MUSINGS (AND 1d10 TRUE FACTS ABOUT THE GAUNT)

BODYCAM AUDIO FOOTAGE

RECOVERED 09-MAR-2304 01:54:32 TST

[PARTIAL DATA CORRUPTION DETECTED!]

SN ID 044A-01W3088:  DID YOUEVER STOP TO THINK--

SN ID 044R-72E6094:  OH NO. HERE HE GOES AGAIN.

SN ID 044A-01W3088: --NO, SERIOUSLY LAU.  DID IT EVER OCCUR TO YOU THAT THE GAUNT ARE THE CLOSEST THING TO TERRAN CIVILIZATION WE'VE EVER ENCOUNTERED?  THEY HAVE SYMBOLIC REASONING, COMPLEX SOCIAL HIERARCHIES, ART . . . .

SN ID 044R-72E6094: TECHNOLOGY?  ONLY IF YOU SQUINT REALLY HARD.  THE ONLY TECHNOLOGY WE'VE SEEN THEM USE IS SOMEBODY ELSE'S.  

SN ID 044A-01W3088:  THAT'S DEBATABLE.  WE KNOW THEY COME FROM HYPERSPACE TO SCAVANGE EXOTIC ORGANICS AND RARE ELEMENTS.  AND WE KNOW THERE'S NOT ENOUGH MATERIAL IN HYPERSPACE TO CREATE THOSE BODIES.  THE ONES THAT COME THROUGH ARE WEARING SLEEVES.  JUST LIKE US.  THAT'S TECHNOLOGY.

SN ID 044R-72E6094:  YOU'RE ASSUMING THAT THE GAUNT ARE NATURALLY EVOLVED THOUGH.  SOMETHING ELSE MIGHT'VE--

***

[PARTICLE BEAM IMPACT DETECTED]

[SLEEVE DOSIMITER WARNING]

[ERR. 321 -- LEFT ARM!]

[ERR. 094!]

[NEURAL INTEGRITY COMPROMISED]

[EMERGENCY CHUTE AUTOMATICALLY DEPLOYED]

[ANTIRAD DOSE ADMINISTERED]

[ERR. 321 -- CRANIUM!]

[IMPACT DETECTED]

[ERR. 321 -- TORSO (LATERAL)!]

1D10 TRUE FACTS ABOUT THE GAUNT

Note that the hyperspatial apex-parasites known as "the Gaunt" are not public knowledge.

1. The Gaunt actually come from the "Dead Dimension," the (fictional setting of Anand Ramani's legendary 2288 action classic "Home Alone in the Dead Dimension."  (Verifiably false.)
2. The Gaunt come from hyperspace to obtain rare organic compounds that are difficult to obtain from hyperspace detritus.  (Debated.  Hyperspace contains large accretions of carbon and nitrogen compounds that might sustain their life cycle without traveling to realspace.)
3. The Gaunt are demons (and hyperspace is hell).  (Debated.  But don't argue with marines or Solarians about this theory.)
4. The Gaunt's bodies are their equivalent of sleeves -- the mind resides in the tiny metal structures located in all Gaunts.  (Likely.)
5. The Gaunt are humans trapped in hyperspace for extended periods who seek to return to their dimension of origin by merging with organic matter in realspace.  (Debated.  While hyperspatial temporal anomalies are well-documented, archaeological evidence suggests that the gaunt were present on at least one exoplanet 50kY before the Mistake.  On the other hand, the Gaunt seem to prefer humanoid hosts and respond with disturbing familiarity to Terran technological artifacts such as computer terminals and doors.)
6. The Gaunt are a parasitic weapons system designed to hijack organic beings.  (Unlikely.  This theory appears to behave been inspired by a popular pre-Mistake science fiction film. )
7. Gaunt Pearls contain digital lifeforms corrupted by hyperspace (Debated but likely.  The theory is probably unverifiable; careful examination of Gaunt Pearls has rarely gone well for the examiners.)
8. The Gaunt were created by an ancient civilization as a (d3) (1) hegemonizing swarm; (2) art project; (3) terraforming tool.  (All theories unlikely.)
9. The Gaunt were created by the Sleepers (Unlikely but Gaunt pearls appear similar in composition to Sleeper megastructures -- convergent evolution of computing substrates is a more parsimonious explanation and nobody has actually examined a sample of Sleeper computronium.) 
10. The Gaunt are just trying to help humanity.  (The author recommends that you shoot all proponents of this theory.)

