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[RFC] Biomodification (meta)
[RFC] Biomodification (meta)
#1
In the thread "[Story][Season 0] Technology Exchange", Ace Dreamer asked:
Quote:Are most of the people in active service with the 'Sammies' biomods (via their special handwavium)? So, strong and athletic and generally female? With the odd strong and athletic tuxedo-clad male, mostly in a supporting role?
Then Star Ranger4 referred Ace to me.

That touched off an essay of a reply.... specifically, this essay. Feedback is requested before I add this to the FenWiki and link to it from the "Biomodification" page. Mind the FenWiki markup.

In case the request for feedback wasn't clear: Everything in this post is subject to change if enough of you don't like it. Besides, there are still unwritten parts of this essay...

Page Title: Biomodification (meta)

{{meta}}{{quote|That guy's part of my crew! I want him returned intact, same species and same gender he was when you found him, y'hear?|20px|20px|[[S. Malaclypse Fnord|Mal Fnord], at [[SOS-Con]}}{{TOC right}}

Along with [[Spacecraft Registry#Space Craft|flying cars] and human-grade [[Artificial Intelligence|AIs], [[Biomodification|biomods] are one of the three pillars of the background of Fenspace. Unlike flying cars and AIs, biomods are tricky to imagine, if you don't go with the blatanty obvious. Not that there's anything wrong with "blatantly obvious" in Fenspace - this is a setting that has, amongst others, [[April Roberts|an Andorian] in Starfleet, [[Hélène Aronnax|a Creature from the Black Lagoon] in the Submariners, [[the Jason|a Saiyan] in the Main Belt, and [[catgirls] all over the place. But it also has [[Katz Schrödinger] and [[Joseph Corcoran].

These are some guidelines on how to handle biomods in Fenspace stories. They are '''''not''''' hard-and-fast rules.

==How Common Are They?==

Not everybody in Fenspace has a biomod. Not everybody in Fenspace wants a biomod - for every person who desperately wants to change the body he or she lives in, there's a person who's completely happy in the body that he or she was born in, and a handful of people who wouldn't mind something different but don't know what they might want. Given that, biomods are in the minority across Fenspace as a whole.

Some factions are heavier on the biomods than others due to the nature of their fandoms - for example, [[Furries] tend to a high percentage of biomods, while [[Pulpers] have hardly any.

On the whole, biomodded Fen are roughly 10% of the population; enough to be noticeable while not dominating society.

(Pre-publication Question: Is 10% too high? Is it too low?)

==How Powerful Can They Be?==

Well, you're not going to biomod into Superman. It's not too likely that you'll biomod into Stephen Hawking, either, but that is at least possible.

If an ability exists somewhere in the animal (or plant) kingdom already, then it's fair game for a biomod, no questions asked. [[Leda Swansen]'s biomod is taken straight from the electric eel, for example.

If the biomod is a trivial change - gender, height and weight, hair and skin color, that sort of thing - without granting any superhuman abilities, then it's probably acceptable.

On the flip side, if the proposed ability exists solely to make a character look good all the time in all situations, then it's probably too powerful - even if the character is intended to be an Open Character that any writer can use and abuse. This ties back to [[Fenspace Rules#Rule #0|Rule #0] - No Fair Hogging All the Cool.

The question is, where do the writers draw the line?

more - I know there's a discussion about this somewhere in the forums, but I don't have time to look for it right now

==What Are the Downsides of a Biomod?==

That depends.

more - do moer powerful biomods have more powerful downsides? do some biomods have no downsides at all?

==What Are the More Common Biomods?==

With the exception of the [[Catgirling Machine] and similar devices, it is impossible to reliably copy a biomod exactly. There are, however, some obvious broad classes of biomods.

===Furries===

Thanks to [[Boskonian]s turning unwilling victims into catgirls (and a small handful of wolf-people), the anthropomorphic biomod is the most common biomod by far. [[Rabbit people] are the next-most-common type of "furry" biomod.

Kelly Harrison, majordomo of the Hotel Stellvia, is possibly the setting's best-known full-time anthropomorphic biomod; she's a rabbit person.

Shapeshifters who can become animals or animal-people are also possible; [[Dakota] is a werewolf, and [[Andrew Fauho] is a werefox.

