the_world_of_the_mechalus
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the_world_of_the_mechalus [2013/11/07 07:06] storyteller |
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| In fact, all mechalus are symbiotes, depending on both mechanical and biological systems. Their mechanical side has taken over because the species cannot reproduce without biological help. Mechalus reproduce sexually much as mammals do; the biological components of both parents form the nucleus that grows into another mechalus. But the biomechanical side of the species is passed down strictly through the maternal side. When a female mechalus reaches child-bearing age at about 23, the mother’s processor and self-repair nanites fashion copies of themselves for later use, a process that requires almost two years. When the mother becomes pregnant, this mechanical seed joins the fertilized biological embryo and helps it survive to term. Most mechalus couples bear four to five children in their youth, around age thirty, which is considered the optimal time for reproduction. Mechalus life expectancy is about the same as that of humans, though they normally maintain good health and active lifestyles until death. | In fact, all mechalus are symbiotes, depending on both mechanical and biological systems. Their mechanical side has taken over because the species cannot reproduce without biological help. Mechalus reproduce sexually much as mammals do; the biological components of both parents form the nucleus that grows into another mechalus. But the biomechanical side of the species is passed down strictly through the maternal side. When a female mechalus reaches child-bearing age at about 23, the mother’s processor and self-repair nanites fashion copies of themselves for later use, a process that requires almost two years. When the mother becomes pregnant, this mechanical seed joins the fertilized biological embryo and helps it survive to term. Most mechalus couples bear four to five children in their youth, around age thirty, which is considered the optimal time for reproduction. Mechalus life expectancy is about the same as that of humans, though they normally maintain good health and active lifestyles until death. | ||
| ===== Cybernetics ===== | ===== Cybernetics ===== | ||
| - | All mechalus are born with a [[Nanocomputer (Cyberware)|Nanocomputer]], its data storage area, and an extra data storage area. This nanocomputer is thoroughly integrated with the biological functions. The extra storage provides room for growth and for fault-tolerant data mirroring. All mechalus have built-in [[reflex wires cyberware|reflex devices]] and a selection of data tendrils (the equivalent of [[NIJack system (Cyberware)|NIJacks]]) to match various hardware types. These components allow them to use programs stored in their [[neural slot cyberware|neural slots]]. The mechalus’s biological nervous system is little more than a backup system for its mechanical and electrical relays. | + | All mechalus are born with a [[NIJack system (Cyberware)|Nanocomputer]], its data storage area, and an extra data storage area. This nanocomputer is thoroughly integrated with the biological functions. The extra storage provides room for growth and for fault-tolerant data mirroring. All mechalus have built-in [[reflex wires cyberware|reflex devices]] and a selection of data tendrils (the equivalent of [[NIJack system (Cyberware)|NIJacks]]) to match various hardware types. These components allow them to use programs stored in their [[neural slot cyberware|neural slots]]. The mechalus’s biological nervous system is little more than a backup system for its mechanical and electrical relays. |
| Data tendrils are given to mechalus children as a coming of age present. In the biotechnical world of mechalus anatomy, computer and storage facilities aren’t implanted surgically. Instead, they grow and then regrow according to specifications detailed from within their bodies. These specifications change throughout their adult life; they only replace a few external components. The process of regrowing or updating a system is called a flash-upgrade (for software) or a flesh-upgrade (for hardware), and it can be undertaken by a mechalus at any stage of its life. The flash-upgrade is a simple matter of downloading and reformatting the code for a particular biomechanical system. The flesh-upgrade process is much more involved and takes from 1-4 weeks. It requires a special mineral diet and deliberate infection with upgrade nanites, much as human life extension treatment requires viruses to complete gene therapy. The upgrade process prevents adults from becoming outdated or surpassed by younger models; most mechalus undergo a flash-upgrade every year. Mechalus are naturally immune to the human condition called [[Cyber-Cykosis|cykosis]]; their very nature is friendly to the integration of machine and biological systems. They can integrate more cyberware into themselves than can other races (1.5 times as much as a human), partly because the implants they receive are tailored to their special metabolisms. But they can still suffer adverse effects from an excess of cyberware. Any mechalus who installs enough cyberware to suffer cykosis becomes a blood-hungry warrior of the old [[Credo|Credo tradition]], losing most higher reason and reverting to violence. Some non-mechalus mistake this conditon for cykosis. In most cases, this means that the hero becomes a supporting cast member under the GM’s control. | Data tendrils are given to mechalus children as a coming of age present. In the biotechnical world of mechalus anatomy, computer and storage facilities aren’t implanted surgically. Instead, they grow and then regrow according to specifications detailed from within their bodies. These specifications change throughout their adult life; they only replace a few external components. The process