ANDROMEDA MERCHANTS
Major Industries: Food, Makers
AM is a fairly standard Hypercorp mostly based out of Luna and Mars. Their original industry was in supplying meals and food service to prisons and penal indenture in areas in the orbital sphere of the Earth (including the Moon), but as criminal justice mostly phased away from physical prisons, they needed to do some restructuring. After rebranding, Andromeda took their established industry and marketed it more toward both public and corporate spheres. They sell multiple levels of makers, from small personal food prep stations to big industrial scale ones for corporate stations or indenture housing. They also offer pre-prepared meal plans for those who are not able, or do not wish to own a nanotech device in their own homes. There are strong and persistent rumors that Andromeda regularly donates funds to the Ultimates. Their logo is "AM" emblazoned over a galaxy.
APEX PERIPHERALS
Major Industries: Computer Peripherals
Apex is a relatively standard hypercorp based on Progress who develop and sell computer peripherals and accessories. This includes fiberoptic and other connection cables, external holographic projectors, speakers and displays, ecto accessories, simulspace headsets and more. Like many corps, they iterate their designs frequently to encourage consumers to buy again and help prevent piracy - which is rampant for their designs in the Outer System. Despite relative popularity and quality, they are a corp with middling value and success, usually because they sell relatively cheap products and do so frequently. Their logo is a barely stylized "APEX" or "AX-P" on their products.
FU-GREEN SYSTEMS
Major Industries: Batteries, Energy, Weapons
Ostensibly, FGS primary industry is in batteries - both conventional and nuclear - and various charging and connection accessories for their batteries. However, their battery designs almost exclusively are integrated into powered weapons, such as beam weapons and railguns. Not only is Fu-Green compatible with most leading brands of these weapons, they also produce their own blueprints for many common weapons or aftermarket "upgrade" kits for certain high-power components, such as magnetic rails. Early intelligence indicates that several of the controlling members of this corp may be Asyncs and funneling their profits into efforts to conceal or even train Asyncs in hiding. Their logo is an indigo star.
GOTO-COLLINS PRODUCTIONS
Major Industries: Genetics, Robotics, Entertainment
"Bringing you a Magical Life"
Goto-Collins is a company which has grown steadily over the past couple decades and absorbed or integrated several other corps. Originally, as just "Goto Production", they were a "prop-maker" or production company which specialized in custom bioscuplting and robotics or animatronics for props in vids, vidgames and physical locations. Since then, their business has expanded, not only do they do production work, but they also offer custom bodysculpting and cosmetic mods for morphs (both for entertainment or personal use), detailing and customization on bots and smart animals and even custom, to-spec builds of drones or vehicles. Their logo is a lavender mermaid.
HELIOS AEROSPACE, INC.
Major Industries: Spacecraft, Synthmorphs, Bots
Helios is an unaffiliated Hypercorp based in the Vulcanoids and coordinated by a board with owners from several groups who specializes in "Solar"-rated technology. They produce external and integrated shielding and protection systems for spacecraft, bots or external platforms and synthmorphs (such as the Sundiver) to operate in the orbits close to the Sun. This gives them access to a wide variety of technologies and even clients - and they are known for strict political neutrality to provide products to many groups. Some of their tech is even being utilized in Exoplanet systems via the Vulcanoid gate. Their logo is a shield over a sun.
JONES GAMBLING
Major Industries: Virtual/Electronic Gambling
This hypercorp is based on Venus, and specializes in electronic or virtual gambling. They primarily run mesh addresses mirrored across aerostats to handle gambling in traditional games, sports betting and fantasy sports and other methods virtually - all done with simple interfaces. For those with nostalgia, Jones also produces high quality electronic machines which one can place in a place of business, such as slots, pachinko and virtual poker. Due to virtual integration, transfer of money is done fairly quickly and without much fuss - with harsh penalties for those who go into debt officiated by Extropian legal contractors. Many have attempted to draw connections between Jones and several major crime syndicates, but there appear to be none. Their logo is a tan card with "jones" printed on the back.
NEBULA SYNDICATE
Major Industries: Data Mining and Analysis
Nebula is a independent contracting corp who handles data gathering and analysis. Unlike Stellar Intelligence, they are do not perform what might be considered "espionage" work or any advanced forms, but will collect and analyze public data. Their best functions are in traffic analysis (either data or physical movement) to aid governing bodies or corporations, but they can also track memetics, engagement or interaction and general trending and make projections accordingly. Due to their relatively innocuous nature, it is highly suspected that Nebula is either a front for some other organization (Such as Oversight, Sybils, ID Crew, Firewall, etc) or has higher levels who work for one or more groups such as that. Their logo is a purple octagon.
NUCLEAR FRONTIER INVESTMENTS
Major Industries: Investment Banking
NFI is a banking and investment group, split between majority holding in Luna and Extropia. They handle primary physical banking and resource investment and speculations - their name coming from their original business speculating and trading in investments in radioactive isotopes and fissile materials. They have since moved on to handle transactions involving other heavy and rare metals, volatiles, fusibles, antimatter or even low-value trading and banking in common substances such as carbon and silicates. NFI's physical branches also will hold physical materials in secured, shielded containers for clients, meaning that they've been targeted by erstwhile "bank robbers" before, none of whom have had much success. Their logo is an atom inside a box, which represents a bank vault.
NYMPHOODS
Major Industries: Agriculture, Food
Nymphoods is an extropian-based hypercorp who work in foodstuffs and in "agriculture". Unlike some other groups, their work is based heavily in nano-ecology. They not only sell food produced in nanotech enhanced environments, but also home kits to grow food aided by nanotechnology (such as gardener swarms). This advanced tech tends to make their products expensive, but high quality. Nymphoods also owns and operates a restaurant in The Noodle on Extropia which displays the excellence of their food, and is also known for its interesting scene with attractive service staff and modular environment and atmosphere via smart materials. Their logo is the stylized "Nymphoods".
WAYCORP-MICROBREAK FOUNDATION
Major Industries: Environmental Shielding, Stasis Tech
WM Foundation is a bit of a low key, but steadily working hypercorp. They produce a variety of environmental protection and shields for habitats, such as micrometeorite protection, atmospheric seals, various temperature insulation, etc. This includes both external shielding, and protection for various internal facilities, such as for medical facilities or special storage. They also have recently branched into medical stasis tech, such as for morph storage or long term medical care - or even cryogenic preservation. Apparently the company has developed a focus on building habitats and structures to withstand any disaster. Rumors have recently begun circulating, however, that one of their major researchers is actually an infamous con artist. Their logo is a set of connected hexes with W-M overlaid.
Showing posts with label groups. Show all posts
Showing posts with label groups. Show all posts
Thursday, March 30, 2017
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Martian Bike Gangs
Mars presents a somewhat unique environment in many respects for people. With the Earth lost, it is one of the largest bodies in the solar system one can reasonably expect to travel on. While Titan has ground-roads and highways, they do not have the surface area and distance of Mars to cover, nor the population levels who utilize these roads. This leaves Mars as one of the few places in the Solar System where those who have appreciation for the "open road" or the "need for speed" to thrive and grow. Unfortunately, subculture development is somewhat limited by vehicle selection - groundcars are notoriously small and compact, though urban street racing (illegal as it subverts the traffic control grids) often utilizes modded ones, and while the Martian Buggy can get some speed going, the vehicles are not the most aesthetically pleasing - though "post-apoc" rigs of buggies with extraneous armor plates, spikes and chains are not uncommon in rebellious rednecks.
This means that the traditional cycle has some of the best availability and style for those who seek to feel the independence and power of owning a vehicle. In urban centers, you may find traditional bike clubs and authentics "retro-Mod" cultures who focus on riding and customizing cycles. These make great venues for recent immigrants or ex-Indentures within the hobby to socialize with others and get back into the swing of post-Fall life, and act as an element of a social network. While there are still some wider popcultural implications of a "cycle club", the ratio of the urban ones which engage in criminal activity is low - and in these cases they mostly act as a slightly more mobile street gang, engaged in vehicle theft, extortion and drug dealing to gain additional money for the members or the club and may clash with more established neighborhood gangs. However, the high presence of surveillance and traffic control makes these criminal actions harder.
It is outside the major cities, on the distant highways and their attached communities, where you find groups one can really call "motorcycle gangs". Many of these these resemble rebellious youth and racing subcultures, such as Japanese bosozoku or Maylay Mat Rempit. The backbone of these communities are in local youths, usually areas which have a concentration of similar ethnic cultures (though multicultural gangs exist in areas which are sufficiently diluted) and have little else to do, except perhaps help parents with work or attend virtual schooling. Far from Mars' urban centers, traffic controls get less strict, surveillance gets less comprehensive, and the ease of building a serviceable cycle or trike out of some fabs in a prefab garage gets much higher. This means that many bike gangs are also technically skilled, able to do basic subversion of DRM and licensing, and can handle their own maintenance and assembly of bikes - some gangs even take building your own ride as a bar to entry. While historically there may have been some element of gender separation or roles in bike gangs, the modern gangs rarely make anything of it including active members ("riders") of any gender identity - though some of the most established may comport themselves as a "brotherhood" or "sisterhood". Though, of course, bike gangs are often hotbeds for casual dating and sex in their communities, and it's not uncommon for a date (sometimes called a "bitch" or a "squeeze" usually not intended to be derogatory) of any gender who is not a member to ride with the gang.
Activities for these outback gangs are pretty standard. At their basis, they engage in running (usually friendly) races on highways and access roads, bike parades and other rabble rousing usually just for their own amusement. Particularly adventurous or skilled gangs will travel on major arterial highways, subverting the traffic grid or otherwise operating in manual to travel at high speeds interspersed with regular traffic (though this occasionally draw the attention of the Martian Rangers). Those who feel particularly strong or delinquent might engage in common youthful crimes such as vandalism, extortion or bullying of locals, petty thefts and even robberies. Others might engage in drug distribution and smuggling, illegal courier jobs or act as a hub for illegal fab operations. While sometimes this is selfishly for profit, mostly it is an act of youthful rebellion or a quest for more thrills - many of these gangs' members live ordinary lives otherwise and engage in activities for the adrenaline high. This is reflected in their outfitting; almost no-one uses an enclosed cabin on their cycle or trike, they only wear lightly shielded clothing or crash suits for protection, and the only people wearing helmets or masks are those who do not have respiration implants. This means that while often dangerous and violent, gangs are rarely consistent in their operations beyond the basics. Only the longest established and largest gangs tend to have steady operations which go hand-in-hand with various codes of conduct and strict membership rules.
While high-speed and danger seeking are critical to these cultures, so is rebellion. Gang colors and symbology are often drawn from their cultural or ethnic heritage (a subversion of the Consortium's insistence on Mars as the new home of humanity), others use anarchist symbols or rhetoric in how they operate and may even comport themselves as "lacking hierarchy". However, some gangs will focus on subverting their own cultural expectations operating like "Authentics" in Urban Mars modeled after cultures which are not their own - or deliberately anachronistic stylings such as American "cowboys" or late 20th century "cyberpunks". Some cyclists are brave enough even to chance the outskirts of the TQZ. Culturally, cycle gangs are split between cycles and trikes - with trikes being larger, more durable and better at rough terrain, but the cycle being faster and the lighter frame more customizable. Membership in these gangs is usually youths in their mid to late teens at the low end and early-mid 20s at the high (as opposed to urban cycle clubs, which have a broad age range). Some members naturally mature out of the club, or their older age and legal status makes the risks of the lifestyle less appealing. Those who engage in criminal activities may be recruited by local crime gangs, triads or militant Barsoomians as members. Others may pursue dangerous contract jobs such as PMC work, ego hunting or bodyguarding, or become professional athletes or X-casters engaging in other extreme sports. Very rarely, bikers will "go straight" and join government jobs with the Tharsis League doing infrastructure or surveying and some will even "betray" the gang by becoming Martian Rangers. Some don't ever properly grow out of it, remaining in the local culture to support new blood and keep the gang revitalized while going on with their own lives.
Occasionally, two gangs' territories will meet or abut. This is rare, as very few rural communities have a large enough population spread out to form multiple gangs - though rivalries and falling outs can cause a gang to split or fork. Typically, both being driven rebels, this will result in low-key gang warfare with brawls, vandalism, taunting and very rarely serious fighting over the contested area. This ends either when the local authorities have to step in, or one gang loses the will to hold the territory, causing them to fall back. Occasionally, gangs are mature enough to negotiate, and will split territory up, or one will pay concessions to the other for the space. Exceedingly rarely, gangs might merge to form a new gang with combined membership - this usually only happens if a third party (such as Rangers or local criminals) is present, or in the non-zero chance that gang leadership really just wants to bang and have a weird way of showing it. Combined gangs tend to be volatile, but much stronger and more daring.
Lastly, there are a couple ways gangs might settle things in event of a fight, or some other dispute. Races and related wagers are common, especially in gangs with younger membership who aren't dead set on fighting (and may not have access to weapons). But another common way is jousting, where a champion of each gang will engage in almost ritualized fighting utilizing simple shields (or no shields at all) and carefully crafted lances made with self-balancing materials to be easy to handle - and with smart material heads which can be blunt or sharp depending on the conflict.
Jousting Lance: Lance used in ritualized jousting of Martian Bike Gangs, and occasionally reenactors on horseback. Has a bluntable tip and powerful balance correction for high accuracy. It is designed to be used in motion, and thus has no penalty to make a Charge Attack, but all attacks while not charging takes a -20 penalty. Uses the Exotic Melee Weapon: Lance skill. [Low]
AP -3 1d10+3+DB DV (Half DV when blunted)
This means that the traditional cycle has some of the best availability and style for those who seek to feel the independence and power of owning a vehicle. In urban centers, you may find traditional bike clubs and authentics "retro-Mod" cultures who focus on riding and customizing cycles. These make great venues for recent immigrants or ex-Indentures within the hobby to socialize with others and get back into the swing of post-Fall life, and act as an element of a social network. While there are still some wider popcultural implications of a "cycle club", the ratio of the urban ones which engage in criminal activity is low - and in these cases they mostly act as a slightly more mobile street gang, engaged in vehicle theft, extortion and drug dealing to gain additional money for the members or the club and may clash with more established neighborhood gangs. However, the high presence of surveillance and traffic control makes these criminal actions harder.
It is outside the major cities, on the distant highways and their attached communities, where you find groups one can really call "motorcycle gangs". Many of these these resemble rebellious youth and racing subcultures, such as Japanese bosozoku or Maylay Mat Rempit. The backbone of these communities are in local youths, usually areas which have a concentration of similar ethnic cultures (though multicultural gangs exist in areas which are sufficiently diluted) and have little else to do, except perhaps help parents with work or attend virtual schooling. Far from Mars' urban centers, traffic controls get less strict, surveillance gets less comprehensive, and the ease of building a serviceable cycle or trike out of some fabs in a prefab garage gets much higher. This means that many bike gangs are also technically skilled, able to do basic subversion of DRM and licensing, and can handle their own maintenance and assembly of bikes - some gangs even take building your own ride as a bar to entry. While historically there may have been some element of gender separation or roles in bike gangs, the modern gangs rarely make anything of it including active members ("riders") of any gender identity - though some of the most established may comport themselves as a "brotherhood" or "sisterhood". Though, of course, bike gangs are often hotbeds for casual dating and sex in their communities, and it's not uncommon for a date (sometimes called a "bitch" or a "squeeze" usually not intended to be derogatory) of any gender who is not a member to ride with the gang.
Activities for these outback gangs are pretty standard. At their basis, they engage in running (usually friendly) races on highways and access roads, bike parades and other rabble rousing usually just for their own amusement. Particularly adventurous or skilled gangs will travel on major arterial highways, subverting the traffic grid or otherwise operating in manual to travel at high speeds interspersed with regular traffic (though this occasionally draw the attention of the Martian Rangers). Those who feel particularly strong or delinquent might engage in common youthful crimes such as vandalism, extortion or bullying of locals, petty thefts and even robberies. Others might engage in drug distribution and smuggling, illegal courier jobs or act as a hub for illegal fab operations. While sometimes this is selfishly for profit, mostly it is an act of youthful rebellion or a quest for more thrills - many of these gangs' members live ordinary lives otherwise and engage in activities for the adrenaline high. This is reflected in their outfitting; almost no-one uses an enclosed cabin on their cycle or trike, they only wear lightly shielded clothing or crash suits for protection, and the only people wearing helmets or masks are those who do not have respiration implants. This means that while often dangerous and violent, gangs are rarely consistent in their operations beyond the basics. Only the longest established and largest gangs tend to have steady operations which go hand-in-hand with various codes of conduct and strict membership rules.
While high-speed and danger seeking are critical to these cultures, so is rebellion. Gang colors and symbology are often drawn from their cultural or ethnic heritage (a subversion of the Consortium's insistence on Mars as the new home of humanity), others use anarchist symbols or rhetoric in how they operate and may even comport themselves as "lacking hierarchy". However, some gangs will focus on subverting their own cultural expectations operating like "Authentics" in Urban Mars modeled after cultures which are not their own - or deliberately anachronistic stylings such as American "cowboys" or late 20th century "cyberpunks". Some cyclists are brave enough even to chance the outskirts of the TQZ. Culturally, cycle gangs are split between cycles and trikes - with trikes being larger, more durable and better at rough terrain, but the cycle being faster and the lighter frame more customizable. Membership in these gangs is usually youths in their mid to late teens at the low end and early-mid 20s at the high (as opposed to urban cycle clubs, which have a broad age range). Some members naturally mature out of the club, or their older age and legal status makes the risks of the lifestyle less appealing. Those who engage in criminal activities may be recruited by local crime gangs, triads or militant Barsoomians as members. Others may pursue dangerous contract jobs such as PMC work, ego hunting or bodyguarding, or become professional athletes or X-casters engaging in other extreme sports. Very rarely, bikers will "go straight" and join government jobs with the Tharsis League doing infrastructure or surveying and some will even "betray" the gang by becoming Martian Rangers. Some don't ever properly grow out of it, remaining in the local culture to support new blood and keep the gang revitalized while going on with their own lives.