===Fictional Races===

more - describe them as a class

[[April Roberts] is essentially an Andorian, and [[the Jason] pretty much turned himself into a Saiyan.

===Gender-Benders===

The ability to change gender (reliably or not) is one of the less-obvious common biomods. [[Jeph Antilles] and [[KJ DeRosia] are known gender-benders.

In a related area, there are persistent rumors that the [[Crystal Millennium] has the ability to permanently change a person's gender from male to female. This would explain why a demographic that is predominantly male - SF and fantasy fandom - has a predominantly-female presence around [[Venus].

(Pre-publication Question: Should anything else be in this article?)
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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#2
Well, hmm. Cant speak for Ace, but I was actually kinda more thinking about the Sammie uniforms and thought of you as the logical go to person about it instead of biomoding.

As to this material, I think your pretty spot on. Though from the sound of it, maybe we should go with 10% 'Obvious' biomods, (like Cat Girls and other anthromorphs) and another 10% not quite so obvious (IE you'd not know it was a biomod without doing some digging or the person volenteered the info) That gives an overall 1 in 5 rate of all biomods, but only a 1 in 10 as far as obvious folk like Anthromorphs, making them common but not so common as to crowd out other folks.

Yes, I agree with the skewing of percentages in favor of certain factions, it makes sense to me that groups like the Supers and Furries would have a lot of the 'obvious' biomods, while a group like the Belters or pulpers would be more 'normals' / inobvious biomods

and aside from the rule of cool, I quite agree. the 'more powerfull' a biomod potentially is, the more counteracting quirks and limitations it should have as a balance.

Races... hmm.

"While there is a sizable percentage of Fen who either have, or are hoping to, biomod themselves to resemble a member of many of the races found in their fandoms, It should not be forgotten that bio mods are just that... BIOlogical MODification. The underlying DNA remains human, which means that technically there are no 'races' other than human. Each member must biomod themselves, and the results have yet to be copied to the DNA level. So, in theory, and two members of any 'race' could interbreed (assuming their 'plumbing' can connect or artificial insemination) however, their child would be a normal unmodified human unless special steps are taken. And at this time, no KNOWN Mad of any stripe has been amoral enough to consider just what that might entail; or rather, if they have they've been wise enough to keep their mouth shut to avoid lynching. FenKinder are the fandom's future, to do anything that might endanger them is pretty much guaranteed to attract all sorts of attention of a type that in general leaves the recepient feeling like (s)he's been run over by a truck, or worse. And can expect to find themselves facing a highly unsympathetic justice system after they recover"
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-

NO QUARTER!!!
-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children
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#3
In general, I'd say there's no limit to the insanity that's possible..... Rule 0 is important, but at the same time anything can work if it's written correctly. Biomods should be driven by the character concept, not be the entire character concept if that makes sense. I'd hesitate to say anything is off-limits..... although that's coming from one of the guiltier parties. Superhumans are fun to write about too.....

Quirks. Well, I had thoughts on it, but the idea was just a little bit too horrific. It worked for hardware, but was a quiet nightmare when applied to people. It was a real fridge horror. And it might change a few characters in uncomfortable ways.

I was sort of assuming the Senshi strain found emergency medical uses during OGJ -era. It's stable, designed to minimalise the chance of jokers and generally give a result that's clean, quirk free and obviously human. Of course, it's an option on most dog-tags to indicate that the wearer refuses emergency biomodification. It seems perfect

It's also perfectly natural to think about the opposite sex. Handwavium itself being a memetic substance..... well, the results should be obvious. From a meta standpoint, it's also a change that can't be ignored by the affect character, while at the same time not making them stand out amongst a crowd or being obviously strange. It's a heavy change, but one that's easier than a Furmod.

Under fictional races, maybe add Nazzadi. A very small subculture, with less than 50 individuals. They've taken upon themselves to re-invent an alien culture from the ground up, something which appeals to a certain kind of individual. The arguments over what a 'Nazzadi' should be, what the tatoos mean and even whether they should follow Cthulhutech are vociferous as they are ignored by all but a few curious anthropologists. Because really, I always like the concept behind the Nazzadi.... a race specifically discovering itself and in the act of defining what a NAzzadi actually is, experimenting with new and strange a colourful combinations along the way.

Oh.... and there're bound to be Klingons of course.
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#4
Star Ranger4 Wrote:So, in theory, and two members of any 'race' could interbreed (assuming their 'plumbing' can connect or artificial insemination) however, their child would be a normal unmodified human unless special steps are taken.
The "unbiomodded human child" part would probably be very, very dependent upon the nature of the biomod. Some biomods are handwavium "clean", there is no handwavium in their bodies anymore, even though they're now effectively immune to (most) handwavium effects without some sort of additional (hard) shove. However, other mods out there, such as A.C. Peters and Jet Jaguar, have handwavium in their bodies all the time, either because they've essentially become an intelligent batch strain of the stuff (like A.C.) or need to consume certain amounts of it to stay healthy (like Jet).

With that said, a child coming out already biomodded is exceptionally unlikely to be some sort of cthuloid horror. In addition, those that are iffy on whether or not they can "pass on" a biomod, or know for a fact that they've got biomod-ready levels of handwavium in their bodies, are going to pack the prophylactics for any, erm, romantic encounters. If anything, to protect their prospective (and likely unbiomodded) partners.
--

"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
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#5
Well, I've already established that at least one biomod is inheritable... but that particular biomod was made to a genetic engineer, and (as has already been mentioned) Handwavium Is Memetic.

I'm going to leave the original post in this thread as it is for now, and give everybody the next few days to hash out ideas. I'll consolidate stuff sometime on Monday...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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#6
To which I will counter that 'Wave, as a Memetic substance, and being the type that is in favor of both life and dramatic neccecity, would basicly not biomod an unborne child unless it was neccecary to save the childs life. Why? cause its just a babe... how can it know what it wants yet? Worst case it it gets a 'null' mod; or, perhaps the greatest mod of all, being able to handle 'waveium without havign to worry about it.
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-

NO QUARTER!!!
-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children
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#7
Quirks on biomods tend to relatively harmless and not terribly unpleasant.

For example, the Catgirl Machine victims' biochemistry requiring a certain carbonated beverage and root beer acting as an intoxicant, or Joe Corcoran's "Popeye Syndrome" for the active use of his biomod.

Now, technically, the Catgirling victims are not biomods in the proper sense, but most folks can't tell the difference anyway.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll
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#8
JFerio Wrote:
Star Ranger4 Wrote:So, in theory, and two members of any 'race' could interbreed (assuming their 'plumbing' can connect or artificial insemination) however, their child would be a normal unmodified human unless special steps are taken.
The "unbiomodded human child" part would probably be very, very dependent upon the nature of the biomod. Some biomods are handwavium "clean", there is no handwavium in their bodies anymore, even though they're now effectively immune to (most) handwavium effects without some sort of additional (hard) shove.
I would say most/all biomods have some trace amounts of handwavium in their body, otherwise many biomods wouldn't work and the immunity to further biomods makes no sense.

Quote:However, other mods out there, such as A.C. Peters and Jet Jaguar, have handwavium in their bodies all the time, either because they've essentially become an intelligent batch strain of the stuff (like A.C.) or need to consume certain amounts of it to stay healthy (like Jet).

With that said, a child coming out already biomodded is exceptionally unlikely to be some sort of cthuloid horror. In addition, those that are iffy on whether or not they can "pass on" a biomod, or know for a fact that they've got biomod-ready levels of handwavium in their bodies, are going to pack the prophylactics for any, erm, romantic encounters. If anything, to protect their prospective (and likely unbiomodded) partners.
Some however have much more handwavium inside. Wink
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#9
Quote:HRogge wrote:
I would say most/all biomods have some trace amounts of handwavium in their body, otherwise many biomods wouldn't work and the immunity to further biomods makes no sense.
I'm mostly saying it the way I said it to not discount the possibility. The vast majority of biomodded individuals will have some level of handwavium always present, particularly if the biomod has an active mode switch of sorts. Individuals with healing factors, and those that have a bodily transformation that occurs from time to time (such as Jeph) would have handwavium always present. It might not be in sufficient quantities that bodily fluids will cause a biomod (and may in fact be handwavium free)... but those individuals are cautioned to not take chances with regards to unbiomodded individuals should the circumstance present itself.
Here's an edit.

Quote:Some biomods are handwavium "clean", there is little to no handwavium in their bodies anymore (although being completely and totally free of it is still pretty much unheard of). However, other biomods out there, such as A.C. Peters and Jet Jaguar, have significant amounts of handwavium in their bodies all the time, either because they've essentially become an intelligent batch strain of the stuff (like A.C.) or need to consume certain amounts of it regularly in order to stay healthy (like Jet). In all cases, a biomodded individual is effectively immune to (most) handwavium effects without some sort of additional (hard) external shove.
--

"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
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#10
@JFerio: yes, sounds better Smile
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#11
Very rough, and I'm not sure where to put this in the flow of things but...

Biomods have certain medical consequences (besides things like getting copper-based blood). Primarily this is due to [[Fenspace Rules#Rule_.232|Rule 2]. As it is very hard to pretty much impossible to actually get rid of one (ignoring the Biomolding type machines like the Catgirling Machine, and the dangerous Remodding process), it can logicallyYes, we’re applying logic to Handwavium. be assumed that the biomod itself induces a regenerative effect. This is probably due to the biomod generating maintenance-type Handwavium.

On the downside, this makes it actually fairly easy to detect that a person ‘’’HAS’’’ a biomod even if it’s not obvious. At a guess a ‘’Taster’’ will successfully spot a biomod from a blood sample about 90% of the time, a standard medical lab 99% of the time, and the rest of the time a ‘’Tricorder’’ analysis of multiple scan modes will pick it up (using Handwavium’s copy-protection against it).

On the upside, due to Handwavium’s life preserving tendencies, at the very least your chances of developing hereditary or genetic diseases (like Cancer) will have taken a hefty drop. And it probably cleaned out your arteries as well.
More importantly, biomod regeneration is likely to increase your lifespan 5 to 10 years and you’ll age ‘well’On a meta level, this allows characters to maintain their appearance (baring accidents of course).
The more extensive the biomod, the greater the amount of ‘bleed through’ of the regeneration affect to the individual with it. For a mid-level example take [[Leda Swansen|Leda Swansen-Scott], who will (thanks to her biomod and fandom) look young and beautiful for the rest of her life if she takes care of herself (there is the possibility of grey hairs, but they’ll look ‘elegant’). This level also boosts healing, reducing scars.
Eventually the regeneration gets strong enough to induce ‘’homeostasis’’, preventing the modee from changing their appearance. In this case the example used are the Dobbs’, particularly Thomas who occasionally cuts ‘his’ hair to buzz-cut and it grows back to full length in three days.

What isn’t known is how much the lifespan of those with ‘ageless’ side effects has been extended.
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#12
Cobalt Greywalker Wrote:Eventually the regeneration gets strong enough to induce ‘’homeostasis’’, preventing the modee from changing their appearance. In this case the example used are the Dobbs’, particularly Thomas who occasionally cuts ‘his’ hair to buzz-cut and it grows back to full length in three days.
The Catgirling machine victims are also known for their strong homeostasis.
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#13
robkelk Wrote:Shapeshifters who can become animals or animal-people are also possible; [[Dakota] is a werewolf, and [[Andrew Fauho] is a werefox.

Dakota is more a faux-werewolf he can't shapeshift and is always in 'war form'.
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#14
I'd suggest the "1 in 20 rule" apply - most anything you say about people you'll find doesn't apply to 5% of the population.

On that basis, 5% of the population have obvious/visible biomods, and another 5% might reasonably have near-invisible, only detectable by (careful) analysis ones. This adds up to 10% of the overall population, which I think feels about right.

Over time, medical emergencies, handwavium accidents, enemy action, the proportion might increase, but I'd suggest that 15% might be a reasonable figure in total.

I think that would be enough to have biomods be an obvious part of Fenspace, but not an overwhelming or dominant feature.

Then you have androids, robots, uplifted animals and anything else, but, that is a different story! [grin]
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind
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#15
Cobalt Greywalker Wrote:Very rough, and I'm not sure where to put this in the flow of things but...
All good stuff, but most of it isn't really "meta"... If it was up to me, I'd put most of that into the existing Biomodification article and keep the discussion of The Rules for this thread.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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#16
There is a way I found seemed to work with regard to biomods: a combination of "be careful what you ask for/making wishes" and "Medicinal Compound" -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lily_the_Pink_(song)

http://www.lyricsmania.co...lyrics_scaffold_the.html

This was a 1968 comedy song - Medicinal Compound could fix just about anything, but you might not appreciate how it got fixed.
I also feel the concept "pushing your luck" may be relevant.
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind
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#17
Pondering on this.... would the real big 'mods like AC, Jet and Wave Convoy even count as biomods? Or would they count as different categories entirely?

Although, I really like the idea of the 'wave punishing hubris and carelessness . I want to see a big, burly boskonian drink deep of what he thinks is the elixir of life, dreaming of eternal youth. And wake up as a 4 year old. Forever.

The concept of homeostasis does imply one other thing, however. What effect does it have on the recipients psyche?
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#18
Dartz Wrote:Pondering on this.... would the real big 'mods like AC, Jet and Wave Convoy even count as biomods? Or would they count as different categories entirely?
I suppose that would depend on whom you asked. Wave Convoy probably counts more as a "transference" from one body to another like someone uploading their mind to a computer, and not a biomod to the vast majority of Fenspace. AC might well be considered a biomod by almost everybody, albeit an incredibly extensive one, the most extensive on record, even if it ultimately resulted in a cyborg. Jet... is somewhere in the middle, and in some Cyber circles, a difference of opinion that occasionally results in fistfights.
Quote:Although, I really like the idea of the 'wave punishing hubris and carelessness . I want to see a big, burly boskonian drink deep of what he thinks is the elixir of life, dreaming of eternal youth. And wake up as a 4 year old. Forever.
Do I know you? (jk)
There's a reason some people take great care with their Handwavium. They've seen the sort of "sense of humor" it appears to have, being a memetic substance. No one wants to be on the brunt end of one of those practical jokes. (In some of his poorer moments the first year or two after his biomod, Jeph Antilles admitted that he felt like he was the victim of a really bad prank on the part of someone.)

Quote:The concept of homeostasis does imply one other thing, however. What effect does it have on the recipients psyche?
That is a very good question. Obviously it isn't nearly as bad as the occasional science fiction I've read where one had to regularly copy oneself to disk to copy oneself back later because of the omnipresent regeneration fields that kept everyone young and repaired injury, but had the nasty effect of also wiping out 100% of one's memory given time.
However, that one is never-changing would have an effect, as one's unbiomodded friends grow older and older, and even a sibling starts being mistaken for your parent. Again, look up above at the idea of Handwavium having a sense of humor...
--

"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
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#19
Dartz Wrote:Although, I really like the idea of the 'wave punishing hubris and carelessness . I want to see a big, burly boskonian drink deep of what he thinks is the elixir of life, dreaming of eternal youth. And wake up as a 4 year old. Forever.
Look at the character Kidd near the start of this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robo-Hunter
Robo Hunter has been de-aged, reincarnated, and (I think) ended up as the ghostly advisor to a female decendent.  All without handwavium being involved...
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind
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#20
Dartz Wrote:Pondering on this.... would the real big 'mods like AC, Jet and Wave Convoy even count as biomods? Or would they count as different categories entirely?
They're still biomods, they just allow them to be...well, them. In A.C.'s case, none of his biomass actually got lost. The biomod turned it into what I call a biomatrix form sheath, allowing all the REST of the handwavium to form up into something that has the appearence of a human form. (Rob call her a liquid metal cyborg when I originally put her forth and in some ways that's true. The biomatrix makes being 98.2% handwavium more like being a normal person). In Jet's case it changed the meat into something that is adapted to being permanently suited up. In Wave Convoy's case, it allowed the fading body to transfer its consiousness into the body he now occupies. If his body hadn't expired, I'd hazard a guess he could have gone back to it.

Dartz Wrote:Although, I really like the idea of the 'wave punishing hubris and carelessness . I want to see a big, burly boskonian drink deep of what he thinks is the elixir of life, dreaming of eternal youth. And wake up as a 4 year old. Forever.

Urgh, I pity the poor sod who has to arrest that person. Of course I'm now imagining a slightly older Baby Herman (from Who Framed Roger Rabbit).

Dartz Wrote:The concept of homeostasis does imply one other thing, however. What effect does it have on the recipients psyche?
That's tricky. I'd guess it depends on the person, but at a thought it may make them take more risks as at least the physical consequences will not show (if they survive).
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#21
That wasn't exactly what I meant be effect on psyche. Although, the fact that it'll initially still hurt like hell will be enough discouragement for most folks. What I meant was, if it's able to add such an 'inertia' to a person's appearance, can it add an inertia to their personality and emotional state, making it harder for them to change. The end result being something like the eternal pulp-heroes who go for decades without any real character growth. But that's not as good an idea as it seemed back in the pub.

Quote:However, that one is never-changing would have an effect, as one's unbiomodded friends grow older and older, and even a sibling starts being mistaken for your parent. Again, look up above at the idea of Handwavium having a sense of humor...

This is a better idea . Does anyone remember that episode of Cowboy Bebop? Or the Green Mile? On it's own, that does sound like a unique kind of hell.

Quote: Do I know you? (jk)

There's a reason some people take great care with their Handwavium. They've seen the sort of "sense of humor" it appears to have, being a memetic substance. No one wants to be on the brunt end of one of those practical jokes. (In some of his poorer moments the first year or two after his biomod, Jeph Antilles admitted that he felt like he was the victim of a really bad prank on the part of someone.)

It takes your hopes and desires, washes them around your fears, dries them with a few ideas right at the forefront of your mind, then irons it all according to the phases of the moons of Saturn. And because, if it's humorous, people might be able to deal with it better.

Quote:Urgh, I pity the poor sod who has to arrest that person. Of course I'm now imagining a slightly older Baby Herman (from Who Framed Roger Rabbit).

Do you want to write that? Because washed through foul-mouthed Kidd, it's making me giggle away here to myself just thinking about it.

Come to think of it, in a lot of ways Jet and A.C. are the opposites of each other. I suppose it's a good thing Jet's outside the usual comic-book superhero fandom.
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#22
re Wave Convoy - whether he counts as a biomod whose former body was excised like a burst appendix after migrating to the new hadware or is an AI copy of the human who died is a Canonical Area of Doubt and Uncertainty, involving as it does questions of the soul and religion. He has come to the conclusion that the voice he heard and vision experienced during the trans fer was a genuine religious experience, with God Comma The speaking in the voice of Primus to tell him to begin his new life, and that when
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
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#23
he eventually terminates his soul will be uploaded to the Matrix (the one in his chest) to advise future bearers and assist in the inception of new infomorphic life (because you can't really call it artificial any more when it's that closely analogous to biological reproduction...)

Also, remember that the Wave Convoy mecha, while grossly functional before the incident, underwent additional small but significant changes to become a liveable body, the wavepaint becoming touch and temperature sensitive frex
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
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#24
Quote:However, that one is never-changing would have an effect, as one's unbiomodded friends grow older and older, and even a sibling starts being mistaken for your parent. Again, look up above at the idea of Handwavium having a sense of humor...
Dartz Wrote:This is a better idea . Does anyone remember that episode of Cowboy Bebop? Or the Green Mile? On it's own, that does sound like a unique kind of hell.
I used the same idea in a game I ran a few years ago. A young woman was given never-ending youth and vitality - she realized that may have been a bad thing when she watched her friends grow old and die. Then she made new friends... who she watched grow old and die. By the time the PCs met her, she was actively looking for a way to break her curse.

Something to consider for Infinities stories, although there's more than one "immortal" in Fenspace - there's no reason why any AI should die from old age - so the loneliness won't be as bad.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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#25
robkelk Wrote:
Quote:However, that one is never-changing would have an effect, as one's unbiomodded friends grow older and older, and even a sibling starts being mistaken for your parent. Again, look up above at the idea of Handwavium having a sense of humor...
Dartz Wrote:This is a better idea . Does anyone remember that episode of Cowboy Bebop? Or the Green Mile? On it's own, that does sound like a unique kind of hell.
I used the same idea in a game I ran a few years ago. A young woman was given never-ending youth and vitality - she realized that may have been a bad thing when she watched her friends grow old and die. Then she made new friends... who she watched grow old and die. By the time the PCs met her, she was actively looking for a way to break her curse.

Something to consider for Infinities stories, although there's more than one "immortal" in Fenspace - there's no reason why any AI should die from old age - so the loneliness won't be as bad.

If a strong Homeostasis gives you this kind of immortality, I expect there to be quite a lot of Biomods after a few centuries with this in the population... maybe just because a) they don't die and b) people might look for these Biomods for themselves because they don't want to die.
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