Transhumans

Summary

Also known as 'Cybers', Transhumans make up a large population of Earth. Functionally, Cybers act like a stop-gap between total body-replacements and synths. All Cybers were originally human and born and went through the process known as "Cyberization." However, many will argue that people who have gone through this process are still human.

Technical Lore

This process has existed long before SoulOS or even the invention of the CyberBrain. However, the origin of Transhumanization is considered undefined because the process was pioneered in multiple countries at the exact same time. What is known was that the breakthrough came after the first tests of downloading memories in the 2030s. The first Transhumans were uploaded into super-computers of the time period, but it was unknown at the time that Cyberized Consciousness could bind to their temporary bodies. This new understanding led to the push for CyberBrain development so that further Transhumans could inhabit their original bodies and then slowly develop into a new body one surgery at a time.

Aspects of technology that should be known by Transhuman players are:

• Transhumans still require food, rest, and entertainment. There is a misconception that Transhumans require less of them, but that is not true. It is just coped through different mechanisms so the person still gets the same amount through either concentrated forms or over longer periods of time.

(Ex. The longest a Cyberized Human can go healthily without sleep is three days, but afterward, they go into a deep sleep for three times as long. They get around this by skipping certain stages of sleep and get directly into REM sleep.)

• Becoming a transhuman has a variety of technical advantages.
  • The ability to, "Dive" into the Net and machines. Meaning a physical manifestation of the body can maneuver through the Net or software.
  • Instant telepathic communication with anyone else who has gone through Cyberization.
  • Access to failsafe measures against Dekker cyber attacks that would cripple regular humans.
  • Access to "Flat-line Prevention." When the body is close to death, the Cyberbrain can go into a semi-prolonged hibernation. Yet, it only extends the duration before brain-death to a little over thirty-minutes rather than four minutes. This is because the CyberBrain still requires power and coolant like a normal brain. Without them, the consciousness will fade.

• Becoming a transhuman has also a variety of disadvantages.
  • The ability to be, "Puppetted" when a high-grade Dekker takes control of the motor, visual, or auditory functions of the CyberBrain.
  • Cyber-Viruses or CVs. These are diseases spread through various manners, to combat this a "vaccination" is issued to patch the problem. To do this, an expert must find what causes the specific occurrence of whatever CV caused behavior and then backtrack. This can take as little as a few minutes when that is discovered. However, if the cause is not discovered a vaccination can take weeks to create.
  • Vision-based viruses or VBVs. Dekkers have found that because visual information is processed in the CyberBrain's background OS, showing a victim a specific image can cause specific universal reactions and even give people viruses that require "vaccinations" to prevent further damage. These are universally banned and being caught with knowledge of a VBV without notifying authorities is usually considered a crime akin to biological terrorism.

Registration

All AI's must be registered with the Artificial Intelligence Registry. (AIR).