Occasionally, two gangs' territories will meet or abut. This is rare, as very few rural communities have a large enough population spread out to form multiple gangs - though rivalries and falling outs can cause a gang to split or fork. Typically, both being driven rebels, this will result in low-key gang warfare with brawls, vandalism, taunting and very rarely serious fighting over the contested area. This ends either when the local authorities have to step in, or one gang loses the will to hold the territory, causing them to fall back. Occasionally, gangs are mature enough to negotiate, and will split territory up, or one will pay concessions to the other for the space. Exceedingly rarely, gangs might merge to form a new gang with combined membership - this usually only happens if a third party (such as Rangers or local criminals) is present, or in the non-zero chance that gang leadership really just wants to bang and have a weird way of showing it. Combined gangs tend to be volatile, but much stronger and more daring.
Lastly, there are a couple ways gangs might settle things in event of a fight, or some other dispute. Races and related wagers are common, especially in gangs with younger membership who aren't dead set on fighting (and may not have access to weapons). But another common way is jousting, where a champion of each gang will engage in almost ritualized fighting utilizing simple shields (or no shields at all) and carefully crafted lances made with self-balancing materials to be easy to handle - and with smart material heads which can be blunt or sharp depending on the conflict.
Jousting Lance: Lance used in ritualized jousting of Martian Bike Gangs, and occasionally reenactors on horseback. Has a bluntable tip and powerful balance correction for high accuracy. It is designed to be used in motion, and thus has no penalty to make a Charge Attack, but all attacks while not charging takes a -20 penalty. Uses the Exotic Melee Weapon: Lance skill. [Low]
AP -3 1d10+3+DB DV (Half DV when blunted)
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
HIVE Security
"Giving you better protection, through unity"
HIVE Security is but one of many private security hypercorps based on Extropia. Technically, they are a wholly-owned subsidiary of the WASP Corporation, but WASP is held by a single owner and director, Deborah Vespasian, who controls several subsidiary and branch companies. For services, HIVE offers what can be typically expected of a security contractor: including personal protection plans up to light paramilitary response, secured courier services and holding, identity and privacy protection and business plans for site and asset protection. HIVE's prices are usually in the "premium" range, but this is because Vespasian offers a particular level of service integrated into the company which "thematically" approaches eusocial insects.
This sort of coordination takes many forms, though with "HIVE" the theme is obvious. On a basic level, all employees (even outside of "tactical" situations) stay in TacNet when on-shift, sharing data feeds, positional data and other information. In the field, HIVE security personnel have built a complex signalling language and code based on scent cues and body language - which also makes many of their employees highly skilled at Kinesics. They also use UV light signals and markets, such as tracker dyes, for a number of purposes. The cost for these augmentations and training is covered by the employment contract, which may be a reason why their contracts have such a high price. Unlike competitors, HIVE does not use bots, but instead utilizes biodrones for security purposes, such as Gardener Insects (p. 154 Panopticon) or Dragon Flies (Seedware 263). While not a subtle, the use of transgenic insects has a certain intimidating quality to it.
Organizationally, HIVE also might resemble certain insectoid caste-systems. Entry-level contractors are "workers", who typically utilize neuter or feminine morphs and serve basic jobs of customer relations, research and also perform scouting, logistical and very basic duties of security. "Soldiers" make up the bulk of the security teams of HIVE and are typically sleeved in Fury morphs of the latest generation, utilizing small squad tactics with tightly knit units they are trained and drilled with in simulspace - and who utilize the workers as support staff. Pretty typically, any worker who remains employed at the corp long enough will be able to move up into soldiering, though those with skill and experience are often hired directly at the active level. Despite the name "drones" (more commonly "management" to avoid confusion) fill in the leadership position for corporate - and utilize male or hermaphroditic morphs. These operate in small teams to support the highest levels of HIVE and several other WASP subsidiaries - they do not perform fieldwork but instead handle resource allocation and high level management, handling teams of soldier or worker operatives, overseeing individual projects, and making sure money and raw materials are being appropriately moved. The highest level in HIVE is called "monarch", these are senior operatives with high-level management duties in HIVE and other subsidiaries who form Vespasian's inner circle.
Monarchs utilize feminine or hermaphroditic morphs - if they are physically instanced to do their jobs, and they are only selected after multiple years of exemplary service from existing contract employees. Monarchs do not network directly with each other, but instead may oversee any number of networks with their subordinate units, and generally oversee long-term contracts, particular projects of WASP, various internal departments or divisions or high value contracts. The theme does not extend so far as to give monarchs "reproductive" rights (though romantic or sexual relations with subordinates is allowed or encouraged in order to "bond"), they instead have high powers of budgetary rights and hiring rights - getting to pick who they hire for what positions, handling promotions at their own discretion and managing their resources. Due to the amount of things they may have to coordinate, some engage in the process of fork-hiving themselves to increase productivity, or choose to instance as infomorphs.
Employee-wise, while HIVE almost always uses standardized humanoid biomorphs (particularly Fury lines) they do broadly recruit. Some neo-avians willing to adapt work at HIVE for their experience with UV senses and flight (which is handy for biodrones). Hominid and Cetacean uplifts often find the intense social or community sense inside the company appealing and Extropia itself is not necessarily designed well to aquatic uplift forms. AGI also sometimes join, liking the logical structure of the company. Most of the employees are drawn from humans however, such as those who actually struggle in Extropia's society, or some ex-military who miss a command structure. Others just want to do it for a paycheck, and don't mind camaraderie.
Why exactly Vespasian and WASP decided to go this route is unknown. Deborah herself is fairly reclusive, not engaging in external social media, making limited public reports on her company, most of her meetings with other business entities are done behind closed doors. Local extropians offer a mix of amusement, distrust and fascination with HIVE and other WASP subsidiaries. Many do not like that their corporation technically builds a hierarchical system, but at the same time much of it is based on roles and involves deep cooperation (and HIVE has acquired strong ties to some mutualist groups) and it is all voluntary based on the terms of the contract. People who have used or tangled with HIVE forces say their efficiency and coordination is something impressive though. Others find the marketing style impressive and memorable. Positive relations tend to be helped by "Monarch" workers, many of whom are more sociable and form the key base of HIVE's leadership - and are very visibly not an "exclusive club", taking on new people at that level as needed based on merit or growth.
WASP owns several other business ventures in Vespasian's name besides HIVE, though that is their largest component. They also have research into "smart" insect lines, and also in-house biomorph and implant development, survey and prospecting business, and investment and legal firms. Most of these operate similar to the organizational structure of HIVE, though slightly smaller and more focused.
Notable Faces:
HIVE Security is but one of many private security hypercorps based on Extropia. Technically, they are a wholly-owned subsidiary of the WASP Corporation, but WASP is held by a single owner and director, Deborah Vespasian, who controls several subsidiary and branch companies. For services, HIVE offers what can be typically expected of a security contractor: including personal protection plans up to light paramilitary response, secured courier services and holding, identity and privacy protection and business plans for site and asset protection. HIVE's prices are usually in the "premium" range, but this is because Vespasian offers a particular level of service integrated into the company which "thematically" approaches eusocial insects.
This sort of coordination takes many forms, though with "HIVE" the theme is obvious. On a basic level, all employees (even outside of "tactical" situations) stay in TacNet when on-shift, sharing data feeds, positional data and other information. In the field, HIVE security personnel have built a complex signalling language and code based on scent cues and body language - which also makes many of their employees highly skilled at Kinesics. They also use UV light signals and markets, such as tracker dyes, for a number of purposes. The cost for these augmentations and training is covered by the employment contract, which may be a reason why their contracts have such a high price. Unlike competitors, HIVE does not use bots, but instead utilizes biodrones for security purposes, such as Gardener Insects (p. 154 Panopticon) or Dragon Flies (Seedware 263). While not a subtle, the use of transgenic insects has a certain intimidating quality to it.
Organizationally, HIVE also might resemble certain insectoid caste-systems. Entry-level contractors are "workers", who typically utilize neuter or feminine morphs and serve basic jobs of customer relations, research and also perform scouting, logistical and very basic duties of security. "Soldiers" make up the bulk of the security teams of HIVE and are typically sleeved in Fury morphs of the latest generation, utilizing small squad tactics with tightly knit units they are trained and drilled with in simulspace - and who utilize the workers as support staff. Pretty typically, any worker who remains employed at the corp long enough will be able to move up into soldiering, though those with skill and experience are often hired directly at the active level. Despite the name "drones" (more commonly "management" to avoid confusion) fill in the leadership position for corporate - and utilize male or hermaphroditic morphs. These operate in small teams to support the highest levels of HIVE and several other WASP subsidiaries - they do not perform fieldwork but instead handle resource allocation and high level management, handling teams of soldier or worker operatives, overseeing individual projects, and making sure money and raw materials are being appropriately moved. The highest level in HIVE is called "monarch", these are senior operatives with high-level management duties in HIVE and other subsidiaries who form Vespasian's inner circle.
Monarchs utilize feminine or hermaphroditic morphs - if they are physically instanced to do their jobs, and they are only selected after multiple years of exemplary service from existing contract employees. Monarchs do not network directly with each other, but instead may oversee any number of networks with their subordinate units, and generally oversee long-term contracts, particular projects of WASP, various internal departments or divisions or high value contracts. The theme does not extend so far as to give monarchs "reproductive" rights (though romantic or sexual relations with subordinates is allowed or encouraged in order to "bond"), they instead have high powers of budgetary rights and hiring rights - getting to pick who they hire for what positions, handling promotions at their own discretion and managing their resources. Due to the amount of things they may have to coordinate, some engage in the process of fork-hiving themselves to increase productivity, or choose to instance as infomorphs.
Employee-wise, while HIVE almost always uses standardized humanoid biomorphs (particularly Fury lines) they do broadly recruit. Some neo-avians willing to adapt work at HIVE for their experience with UV senses and flight (which is handy for biodrones). Hominid and Cetacean uplifts often find the intense social or community sense inside the company appealing and Extropia itself is not necessarily designed well to aquatic uplift forms. AGI also sometimes join, liking the logical structure of the company. Most of the employees are drawn from humans however, such as those who actually struggle in Extropia's society, or some ex-military who miss a command structure. Others just want to do it for a paycheck, and don't mind camaraderie.
Why exactly Vespasian and WASP decided to go this route is unknown. Deborah herself is fairly reclusive, not engaging in external social media, making limited public reports on her company, most of her meetings with other business entities are done behind closed doors. Local extropians offer a mix of amusement, distrust and fascination with HIVE and other WASP subsidiaries. Many do not like that their corporation technically builds a hierarchical system, but at the same time much of it is based on roles and involves deep cooperation (and HIVE has acquired strong ties to some mutualist groups) and it is all voluntary based on the terms of the contract. People who have used or tangled with HIVE forces say their efficiency and coordination is something impressive though. Others find the marketing style impressive and memorable. Positive relations tend to be helped by "Monarch" workers, many of whom are more sociable and form the key base of HIVE's leadership - and are very visibly not an "exclusive club", taking on new people at that level as needed based on merit or growth.
WASP owns several other business ventures in Vespasian's name besides HIVE, though that is their largest component. They also have research into "smart" insect lines, and also in-house biomorph and implant development, survey and prospecting business, and investment and legal firms. Most of these operate similar to the organizational structure of HIVE, though slightly smaller and more focused.
Notable Faces:
- Deborah Vespasian herself is not often directly involved with HIVE, though she self-employees their most expensive service (The "Royal Guard" package) for her personal security. A businesswoman of European descent, she was originally based on Venus but moved to Extropia when it looked like the Consortium would solidify power there. She spends most of her time working with her business partners in private, but has enough social sense to appear at certain public events to promote her businesses. Generally regarded as a friendly but private woman, who is often distracted.
- While Cadmus McLellan's business title is "Executive Assistant" and he is technically a "drone" level employee, he is widely known in all WASP companies as Vespasian's right hand and fixer. When others cannot solve problems of logistics, organization or finance, he steps in to clear things up and move the company forward. He is business-minded and no nonsense, and generally seen as the less friendly visitor when Vespasian takes personal interest in a project or problem.
- Raz Jezek is one of the senior-most Monarch employees with HIVE, having been employed for the longest period. Originally a Scumborn, she joined with HIVE in a fit of young adult rebellion when her parents said to "get a job" (presumably meaning to do something useful around the swarm). Raz quickly rose through ranks as a soldier to a leader, and effectively operates marketing and customer relations for HIVE via AR ads and XP programs she creates and edits. Unlike Vespasian, Jezek is very sociable, and helps maintain relations with the Extropian populace and other autonomist groups - and jokes she has a girl or boyfriend on every asteroid.
- Luciana Winter is the newest promoted Monarch. She was promoted up after surviving a vicious attack on a secured shipment and rallying the surviving members of her unit into a counteroffensive against suspected Nine Lives operators. Her story went a bit viral, so she has appeared in some marketing materials - and was placed to head up internal divisions on item security. Luciana is ex-military, recently off an indenture in Luna, and while not highly experienced at leadership is said to have some natural talent. People like her because she has a very humble vibe which fits with anarchist ideals.
Monday, February 6, 2017
Vishakanya
Vishakanya is many things. It is a tactic. It is a group. It is an individual operator. It is a way of life. It is a physical shell. The term "Visha Kanya" originates from Sanskrit, and translates into English as "poison girl". The name describes a type of female assassin in Indian ancient history and mythology, who were rumored to have supernatural powers to kill or that their bodily fluids were poisonous, meaning sexual contact would be lethal. Other accounts tend toward more realistic, using seduction to distract from administering a poison or the practice of Mithridatism (slowly acquiring poison immunity) - though the actual effectiveness of this technique is not as reported in many histories and stories. From there, "poison girl" remained a concept and archetype in the world of Indian literature, well into the modern period.
Most importantly, the idea has persisted in the collective unconsciousness into the age of space colonization, where Indian government, corporate and civilian colonization efforts have spread beyond Earth, and remained even after the subcontinent had fallen. While a singular Indian culture remains strongest on Luna, their population and language group was large enough to be noted across the Solar System, with significant populations among several planetary bodies. Also important is that advances in Transhuman technology made many of the legends of the Vishakanya possible, or more believable. This allows for a manipulation of image, myth and popular culture similar to the Bruixeria phenomena. Morphs can be customized to produce or be immune to poison, they can internalize weapons and be able to lie better, they can sense beyond the norm, and even alter their physical appearance. The rise of Nanoware in the post-Fall era makes their capabilities even higher.
So, the practice of Vishakanya began to rise again, and so did organizations to support them. Corporate and criminal groups of indian cultures began to exercise the tactic and cultivate both specific morph-lines and agents and support staff to train and utilize them. The idea then spread to have a moderate amount of knowledge and utility in Hindi cultures across the Solar System, and the term has been adopted for other cultures to refer to the idea. As of yet, no political operators have been tied to a Vishakanya-type operation, though that does not rule out it being used to quell political rivals.
In the early days of the reemergence, one had to cultivate or customize their own "poison girl" morph, but now when one wants to send a Visha Kanya, they tend to want to contact the right group. These groups are typically a front for a local organization who may pay their dues to a bigger org or stand in their own right. On Luna, they are typically "cultural" centers or organizations, who stay clear of the local triads and "civil leaders". One pays an appropriate rental fee and obtains the body for the agreed upon period. Most houses which supply the morphs can also supply Egos to use them, but by all accounts these are often of much lower quality and the bodies; they use forknapped minds who are tasped or behaviorally modified, egos they have illegally or cheaply indentured because they have no marketable skills, poorly-made forks of their own operators and desperate low-level employees who can only be promoted through kills. If one lacks the mind of an assassin to go with the body, one will have much more success finding a freelance hitter who uses the Vishakanya body and tactics.
Modern Vishakanya operations are fairly simple, and follow the themes. Using implants and training they socially manipulate the target, draw them to a secluded or other favorable location - then kill or incapacitate them with poison. Sometimes, a physical death is all that matters - resleeving is expensive and stressful, so it can be a simple warning or reminder. Other times the poison girl is sent to capture the stack, which allows the target to be forknapped and tortured or interrogated. Other times, killing is not the goal (though to those with the right resources it can be a very temporary setback) but to incapacitate, so that other operatives may move or other information can be gained - or the classic opportunity to construct situations to blackmail the target or harm their social standing. On Luna, use of a variant of the Vishakanya tactic is rising among Synthmorph activists, where instead of a biomorph they use a masked synthmorph, and after incapacitating the principle construct a way to reveal this to the public to hurt the standing of prominent biochauvanists. While the term still used is "poison girl", the physical shell can be any gender, and many are armed with sex switches or even hermaphroditic to allow broader utility.
Vishakanya (Biomorph)
The Vishakanya morph epitomizes the "poison girl" aesthetic. Their bodies are lithe, lean, usually with Subcontinent or Central Asian phenotypes - but each is deliberately crafted to look generic and appealing. These are not covert, fast infiltrators like a Ghost, but rather subtle social assassins and operatives. The primary function is that their bodies are poisonous and immune to poison, with the spit and other bodily fluids able to secret the BTX2 toxin. They have sharp senses which are belied by their appearances - and the social mods mean they can easily slip in wherever needed. Claws and Eelware let them defend themselves, or quietly disable targets. Advances in nanotechnology allow them to be even more covert, and sometimes they are improved with additional nanoware. All the while, they look like humble Splicers or Exalts. While they have a variety of improvements, it should be noted that a Vishakanya is not equipped for open combat, they have no augmentations to increase their durability, reaction or other combat potential - an open fight is an anathema to the subculture this morph was designed to represent. They are seducers and poisoners, not SpecOps ninjas.