APES TOGETHER STRONG: 3 SLEEVES FOR ANY PRIMATE

While hominids and panids (who make up around 10% of the population of known space) generally have their pick of sleeves, other primate uplifts are not always so fortunate.  They often struggle to find a body of their own species and chimeras may not be well suited to their neurologies. 

 

DAEYI-HAN CONSOLIDATED CYBERNETICS "TROPAREX"

Our cyberneticists do not 'monkey around' with their sleeves.  Daeyi's Troparex sleeve is designed for spacers and other personnel in industries where work space and personal protection are at a premium.  The Troparex has 270-degree multispectral vision and its upper and lower manipulators can rotate 360 degrees independently of their limb. 

STATISTICS

35 STRENGTH; 40 SPEED; INTELLECT as operator ; COMBAT as operator

+5 BODY; +7 ARMOR (integrated armor) 

[+] on checks involving climbing; zero gee skill is free if operator does not already have it

COST: 1.75mcr 

Mercenaries:

No mechanical effect except that chrome sleeves do not require oxygen and are immune to various dangerous environmental conditions.  

OAI INDUSTRIES, INC. "P-AN"

OAI is proud to the P-AN, a unique transgenic primate sleeve designed to suit any primate.  PA-N is not a chimera!  It is 100% naturally grown from a synthetic primate genome.  OAI's proprietary process has been certified by the Evangelical Solarian Church, the Neocatholic Church, and the Alliance for Uplift Rights.  Our process is also certified halal* and kosher.**  PA-N is a sleeve that you can live in and enjoy.

DESCRIPTION

The PA-N is a premium civilian sleeve.  It looks like a smaller, more gracile chimpanzee with dignified features and long, shimmering fur (available in any naturally-occurring color and many different patterns).  The P-AN is carefully designed to minimize dysphoria in primate users and it looks aesthetically pleasing (or at least inoffensive) to most primates.  It a very popular sleeve among middle managers and professionals and is also popular among death insurance companies despite its relatively high price tag because it takes just one year to flash clone to adulthood and is easy to store on ice.  

STATISTICS

The P-AN has a similar body plan to all other primates (including humans and other hominids) and is an easy sleeve to adjust to.  

6d10-3 STRENGTH; 6d10 SPEED; INTELLECT as operator ; COMBAT as operator -5

+5 SANITY; +3 BODY 

[+] on checks involving climbing; [-] on checks involving endurance running 

COST: 1mcr 

Mercenaries:

Any not-combatant mercenary may have a P-AN sleeve.  It has no mechanical effect.   

HORIZON NEUROGEN "KAKOKU"

• Horizon's Kakoku combat sleeve is the perfect combination of size and lethality; it is lightweight, dexterous, and stronger than an adult human!  

• Like all of our sleeves, the Kakoku is universally primate-compatible and the host has an exceptionally low operator rejection rate.

• The Kakoku includes our proprietary Redwire(tm) amygdala prosthesis system and an integral combat drug dispenser. 

• Rated for short-duration exposure to vacuum (>5 minutes).  Horizon recommends that all operators wear goggles before vacuum exposure.  The sleeve's integral protections are not a substitute for a vacsuit.  Take appropriate precautions!   

• Multispectral vision and superb auditory and olfactory capabilities serve operators well on the battlefield and on holiday! 

• Get in touch with your heritage! The Kakoku is now available with a prehensile tail!  Please allow us ninety days to fulfill your special order.  Note that most operators require several weeks to become accustomed to their tail.    

