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.)

• Transhumans cannot "save" or "back-up" even small portions of their consciousness at all. They can extract certain memories with the use of Sense-Recording hardware, but for a decent result, they need to be equipped when those events took place. Extracting just the narrative and events of memories is incredibly unreliable and actually requires a specialized artist to try their best to cut the footage in a way that is palatable for AIs or people to watch. This is due to massive problems with the translating process of a person's consciousness. There are also no physical ways to extract information from someone after brain death. The electrical signals required to do this are far gone after someone has died.

• 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 and has also gotten specific HUD augmentations.
  • Access to firewall 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.
  • Immunity to certain biological drugs, diseases, and poisons. This is because CyberBrains have built-in countermeasures to prevent things like addiction or biological overreaction.

• 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.
  • Audio-based or Vision-based Cyber-bugs. Also known as, "Sense-Transmitted-Cyber-Viruses or Sense-Bugs. Dekkers have found that because sense-based information is processed in the CyberBrain's background OS, showing a victim a specific image, playing a certain code of audio perfectly or, giving someone a specific set of touch senses can cause specific universal reactions and even encode viruses that require "vaccinations" to prevent further damage. These are universally banned in all countries and being caught with knowledge of Sense-Bugs without notifying authorities is usually considered a crime akin to biological terrorism. However, in recent times there has been the development of Digi-Drugs that purposefully exploit Sense-Bugs to do a variety of things.

Registration

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