Implants: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Insert, Claws, Cortical Stack, Eelware, Emotional Dampers, Enhanced Pheromones, Enhanced Smell, Enhanced Touch, Enhanced Vision, Nanophages, Poison Gland (BTX2), Sex Switch, Skinflex, Skinlink, Skin Pocket, Toxin Filters, Truth Filters
Movement Rate: 4/16 Walker
Aptitude Maximum: 30
Durability: 40
Wound Threshold: 8
Advantages: +5 COO, +5 SAV, +5 SOM, +5 WIL, Limber (1) trait, Innocuous trait
CP Cost: 60
Credit Cost: Expensive (60,000)
Most importantly, the idea has persisted in the collective unconsciousness into the age of space colonization, where Indian government, corporate and civilian colonization efforts have spread beyond Earth, and remained even after the subcontinent had fallen. While a singular Indian culture remains strongest on Luna, their population and language group was large enough to be noted across the Solar System, with significant populations among several planetary bodies. Also important is that advances in Transhuman technology made many of the legends of the Vishakanya possible, or more believable. This allows for a manipulation of image, myth and popular culture similar to the Bruixeria phenomena. Morphs can be customized to produce or be immune to poison, they can internalize weapons and be able to lie better, they can sense beyond the norm, and even alter their physical appearance. The rise of Nanoware in the post-Fall era makes their capabilities even higher.
So, the practice of Vishakanya began to rise again, and so did organizations to support them. Corporate and criminal groups of indian cultures began to exercise the tactic and cultivate both specific morph-lines and agents and support staff to train and utilize them. The idea then spread to have a moderate amount of knowledge and utility in Hindi cultures across the Solar System, and the term has been adopted for other cultures to refer to the idea. As of yet, no political operators have been tied to a Vishakanya-type operation, though that does not rule out it being used to quell political rivals.
In the early days of the reemergence, one had to cultivate or customize their own "poison girl" morph, but now when one wants to send a Visha Kanya, they tend to want to contact the right group. These groups are typically a front for a local organization who may pay their dues to a bigger org or stand in their own right. On Luna, they are typically "cultural" centers or organizations, who stay clear of the local triads and "civil leaders". One pays an appropriate rental fee and obtains the body for the agreed upon period. Most houses which supply the morphs can also supply Egos to use them, but by all accounts these are often of much lower quality and the bodies; they use forknapped minds who are tasped or behaviorally modified, egos they have illegally or cheaply indentured because they have no marketable skills, poorly-made forks of their own operators and desperate low-level employees who can only be promoted through kills. If one lacks the mind of an assassin to go with the body, one will have much more success finding a freelance hitter who uses the Vishakanya body and tactics.
Modern Vishakanya operations are fairly simple, and follow the themes. Using implants and training they socially manipulate the target, draw them to a secluded or other favorable location - then kill or incapacitate them with poison. Sometimes, a physical death is all that matters - resleeving is expensive and stressful, so it can be a simple warning or reminder. Other times the poison girl is sent to capture the stack, which allows the target to be forknapped and tortured or interrogated. Other times, killing is not the goal (though to those with the right resources it can be a very temporary setback) but to incapacitate, so that other operatives may move or other information can be gained - or the classic opportunity to construct situations to blackmail the target or harm their social standing. On Luna, use of a variant of the Vishakanya tactic is rising among Synthmorph activists, where instead of a biomorph they use a masked synthmorph, and after incapacitating the principle construct a way to reveal this to the public to hurt the standing of prominent biochauvanists. While the term still used is "poison girl", the physical shell can be any gender, and many are armed with sex switches or even hermaphroditic to allow broader utility.
Vishakanya (Biomorph)
The Vishakanya morph epitomizes the "poison girl" aesthetic. Their bodies are lithe, lean, usually with Subcontinent or Central Asian phenotypes - but each is deliberately crafted to look generic and appealing. These are not covert, fast infiltrators like a Ghost, but rather subtle social assassins and operatives. The primary function is that their bodies are poisonous and immune to poison, with the spit and other bodily fluids able to secret the BTX2 toxin. They have sharp senses which are belied by their appearances - and the social mods mean they can easily slip in wherever needed. Claws and Eelware let them defend themselves, or quietly disable targets. Advances in nanotechnology allow them to be even more covert, and sometimes they are improved with additional nanoware. All the while, they look like humble Splicers or Exalts. While they have a variety of improvements, it should be noted that a Vishakanya is not equipped for open combat, they have no augmentations to increase their durability, reaction or other combat potential - an open fight is an anathema to the subculture this morph was designed to represent. They are seducers and poisoners, not SpecOps ninjas.
Implants: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Insert, Claws, Cortical Stack, Eelware, Emotional Dampers, Enhanced Pheromones, Enhanced Smell, Enhanced Touch, Enhanced Vision, Nanophages, Poison Gland (BTX2), Sex Switch, Skinflex, Skinlink, Skin Pocket, Toxin Filters, Truth Filters
Movement Rate: 4/16 Walker
Aptitude Maximum: 30
Durability: 40
Wound Threshold: 8
Advantages: +5 COO, +5 SAV, +5 SOM, +5 WIL, Limber (1) trait, Innocuous trait
CP Cost: 60
Credit Cost: Expensive (60,000)
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
Cyanos
They say it takes all kinds.
In this case, "all kinds" is rather unusual. The Cyanos, also known as "Plankton People" or "Algae Swarms" (or occasionally Bioswarmanoids) are an interesting subculture which blends the rules between infomorphs, exhumanism and microscale morphology in aquatic habs. Experimentation in different morph sizes is possible - The Colony (p. 88 Sunward) is an example of a hab which uses microscale morphs (run through distributed or external computing) to conserve on space, and offer entertainment. Swarmanoids themselves are a exotic morphology using microbots and segmented, distributed computing which can host even multiple egos. Smart Plankton is another aquatic nanotech, similar to Smart Dust, which can do various forms of recording and processing.
The Cyanos push a lot of this tech even farther, forming an unusual subculture. They utilize biodrones embedded with nanotech-assisted computing to form an organic swarm of otherwise independent microorganisms in concert, forming a kind of living swarm akin to planktons or algaes. The name comes from "cyanobacteria", a photosynthesizing, aquatic microbe. A normal Swarmanoid can already support more than one Ego, though by configuration only one normally has physical control of the morph. Cyanos and their plankton swarms utilize larger formations and denser swarms to allow more egos to exist in the same space, blending swarm composition and the biological neural substrate of something like a Hamilton cylinder, which acts like an Infomorph server.
Actually operating in a plankton swarm is an interesting experience. It blends normal operations such as in a server with greatly diffused sensory information. All egos operating in the swarm share the same sensory inputs (though some can filter accordingly), and because they are all distributed in the same computing space, sharing thoughts, memories and information is incredibly easy, similar to something like Linkstate or Nimbus' Hyper-Mesh Insert. Thus, Cyanos tend to be very communal or "hive" minded, and are known to act less like individuals and more like components of a whole - even when outside the swarm they may say "we" instead of "I". Some Cyano colonies even integrate nanotech similar to the Ego Bridge, so they can skim minds of bimorphs to share, or even fork them directly into the swarm - but the invasiveness of this prospect means they do not engage in it without consent.
The swarm itself has limited mobility, and limited defenses. While they can move, this requires concentrated effort from multiple individuals, and is difficult to do against currents in the water. For defense, Cyanos rely on guardian nanotech being near them, or integration of nanophages into the swarm. Some have gone toxic to prevent local aqualife from trying to prey on them (and luckily the small amount of extant Neo-Whales makes the issue of sophontophagy relatively non-existent). But, due to the relative small size and the fact that most Cyano communities are very peaceful and open means they have little to fear. Most communities spend their time sharing experiences, debating things or collaborating on projects on the local mesh - while they also digest sensory information and autonomously gather resources from the surrounding water. Due to distribution, Cyano swarms can work on things very quickly, and with a large enough area can contain dozens of Egos in a discrete swarm.
Cyano communities are naturally limited by the fact that their micro-biodrones are aquatic only. They are most populace in Atlantica and inside certain flooded habitations on Ceres and Europa - but do not prefer the latter two's open oceans as they lack light, heat and can be difficult to be secure in. Due to their communal nature, they often fit in well with Cetacean uplifts, some of whom work to "shepherd" cyano swarms from any aqualife which might try to ingest them. Small colonies exist elsewhere in the system, of course. There are a handful of Cyano swarms recognized as citizens in the Titanian Commonwealth, at least one biodesign corp on Enceladus entirely formed by a Cyano swarm - and several algae swarms have interests in gatecrashing, exploring aquatic exoplanets. When they exist in more capitalist societies, Cyanos often get what resources or allowances they need by working as think tanks, programmers, consultants or software designers - their unique headspace able to come at problems from multiple angles simultaneously. They also can make interesting teachers or tutors, filtering a single bit of information through multiple Egos rapidly to find the best way to communicate it. Due to this unique mindspace, however, many Cyanos have difficulties acting as individuals, similar to the Synergists. They may experience a form of "withdrawal" when instanced away from the swarm, or have difficulty in social interactions.
Mechanics:
Sleeving into a Cyano "plankton swarm" is more like using an Infomorph server than a real morph (though does still require an Alienation and Integration check at -30 for Exotic morph, typically) as physical motion of the swarm is limited and more akin to interfacing with bots than moving a limb. The Cyano medium does not run Eidolons, but an Ego distributed onto the Swarm retains individual software plug-ins and upgrades. As it it highly distributed, the Aptitude Maximum for the swarm is 40, but due to semi-biological neural media Cyanos are immune to traditional brain hacking - at least from outside the swarm itself.
Plankton Swarms blend the rules between swarms and servers. They operate under standard mechanics for Swarms, as per Transhuman and X-Risks. In their standard volume, they can hold 5 Egos normally, and have a DUR of 30. Each additional "unit" of swarm adds 15 DUR and doubles the amount of Egos the swarm can hold. Should they need to move, the swarm has a speed of 2/8 Submarine, but take -30 to Swimming tests to oppose strong currents, and may even be damaged by them as a normal swarm would be Wind. The physical swarm comes equipped with 360 Degree Vision, Enhanced Hearing, Mental Speed and naturally Swarm Composition normally, and can be equipped with any Swarmanoid only enhancements (as cyberware) and bio, cyber or nanoware allowed to Swarmanoid morphs as seen in Swarmanoid Enhancements (p. 213 Transhuman). Additionally, the way the swarm is constructed means all egos in it gain a benefit akin to Parallel Processing, offering teamwork bonuses automatically and granting +5 COG to all users, but reducing TT by 1. Typically, Cyanos add Nanophages, and some combination of Eelware, Injectors or Poison Glands for defense.
In this case, "all kinds" is rather unusual. The Cyanos, also known as "Plankton People" or "Algae Swarms" (or occasionally Bioswarmanoids) are an interesting subculture which blends the rules between infomorphs, exhumanism and microscale morphology in aquatic habs. Experimentation in different morph sizes is possible - The Colony (p. 88 Sunward) is an example of a hab which uses microscale morphs (run through distributed or external computing) to conserve on space, and offer entertainment. Swarmanoids themselves are a exotic morphology using microbots and segmented, distributed computing which can host even multiple egos. Smart Plankton is another aquatic nanotech, similar to Smart Dust, which can do various forms of recording and processing.
The Cyanos push a lot of this tech even farther, forming an unusual subculture. They utilize biodrones embedded with nanotech-assisted computing to form an organic swarm of otherwise independent microorganisms in concert, forming a kind of living swarm akin to planktons or algaes. The name comes from "cyanobacteria", a photosynthesizing, aquatic microbe. A normal Swarmanoid can already support more than one Ego, though by configuration only one normally has physical control of the morph. Cyanos and their plankton swarms utilize larger formations and denser swarms to allow more egos to exist in the same space, blending swarm composition and the biological neural substrate of something like a Hamilton cylinder, which acts like an Infomorph server.
Actually operating in a plankton swarm is an interesting experience. It blends normal operations such as in a server with greatly diffused sensory information. All egos operating in the swarm share the same sensory inputs (though some can filter accordingly), and because they are all distributed in the same computing space, sharing thoughts, memories and information is incredibly easy, similar to something like Linkstate or Nimbus' Hyper-Mesh Insert. Thus, Cyanos tend to be very communal or "hive" minded, and are known to act less like individuals and more like components of a whole - even when outside the swarm they may say "we" instead of "I". Some Cyano colonies even integrate nanotech similar to the Ego Bridge, so they can skim minds of bimorphs to share, or even fork them directly into the swarm - but the invasiveness of this prospect means they do not engage in it without consent.
The swarm itself has limited mobility, and limited defenses. While they can move, this requires concentrated effort from multiple individuals, and is difficult to do against currents in the water. For defense, Cyanos rely on guardian nanotech being near them, or integration of nanophages into the swarm. Some have gone toxic to prevent local aqualife from trying to prey on them (and luckily the small amount of extant Neo-Whales makes the issue of sophontophagy relatively non-existent). But, due to the relative small size and the fact that most Cyano communities are very peaceful and open means they have little to fear. Most communities spend their time sharing experiences, debating things or collaborating on projects on the local mesh - while they also digest sensory information and autonomously gather resources from the surrounding water. Due to distribution, Cyano swarms can work on things very quickly, and with a large enough area can contain dozens of Egos in a discrete swarm.
Cyano communities are naturally limited by the fact that their micro-biodrones are aquatic only. They are most populace in Atlantica and inside certain flooded habitations on Ceres and Europa - but do not prefer the latter two's open oceans as they lack light, heat and can be difficult to be secure in. Due to their communal nature, they often fit in well with Cetacean uplifts, some of whom work to "shepherd" cyano swarms from any aqualife which might try to ingest them. Small colonies exist elsewhere in the system, of course. There are a handful of Cyano swarms recognized as citizens in the Titanian Commonwealth, at least one biodesign corp on Enceladus entirely formed by a Cyano swarm - and several algae swarms have interests in gatecrashing, exploring aquatic exoplanets. When they exist in more capitalist societies, Cyanos often get what resources or allowances they need by working as think tanks, programmers, consultants or software designers - their unique headspace able to come at problems from multiple angles simultaneously. They also can make interesting teachers or tutors, filtering a single bit of information through multiple Egos rapidly to find the best way to communicate it. Due to this unique mindspace, however, many Cyanos have difficulties acting as individuals, similar to the Synergists. They may experience a form of "withdrawal" when instanced away from the swarm, or have difficulty in social interactions.
Mechanics:
Sleeving into a Cyano "plankton swarm" is more like using an Infomorph server than a real morph (though does still require an Alienation and Integration check at -30 for Exotic morph, typically) as physical motion of the swarm is limited and more akin to interfacing with bots than moving a limb. The Cyano medium does not run Eidolons, but an Ego distributed onto the Swarm retains individual software plug-ins and upgrades. As it it highly distributed, the Aptitude Maximum for the swarm is 40, but due to semi-biological neural media Cyanos are immune to traditional brain hacking - at least from outside the swarm itself.
Plankton Swarms blend the rules between swarms and servers. They operate under standard mechanics for Swarms, as per Transhuman and X-Risks. In their standard volume, they can hold 5 Egos normally, and have a DUR of 30. Each additional "unit" of swarm adds 15 DUR and doubles the amount of Egos the swarm can hold. Should they need to move, the swarm has a speed of 2/8 Submarine, but take -30 to Swimming tests to oppose strong currents, and may even be damaged by them as a normal swarm would be Wind. The physical swarm comes equipped with 360 Degree Vision, Enhanced Hearing, Mental Speed and naturally Swarm Composition normally, and can be equipped with any Swarmanoid only enhancements (as cyberware) and bio, cyber or nanoware allowed to Swarmanoid morphs as seen in Swarmanoid Enhancements (p. 213 Transhuman). Additionally, the way the swarm is constructed means all egos in it gain a benefit akin to Parallel Processing, offering teamwork bonuses automatically and granting +5 COG to all users, but reducing TT by 1. Typically, Cyanos add Nanophages, and some combination of Eelware, Injectors or Poison Glands for defense.
Saturday, January 28, 2017
Le Monde
"We are the world. The world will be ours."
OPEN AETHER JABBER
A: I'm getting some weird hits on my searches lately. Can you redpill me on what "Le Monde" is?
A: Besides French.
B: Yeah, okay. Let's get some basic stuff. You tell me if you need more.
A: Sure.
B: So, Le Monde appeared a couple years back on Venus in some iconography and deep mesh stuff. We tied them to a couple of acts of corporate terrorism, some kiddie-tier meme stuff and a few exclusive events.
A: Just that?
B: Yeah - see, as far as we know Le Monde is an exclusive organization of the rich and powerful who have decided to settle on Venus. They have organized into a covert structure and are attempting to directly influence policy in the Morningstar Confederacy and push that to wider influence in the solar system.
A: So that sounds like it could be bad news.
B: Well, it still isn't great news, but here's the kicker. As far as we know, despite being a resource rich conspiracy with solid connections - they don't seem to have any detailed intel on other X-Risk or covert organizations, and no advanced or deep knowledge on our key target issues.
A: Wait, so they're an Illuminati-type organization, who doesn't know about other secret conspiracies?
B: And they think they're the first people to have this idea.
A: Ugh, I can feel a headache coming on now. Do we have anything concrete?
B: Not much. They are good at secrecy, but nobody has scanned up any data that they pose any serious risk so we also haven't taken any concern to try real hard to penetrate their organization.
B: I'll send you the report GLASS LICH has collected link
A: Thanks. I'll look over it and see if I need to dig any deeper, maybe put a Sentinel unit on it.