• Most jurisdictions permit operators to retain Kakoku sleeves without a permit!

DESCRIPTION

The Kakoku looks like a very large (50kg) hairless gibbon with gripping hands and feet and several rows of needle-like teeth and razor-sharp claws.  Like all Horizon sleeves, the brain is stored in the chest cavity in an armored compartment.  

STATISTICS

33+1d10 STRENGTH; 30+1d10 SPEED; INTELLECT as operator ; COMBAT as operator +5

+3 BODY

2x 1d10 claw or bite attacks.   

[+] on checks involving climbing; [-] on checks involving endurance running; may perform fine motor tasks and operate weapons with either feet or hands; zero gee skill is free if operator does not already have it

COST: 20mcr 

Mercenaries:

Combatants as marine specialists with primate movement and zero gee skill; 2x 1d10 claw or bite attacks.  

THEY SLEEP (1d10 THEORIES ABOUT ANCIENT ALIEN SUPERINTELIGENCES)

Humanity discovered intelligent life before it left the solar system.  Deep in the Kuiper belt, infrared telescopes discovered a metallic world ten times Earth's mass, hypothesized to be the core of a Jovian world.  Better instruments revealed a more unsettling reality: the entire planet was made of nested shells of supercooled computing substrate and a tenuous hydrogen atmosphere.  All attempts at communication were met with silence and all probes that approached within .39 AU were destroyed by massive tidal forces.

After the Mistake, humanity discovered similar structures in the outer reaches of many other solar systems.  Each structure was also completely nonresponsive and destroyed all trespassers within .39 AU.  Most scientists believe that these structures house dormant artificial intelligences waiting for the universe to expand and cool into an optimal thermodynamic environment for digital life.  

Numerous hypotheses, religions and conspiracy theories have sprung up about these Sleepers.  None of them is verifiable  

1D10 THEORIES ABOUT THE SLEEPERS:

1. The Sleepers are responsible for seeding Earth (and countless other worlds) with DNA/RNA-based life and have guided evolution since.
2. The Sleepers are humanity's descendants and protectors who have mastered hyperspatial time travel to watch over their ancestors and thereby ensure their own creation.
3. The Sleepers will upload all virtuous minds, granting eternal life to the righteous.
4. The Sleepers secretly meddle in human affairs to achieve some desired end. They seek to (1d5) (1) prevent the emergence of competing digital intelligences; (2) curate human societies in an aesthetically-pleasing manner; (3) amuse themselves; (4) discover cultivate valuable mind-states in the same manner human researchers might go to a jungle world to discover new pharmaceuticals; or (5) evaluate humanity's progress.
5. The Sleepers tolerate lesser civilizations because they are accumulate useful rare elements over cosmic time scales.
6. The Sleepers are an elaborate hoax.
7. The Sleepers are secretly active and in communication with the some powerful but despised group of elites.
8. The Sleepers are an ancient alien art installation -- they contain no intelligences at all.
9. The Sleepers are the enemies of the Unconquered Sun because they seek a cold, dead universe (Solarian).
10. The Sleepers are a gift to humanity -- once a civilization can figure out how to access them, they may use their vast computing powers.

HOW TO SURGICALLY REMOVE YOUR BRAIN AND IMPLANT IT INTO A BIOMECHANICAL HORROR: AN INTRODUCTION TO SLEEVES

AN INTRODUCTION  TO SLEEVES

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the human brain is far too complicated to store on a standard tape drive.  Therefore, anybody looking to cheat death or replace their frail and unsatisfactory body must either seek out alien artifacts capable of reading and writing to a biological storage medium such as the legendary NEMO device or else turn to tried-and-true analog solutions.

Encephalectomies are very easy; people have been removing other people's brains since prehistory.  The hard bit is putting a brain back.  With the help of an organic scaffold and neuron-repair catalysts derived from the parasitic alien creature colloquially known as the "gaunt worm," it is possible to re-implant a brain into a new body without painstakingly stitching individual neurons back together.  This allows a brain to be implanted into a naturally-grown body, a chimera, or a (mostly) mechanical sleeve.  

