Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Power Glove

Skinlink (p. 309 EP) is a wonderful but relatively new technology, using skin-deep nanobots to instantly build wired connections when one touches a device. This is relatively free of interference, and can be highly covert. However, installing such nanoware can be expensive, and may be prohibited in certain polities. It's also not very secure, as far as covert operative go - a direct wired connection into one's morph can be very dangerous when interfacing with advanced computer systems, such as those subverted by the TITANs. Use of skinlink also raises thorny questions of forensic science, possibly leaving fingerprints, skin cells or other trace evidence which can mean the need for an expensive morph swap. Luckily, similar to Fractal Gloves, there is an external hardware solution for those who are security conscious. 

Power Glove: Also called the "skinlink glove", this is basically a smart material glove that forms a wearable version of Skinlink, allowing the user to build a wired interface to a device simply by touching it. The glove then contains an interface on the back which can be wired in to Access Jacks or a Dummy Barrier, or create a wireless signal like a Grey Box. The glove has it's own power source, and thus can also double as a Shock Glove (p. 334 EP), though the glove itself may not come as a pair. Because the Glove is a device, it may be outfitted with it's own AI or security software to act as an additional layer between the user and the computer system, an can be disposed of if needed. [Low]

These gloves aren't common among your typical hackers or computer operators - they usually just spring for the Skinlink and trust in their skills. Instead, you see Power Gloves in the hands of operatives working highly sensitive and "hot" operations, like Firewall Sentinels, or in the hands of those who work for groups or governments which do not usually authorize costly nanoware in their agents, such as various Jovian intelligence agencies. Arming an operative with full-body nanoware is costly and hard to reverse, but a Power Glove can be thrown away if needed.

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