END AETHER JABBER
Le Monde is a bit of an outlier, and quite frankly, an enigma. While their effectiveness and resourcefulness may be limited, secrecy is something they are decent at. The term "Le Monde" or any variations on the translation of "The World" started appearing a few years back, 8-12 months after the formation of the Morningstar Confederacy. Mostly these appear in government or hypercorp officials or the rich and famous corresponding with each other - asking obvious questions like "what is Le Monde?". These communications were not as secure as their providers would probably have liked, which enabled Firewall to track them down later. The first real contact this organization had with them were a couple of connected incidents. Several anti-Consortium bombings occurred in a couple of habitats, mostly focused on protest of indentured rights or other such lines. While suicide forks were used, Firewall was able to access and skim copies of the original terrorist's Ego, which involved some mentions of Le Monde as the triggering organization. Focus for stronger Venusian independence and "nationalism" flared in Octavia and Aphrodite Prime briefly, using a slogan now associated with Le Monde; "We are the world. The world is ours." This fervor quickly died off after it failed to find a real direction to move in.
After that, hits of Le Monde died down, but occasionally flare up - usually in deep mesh connections, observations of private functions or elements of their ethos showing up in viral marketing or memetic warfare campaigns. Based on fairly in-depth analysis by Firewall, we have come to some conclusions:
OPEN AETHER JABBER
A: I'm getting some weird hits on my searches lately. Can you redpill me on what "Le Monde" is?
A: Besides French.
B: Yeah, okay. Let's get some basic stuff. You tell me if you need more.
A: Sure.
B: So, Le Monde appeared a couple years back on Venus in some iconography and deep mesh stuff. We tied them to a couple of acts of corporate terrorism, some kiddie-tier meme stuff and a few exclusive events.
A: Just that?
B: Yeah - see, as far as we know Le Monde is an exclusive organization of the rich and powerful who have decided to settle on Venus. They have organized into a covert structure and are attempting to directly influence policy in the Morningstar Confederacy and push that to wider influence in the solar system.
A: So that sounds like it could be bad news.
B: Well, it still isn't great news, but here's the kicker. As far as we know, despite being a resource rich conspiracy with solid connections - they don't seem to have any detailed intel on other X-Risk or covert organizations, and no advanced or deep knowledge on our key target issues.
A: Wait, so they're an Illuminati-type organization, who doesn't know about other secret conspiracies?
B: And they think they're the first people to have this idea.
A: Ugh, I can feel a headache coming on now. Do we have anything concrete?
B: Not much. They are good at secrecy, but nobody has scanned up any data that they pose any serious risk so we also haven't taken any concern to try real hard to penetrate their organization.
B: I'll send you the report GLASS LICH has collected link
A: Thanks. I'll look over it and see if I need to dig any deeper, maybe put a Sentinel unit on it.
END AETHER JABBER
Le Monde is a bit of an outlier, and quite frankly, an enigma. While their effectiveness and resourcefulness may be limited, secrecy is something they are decent at. The term "Le Monde" or any variations on the translation of "The World" started appearing a few years back, 8-12 months after the formation of the Morningstar Confederacy. Mostly these appear in government or hypercorp officials or the rich and famous corresponding with each other - asking obvious questions like "what is Le Monde?". These communications were not as secure as their providers would probably have liked, which enabled Firewall to track them down later. The first real contact this organization had with them were a couple of connected incidents. Several anti-Consortium bombings occurred in a couple of habitats, mostly focused on protest of indentured rights or other such lines. While suicide forks were used, Firewall was able to access and skim copies of the original terrorist's Ego, which involved some mentions of Le Monde as the triggering organization. Focus for stronger Venusian independence and "nationalism" flared in Octavia and Aphrodite Prime briefly, using a slogan now associated with Le Monde; "We are the world. The world is ours." This fervor quickly died off after it failed to find a real direction to move in.
After that, hits of Le Monde died down, but occasionally flare up - usually in deep mesh connections, observations of private functions or elements of their ethos showing up in viral marketing or memetic warfare campaigns. Based on fairly in-depth analysis by Firewall, we have come to some conclusions:
- "Le Monde" is a conspiracy, for lack of a better term, made up by members of the highly placed or influential in the Morningstar Confederacy. Founding membership appear to have been oligarch interests who sided with Venusian independance.
- Their goals are vague, but seem focused on strengthening Venus and consolidating them as a more powerful influence on the Solar System, with Le Monde obviously being the "behind the scenes" aspect.
- Their operations and organizational structure are not directly known, secrecy is their priority and they seem to be willing to work long term but are prone to opportunistic "attacks" which could be seen as rash. Their efforts and methodology are callous and any respect for actual virtues appears to be feigned for greater political power.
- As far as can be known, Le Monde has no deeper knowledge of The Fall or X-Risks than the public. They have no knowledge of Project OZMA, Firewall or the efforts of certain other intelligence agencies. They do not know about the Exsurgent Virus, they have no known connections to the Factors, are not connected to any Pandora gates or exoplanet operations and in generally operate like some "illuminati" out of a pulp novel, unaware of the broader scope of things.
This means that while Le Monde is technically dangerous, what they can actually accomplish seems very limited. They act like they are incredibly powerful, far-reaching and knowledgeable but they also lack critical intel which would make them a real System-scale threat. Firewall has yet to task any servers or Sentinel teams to investigate the group, but does regularly keep efforts to track them and identify their operations.
Le Monde does at least appear to exercise basic tradecraft. They meet in secret using cutouts and middlemen backed by ungodly amounts of cash which trumps the Venusian enthusiasm for transparency. They have obtained darknet connections to network in secret, utilize physical media to transmit intel and orders and avoid permanent electronic communication. They try and use code names or phrases to allude to things without explicitly saying them. Agents who engage in "closed fist" tactics tend to utilize suicide forks with original operatives not knowing details. Their "open fist" tactics into social engineering are subtle and often involve public elements who are unaware of their true nature. Even if Morningstar had a decent intelligence apparatus there is no way they could get anything actionable on the organization - legally anyway.
Firewall, not being bound by petty concepts of local ordinance and legal codes, has found a few actionable things and managed to get some starter leads and hooks into the organization. As noted above, they have two kinds of operations. "Closed" means hard operations, usually with body counts, property damage and shock value. "Open" means a soft operation, something with multiple levels of cover which is intended to have low key, long-term effects. A "gloved" operation means the use of a middleman, third-party or other external asset. A "ungloved" operation means one of their agents acts directly, and these appear to be rare. What their operations actually entail is fairly varied. Terrorism, blackmail, assassination and theft are not unknown to them - but they also orchestrate elaborate charity events, fund political campaigns, found or buy out companies, etc. All generally seems to lead in their direction though, of growing Le Monde's influence on Venus and helping the Morningstar Confederacy shore up and grow in influence in wider system politics.
They've attacked Consortium-backed hypercorps, undermined pro-Consortium politicians and tried to promote attitudes which run in parallel to the politics of the Consortium. They also stir up opposition to the attitudes of other major polities - playing up their differences with other groups - the Bioconservatism and discrimination of the Jovian Republic and LLA, alternate terraforming and plan for infugees from Martian or Barsoomian groups, and their generally non-socialist or enforced participation from the Commonwealth. They also tend to make more divides against the AA - often staging their efforts to look like Autonomist radicals or outer system influences to get a double-header on their operations. Exact long-term goals are unknown, but presumably Le Monde won't be satisfied until Morningstar is the premier power in the Solar System, with they as their shadowy backers. Concerns they may turn to dangerous methods in their operations persist though there is yet to be evidence of it, and Firewall is poised to act should it become clear they are gathering such resources.
Internal organization appears to mostly be vague and deliberately mutable. Some people who work for Le Monde have no idea the organization exists. Other operatives are fanatics who think they are vital to the conspiracy - but are really just small local friendlies who allow other operations to exist. In classic cell-like fashion, most agents only know of their individual cells or operations, and of a handler. Handlers themselves may be small time agents who are in turn handled, or they may be high ranking directors. However, other than dividing knowledge Le Monde advocates itself as a organization of "equals" even if this is not the case, and there appears to be no formal ranking system. Firewall has, however, managed to sketch out the top of their pyramid scheme of leadership; Le Monde is headed by an executive council of some sort. How exactly they formed or determine membership is unknown, but each holder of a seat on this council is their highest ranking operative on a particular Aerostat or hab, who knows all aspects of the operation and is well hidden and highly influential. Firewall has determined that there are nine seats on the council currently, though not all councilors have been identified. The council meet regularly to discuss operations, though their schedule is erratic to avoid patterns.
Here are the identified members:
- The Hierophant. Seat: Octavia. Their true identity is unknown, but Firewall has tracked this alias to Octavia and believes they are one of the original founders of Le Monde and may be the original conspirator behind the entire organization. They are regarded as the most senior member of their council, and often looked to for guidance or direction on operations. It is currently theorized they must be part of some oligarch dynasty who settled on Venus and pushed for independence.
- Oceane Comtois. Seat: Etemenanki. Alias "Siren", Comtois is Le Monde's mole in the Planetary Consortium. Her holdings remain with the PC and she has significant influence on the PC politicians and corps who work with Venus. Not even her family knows her proper allegiance. It is thought she was personally recruited and mentored by the Hierophant - but her youth and inexperience mean she's one of the easiest seats to track.
- Mercy. Seat: Parvarti. Mercy has been physically ID'd several times, but utilizes forks or disposable morphs for meetings, meaning her true identity and appearance have not yet been found. Mercy is known to be a significant holder in the council who operates Parvarti, who provides cover and privacy for many meetings and operations, gathers intel and blackmail material from that aerostat and also seems to provide disposable bodies for the group's operations.
- David Stringer. Seat: Gerlach. Alias "Proletariat", Stringer is a forged identity, apparently assumed by a backer of the organization. His original ID is not known, but in his capacity as Stringer, he is a radical who pushes for stronger Venusian independance and forceful expulsion of the Consortium - playing to Autonomist sympathies on Gerlach. Stringer often provides skilled labor for the group, arranging actions with anarchist guerrillas or terrorists to get what Le Monde wants.
- Helel. Seat: Lucifer. Helel is more cautious than most of the directorate. They only appear via hologram or AR avatar - in an obviously fictional guise as some kind of angelic being. It is probable they are in some position which would be difficult to leave to meet physically, or otherwise would harm their cover. Helel is Le Monde's contact with indentures and heavy industry on Venus. They frequently report on productivity of surface mines, and several of their operations have involved charity toward indentures or former indentures - believed to be an effort to promote Venus as an ideal place to be re-instantiated.
Plot Hooks and Options:
- The Hierophant is actually an advanced AGI or even ASI (such as a TITAN or Sibyl) which has settled on Venus and built Le Monde to ensure it has a safe place to exist and operate. It's super-intelligence allows it to stay secret and gather many resources, but it's lack of understanding into human nature is why operations are fairly erratic
- Le Monde is actually a front for Project OZMA, who will build them up then expose them in order to bring Venus back into the fold of the Planetary Consortium
- Le Monde is a cover for some sect of the Factors, exploiting one of the newest and weakest factions of Transhumanity to gain a foothold for unknown purposes.
- Oceane is a proper double-agent, she reports to a group like Project OZMA, Oversight or an individual hypercorp as well, waiting to exploit Le Monde for their own purposes.
- Le Monde is exactly as it seems - an organization of arrogant oligarchs who assume they are the true power in the Solar System and unaware of the depth of Existential Threats out there. How will they react if they stumble into a wider world?
Using Le Monde:
Le Monde is an interesting case for a GM. They are styled as a classic "illuminati" or "new world order" organization in a government where they could easily fit in without being swept up into one of the larger organizations already detailed in the setting. But Eclipse Phase is a transhuman game of conspiracy and horror - not a some 20th century thriller or early cyberpunk work. Characterizing yourself in such an old-fashioned way puts you behind the curve of operations like Ozma, Firewall and many intelligence agencies. The fact that Venus lacks their own such organization is all that keeps Le Monde alive. That and their incredibly vast amount of wealth and contacts. The GM can play with these tropes and concepts. Le Monde might be a real threat, a covert organization who through their actions can spread insidious influence on Venus and destabilize other polities. Or maybe they are an unwitting cover for an actual conspiracy with real X-Risk teeth Firewall has to take care of. Or their arrogant incompetence is so great, they can endanger the fragile balance of power between MC and PC and might cause conflicts which would greatly destabilize Transhumanity as a whole. In a non-Firewall game, Le Monde might even act as a good villain, a potent conspiracy subverting values of democracy and transparency to create their own worldview on Venus and the wider system, perfect for a game focused on crime or politics on Venus. Or, player characters could even be agents of Le Monde who accidentally bumble into this wider world of X-Risks and the real dangers they pose to everyone, not just the backyard conspiracy on Venus.
Friday, January 27, 2017
Corporations #2
Here is another batch of off-the-cuff Hypercorp ideas you can include in a game.
AEON APPAREL
Major Industries: Apparel, High Fashion
Aeon is a clothing company based on Luna. They were originally a subsidiary of a larger megacorp, but after the Fall their parent company dissolved, and they were able to strike out on their own. Aeon's aesthetic is "Future" - whatever clothing they produce, from unisex utilitarian jumpsuits (ideal for spacers) to classic long coats and tight pants or ethnic wear, is influenced by the past couple centuries' thoughts of the future. Things are shiny, clean with a slight flare for monochrome colors and body-fitting designs, with luminescence strategically inserted. Aeon is notable for their minimal use of nanofabrication, preferring by hand manufacture using indentured Synths. This has led to many Outer System polities boycotting their clothing, but also an interesting uptick in imports to the Jovian Republic. Their logo is an "AA" which has been stylized by calligraphy, and is rendered in prismatic colors.
COLONIAL CORPORATION
Major Industries: Asteroid Mining, Prospecting
Colonial Corp was a small startup business in near-Earth asteroid mining originally. Because most of their business was done off-planet, the company was able to survive the Fall, and sold a lot of their mining rights or product to larger hypercorps afterward. This left them a lot of capital to move to the more lucrative and less labor intense work of asteroid prospecting, which they hire several contractors to perform in the Inner Fringes. In addition to mining and prospecting however, there are consistent rumors that the current CEO (the son of the previous CEO who died on Earth) has an interest in "long-term" preservation of transhumanity, and has poured massive money into data and cryogenic storage facilities in otherwise resource-poor asteroids. Their logo is c2.
KLEIN FABRICATION
Major Industries: Aerospace
Klein Fabrication started as a privatized conglomerate of several aerospace programs in eastern asian countries. They subcontracted many designs and components for a wide variety of ships and habs of all sizes. During the Fall, their physical assets were demolished and much of their funding evaporated without governments to contract. However, their executives survived, and were able to consolidate in the LLA. They do a very small business now servicing their IP - offering repairs and replacement parts for their systems which can be found scattered through all manner of ships. They are also said to have ties to much larger corporations in the Consortium, such as Fa Jing. Klein was briefly famous in some circles for attempting to repossess several Scum Barges they were majority constructors of - which failed spectacularly. Their logo is a "K" stylized to look like a futuristic spacecraft.
MATSUNDAI
Major Industries: Implants, Medicine
Matsundai is an Extropian corp founded by corporate rebels, to provide open sources alternatives for medicines and implants. Their primary market is in traditional medicines, but they also handle some basic pharmaceuticals and medical devices or implants. They have been targeted for corporate warfare by several large conglomerates, which often hurts their bottom line - and recently they had to sell the rights to some of their implant products to morph designers on Extropia in order to stay solvent. That said, Matsundai still operates with their ideals in mind, trying to provide better sources for medicine than many restrictive corporations. Their logo is their name under the Japanese kanji for "to heal".
MAZECURITY
Major Industries: Security, Architecture
Mazecurity is an odd-ball corporation, they specialize in "secured construction and architecture". That is, they help design or overhaul buildings to be more secure and difficult to infiltrate. Their primary market is in basic security devices, such as bug zappers, portal denial systems, slippery walls and false doors. They also offer design and consulting in sensor placement, and building layout, to improve sight-lines or confound intruders. Some workers find their designs too good, and complaints of having to work in a mazecurity secured building are common on CivicNet boards. Mazecurity also has some oddball products, such as armored desks and tables, and strangely waist-high walls. Their logo is a maze with a keyhole in the center.
OUTERLIGHT-SUNDYNE LTD.
Major Industries: Security, Exotic Physics
Outerlight-Sundyne is an curious company. On the top-level, they provide equipment for law enforcement and security services, such as riot shields, body armor, less-lethal or crowd control weapon systems, etc. Their products are even fairly popular. However, the company is generally considered to be not very profitable, as they spend most of their money on an incredibly outlandish R&D budget. Supposedly, this is involved breakthroughs in armor technology, but it is believed to be experiments attempting to recreate TITAN designs for magnetic deflectors and NXRA or anti-Seeker lasers. While this would be a huge boon, many groups are cautious about how they obtain their research material. Intelligence also suggests they are interested in exotic physics phenomena, including possibly Psi abilities - and may have developed certain Psi countermeasure systems one can find if they know the right people. Their logo is a black octagon with "OS" on it.
PERRY GENETIC AGRICULTURAL
Major Industries: Agriculture, Biodesign
PGA is a relatively small corporation who develop transgenic or neogenetic strains of agricultural plants. Their products are mainly developed for yield, efficiency and hardiness so they can be adapted to any number of habitation conditions. Perry primarily makes designs, and only produces their own products for testing or sampling purposes - which is how they avoid problems with much larger companies like Prosperity Group. It is suspected Perry has ties to narcoterrorism in the Inner System, though some of this just appears to be a friendly working relationship with several Scum Swarms who purchase their more exotic products, such as a tomato plant integrated with tobacco. Their logo is the chemical formula for Polyglutamic acid (PGA).