of regrowing or updating a system is called a flash-upgrade (for software) or a flesh-upgrade (for hardware), and it can be undertaken by a mechalus at any stage of its life. The flash-upgrade is a simple matter of downloading and reformatting the code for a particular biomechanical system. The flesh-upgrade process is much more involved and takes from 1-4 weeks. It requires a special mineral diet and deliberate infection with upgrade nanites, much as human life extension treatment requires viruses to complete gene therapy. The upgrade process prevents adults from becoming outdated or surpassed by younger models; most mechalus undergo a flash-upgrade every year. Mechalus are naturally immune to the human condition called [[Cyber-Cykosis|cykosis]]; their very nature is friendly to the integration of machine and biological systems. They can integrate more cyberware into themselves than can other races (1.5 times as much as a human), partly because the implants they receive are tailored to their special metabolisms. But they can still suffer adverse effects from an excess of cyberware. Any mechalus who installs enough cyberware to suffer cykosis becomes a blood-hungry warrior of the old [[Credo|Credo tradition]], losing most higher reason and reverting to violence. Some non-mechalus mistake this conditon for cykosis. In most cases, this means that the hero becomes a supporting cast member under the GM’s control. | ||
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| In the end, Thetors warlike implants led the mechalus to genocide, and the backlash has reinforced their aversion to strong leaders of any kind. Anyone seeking personal power is considered immoral at best and criminal at worst. Mechalus are masters at passive resistance to dangerous demagogues, a category that includes most human heads of state, corporate executives, and religious leaders of all stripes. Thetors physical body is known to have died in 2020, but his followers claim his spirit was recorded and implanted in the Aleeran Grid. Occasional sightings of a Grid shadow tattooed with an hourglass, the symbol of the cult, give new life to the legend every few years. Whether Thetors consciousness survives is largely a matter of faith for Creedans. | In the end, Thetors warlike implants led the mechalus to genocide, and the backlash has reinforced their aversion to strong leaders of any kind. Anyone seeking personal power is considered immoral at best and criminal at worst. Mechalus are masters at passive resistance to dangerous demagogues, a category that includes most human heads of state, corporate executives, and religious leaders of all stripes. Thetors physical body is known to have died in 2020, but his followers claim his spirit was recorded and implanted in the Aleeran Grid. Occasional sightings of a Grid shadow tattooed with an hourglass, the symbol of the cult, give new life to the legend every few years. Whether Thetors consciousness survives is largely a matter of faith for Creedans. | ||
| - | The story has some basis in reality, because the Creedans have always been the keepers of the machinery that transformed a mechalus into a fully mechanical being, or iolite. These machines operated by the careful use of magnetic imaging of each individual cell, then nanite construction of a mechanical copy. The nanites copy each cell, destroying it in the process, called iolification. The last of these devices known were taken away by the Negationists aboard the Kiscae Fleet, but sometimes a [[gridrunner_advanced_class|gridpilot]] claims to have found schematics of the device among the datacores of Pesh or some older source, inevitably involving files that require a dozen data format transfers to decode. Such claims are never verified, and surely any such device would be rejected by the mechalus themselves. | + | The story has some basis in reality, because the Creedans have always been the keepers of the machinery that transformed a mechalus into a fully mechanical being, or iolite. These machines operated by the careful use of magnetic imaging of each individual cell, then nanite construction of a mechanical copy. The nanites copy each cell, destroying it in the process, called iolification. The last of these devices known were taken away by the Negationists aboard the Kiscae Fleet, but sometimes a [[gridpilot_advanced_class|gridpilot]] claims to have found schematics of the device among the datacores of Pesh or some older source, inevitably involving files that require a dozen data format transfers to decode. Such claims are never verified, and surely any such device would be rejected by the mechalus themselves. |
| These few believers of the Creed who remain active today are known variously as the Thetites (as they call themselves) or Creedans (as others call them); they are convinced that mechalus appeasement of humans has been nothing but a disaster. They believe that abandoning their traditional ways after the orodin genocide was a terrible mistake, and they preach a doctrine of rearmament and rebellion, seeking to establish a sovereign mechalus state. To them, the fight for independence is sacred duty, and any bloodshed is a sacrifice to the cause. | These few believers of the Creed who remain active today are known variously as the Thetites (as they call themselves) or Creedans (as others call them); they are convinced that mechalus appeasement of humans has been nothing but a disaster. They believe that abandoning their traditional ways after the orodin genocide was a terrible mistake, and they preach a doctrine of rearmament and rebellion, seeking to establish a sovereign mechalus state. To them, the fight for independence is sacred duty, and any bloodshed is a sacrifice to the cause. | ||
the_world_of_the_mechalus.1383808019.txt.gz · Last modified: 2021/12/04 00:39 (external edit)
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