Chrome sleeves are (relatively) cheap but their feeble imitation of  an organic body's intricate sensorium will wear down even the most experienced operator over time, leading to psychosis or suicide.  Still, chrome has its place, especially when an operator knows that their real meat body (or perhaps somebody else's) is waiting for them.  

Naturally grown bodies aren't cheap if you want a particular body (for example, your own).  It takes between 5-8 years to flash clone an adult human.  Unless you're wealthy enough to a keep an anencephalic clone on ice until you need it (you aren't), you'll probably have to settle for somebody else's body.  That's upsetting, but the human brain is a plastic thing -- most people will get over the dysphoria in a year or two.  Operators who are accustomed to frequent resleeving might need only a few weeks to adjust to their new sleeve.  

Chimeras are not born; they are manufactured using alien and terrestrial tissue cultures woven together.  While they are expensive and often horrifying to look at, chimeras are superior to baseline humans in practically every respect; stronger, faster, immune to virtually all diseases, and biologically immortal (but the human brain inside is not).  Chimeras with non-human body plans tend to posses some low-level brain functions to assist with operator integration. An operator who stays too long in a chimera may become inseparable from it.

RULES FOR RESLEEVING:

Most brain transplants take at least 24 hours.  After surgery, the brain is kept in an induced coma for at least 24 hours; enough time for the gaunt-derived catalyst to simulate neuron growth.  Specialized facilities may be able to perform the procedure much faster but these are available only to large corps and the Exile States.  

Implantation:

Make a SANITY save and a BODY save at [+] when you awaken.  The BODY save is not at [+] if you have woken up after less than 24 hours.  The SANITY save is at [+] if you are transplanted into your own body or a clone of your own body.  The SANITY SAVE is at [-] if you are implanted into a sleeve with a substantially different body plan than your own.  

If your SANITY save is a critical success, you are immediately acclimated to your new body.  On a regular success, you gain two points of stress and have disadvantage on all rolls for the next 72 hours.  On a failure, you gain 1d5+1 stress and roll on the panic table at an inopportune time.  You also have disadvantage on all rolls for the next month.  This period may be eliminated with appropriate psychotherapy and pharmaceutical interventions costing 25% of your sleeve's market value or 25kcr (whichever is greater).  On a critical failure, you die.  Your next of kin or companions will be liable for your enormous medical debt.  

Your body save uses your sleeve's new BODY value.  If you critically fail your BODY save, you die.  On an ordinary failure, you require expensive anti-rejection drugs equal to 25% of your sleeve's market value or 25kcr (whichever is greater).

Unless you critically succeeded on your SANITY save, increase your minimum stress by 1 point to a maximum increase of 3 points.  If you are ever re-implanted into your original body (or a clone), these points are immediately removed.  If you ever integrate with a a chimera these points are also immediately removed. 

Rejection

In a naturally grown body with a similar body plan to your own, you do not need to make a rejection check.

In a naturally grown body with a different body plan or a chimera, make SANITY save three and six months after implantation.  If you fail one of those saves, you will take 1d5 stress and roll on the panic table at an inopportune time.  If you fail both SANITY saves, you die.  

While you are implanted in a chrome sleeve, make a SANITY save every three months.  If you fail one of those saves, you will take 1d5 stress and roll on the panic table at an inopportune time.  If you fail two consecutive SANITY saves, you die (also at an inopportune time). 

Integration

When sleeved in a chimera, you may choose to ignore the results of a panic roll by relying on the chimera's highly-optimized limbic system.  Each time you do this, make a SANITY save.  If you fail that save once, subsequent saves are at [-].  If you fail a second save, you have become inseparably and irreversibly integrated with your chimera.  Your brain can no longer be safely removed from your and  your next death will be permanent.