SOUL MOTORS
Major Industries: Synthmorphs
Soul Motors is a bit of an underdog corporation in the LLA, claiming to build synthmorphs "by synths, for synths" - which makes them widely unpopular and socially distasteful among the upper classes, but with strong support from working indentures. As most indentures cannot afford morphs on their own period, their primary market remains in replacement parts and aftermarket additions, but several Lunar corps have attempted to improve relations with workers and working class by buying synthmorphs from SM to sleeve their indentures into. They are also fighting an uphill battle to make Synthmorphs more socially acceptable - and are currently said to be importing advanced designs from the Outer System. They are frequently under government examination for possible ties to groups such as the Steel Liberators - but actually they seem more likely to have the backing of corporations from the Morningstar Confederacy attempting to engage in memetic warfare on Luna. Their logo is a stylized robot face over "SM".
WAVE BREWS
Major Industries: Brewing, Liquor
Wave Brews started as a local Martian microbrew operation started by a few ex-Indentures who were since unemployed. But, reaction XP to their product went viral on the mesh, and they have blown up to a small but respectable company on Mars. They primarily brew or ferment product - though have recently gotten into distillation, and they focus both on low tech methods (to preserve traditional taste and minimize hypercorp interference opportunities) and on high automation - they refuse to employ indentures. Their varieties of beer and sake are most popular, but they also have a notable "Marsshine" brand, and several other liquors. Currently they're having a push to generate enough business to start working inside the Planetary Consortium, dedicated to altering their attitudes from within. Their logo is a stylized wave of an amber color.
WAY-SUN SOCIETY
Major Industries: Construction
Way-Sun is a Venusian corporation originally involved in habitat construction (and notable for their product flops like "space lumber"), until the discovery of the Vulcanoid Gate. From there, Way-Sun made a lateral move into construction and exploration on Exoplanets, with their models of pre-fab construction or subcontracting being popular with certain independent colonization outfits. Way-Sun is known to be owned and backed by a large charity organization who frequently work and donate to help infugees and the corporation is known to undercut indentureship contracts to give workers a "fair shake" and involvement in colonization, though this damages their profitability. Recently however, there have been some rumors that the company chair has taken an interest in xenoarchaeology and is looking to recover and study alien artifacts. Their logo is a gray hex.
AEON APPAREL
Major Industries: Apparel, High Fashion
Aeon is a clothing company based on Luna. They were originally a subsidiary of a larger megacorp, but after the Fall their parent company dissolved, and they were able to strike out on their own. Aeon's aesthetic is "Future" - whatever clothing they produce, from unisex utilitarian jumpsuits (ideal for spacers) to classic long coats and tight pants or ethnic wear, is influenced by the past couple centuries' thoughts of the future. Things are shiny, clean with a slight flare for monochrome colors and body-fitting designs, with luminescence strategically inserted. Aeon is notable for their minimal use of nanofabrication, preferring by hand manufacture using indentured Synths. This has led to many Outer System polities boycotting their clothing, but also an interesting uptick in imports to the Jovian Republic. Their logo is an "AA" which has been stylized by calligraphy, and is rendered in prismatic colors.
COLONIAL CORPORATION
Major Industries: Asteroid Mining, Prospecting
Colonial Corp was a small startup business in near-Earth asteroid mining originally. Because most of their business was done off-planet, the company was able to survive the Fall, and sold a lot of their mining rights or product to larger hypercorps afterward. This left them a lot of capital to move to the more lucrative and less labor intense work of asteroid prospecting, which they hire several contractors to perform in the Inner Fringes. In addition to mining and prospecting however, there are consistent rumors that the current CEO (the son of the previous CEO who died on Earth) has an interest in "long-term" preservation of transhumanity, and has poured massive money into data and cryogenic storage facilities in otherwise resource-poor asteroids. Their logo is c2.
KLEIN FABRICATION
Major Industries: Aerospace
Klein Fabrication started as a privatized conglomerate of several aerospace programs in eastern asian countries. They subcontracted many designs and components for a wide variety of ships and habs of all sizes. During the Fall, their physical assets were demolished and much of their funding evaporated without governments to contract. However, their executives survived, and were able to consolidate in the LLA. They do a very small business now servicing their IP - offering repairs and replacement parts for their systems which can be found scattered through all manner of ships. They are also said to have ties to much larger corporations in the Consortium, such as Fa Jing. Klein was briefly famous in some circles for attempting to repossess several Scum Barges they were majority constructors of - which failed spectacularly. Their logo is a "K" stylized to look like a futuristic spacecraft.
MATSUNDAI
Major Industries: Implants, Medicine
Matsundai is an Extropian corp founded by corporate rebels, to provide open sources alternatives for medicines and implants. Their primary market is in traditional medicines, but they also handle some basic pharmaceuticals and medical devices or implants. They have been targeted for corporate warfare by several large conglomerates, which often hurts their bottom line - and recently they had to sell the rights to some of their implant products to morph designers on Extropia in order to stay solvent. That said, Matsundai still operates with their ideals in mind, trying to provide better sources for medicine than many restrictive corporations. Their logo is their name under the Japanese kanji for "to heal".
MAZECURITY
Major Industries: Security, Architecture
Mazecurity is an odd-ball corporation, they specialize in "secured construction and architecture". That is, they help design or overhaul buildings to be more secure and difficult to infiltrate. Their primary market is in basic security devices, such as bug zappers, portal denial systems, slippery walls and false doors. They also offer design and consulting in sensor placement, and building layout, to improve sight-lines or confound intruders. Some workers find their designs too good, and complaints of having to work in a mazecurity secured building are common on CivicNet boards. Mazecurity also has some oddball products, such as armored desks and tables, and strangely waist-high walls. Their logo is a maze with a keyhole in the center.
OUTERLIGHT-SUNDYNE LTD.
Major Industries: Security, Exotic Physics
Outerlight-Sundyne is an curious company. On the top-level, they provide equipment for law enforcement and security services, such as riot shields, body armor, less-lethal or crowd control weapon systems, etc. Their products are even fairly popular. However, the company is generally considered to be not very profitable, as they spend most of their money on an incredibly outlandish R&D budget. Supposedly, this is involved breakthroughs in armor technology, but it is believed to be experiments attempting to recreate TITAN designs for magnetic deflectors and NXRA or anti-Seeker lasers. While this would be a huge boon, many groups are cautious about how they obtain their research material. Intelligence also suggests they are interested in exotic physics phenomena, including possibly Psi abilities - and may have developed certain Psi countermeasure systems one can find if they know the right people. Their logo is a black octagon with "OS" on it.
PERRY GENETIC AGRICULTURAL
Major Industries: Agriculture, Biodesign
PGA is a relatively small corporation who develop transgenic or neogenetic strains of agricultural plants. Their products are mainly developed for yield, efficiency and hardiness so they can be adapted to any number of habitation conditions. Perry primarily makes designs, and only produces their own products for testing or sampling purposes - which is how they avoid problems with much larger companies like Prosperity Group. It is suspected Perry has ties to narcoterrorism in the Inner System, though some of this just appears to be a friendly working relationship with several Scum Swarms who purchase their more exotic products, such as a tomato plant integrated with tobacco. Their logo is the chemical formula for Polyglutamic acid (PGA).
SOUL MOTORS
Major Industries: Synthmorphs
Soul Motors is a bit of an underdog corporation in the LLA, claiming to build synthmorphs "by synths, for synths" - which makes them widely unpopular and socially distasteful among the upper classes, but with strong support from working indentures. As most indentures cannot afford morphs on their own period, their primary market remains in replacement parts and aftermarket additions, but several Lunar corps have attempted to improve relations with workers and working class by buying synthmorphs from SM to sleeve their indentures into. They are also fighting an uphill battle to make Synthmorphs more socially acceptable - and are currently said to be importing advanced designs from the Outer System. They are frequently under government examination for possible ties to groups such as the Steel Liberators - but actually they seem more likely to have the backing of corporations from the Morningstar Confederacy attempting to engage in memetic warfare on Luna. Their logo is a stylized robot face over "SM".
WAVE BREWS
Major Industries: Brewing, Liquor
Wave Brews started as a local Martian microbrew operation started by a few ex-Indentures who were since unemployed. But, reaction XP to their product went viral on the mesh, and they have blown up to a small but respectable company on Mars. They primarily brew or ferment product - though have recently gotten into distillation, and they focus both on low tech methods (to preserve traditional taste and minimize hypercorp interference opportunities) and on high automation - they refuse to employ indentures. Their varieties of beer and sake are most popular, but they also have a notable "Marsshine" brand, and several other liquors. Currently they're having a push to generate enough business to start working inside the Planetary Consortium, dedicated to altering their attitudes from within. Their logo is a stylized wave of an amber color.
WAY-SUN SOCIETY
Major Industries: Construction
Way-Sun is a Venusian corporation originally involved in habitat construction (and notable for their product flops like "space lumber"), until the discovery of the Vulcanoid Gate. From there, Way-Sun made a lateral move into construction and exploration on Exoplanets, with their models of pre-fab construction or subcontracting being popular with certain independent colonization outfits. Way-Sun is known to be owned and backed by a large charity organization who frequently work and donate to help infugees and the corporation is known to undercut indentureship contracts to give workers a "fair shake" and involvement in colonization, though this damages their profitability. Recently however, there have been some rumors that the company chair has taken an interest in xenoarchaeology and is looking to recover and study alien artifacts. Their logo is a gray hex.
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Bruixeria
"Belief is Power" - Common Bruixeria Saying
"Router, am I researching literal fucking witchcraft?" - Cynical Thomas, Firewall Scanner
Suspicion, rumor, belief. Transhumans pride themselves on being rational and skeptical, but human nature has a fundamental predisposition to mystery and vagary. Humans fear what they don't understand, but are intrigued by the idea that they can learn more. To some, this is nothing, just a fact of how people act - but others seek to use this as the basis for power, to manipulate others and gain resources or respect. This has historical basis in practices of mystery cults or other groups who isolate knowledge to their membership alone.
The origins of the "bruixeria" appear to be from urban legends shared over drinks by the Jovian Diplomatic Corps. Astrosociologists and Anthropologists do agree that the origin of the style appears to be from a counterculture group inside the Jovian Republic - however hard facts about that group and their practices are limited as they appear to operate off the Mesh or networks and mostly via word of mouth, which aids in superstition and reduces government intervention (as some of their activities may be considered terrorism or sedition by the Republic). The term "bruixeria" comes from the old Catalan word for witchcraft, which has strong local mythology which is associated with opposition or activities on traditional Catholic holidays. How the term became widespread is unknown, but the meme has gone through the mesh and is now the common appellation for these groups.
Groups of "bruixeria" are usually called covens or circles, and are localized. They exist in a specific hab, or neighborhood, and on specific darknets on the Mesh. Nobody openly claims to be a bruixeria, anybody who "advertises" is quickly ostracized or disowned. This leads to the one key unifying value which seems to be common to all circles - the idea of the "Legend" or "Story". In general each bruixeria circle performs actions or deeds which resembles many traditional depictions of "witchcraft". Some effects are placebo or otherwise psychological, some are sleight- of-hand or parlor tricks and some are unexplained. But, much like classic stage magicians, a bruix never reveals their secrets. How they do things is a complete "mystery" and must be taken as part of their "art". They do not admit they are witches, they do not acknowledge witchcraft is "real", they simply act and let the Legend do the rest of the work. Journos have attempted interviews and exposes, and have come up with limited effects - mostly talking to cultural experts, "alleged" witches and some clients - and those who dig too deep often suffer mysterious accidents. A common saying is that "bruixeria find you, you do not find them". Even if one meets one directly, they rarely say "I am a witch", but will talk around the subject, let the "client" suppose on their own, and let their actions speak for them.
Operations, rituals and services performed/offered by Bruixeria differ from coven to coven. In religious cultures, depending on their disposition a bruix is a folk healer or teacher - others see them as dangerous subversives working in a contract with evil. When they appear, some witches include the classic pointy hat, often complemented by distracting low necklines and high skirts - others dress in antiquated puritanical fashion, or in exaggerated "witch doctor" costumes, or traditional ethnic gear. In Ceres and Extropia, Bruixeria agents are noted for appearing to be dressed for business, comporting themselves as the "lawyers of hell". In general, however, two classes of activities are noted by investigators. Many in terms of cultural comparison call this "black" or "white", with the traditional "blackhat" or "whitehat" terms used to differentiate sometimes. "Greyhat" is occasionally used to classify a witch who performs either type of service.
"White" witches practice positive rituals or mysteries. They perform many things which fall under the aspect of traditional medicine. They create herbal remedies, pray or "magic" away injury and diagnose with no visible tools. In habs large enough to have weather systems, a witch is said to be able to drive off or bring rain - and even in small habs their rituals can locate or even fix mechanical problems. They perform snake charming or handling as a performance to show their powers. They perform traditional soothsaying and fortune-telling, sensing one's aura or troubles or detecting lies. They can perform "dowsing" to sense valuable resources such as in an asteroid, or in the soil of a planetary body. They may also perform ritual prostitution for a number of purposes. "Black" witches are the other side of things. They can curse or hex people and objects to suffer misfortune and failure. They are said to poison or bring disease, and can steal a person's secrets. They can communicate with and spy via animals - particularly cats or amphibians. Or they might "summon" or create servitors or familiars to do their bidding. They can bewitch a person to do their bidding, or kill with a touch. Other various local legends and rumors persist. Some do perform actions in exchange for goods and services, or nebulous "favors" which were the precursor to the Reputation economy. Others simply appear where "needed" to officer services, adding to the Legend.
In-depth analysis of Bruixeria activities generally reach the same conclusion - though many organizations, communities and governments dismiss them outright as "primitive superstition" or "chicanery and quackery". The general consensus is that bruixeria groups are "hackers" in the classical definition. Services they render and information they gain is done via legitimate means, but is couched between technical skills and social engineering. While some succeed just because the people they interact with believe in their powers, couching things in mystical terms also tends to make more skeptical and "enlightened" people dismiss their activities outright and not look closer. Healing is done via actual herbal medicines, therapeutic techniques and subtle inclusion of medical nanos. Illness or poison is accomplished the same way, using many traditional poisons. Damage or repair to devices or accidents can be arranged by subverting networks or applying cautious physical sabotage. Spying via animals is easy if an animal has been covertly equipped to be a biodrone. Simple training can allow one to detect classical tells or signs of somebody's problems, as can mesh research. Implants can cover a multitude of actions which those who lack them cannot identify, such as "bewitching" via Hither or Enhanced Pheromones, or being able to see a person naked while clothed via T-Rays when the subject lacks their own mods to detect them. To Firewall, it is possible some bruixes are Asyncs, and thus their psi powers are the source of unexplained phenomena, which defy even the traditional scientific understanding of transhumanity. Their use of spirituality, mysticism and non-standard religion allows them to operate in ways or places which they wouldn't otherwise, and excuse activities which might otherwise be suspect.
Membership in bruixeria varies. Some are members of an obvious counterculture. Others seem to be keeping alive certain traditions and histories in a new context. Others use the secrecy and mysticism as a source of empowerment, or creating new opportunity. Others are just classical personalities who favor altruism or seek to harm others. Small criminal outfits may incorporate aspects of the bruixeria "Legend" to cover their activities or enhance their reputation. Some legitimate specialists might adopt the styling as a marketing move or a form of cultural roleplay. While "witch" has connotations of women in many traditions, there appears to be no enforcement that men or women may be bruixeria, though some covens may enforce a feminine appearance as part of their mystique. Recruitment runs a gamut too, though the general conclusion is that cannot officially "choose" to be a bruixeria, they must be selected and taught by somebody already initiated and who has graduated to show some level of mastery of their craft. In reality though, a new coven may be started by the uninitiated who claim the mythology, being part of the "Legend". Other than the general attitude on secrecy, there seems to be very little enforcement or quality control on the concept. Bruixeria have no formal networking, but the "initiated" generally can find and figure out one another, and seem to practice a form of "professional courtesy". In many communities who are made of refugees or cultural pockets with strong beliefs, bruixeria are as real as anything - though only the most isolated and devoutly religious perform "witch hunts". In more technological societies, those who have much cultural baggage, more intense integration of technology or who generally purport themselves to be rational or scientific, bruixeria are not acknowledged but may be accepted as a simple performance art or lifestyle choice. Skepticism reduces "business", but the fact that they often accomplish concrete actions despite their apparent smoke-and-mirrors may keep "demand" up.
Firewall has few concerns about Bruixeria as a whole, but may have concerns about specific cells. As noted above, possibility of Async activity is real. Given the culture of secrecy and mysticism, it might be possible for exsurgents or other TITAN agents to operate among them, working on sinister goals of their own and using the spirituality as a cover. Charlatans might also utilize TITAN or alien tech to further their mystical appearance. Others in Firewall have concerns about the regression inherent in this style of operating, with isolation of institutional knowledge and a mystical air to cloak what is actually occurring - and worry about widespread of this practice (which as of yet seems unlikely). Stability-minded agents also note some of these circles are little more than dressed up criminal syndicates or counter-cultural terrorist orgs. While their reach may be small, conventional crime always can present a localized risk the conspiracy does not need. And, while remote, there is always the non-zero possibility that one of these groups has or could acquire hitherto unknown knowledge or technology and integrate it into their practices. Their secretive nature means that isolating and studying such breakthroughs would be difficult, which worries certain projects and case files. This is generally considered to be an extreme outlier case, however.
"Router, am I researching literal fucking witchcraft?" - Cynical Thomas, Firewall Scanner
Suspicion, rumor, belief. Transhumans pride themselves on being rational and skeptical, but human nature has a fundamental predisposition to mystery and vagary. Humans fear what they don't understand, but are intrigued by the idea that they can learn more. To some, this is nothing, just a fact of how people act - but others seek to use this as the basis for power, to manipulate others and gain resources or respect. This has historical basis in practices of mystery cults or other groups who isolate knowledge to their membership alone.
The origins of the "bruixeria" appear to be from urban legends shared over drinks by the Jovian Diplomatic Corps. Astrosociologists and Anthropologists do agree that the origin of the style appears to be from a counterculture group inside the Jovian Republic - however hard facts about that group and their practices are limited as they appear to operate off the Mesh or networks and mostly via word of mouth, which aids in superstition and reduces government intervention (as some of their activities may be considered terrorism or sedition by the Republic). The term "bruixeria" comes from the old Catalan word for witchcraft, which has strong local mythology which is associated with opposition or activities on traditional Catholic holidays. How the term became widespread is unknown, but the meme has gone through the mesh and is now the common appellation for these groups.
Groups of "bruixeria" are usually called covens or circles, and are localized. They exist in a specific hab, or neighborhood, and on specific darknets on the Mesh. Nobody openly claims to be a bruixeria, anybody who "advertises" is quickly ostracized or disowned. This leads to the one key unifying value which seems to be common to all circles - the idea of the "Legend" or "Story". In general each bruixeria circle performs actions or deeds which resembles many traditional depictions of "witchcraft". Some effects are placebo or otherwise psychological, some are sleight- of-hand or parlor tricks and some are unexplained. But, much like classic stage magicians, a bruix never reveals their secrets. How they do things is a complete "mystery" and must be taken as part of their "art". They do not admit they are witches, they do not acknowledge witchcraft is "real", they simply act and let the Legend do the rest of the work. Journos have attempted interviews and exposes, and have come up with limited effects - mostly talking to cultural experts, "alleged" witches and some clients - and those who dig too deep often suffer mysterious accidents. A common saying is that "bruixeria find you, you do not find them". Even if one meets one directly, they rarely say "I am a witch", but will talk around the subject, let the "client" suppose on their own, and let their actions speak for them.
Operations, rituals and services performed/offered by Bruixeria differ from coven to coven. In religious cultures, depending on their disposition a bruix is a folk healer or teacher - others see them as dangerous subversives working in a contract with evil. When they appear, some witches include the classic pointy hat, often complemented by distracting low necklines and high skirts - others dress in antiquated puritanical fashion, or in exaggerated "witch doctor" costumes, or traditional ethnic gear. In Ceres and Extropia, Bruixeria agents are noted for appearing to be dressed for business, comporting themselves as the "lawyers of hell". In general, however, two classes of activities are noted by investigators. Many in terms of cultural comparison call this "black" or "white", with the traditional "blackhat" or "whitehat" terms used to differentiate sometimes. "Greyhat" is occasionally used to classify a witch who performs either type of service.
"White" witches practice positive rituals or mysteries. They perform many things which fall under the aspect of traditional medicine. They create herbal remedies, pray or "magic" away injury and diagnose with no visible tools. In habs large enough to have weather systems, a witch is said to be able to drive off or bring rain - and even in small habs their rituals can locate or even fix mechanical problems. They perform snake charming or handling as a performance to show their powers. They perform traditional soothsaying and fortune-telling, sensing one's aura or troubles or detecting lies. They can perform "dowsing" to sense valuable resources such as in an asteroid, or in the soil of a planetary body. They may also perform ritual prostitution for a number of purposes. "Black" witches are the other side of things. They can curse or hex people and objects to suffer misfortune and failure. They are said to poison or bring disease, and can steal a person's secrets. They can communicate with and spy via animals - particularly cats or amphibians. Or they might "summon" or create servitors or familiars to do their bidding. They can bewitch a person to do their bidding, or kill with a touch. Other various local legends and rumors persist. Some do perform actions in exchange for goods and services, or nebulous "favors" which were the precursor to the Reputation economy. Others simply appear where "needed" to officer services, adding to the Legend.
In-depth analysis of Bruixeria activities generally reach the same conclusion - though many organizations, communities and governments dismiss them outright as "primitive superstition" or "chicanery and quackery". The general consensus is that bruixeria groups are "hackers" in the classical definition. Services they render and information they gain is done via legitimate means, but is couched between technical skills and social engineering. While some succeed just because the people they interact with believe in their powers, couching things in mystical terms also tends to make more skeptical and "enlightened" people dismiss their activities outright and not look closer. Healing is done via actual herbal medicines, therapeutic techniques and subtle inclusion of medical nanos. Illness or poison is accomplished the same way, using many traditional poisons. Damage or repair to devices or accidents can be arranged by subverting networks or applying cautious physical sabotage. Spying via animals is easy if an animal has been covertly equipped to be a biodrone. Simple training can allow one to detect classical tells or signs of somebody's problems, as can mesh research. Implants can cover a multitude of actions which those who lack them cannot identify, such as "bewitching" via Hither or Enhanced Pheromones, or being able to see a person naked while clothed via T-Rays when the subject lacks their own mods to detect them. To Firewall, it is possible some bruixes are Asyncs, and thus their psi powers are the source of unexplained phenomena, which defy even the traditional scientific understanding of transhumanity. Their use of spirituality, mysticism and non-standard religion allows them to operate in ways or places which they wouldn't otherwise, and excuse activities which might otherwise be suspect.
Membership in bruixeria varies. Some are members of an obvious counterculture. Others seem to be keeping alive certain traditions and histories in a new context. Others use the secrecy and mysticism as a source of empowerment, or creating new opportunity. Others are just classical personalities who favor altruism or seek to harm others. Small criminal outfits may incorporate aspects of the bruixeria "Legend" to cover their activities or enhance their reputation. Some legitimate specialists might adopt the styling as a marketing move or a form of cultural roleplay. While "witch" has connotations of women in many traditions, there appears to be no enforcement that men or women may be bruixeria, though some covens may enforce a feminine appearance as part of their mystique. Recruitment runs a gamut too, though the general conclusion is that cannot officially "choose" to be a bruixeria, they must be selected and taught by somebody already initiated and who has graduated to show some level of mastery of their craft. In reality though, a new coven may be started by the uninitiated who claim the mythology, being part of the "Legend". Other than the general attitude on secrecy, there seems to be very little enforcement or quality control on the concept. Bruixeria have no formal networking, but the "initiated" generally can find and figure out one another, and seem to practice a form of "professional courtesy". In many communities who are made of refugees or cultural pockets with strong beliefs, bruixeria are as real as anything - though only the most isolated and devoutly religious perform "witch hunts". In more technological societies, those who have much cultural baggage, more intense integration of technology or who generally purport themselves to be rational or scientific, bruixeria are not acknowledged but may be accepted as a simple performance art or lifestyle choice. Skepticism reduces "business", but the fact that they often accomplish concrete actions despite their apparent smoke-and-mirrors may keep "demand" up.
Firewall has few concerns about Bruixeria as a whole, but may have concerns about specific cells. As noted above, possibility of Async activity is real. Given the culture of secrecy and mysticism, it might be possible for exsurgents or other TITAN agents to operate among them, working on sinister goals of their own and using the spirituality as a cover. Charlatans might also utilize TITAN or alien tech to further their mystical appearance. Others in Firewall have concerns about the regression inherent in this style of operating, with isolation of institutional knowledge and a mystical air to cloak what is actually occurring - and worry about widespread of this practice (which as of yet seems unlikely). Stability-minded agents also note some of these circles are little more than dressed up criminal syndicates or counter-cultural terrorist orgs. While their reach may be small, conventional crime always can present a localized risk the conspiracy does not need. And, while remote, there is always the non-zero possibility that one of these groups has or could acquire hitherto unknown knowledge or technology and integrate it into their practices. Their secretive nature means that isolating and studying such breakthroughs would be difficult, which worries certain projects and case files. This is generally considered to be an extreme outlier case, however.
Thursday, January 12, 2017
"New Year" Swarm
Calendar Years are a little bit of a complex issue in the Post-Fall world. Earth's standard year, the amount of time a full revolution around the sun, is still considered a fairly standard measurement of time, and while geocentric has the advantage that most transhuman cultures can wrap their head around it. Additionally, once you get out beyond Mars, most objects have a very long orbital period - thus rendering their "years" particularly long and not very useful for celebrating or marking time. The LLA officially follows the standard Gregorian calendar, though some have proposed Lunar calendars as there are no seasons for those orbiting the Earth. The Venusian and Martian calendars are of practical length to mark and keep, and are observed by locals - on Mars because seasonal tilt actually matters, and on Venus marking a year is less time than marking a local day. As 44 Nysa has an orbital period of almost 4 standard years, some have tried to get an "Extropian" calendar going, but little success other than as a basic marketing tactic. Some outer system moons have developed local lunar calendars based on twelve "months" of complete rotations around the host planet - but similarly these are of little note besides some local celebrations and attempt at neo-culture. Cultural calendars like the Chinese, Hindi, Islamic or Jewish Calendars are observed by cultural adherents throughout the system.
And, there is one group who claims to observe them all. The "New Year" Swarm is a Scum Swarm who wander the cosmos, under the oath to celebrate every new year, regardless of calendar, and hopefully celebrate it where it takes place. Founded by a mixed bag of evacuee cultures, the swarm was founded under the idea that it's members were so glad that they has survived and that others had too, they wished to celebrate the diaspora of Transhumanity and all her cultures. They've hit several new years in the Inner System, and are currently working their way beyond the main belt to hit the Jovian new year, though the Jovian Republic is somewhat concerned. Easygoing, convivial and celebratory even by Scum standards, New Year is a remarkably positively regarded enclave - probably because they are incredibly accepting and multicultural (and alcohol flows like water wherever they go). While they cannot physically hit every year due to scheduling concerns, they keep rigorous time to celebrate years internally, and usually ship or egocast a few members to the orbital body in question to pipe back XP of local conditions or celebrations. They also make decent trading, as for their many new year celebrations they produce in-house a number of alcohols, foodstuffs and "traditional" knick-knacks in addition to the ever-popular fireworks.
The Swarm's LaFrance rig is called Zodiac, and features a wide variety of mobile ships and modules for many different parties, prep for parties and individual crafts - as well as conventional recreation. Brand New Day is their primary scum barge, which is where a lot of the swarm members live, and has the most open "common" area where celebrations take place and much trading with groups they pass by is done. Two repurposed cargo haulers make up the rest of the bulk of the swarm, Red Door and Resolution - which act as supply storage, makeshift habitation or passenger space and handle most of the Swarm's manufacturing and micrograv agriculture needs. Various tugs, salvage ships and long range shuttles accompany the swarm, with names relative to specific calendars (Like Gregorian, Martian and Venusian) or named for various date-keeping holidays (like Chunjie, Rosh Hashanah or Calennig). There are also a few informal societies and collectives on the Swarm. The Timekeepers handle maintenance and ship logistics, keeping everything fueled and operating on schedule - and are remarkably uptight and precise by Scum standards. The Shambalan Alchemists are a collective of VFX nerds, chemists and demolitions experts responsible for coordinating the signature fireworks and other visual displays. Let Them Eat Cake handle feeding everyone and mostly operate out of Resolution, while Wheel of the Year are the social angle - coordinating with visitors and sending emissaries out to visit other celebrations and maintaining the Swarm's rep on @-list.
Plot Hooks:
And, there is one group who claims to observe them all. The "New Year" Swarm is a Scum Swarm who wander the cosmos, under the oath to celebrate every new year, regardless of calendar, and hopefully celebrate it where it takes place. Founded by a mixed bag of evacuee cultures, the swarm was founded under the idea that it's members were so glad that they has survived and that others had too, they wished to celebrate the diaspora of Transhumanity and all her cultures. They've hit several new years in the Inner System, and are currently working their way beyond the main belt to hit the Jovian new year, though the Jovian Republic is somewhat concerned. Easygoing, convivial and celebratory even by Scum standards, New Year is a remarkably positively regarded enclave - probably because they are incredibly accepting and multicultural (and alcohol flows like water wherever they go). While they cannot physically hit every year due to scheduling concerns, they keep rigorous time to celebrate years internally, and usually ship or egocast a few members to the orbital body in question to pipe back XP of local conditions or celebrations. They also make decent trading, as for their many new year celebrations they produce in-house a number of alcohols, foodstuffs and "traditional" knick-knacks in addition to the ever-popular fireworks.
The Swarm's LaFrance rig is called Zodiac, and features a wide variety of mobile ships and modules for many different parties, prep for parties and individual crafts - as well as conventional recreation. Brand New Day is their primary scum barge, which is where a lot of the swarm members live, and has the most open "common" area where celebrations take place and much trading with groups they pass by is done. Two repurposed cargo haulers make up the rest of the bulk of the swarm, Red Door and Resolution - which act as supply storage, makeshift habitation or passenger space and handle most of the Swarm's manufacturing and micrograv agriculture needs. Various tugs, salvage ships and long range shuttles accompany the swarm, with names relative to specific calendars (Like Gregorian, Martian and Venusian) or named for various date-keeping holidays (like Chunjie, Rosh Hashanah or Calennig). There are also a few informal societies and collectives on the Swarm. The Timekeepers handle maintenance and ship logistics, keeping everything fueled and operating on schedule - and are remarkably uptight and precise by Scum standards. The Shambalan Alchemists are a collective of VFX nerds, chemists and demolitions experts responsible for coordinating the signature fireworks and other visual displays. Let Them Eat Cake handle feeding everyone and mostly operate out of Resolution, while Wheel of the Year are the social angle - coordinating with visitors and sending emissaries out to visit other celebrations and maintaining the Swarm's rep on @-list.
Plot Hooks:
- Spurred on by wine snobs on the Mesh that their Champagne isn't really Champagne (because the Champagne region is destroyed), the New Year Swarm seeks to send some scavengers to Earth to recover French soil so they can develop proper Champagne.
- The Jovian Republic is trepidatious about the swarm approaching for the new Jovian Year. As relaxed as they are, this is not normally how they operate, so JR has sent an interdiction fleet to "wave off" the Swarm.
- The "master alchemist" has made what he thinks will be the most brilliant and complex firework ever. He has since passed out drunk and lost his formula notes somewhere in the sprawling tunnels and connector tubes of Zodiac and needs someone to retrieve them.
- Back-channels on the Swarm have tried to gather radioactive materials for some project - alerting security services. But, it is not a terrorist plot, but rather plans to build a new precision atomic clock.
Sunday, January 8, 2017
Cloud Reavers
Ceres, the dwarf planet, is the largest body in the Main Belt and thus the single largest planetary body between the Mars and Jupiter orbits. Still relatively small, it possesses a surface gravity of about .029 g, which is less than Luna, but still sufficient to cause objects to drift or cling toward the surface unless sufficiently powered. Ceres also has a relatively warm max temperature in the "day" of about -38 C, though the average is more like -100 C. Most of this is often irrelevant, as a majority of the action of Ceres lies in the "Hidden Sea", the massive ocean below the 100 km mantle of ice, a region roughly 20 km deep before hitting the rocky core. The Hidden Sea has its own hazards, being under pressure of about 200 atm at it's highest level, and as strong as 2,500 atm at its depths. It's also too cold for normal transhumans under most circumstances, being about -20 C at the upper level and getting warmer from there, and also contains relatively unpleasant levels of salt, ammonia and sulfur. Generally, this means most biomorphs need to be adapted with Hydrostatic Adaptation, Improved Cold and Toxin Filter mods to survive. Total population of Ceres is documented at about 1 million.
Ceres' surface also has a very thin "atmosphere" of water and other vapor as ice works up through the crust and is sublimated by solar radiation, forming low hanging fog banks and penitente formations on the night side. This is interesting to note because the Cerean Transcrustal Authority (CTA) regulates all water trade from the Hidden Sea below the rock and ice layers, and their masters the Hidden Concern are known to harass surface operations for their cut of the profits. Because of this, a small class of red market operators exist who harvest water from the surface without long-term mining operations, using the short sight lines of the dwarf planet to avoid detection. Generally referred to as "vaporators", "sunshiners" or "niebla pirata", they are considered a nuisance both by local governance and independent operators, due to the fact that these are often desperadoes with similarities to Carbon Reaver pirates out in the Jovian Trojans. Occasionally, the more aggressive strain of these are called "Fog Men" or "Cloud Reavers" for specificity. They're common in the Gerber and Samhain Catenae, or the Niman Rupes regions.
Standard operations for this sort of outfit is mobile, usually based out of an Outsystem Hover, but also small units will use EVA Sleds or Rocket Packs. They travel quickly to fog bank formations in their immediate area, and utilize compressors or other equipment to gather the water vapor - then return to a small base station - usually little more than a Shelter Dome or Pressure Tent, where they filter the water for impurities, and place it in containers suitable for sale, which are smuggled back to a market to sell, either to someone travelling off-planet or who has contacts who will do so. Occasionally, groups grow more bold, and in order to get better take, will move to night-side formations of ice like penitentes, and cut them off and melt them using tools, or even use thermal weapons (torches or explosives) to mass melt them for storage - which also gives them a weapon should any Hidden Concern thugs come to stop their unapproved water collection.
"Fog Men" or "Cloud Reavers" are a different style of operation entirely - they are little more than claim jumpers and desperados. They typically operate how one would assume pirates and smugglers do, they locate independant water operations (the kind already paying The Hidden Concern) and attack or extort them. They steal any collected water (in liquid or ice form), then distribute it back among themselves to safely smuggle and launder it. They attack both actual "mining" operations, and transportation via Snowcralwer Utes or Hovercraft. Most of them operate in a fairly "civilized" manner, taking only the water, but others act like typical banditos, taking anything of value in an operation - and some are even known to kill and take stacks to sell to groups like Nine Lives. The "Fog Men" name comes from a tactic used to assault ice-mining operations during "daylight" hours when fog might limit visibility and many types of sensors, and utilizing "silent" weapons like Diamond Axes, Wasp Knives or Torches, and with Thermal Dampened vacsuits. "Cloud Reaver" is a name drawn from similarities to Carbon Reaver pirates who raid and claim-jump in the Jovian Trojans or elsewhere in the Main Belt.
