]

Squish-bot Questions about Stage Two or Three: ((13/Jun/2012))
What can you do with a squish-bot?  (Almost) anything you could do with an unconscious normal human body which has not been biomodded.

I'm just gonna leave that one there. *shuddergrin*

Can you biomod a squish-bot?  Yes, as long as the mod is principally physical, as opposed to mental, behavioural or 'spiritual'; even those might be allowed if someone was 'living' in the squish-bot.
Do wavium abilities and quirks carry over into a squish-bot?  Yes, but only if they are principally mental, behavioural or 'spiritual' (i.e. not those rooted in the physical structure of the body); this only applies while that particular person is 'living' in the squish-bot, and they go away when they leave (they take them with them), even if the body had been made a perfect duplicate of their handwavium-created or biomodded one.

I'd expect that the resultant "biomod" is merely from the additional handwavium... the process of activation alone is essentially a form of biomod, and you usually don't get two biomods on the same individual without some serious risk. It can be done, but it's reserved for medical emergencies.

Where is the handwavium?  There is a very small amount of highly specialised locked-purpose handwavium, tied-up in the bones, and particularly the skull; there is none anywhere else in the body; this self-destructs if the squish-bot reverts to a doll or otherwise dies.

Given the activation process, I highly doubt that the handwavium would concentrate quite so neatly. Yes, the vast majority of it may be locked up in the "bones" of the "guts", but some of it would probably remain in the soft tissues.

Can you use a squish-bot as a blood donor?  Yes, as long as you don't take enough blood to kill them - they follow the same distribution of blood types as the general population, unless they've been carefully made to resemble a particular person, when they'll have that persons blood type (unless the blood type is something weird as a result of a biomod).
Can you use a squish-bot as an organ donor?  Yes, as long as you don't kill them by harvesting the organ - taking one of paired organs works best; organ tissue types follow the same distribution as the general population, unless they've been carefully made to resemble a particular person, when they'll have that persons type (unless the tissue type is something weird as a result of a biomod).

I would expect that, while it might well work, there might actually be enough handwavium "contanimation" involved to induce a biomod in the recipient, regardless of the intent.

Does anything strange happen if you keep a squish-bot alive for a long time? Yes, though even total life support in an ICU wont extend their basic seven day life span; if you somehow extracted all the handwavium tied-up in the bones then you'd have a normal human body that you could keep alive indefinitely (biomodding has this extraction effect, getting one pregnant doesn't) - if someone 'lived' in a squish-bot at least 98% of the time for at least seven months then this destroys the handwavium, leaving only a normal human body.

I do have a problem with this part... it might be "theoretically" possible, but for the foreseeable future, my understanding is that once something is 'waved, you really can't extract the handwavium from it.

Can you use a squish-bot for biomodding research?  Yes, but seeing as the squish-bot hasn't any personal intentions (unless someone's 'living' in there) the range of biomods tends to be rather limited, and mostly related to healing any injuries - be careful as some biomodded squish-bots suddenly wake-up with full personalities (and souls?) and typically take a very dim view of being involved in medical experimentation (though one Mad supposed acquired an Igor this way).

It might be useful just from the result of getting a living, breathing body that's only good for seven days... how does it do that.
Dane biologists would go unhappily Mad trying to explain it.

Are there any problems with using squish-bots?  There aren't any obvious ethical problems, as there is 'noone there' - but you might be wise to look out for the lynch mobs.

Something of a "creepy" factor would certainly be there, at least for someone watching the deactivation process. Watching anyone who looked normal suddenly deflating into a rubber sex doll would squick many well-traveled Fen, to say nothing of Danes.
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"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor