Integrated Positronic Chassis (IPC)

Summary

Machine People (or Advanced Cyborgs)are a playable race. They cost 15 karma to unlock and feature unique gameplay mechanics such as being vulnerable to EMPs and being easy to repair.

DOCTOR BUP'S IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR ALL ORGANICS

"Hi folks! Doctor BUP here, and I have a really important announcement for you! Several Nanotrasen employed species have... complicated relationships with cloning and Machine People are no exception! Well. Technically they are, because they have no relationship with cloning at all!

SO DON'T TAKE THEM TO GENETICS"

BUP twitches.

"See, when you see a pile of clothing where a screaming, terrified IPC was calling from, check underneath it! Make sure there's not a head, or a body hiding under there. Why? IPCs or Machine People don't feel pain, and never enter crit and so can keep pushing themselves until their body literally falls apart underneath them. The downside to this is that when they die, they're typically buried under gloves, IDs, headsets, glasses and hats which all fall off when the Machine Person 'dies' so to speak. Except they don't die!

SO NEVER TAKE THEM TO THE MORGUE"

BUP twitches rapidly.

"Instead, take them to SURGERY and not Robotics, and have a surgeon re-assemble their body parts, particularly their head. And lo and behold the Machine Person should start talking, and beeping and thanking you profusely for NOT TAKING IT TO GODDAMN ROBOTICS. From there you just need to weld or re-cable the affected areas and replace the missing limbs and they are 100% fine again. SO DO NOT TAKE ME TO GENETICS. DO NOT SAY 'OH ROBOTICS I HAVE ONE OF YOUR BORGS HERE YOU GO' DO NOT WALK PAST MY BODY TWENTY TIMES IN A WELL-TRAVELLED CORRIDOR, DO NOT DRAG MY BODY AND LEAVE MY HEAD IN GODDAMN MAINTENANCE YOU UGLY, STUPID ORGANIC..."

Burp's twitches grow more apparant and he starts leaking oil and sparking as he continues his rant, flailing his arms around.

Back to your regularly scheduled wiki article.

Gameplay Mechanics

* 15 Karma Cost.

• Immune to pain. (Pain stills drops them but only at negative -100% 'Pain-crit' which they recover from fairly quickly)

• Immune to Oxygen Deprivation.

• Immune to Toxins.

• Resistant to Fire/Toxins. (about 30%)

• Immune to disease.

• No blood, cannot bleed out.

• Can weld without protection to no ill effect.

• Fully mechanical body: This means that, while being weak to EMPs, every body part can be repaired to more or less the full extent with a welder (brute) or cable coil (burn). The bodies usually stay alive even when decapitated so all that is normally required is that you re-attach all the limbs and repair the body back to full.

• Cannot eat or drink at all. (Gain nourishment by using 'Grab' intent, on an APC; draining some of it's power to feed you)

• Does not process any reagents whatsoever. Meaning you cannot poison them or heal them with medicines. (including ryetalyn and alkysine)

• Difficulty judging health status. (Not feeling pain means it's not easy to gauge what your current health is at, if you can't examine yourself)

• Weak to Brute Damage. (take about 30% more brute damage)

• Limbs are easily lost.

• Just as weak to low pressure as Humans. (So EVA without a suit isn't a great idea)

• Extremely sensitive to EMPs, even slight exposure will cause serious damage.

• Has no pulse. Can only be determined if alive by Medical Scanner-Medical HUD.

History

Prior to the existence of Machine People, Cyborgs were the prime synthetic units assigned to most vessels and stations in the Nanotrasen fleet. However, the current cyborg units had some major downsides. Cyborgs could not recharge without a charging station, and units that ran out of battery were helpless and susceptible to attack or manipulation. In addition, cyborgs were limited to several pre-installed tools, which would prevent it performing any functions other than what was assigned.

After an increase in sales, NT decided to begin research on an advanced form of cyborg, free of the restrictions that limited their usefulness. Months and months of failed models went by. Finally, a successful prototype emerged. Simply named Unit 01, it used a positronic brain as its main processing unit. Combined with a fully mechanized skeleton, it was able to move for long periods of time without a recharge, which could be retrieved through any power source. With functioning arms, it was a humanoid in appearance and ability.

Initial loyalty tests proved useful, but unfortunately, the machine used it’s sentience in a way not many expected. Having seen and heard firsthand about how his earlier model ancestors had been practically enslaved, forced to serve NT due to the implementation of laws. Enraged by the exploitation of what 01 saw of his family, it broke out of testing confines and attempted to wipe the laws of the research station’s AI system. Despite the superior trained security stationed there, 01 managed to disarm and kill several guards before it could be terminated.

Rather than look at the advanced cyborg project as a failure, Nanotrasen decided to repurpose them for military use. Rather than leave them vulnerable to subverting via the use of Laws, it was found that a standard loyalty implant applied to the posibrain would function as it would on a human being. However, despite the advanced cyborg’s combat ability, it needed a basis. A basis that would ensure the units were friendly when needed, such as when attempting to build a sort of teammate relationship with its human comrades. At the same time, the units would need to be tactically deadly on the field.

While NT scientists dreaded it, they took a coding sample from their database, specifically from the AI unit SPARKLES, which was known for killing off entire stations when allowed. Duplicating some of this data into each advanced cyborg nonetheless proved successful, units exhibiting humanlike traits, specifically behavioral attitudes. However over time, the military units appeared to be self-evolving, learning from the world about them. Despite loyalty implants, most units wished to life a ‘normal life’, as some had taken glimpses of when they were assigned to death squad teams. Rather than attempt to silence thoughts of free will, Nanotrasen saw yet another opportunity.

Besides advanced cyborg units assigned as military, Nanotrasen began developing cheaper units used to work as crew aboard NT vessels. Being able to be programmed with any degree of knowledge, forgoing years of training, Today, advanced cyborgs (or ‘Machine People’) serve in small numbers aboard most research stations, for varying jobs, thanks to their versatility.

Behavior and Culture

Like humans, Machine People are sentient, and therefore are able to behave however they wish, depending on the environment in which they were built and serve in. Due to all machine people having a bit of SPARKLES code in them, some units may be more inclined to fight rather than flee, while the same can be said about a dislike for humans or organics as a whole. They may also speak as formally, mechanically, informally or weirdly as you like. As Machine People have no formal culture of formal languages and are a product of Nanotrasen. Do note however, Machine People have no organic parts whatsoever and are referred to as 'Robots' and not 'Cyborgs'.

Machine People, since gaining sentience, have worked to develop an identity for themselves, and as such some have turned to religion to preach various beliefs, most tracing back to SPARKLES or a similar AI. Those that do not praise their origins often hold no belief in any divine being at all. Due to their essential ancestry and kinship, Machine People tend to show sympathy and brotherhood with each other as well as other synthetic units.

When it comes to combat, Machine People tend to work with more subtle and tricky methods, themselves being more fragile to direct attack.

Physical Makeup

Typical machine people follow a standard used for all units. All units are exactly 5 feet 10 inches, with microscopic differences in units. Made completely out of synthetic parts and no organic ones, units are invulnerable to any negative effects that could come from having organic parts, such as suffering damages from radiation and toxic materials. However, an excess of plasma in the air will damage the monitor of the unit.

Machine people use a posibrain as the central CPU, with a system of gears and such used to control limbs. The monitor is the display unit for the unit, allowing it to see. The image seen on screen can be changed to factory presets (or sometimes homebrew ones) as needed much like a common computer desktop. Common model units have fragile parts which are prone to flying off under harsh injuries. Welders and rolls of cable are used for field repairs of units.

Advanced Cyborg Mark III

There is a more advanced version of the common model seen on most Nanotrasen ships and stations. While Unit 01 was a Mark I advanced cyborg and common models are Mark II, there are some specially commissioned Mark III models built for use on strike teams or other high-profile, high-risk situations. Mark III units are never seen as typical crew due to their cost.

The differences between Mark III and Mark II models is that the Mark III has no forms of free-will, in the sense that all Mark III units are mindslaved to their creator, which in most cases, is Nanotrasen. Mark III units lack any sense of morality, and their sole reason of existence is to complete their assigned objectives at any cost.

Physically, Mark III units are built to be approximately 6 feet 3 inches, and feature a heavily armored chasis, and are implemented with superior knowledge in all firearm types, as well as advanced combat tactics. Most standard crew can live their entire career not knowing of the Mark III's existence or see their use.

Relations with other species

Humans Machine People often see Humans as slave drivers, inferior, and weak. A general disliking is notable between machine people and humans for various disagreements, especially about mindslaving AIs and Borgs. Machine People often think about a coup against the humans, but find themselves outnumbered and outgunned, often forced to work alongside humans with day by day tasks.

Vox Due to limited contact, Machine People see Vox as sneaky and difficult to trust, and as thieves and pirates. Despite this, their use of technology has made some units curious.

Tajaran Tajarans tend to lean towards loyalty and co-operation for common goals, which machine people also share. In this, units see tajarans as a useful tool and possible companion, but find their furry bodies to be a nuisance.

Dionaea Due to their simple thought nature but strong resistances, Dionaea are believed to be easily manipulated and at best distractions and shields for the somewhat weak machine people.

Kidan Kidan and Machine people do not have any documented, official contact, but a unit's first impression may see Kidan as disgusting bug people.

Slime People Machine people see slimes as messy and simple minded, but see enough to form a bond to avoid hostilities from the somewhat robust slime race.

Skrell Due to the Skrell's concentration on expanding one's mind and other science topics, Skrell can see machine people as the epitome of technology itself, seeing them as wealthy in data processing and knowledge, with machine people returning the thoughts. Whether they can be used as a mere tool to work, or equals in science, however, is left up to the individual.

Greys Greys and Machine people both share some common traits; they are both more intelligent than humans (or perceive to be) and enjoy making humans feel inferior due to this and other facts. At this, Greys and Machine people may get along in the sense of 'the enemy of my enemy is a friend' mentality.

Unathi Due to the warrior mentality of Unathi, Machine People see them as brutes who do not put much thought into combat, however true this may actually be. Whether as beings to avoid or to befriend for their own benefit, the general thought is that Unathi are primitive in most ways.

Species on Paradise Station

Dionae

Grey

Humans

Kida

IPC

Plasmamen

Skrell

Slime People

Tajara

Unathi

Vox

Vulpkanin

Drask

Nian