(For stats, recommend Pirate (p. 12 NPC File), but add a weapon with a Diamond Axe or Torch, and add Thermal Dampening to their Standard Vacsuit)
Ceres' surface also has a very thin "atmosphere" of water and other vapor as ice works up through the crust and is sublimated by solar radiation, forming low hanging fog banks and penitente formations on the night side. This is interesting to note because the Cerean Transcrustal Authority (CTA) regulates all water trade from the Hidden Sea below the rock and ice layers, and their masters the Hidden Concern are known to harass surface operations for their cut of the profits. Because of this, a small class of red market operators exist who harvest water from the surface without long-term mining operations, using the short sight lines of the dwarf planet to avoid detection. Generally referred to as "vaporators", "sunshiners" or "niebla pirata", they are considered a nuisance both by local governance and independent operators, due to the fact that these are often desperadoes with similarities to Carbon Reaver pirates out in the Jovian Trojans. Occasionally, the more aggressive strain of these are called "Fog Men" or "Cloud Reavers" for specificity. They're common in the Gerber and Samhain Catenae, or the Niman Rupes regions.
Standard operations for this sort of outfit is mobile, usually based out of an Outsystem Hover, but also small units will use EVA Sleds or Rocket Packs. They travel quickly to fog bank formations in their immediate area, and utilize compressors or other equipment to gather the water vapor - then return to a small base station - usually little more than a Shelter Dome or Pressure Tent, where they filter the water for impurities, and place it in containers suitable for sale, which are smuggled back to a market to sell, either to someone travelling off-planet or who has contacts who will do so. Occasionally, groups grow more bold, and in order to get better take, will move to night-side formations of ice like penitentes, and cut them off and melt them using tools, or even use thermal weapons (torches or explosives) to mass melt them for storage - which also gives them a weapon should any Hidden Concern thugs come to stop their unapproved water collection.
"Fog Men" or "Cloud Reavers" are a different style of operation entirely - they are little more than claim jumpers and desperados. They typically operate how one would assume pirates and smugglers do, they locate independant water operations (the kind already paying The Hidden Concern) and attack or extort them. They steal any collected water (in liquid or ice form), then distribute it back among themselves to safely smuggle and launder it. They attack both actual "mining" operations, and transportation via Snowcralwer Utes or Hovercraft. Most of them operate in a fairly "civilized" manner, taking only the water, but others act like typical banditos, taking anything of value in an operation - and some are even known to kill and take stacks to sell to groups like Nine Lives. The "Fog Men" name comes from a tactic used to assault ice-mining operations during "daylight" hours when fog might limit visibility and many types of sensors, and utilizing "silent" weapons like Diamond Axes, Wasp Knives or Torches, and with Thermal Dampened vacsuits. "Cloud Reaver" is a name drawn from similarities to Carbon Reaver pirates who raid and claim-jump in the Jovian Trojans or elsewhere in the Main Belt.
(For stats, recommend Pirate (p. 12 NPC File), but add a weapon with a Diamond Axe or Torch, and add Thermal Dampening to their Standard Vacsuit)
Saturday, January 7, 2017
Gaming Social Network
Optional Rule: p-rep (PlayScore, Networking: Gamers)
PlayScore is a hypercorp-sponsored social network for major VR and AR games and gaming culture. It features a combination of unified achievement tracking and player “karma” which is increased by teamwork, clean playing and interactivity, and penalizes cheating, TKing, ninja-looting or other similar activities. p-rep users have access to exclusive virtual chatrooms and forums, and the network hosts and distributes many guides, tips and interviews related to both single and multiplayer games. p-rep functions normally when using favors inside the virtual network, and can be used to gain favors from almost any faction, but the level of favor is increased by one when dealing with events completely in “meatspace”.
Gamer Organizations & Clades:
Virtualists: Virtualists hold that since VR is indistinguishable from Real Life, a “virtual” experience has no difference from a “real” one, and thus everyone should life freely in a virtual space. Virtualists spend almost all of their time playing VR games, and many have even sold off their own morphs in order to instance as infomorphs in specialized Virtualist Sanctuary servers. Casual players often find them “tryhards” or otherwise too serious about “games”, which the Virtualists treat like real experiences.
Drones: Drones are mostly hypercorp employees or other “normal” Consortium citizens who partake in AR or VR games. They oppose open hypercorp interference and monitoring within the actual games, but also do not like attempts to impose seriousness or realism, or bring real-world politics into the simulspace. They simply want their escapism from their daily grind. The name started as a pejorative, but was adapted to the group when they started becoming a more unified movement.
Amazons: Surprisingly prominent clade who play exclusively female or feminine avatars and characters, believing that in an age where you can look and be any gender combination you like, the female form is the most aesthetically pleasing. They were founded on the principle that quote-unquote “tits are awesome”. Some advocates, especially in the Outer System, decry the Amazons as sexist or objectifying, but others argue that they are empowering via non-traditional gender roles often symbolized by aggressive or violent playstyles. Some even argue they are sexist the other way, with some groups of Amazons bullying or discriminating against male avatars.
Glitch-erati: The Glitch-erati are a collection of VR and e-sports celebs. While often mocked or scorned by many real-world Socialites, the Glitch-erati have a huge following on the PlayScore network. Their in-game XP streams are religiously followed by thousands of subscribers across the system, and if they move into a new game, many players follow them. They are also frequently seen commentating on gaming events or reviewing new games and game updates.
Dead Pixel: Dead Pixel is a virtual crime syndicate, who run a variety of shady or illegal cheating, hacking and farming operations, and also offer black or red market services in Simulspace for virtual items and information, often for real-world currency or favors. They also engage in many rep scams and trading events, including rep-to-cred deals which heavily favor Dead Pixel. Dead Pixel is even rumored to have their own array of simulspaces where they’ll trap simulspace avatars and infomorphs for their own amusement.
Leetists: Virtual elitists who take the virtualist philosophy one step further, and proclaim that the only experience and skill that matters is in virtual reality. Leetists scorn “filthy casuals” and will shun and ignore those with a low enough p-rep score. They are highly competitive, constantly hunting for the most extreme games with which to test their skills. Rumors of Leetists dealing with singularity seekers in order to achieve a higher level of cognition and responsiveness are often dismissed by members of the movement.
Patch Crew: A small but well-organized group of support teams who operate in the real world to ensure that the most popular servers don’t get taken down by RL sabotage. When Hypercorps or Anarchist groups attempt to take down servers, the Patch Crew will send a team to stop it, and also repair any damage done. They are so efficient that groups like Firewall have taken notice after they repelled several sabotage attempts without knowing who they were blocking or why.
The Guild: Group of virtual “mercenaries” based out of Extropia, but with contractors across the system. They recruit players only of the highest skill and experience levels, and deploy in contracts to any game or situation. When you need a situation handled inside a game, you can call on the Guild, and once the fee is paid, they will do everything they can to accomplish your goal, or your money back. Also known as the “Professionals”, or derisively as “The B-Team”.
Xenoludi: This group started as a small club of Computational Archaeology students at universities on Titan and Mars, who were interested in alien ideas of games and sensoriums. After a few of their projects went public, they started to pick up steam. The group specializes in games and other virtual spaces based on recovered alien computers and technology, which are often bizarre, illogical or otherwise unusual. They also work with virtual replicas of xenoarchaeology sites, and even projections of what those locations might have looked like before they were ruined. Some people report strange after-effects, such as unusual dreams or hallucinations after playing these spaces. Furthermore, certain groups are concerned with the Xenoludi’s obsession with alien tech and data, and possible X-risks thereof, or that they might accidentally utilize TITAN tech.
Collegiates: In an age where athletic talent can often be subsidized or physically instilled with morphs or mods, university-level sports are reduced or otherwise taken a backseat. Physical sports talents are best honed in hobbyists or in professional media personalities, so there’s less effort to teach, especially with space constraints. Team-based e-sports, however, especially with movements like the Glitch-erati and the Leetists, have seen a big rise because the virtual talents are purely the skill of the mind using them (combined with some standardized hardware). As such, higher education institutions have developed multiple VR game teams for inter-institution leagues in various games, both classic and new. This presence of Collegiates is most common on Mars and Luna, where there are a wide variety of institutions with which to have competition, and even scholarship opportunities, while teams from institutions on Titan, Europa and Extropia tend to be slightly lower-key.
Meat Packers: A group of biochauvanists and some bioconservatives, mostly based out of Luna or other parts of the LLA. They believe in “purity” of the game and the gamer, and thus mostly play in standard biomorphs without augmentations such as multitasking or mental speed, do not use specialized or accelerated hardware or skillsoft supplementation, and instead focusing on more conventional training and raw talent. They garner support for their clade by making frequent use of XP streams to “let people have a taste of the meat”. Some of their members have been criticized for vocal prejudices against AGI, permanent Infomorphs (especially Leetists) or those who utilize cutting-edge computing hardware. Individual teams or groups in this faction have names like “400 APM”, “KBM=WIN” and “Fingerbang”.
Reflex Streaming: Indie XP and lifelog distributing hypercorp specializing in gaming. A competitor to Experia in these specific fields. Based primarily on Venus and Extropia, they offer very flexible and open contracts for content producers, and offers a great deal of open and free content to the public. Their model is more based on allowing producers to monetize their content via advertisements and sponsorships rather than through DRM or paywalls. Reflex is also famous for buying up indentures for prospective esports athletes and ecelebs and give them solid deals in their markets.
[Sidebar] Digicorps: Sometimes also called Nanocorps or V-corps, these are (usually) very small corporate entities which exist completely virtually in Simulspace, with some having “storefronts” in virtual locations like Hub. They operate by selling in-game goods or services in small amounts for small real credit percentages called “nanotransactions”. Resources are crafted directly by employees or gathered through complex farming methods reliant on task hedonist AI or AGI. Digicorps have an extremely high rate of competition due to similarity of services and their small size (which often makes conflicts personal). Notable examples include: Yangtze Marketplace, CyBay, Spacetsy, GameDot, NanoSoftware and DogeBank
One of the most common Digicorp operations is “Stock-based goldfarming”, where the first wave of customers buy shares in specialized servers to run the farming AI with real credit, and are paid with a regular percentage of in-game resources or currency. The excess currency or resources are then auctioned off to the public for real credit, which is distributed to shareholders in the company. Another common move is in-game “quests”, where Digicorps will accept up-front fees to acquire specific game items, including organizing missions or raids to acquire it, and are fulfilled by any player carrying that item. Yet another fairly common business model is digital fashion, where programmers and designers work together to create custom cosmetic items or even entire simulmorph avatars to be sold for real currency, usually on a commission or catalog basis.
(For some examples of PlayScore games, made with the suggestions and comments from the community, as well as some NPCs and plot hooks, click here)
PlayScore is a hypercorp-sponsored social network for major VR and AR games and gaming culture. It features a combination of unified achievement tracking and player “karma” which is increased by teamwork, clean playing and interactivity, and penalizes cheating, TKing, ninja-looting or other similar activities. p-rep users have access to exclusive virtual chatrooms and forums, and the network hosts and distributes many guides, tips and interviews related to both single and multiplayer games. p-rep functions normally when using favors inside the virtual network, and can be used to gain favors from almost any faction, but the level of favor is increased by one when dealing with events completely in “meatspace”.
Gamer Organizations & Clades:
Virtualists: Virtualists hold that since VR is indistinguishable from Real Life, a “virtual” experience has no difference from a “real” one, and thus everyone should life freely in a virtual space. Virtualists spend almost all of their time playing VR games, and many have even sold off their own morphs in order to instance as infomorphs in specialized Virtualist Sanctuary servers. Casual players often find them “tryhards” or otherwise too serious about “games”, which the Virtualists treat like real experiences.
Drones: Drones are mostly hypercorp employees or other “normal” Consortium citizens who partake in AR or VR games. They oppose open hypercorp interference and monitoring within the actual games, but also do not like attempts to impose seriousness or realism, or bring real-world politics into the simulspace. They simply want their escapism from their daily grind. The name started as a pejorative, but was adapted to the group when they started becoming a more unified movement.
Amazons: Surprisingly prominent clade who play exclusively female or feminine avatars and characters, believing that in an age where you can look and be any gender combination you like, the female form is the most aesthetically pleasing. They were founded on the principle that quote-unquote “tits are awesome”. Some advocates, especially in the Outer System, decry the Amazons as sexist or objectifying, but others argue that they are empowering via non-traditional gender roles often symbolized by aggressive or violent playstyles. Some even argue they are sexist the other way, with some groups of Amazons bullying or discriminating against male avatars.
Glitch-erati: The Glitch-erati are a collection of VR and e-sports celebs. While often mocked or scorned by many real-world Socialites, the Glitch-erati have a huge following on the PlayScore network. Their in-game XP streams are religiously followed by thousands of subscribers across the system, and if they move into a new game, many players follow them. They are also frequently seen commentating on gaming events or reviewing new games and game updates.
Dead Pixel: Dead Pixel is a virtual crime syndicate, who run a variety of shady or illegal cheating, hacking and farming operations, and also offer black or red market services in Simulspace for virtual items and information, often for real-world currency or favors. They also engage in many rep scams and trading events, including rep-to-cred deals which heavily favor Dead Pixel. Dead Pixel is even rumored to have their own array of simulspaces where they’ll trap simulspace avatars and infomorphs for their own amusement.
Leetists: Virtual elitists who take the virtualist philosophy one step further, and proclaim that the only experience and skill that matters is in virtual reality. Leetists scorn “filthy casuals” and will shun and ignore those with a low enough p-rep score. They are highly competitive, constantly hunting for the most extreme games with which to test their skills. Rumors of Leetists dealing with singularity seekers in order to achieve a higher level of cognition and responsiveness are often dismissed by members of the movement.
Patch Crew: A small but well-organized group of support teams who operate in the real world to ensure that the most popular servers don’t get taken down by RL sabotage. When Hypercorps or Anarchist groups attempt to take down servers, the Patch Crew will send a team to stop it, and also repair any damage done. They are so efficient that groups like Firewall have taken notice after they repelled several sabotage attempts without knowing who they were blocking or why.
The Guild: Group of virtual “mercenaries” based out of Extropia, but with contractors across the system. They recruit players only of the highest skill and experience levels, and deploy in contracts to any game or situation. When you need a situation handled inside a game, you can call on the Guild, and once the fee is paid, they will do everything they can to accomplish your goal, or your money back. Also known as the “Professionals”, or derisively as “The B-Team”.
Xenoludi: This group started as a small club of Computational Archaeology students at universities on Titan and Mars, who were interested in alien ideas of games and sensoriums. After a few of their projects went public, they started to pick up steam. The group specializes in games and other virtual spaces based on recovered alien computers and technology, which are often bizarre, illogical or otherwise unusual. They also work with virtual replicas of xenoarchaeology sites, and even projections of what those locations might have looked like before they were ruined. Some people report strange after-effects, such as unusual dreams or hallucinations after playing these spaces. Furthermore, certain groups are concerned with the Xenoludi’s obsession with alien tech and data, and possible X-risks thereof, or that they might accidentally utilize TITAN tech.
Collegiates: In an age where athletic talent can often be subsidized or physically instilled with morphs or mods, university-level sports are reduced or otherwise taken a backseat. Physical sports talents are best honed in hobbyists or in professional media personalities, so there’s less effort to teach, especially with space constraints. Team-based e-sports, however, especially with movements like the Glitch-erati and the Leetists, have seen a big rise because the virtual talents are purely the skill of the mind using them (combined with some standardized hardware). As such, higher education institutions have developed multiple VR game teams for inter-institution leagues in various games, both classic and new. This presence of Collegiates is most common on Mars and Luna, where there are a wide variety of institutions with which to have competition, and even scholarship opportunities, while teams from institutions on Titan, Europa and Extropia tend to be slightly lower-key.
Meat Packers: A group of biochauvanists and some bioconservatives, mostly based out of Luna or other parts of the LLA. They believe in “purity” of the game and the gamer, and thus mostly play in standard biomorphs without augmentations such as multitasking or mental speed, do not use specialized or accelerated hardware or skillsoft supplementation, and instead focusing on more conventional training and raw talent. They garner support for their clade by making frequent use of XP streams to “let people have a taste of the meat”. Some of their members have been criticized for vocal prejudices against AGI, permanent Infomorphs (especially Leetists) or those who utilize cutting-edge computing hardware. Individual teams or groups in this faction have names like “400 APM”, “KBM=WIN” and “Fingerbang”.
Reflex Streaming: Indie XP and lifelog distributing hypercorp specializing in gaming. A competitor to Experia in these specific fields. Based primarily on Venus and Extropia, they offer very flexible and open contracts for content producers, and offers a great deal of open and free content to the public. Their model is more based on allowing producers to monetize their content via advertisements and sponsorships rather than through DRM or paywalls. Reflex is also famous for buying up indentures for prospective esports athletes and ecelebs and give them solid deals in their markets.
[Sidebar] Digicorps: Sometimes also called Nanocorps or V-corps, these are (usually) very small corporate entities which exist completely virtually in Simulspace, with some having “storefronts” in virtual locations like Hub. They operate by selling in-game goods or services in small amounts for small real credit percentages called “nanotransactions”. Resources are crafted directly by employees or gathered through complex farming methods reliant on task hedonist AI or AGI. Digicorps have an extremely high rate of competition due to similarity of services and their small size (which often makes conflicts personal). Notable examples include: Yangtze Marketplace, CyBay, Spacetsy, GameDot, NanoSoftware and DogeBank
One of the most common Digicorp operations is “Stock-based goldfarming”, where the first wave of customers buy shares in specialized servers to run the farming AI with real credit, and are paid with a regular percentage of in-game resources or currency. The excess currency or resources are then auctioned off to the public for real credit, which is distributed to shareholders in the company. Another common move is in-game “quests”, where Digicorps will accept up-front fees to acquire specific game items, including organizing missions or raids to acquire it, and are fulfilled by any player carrying that item. Yet another fairly common business model is digital fashion, where programmers and designers work together to create custom cosmetic items or even entire simulmorph avatars to be sold for real currency, usually on a commission or catalog basis.
(For some examples of PlayScore games, made with the suggestions and comments from the community, as well as some NPCs and plot hooks, click here)
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Corporations
Hypercorporations are a diverse, flexible group - who provide for a variety of tasks, industries and niches. The intrinsic structure of the corporation makes them very diverse and adaptable, but able to be incredibly small - employing only small numbers directly and getting the rest done via subcontractors and AIs. While only a few have high places, such as on the Hypercorp council - throughout the Inner System and Belt many of them exist under a variety of names, charters and industries. Below are a selection of some Hypercorps randomly generated - which can be inserted for additional flavor and variance into your universe.
CUBEHIVE
Major Industries: Housing, Hospitality, Architecture
Cubehive is a corporation mostly based on Mars who design and manufacture "economical" housing space - and they operate and maintain a small number of apartment complexes and capsule hotels as "showrooms" for their products. While their designs are sophisticated and relatively comfortable, they are known for being incredibly small, utilizing the bare minimum of living space required by the specifications. Single biomorph occupancy is little more than a modular closet, foldout beds and integrated makers and other appliances - and bathrooms being public to a floor. While popular with many other hypercorps and governments, Cubehive has been target of meme campaigns and corporate terrorism due to the extensive uses of its products in housing Indentures. Their logo is a set of nested cubes in a bright blue.
DEVELOPMENT SPORTS
Major Industries: Sports Equipment, Nutrition
Development Sports is a sporting goods and health company which operates in the Planetary Consortium - though it's designs occasionally exist in other places. Originally, this was two companies, one devoted to nutrition and the other to sports equipment, but the nutritionist wing was bought up by the original founder to add to his branding. Now Devsports produces a wide variety of materials for sportsmen and athletes, both professional and amatuer. Their supplement line helps keep up general health and improve performance (though obviously not to the quality of implants or new morphs) and they produce equipment such as wingsuits, climbing gear, freerunning gloves and shoes, and even gear suitable for team sports such as football, golf, gridiron, baseball, rugby and cricket. Their logo is a letter "D" which is angled like a forward facing arrow.
DIAGNOSTIC GENEMATION
Major Industries: Medical Testing, Gene Therapy, Designer Babies
Diagnostic Genemation is a relatively small, niche Extropian corp who focus on genetic testing, analysis and arrangement of gene sequences. It was founded after the Fall, in response to implementation of wider GRM by many Hypercorps - and their original and most common business is diagnostic consulting and DNA screening, checking for and documenting patented genomes and gene sequences. However, they have a secondary, premium business in gene therapy specially tailored to morphs - often exotic ones, and in helping prospective parents craft idealized genomes for their future children. DG is notable in both these areas as following the Extropian IP model, where derivatives of their designs are "fair use". Their logo is a DNA double helix made of hexes.
EQUIPMENT TRAINING NETWORKS
Major Industries: VR Education, Artificial Intelligence, Teaching Software
Founded by a group of developers from IndEX, ETN is a company who specializes in development of educational tools for the workforce, particularly new indentures. They design Simulspace experiences and UIs to teach basic skills and perform vocational training. They also consult or directly design Device AIs for tools and devices built by other corporations, or construct educational, non-ALI software to teach skills, usually practical ones. ETN is known to produce or purchase patents on skillsoft technology, then sit on it to keep their virtual learning programs marketable. They are common victims of anarchist attacks and intrusions, and many of their products are illegally distributed in an attempt to hurt their bottom line. Their logo is a small maze with a person in the center.
FELINETWORKS
Major Industries: Biodrones, Smart Animals, Smart Animal Implants, Animal Care/Training
Felinetworks is a low-key, relatively obscure corporation based on Venus. Ostensibly, their primary industry is the manufacture of implants (such as cybercortexes) for smart animals, smart animal lines which are receptive to implantation, and sophisticated computer-assisted animal care and training, such as through Animal Care AIs. However, by people who are more familiar with the company, their actual industry is more clear - biodrones: The use of animals with implants for surveillance and basic tasks in place of bots. They market small animal breeds, such as rats, cats and racoons, all loaded with appropriate implants for purposes of security, infiltration or other biodrone needs. Felinetworks logo is a classic "cat face" emoticon assembled from 1s and 0s.
INTEGRATED POWER STORES
Major Industries: Batteries, Wi-tricity
IPS is a fairly mainstay hypercorp, who focus primarily on the production of batteries, both conventional storage and nuclear. They also produce equipment to recharge batteries, such as through wireless energy transmission, solar or thermal power generation, or even small portable generators which burn hydrogen to produce water vapor. Their industry is only hurt by the growing "black box" nature of many devices which does not allow for replacement or augmentation of batteries, and thus sales directly to consumers are limited, and instead they more commonly license battery designs to other hypercorps. Some of their specific designs are still purchased directly by the user, however. Their logo is a "+IPS" sign in red, but with the horizontal line is highlighted in blue, so as to also appear as a "-" symbol.
NETWORKED CHEMONAUTICS
Major Industries: Chemical Engineering
Networked Chemonautics is a relatively niche company, whose products and services are still decently widespread. They specialize in production of Wet Makers (Farcast 50) and in the development and distribution of blueprints for chemical compounds. Primarily, this is used for alcohols or beauty products, but NC has a wide product line in Wet (and some "Dry" i/e conventional) Makers and the blueprints or instructions to use them, covering a wide variety of refreshments, cosmetics and utility chemicals. Rumor has it they are trying to break into pharmaceuticals or medical compounds, but other, larger hypercorps have been blocking their attempts at development. Their logo is R-O-H, the symbol of the hydroxyl group.
OPEN PUBLISHING
Major Industries: Publishing, Media Distribution
Open Publishing is actually a Titanian microcorp, a publishing house based on Titan who publish and distribute the works of individual citizens - as opposed to government owned and operated news and media aggregators. As a microcorp, OP is effectively owned by all Titanian Commonwealth citizens, and thus they have access to publish and distribute through them. OP handles mostly written works, but occasionally helps distribute XP, Vids or Vidgames, or other forms of traditional media. They employ a small team of editors and other specialists to make sure products published through them are of top quality, to improve the reputations of the corp and the creator. Their logo is a stylized script of "Open Publishing".
PADLOCKURITY
Major Industries: Security Systems, Consulting
This extropian corp specializes in personal and private security - usually of the physical variety. They consult, build and install security and surveillance systems for individuals or other corporations throughout the Main Belt and some inner fringe and nearby areas of the Outer System. In addition to basic surveillance spimes and firewalls, they also produce more complex physical systems, from conventional locks or checkpoint measures, all the way to Portal Denial Systems and Lockbots. Most of their business comes in the form consulting, however, suggesting methods to install or improve security. Due to conflicts with Gorgon Defense Systems, they tend to stay out of the drone or personal protection/insurance markets. Their logo is a bronze padlock.
TACTICAL MEDIA IMPLICATIONS
Major Industries: Yellow Journalism, Media
Tactical Media Implications, aka "TMI" is a "journalism" house which frequently subcontracts to Experia, and is mostly based out of Elysium though they have "reporters" across Mars and major Consortium habs. They focus in gossip, rumor and sensationalism, often issuing reports and XP feeds of celebrities and public figures in personal moments, or behind closed doors - and are known for creative editing and leading questions to sensationalize or scandalize their product. Their weekly news update, "TMI Weekly" is some of the most watched and lowest rated programming on the Mesh. Experia's advertising makes a good bank off this fact, and are known to pay for TMI's cadre of lawyers who keep them out of any legal trouble their works may incur, usually by bringing up the fact that while TMI comports themselves like a news outlet, technically their business materials and documentation lists them as an entertainment corporation. Their logo is a "TMI", with each letter in a different garish color.
TERRAGRAPHICS-HIGHBREAK SYSTEMS
Major Industries: Terraforming, Survival Gear, Environmental Systems
TGHB Systems is a relatively new Martian startup, who cater to the growing Martian rural community. They produce a number of useful parts and devices for various terraforming processes, which sets the bedrock of their business model, but also provide a numerous array of equipment for persons living in the Outback, from survival clothing to camping equipment, to even small hab systems for prefab buildings. While still small, their brand is growing as more Martians catch on to the idea of a Martian corporation, which while part of the Consortium's membership, is still a strongly "Martian" corporation, and makes a point of not employing indentured labor, and opposing many radical terraforming plans. Their logo is a red triangle over TGHB.
UNLIMITED TOOLS
Major Industries: Tool Manufacture
Unlimited Tools is a Lunar based hypercorp, which has managed to avoid absorption by larger corps since the Fall. They produce a wide variety of tool products for use in space-based manufacture and repair, many of which are incredibly useful or important to the construction and maintenance of habs. Their products are known to be simple, rugged and reliable, and their designs have spread throughout the solar system as a result. Their brand recognition is the only thing which prevents them from being bought up by a larger, less narrowly focused Hypercorp. Seeing a UT branded tool is not uncommon in many space habs, and even some planetary ones. Their logo is U∞T.
CUBEHIVE
Major Industries: Housing, Hospitality, Architecture
Cubehive is a corporation mostly based on Mars who design and manufacture "economical" housing space - and they operate and maintain a small number of apartment complexes and capsule hotels as "showrooms" for their products. While their designs are sophisticated and relatively comfortable, they are known for being incredibly small, utilizing the bare minimum of living space required by the specifications. Single biomorph occupancy is little more than a modular closet, foldout beds and integrated makers and other appliances - and bathrooms being public to a floor. While popular with many other hypercorps and governments, Cubehive has been target of meme campaigns and corporate terrorism due to the extensive uses of its products in housing Indentures. Their logo is a set of nested cubes in a bright blue.
DEVELOPMENT SPORTS
Major Industries: Sports Equipment, Nutrition
Development Sports is a sporting goods and health company which operates in the Planetary Consortium - though it's designs occasionally exist in other places. Originally, this was two companies, one devoted to nutrition and the other to sports equipment, but the nutritionist wing was bought up by the original founder to add to his branding. Now Devsports produces a wide variety of materials for sportsmen and athletes, both professional and amatuer. Their supplement line helps keep up general health and improve performance (though obviously not to the quality of implants or new morphs) and they produce equipment such as wingsuits, climbing gear, freerunning gloves and shoes, and even gear suitable for team sports such as football, golf, gridiron, baseball, rugby and cricket. Their logo is a letter "D" which is angled like a forward facing arrow.
DIAGNOSTIC GENEMATION
Major Industries: Medical Testing, Gene Therapy, Designer Babies
Diagnostic Genemation is a relatively small, niche Extropian corp who focus on genetic testing, analysis and arrangement of gene sequences. It was founded after the Fall, in response to implementation of wider GRM by many Hypercorps - and their original and most common business is diagnostic consulting and DNA screening, checking for and documenting patented genomes and gene sequences. However, they have a secondary, premium business in gene therapy specially tailored to morphs - often exotic ones, and in helping prospective parents craft idealized genomes for their future children. DG is notable in both these areas as following the Extropian IP model, where derivatives of their designs are "fair use". Their logo is a DNA double helix made of hexes.
EQUIPMENT TRAINING NETWORKS
Major Industries: VR Education, Artificial Intelligence, Teaching Software
Founded by a group of developers from IndEX, ETN is a company who specializes in development of educational tools for the workforce, particularly new indentures. They design Simulspace experiences and UIs to teach basic skills and perform vocational training. They also consult or directly design Device AIs for tools and devices built by other corporations, or construct educational, non-ALI software to teach skills, usually practical ones. ETN is known to produce or purchase patents on skillsoft technology, then sit on it to keep their virtual learning programs marketable. They are common victims of anarchist attacks and intrusions, and many of their products are illegally distributed in an attempt to hurt their bottom line. Their logo is a small maze with a person in the center.
FELINETWORKS
Major Industries: Biodrones, Smart Animals, Smart Animal Implants, Animal Care/Training
Felinetworks is a low-key, relatively obscure corporation based on Venus. Ostensibly, their primary industry is the manufacture of implants (such as cybercortexes) for smart animals, smart animal lines which are receptive to implantation, and sophisticated computer-assisted animal care and training, such as through Animal Care AIs. However, by people who are more familiar with the company, their actual industry is more clear - biodrones: The use of animals with implants for surveillance and basic tasks in place of bots. They market small animal breeds, such as rats, cats and racoons, all loaded with appropriate implants for purposes of security, infiltration or other biodrone needs. Felinetworks logo is a classic "cat face" emoticon assembled from 1s and 0s.
INTEGRATED POWER STORES
Major Industries: Batteries, Wi-tricity
IPS is a fairly mainstay hypercorp, who focus primarily on the production of batteries, both conventional storage and nuclear. They also produce equipment to recharge batteries, such as through wireless energy transmission, solar or thermal power generation, or even small portable generators which burn hydrogen to produce water vapor. Their industry is only hurt by the growing "black box" nature of many devices which does not allow for replacement or augmentation of batteries, and thus sales directly to consumers are limited, and instead they more commonly license battery designs to other hypercorps. Some of their specific designs are still purchased directly by the user, however. Their logo is a "+IPS" sign in red, but with the horizontal line is highlighted in blue, so as to also appear as a "-" symbol.
NETWORKED CHEMONAUTICS
Major Industries: Chemical Engineering
Networked Chemonautics is a relatively niche company, whose products and services are still decently widespread. They specialize in production of Wet Makers (Farcast 50) and in the development and distribution of blueprints for chemical compounds. Primarily, this is used for alcohols or beauty products, but NC has a wide product line in Wet (and some "Dry" i/e conventional) Makers and the blueprints or instructions to use them, covering a wide variety of refreshments, cosmetics and utility chemicals. Rumor has it they are trying to break into pharmaceuticals or medical compounds, but other, larger hypercorps have been blocking their attempts at development. Their logo is R-O-H, the symbol of the hydroxyl group.
OPEN PUBLISHING
Major Industries: Publishing, Media Distribution
Open Publishing is actually a Titanian microcorp, a publishing house based on Titan who publish and distribute the works of individual citizens - as opposed to government owned and operated news and media aggregators. As a microcorp, OP is effectively owned by all Titanian Commonwealth citizens, and thus they have access to publish and distribute through them. OP handles mostly written works, but occasionally helps distribute XP, Vids or Vidgames, or other forms of traditional media. They employ a small team of editors and other specialists to make sure products published through them are of top quality, to improve the reputations of the corp and the creator. Their logo is a stylized script of "Open Publishing".
PADLOCKURITY
Major Industries: Security Systems, Consulting
This extropian corp specializes in personal and private security - usually of the physical variety. They consult, build and install security and surveillance systems for individuals or other corporations throughout the Main Belt and some inner fringe and nearby areas of the Outer System. In addition to basic surveillance spimes and firewalls, they also produce more complex physical systems, from conventional locks or checkpoint measures, all the way to Portal Denial Systems and Lockbots. Most of their business comes in the form consulting, however, suggesting methods to install or improve security. Due to conflicts with Gorgon Defense Systems, they tend to stay out of the drone or personal protection/insurance markets. Their logo is a bronze padlock.
TACTICAL MEDIA IMPLICATIONS
Major Industries: Yellow Journalism, Media
Tactical Media Implications, aka "TMI" is a "journalism" house which frequently subcontracts to Experia, and is mostly based out of Elysium though they have "reporters" across Mars and major Consortium habs. They focus in gossip, rumor and sensationalism, often issuing reports and XP feeds of celebrities and public figures in personal moments, or behind closed doors - and are known for creative editing and leading questions to sensationalize or scandalize their product. Their weekly news update, "TMI Weekly" is some of the most watched and lowest rated programming on the Mesh. Experia's advertising makes a good bank off this fact, and are known to pay for TMI's cadre of lawyers who keep them out of any legal trouble their works may incur, usually by bringing up the fact that while TMI comports themselves like a news outlet, technically their business materials and documentation lists them as an entertainment corporation. Their logo is a "TMI", with each letter in a different garish color.
TERRAGRAPHICS-HIGHBREAK SYSTEMS
Major Industries: Terraforming, Survival Gear, Environmental Systems
TGHB Systems is a relatively new Martian startup, who cater to the growing Martian rural community. They produce a number of useful parts and devices for various terraforming processes, which sets the bedrock of their business model, but also provide a numerous array of equipment for persons living in the Outback, from survival clothing to camping equipment, to even small hab systems for prefab buildings. While still small, their brand is growing as more Martians catch on to the idea of a Martian corporation, which while part of the Consortium's membership, is still a strongly "Martian" corporation, and makes a point of not employing indentured labor, and opposing many radical terraforming plans. Their logo is a red triangle over TGHB.
UNLIMITED TOOLS
Major Industries: Tool Manufacture
Unlimited Tools is a Lunar based hypercorp, which has managed to avoid absorption by larger corps since the Fall. They produce a wide variety of tool products for use in space-based manufacture and repair, many of which are incredibly useful or important to the construction and maintenance of habs. Their products are known to be simple, rugged and reliable, and their designs have spread throughout the solar system as a result. Their brand recognition is the only thing which prevents them from being bought up by a larger, less narrowly focused Hypercorp. Seeing a UT branded tool is not uncommon in many space habs, and even some planetary ones. Their logo is U∞T.
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