Smart Ants

Gardener Insects (p. 154 Panopticon) are pretty useful in terms of actual gardening, but also scanning and security of certain areas. They are not the only insects modified for transhuman purposes, though many of those involve singular modifications to make an insect bigger rather than more complex swarm modifications. It may seem unlikely, but Ants are actually one of the best categories of animal for this process.

Smart Ants: While not really "smart" by normal means, these transgenic ants are selected with traits from multiple ant species and enhanced with minute cybernetics and other improvements to be useful symbiotes in a transhuman habitation. An ant nest can provide many helpful features to a habitat, such as scouting and mapping an area via their spread, basic micro-level cleanup and removal of particulates, even probing and sampling for resources in the soil (though gathering such materials with just ants would take a painfully long time). They also can serve basic alarm and security duties, as they have been equipped with literal radio antennae and in a swarm their bites are strong enough to damage micro-scale or very small bots and deter humans or other smart animals. Directing Smart Ants can be difficult, but with basic radio signals and scent cues they can be fairly reliable and diligent workers - and have a minimal amount of complex institutional memory - the nest can remember people and their property via basic shape and smell. Cost if for a swarm of 200 units. [Low]

There are also the more uncommon and illicit variants for those who wish to get more out of it, the so called "Semtex Ant". Also known as Sapper Ants or "Space Marine" Ants, this variant of the Smart And is armed with fractal manipulator jaws and other features which allows them to work similar to disassembler or protean swarms. Not only can their jaws more adeptly attack hard targets like technology, but they can also gather raw materials from their surrounding and with guidance from a handler recombine it in a rudimentary fabrication process. The name comes from the infamous use of these ants to assemble plastic explosives in interior structures then set them off. 

COG 2 COO 15 INT 15 REF 10 SAV 5 SOM 10

WIL 15 INIT 5 SPD 1 DUR 50 WT - DR 50

Stats given are for a Swarm (p. 168 X-Risks)

Skills: Climbing 30, Fray 20, Freerunning 20, Infiltration 30, Perception 20 (Smell 40), Scrounging 40, Unarmed Combat 40

Ware: Basic Mesh Insert, Grip Pads, Enhanced Smell, Polarization Vision

Movement: 1/4 (Walker)

Attacks: Jaws 1d10/2 DV, Half AV applies

Stinger SOMx3 Failure takes -10 to all actions as if from a wound, Success take -10 from distraction for 1 minute from the discomfort

Semtex Ant Variant: Add Fractal Digits and Nanoscopic vision. Jaws attack becomes 1d10+1, Half AV applies. 

Void Spider

Scum genehackers have produced several interesting creations. Most notable (or perhaps infamous) is the Swarm Cat (p. 155 Panopticon) a creation which only vaguely resembles a "cat" in the loosest sense, and have a variety of "uses" in many Scum Swarms. But, there are other strange creations or "tiny terrors" which have caught on with a certain Scum ethos - and are now the bane of many a space station Scum have docked with. One such example is the Void Spider.

Void Spider: Similar to the Space Roach, the Void Spider is an enlarged, transgenic blend of tarantula breeds which reaches the size of a small dog. Engineered with Vacuum Sealing, these often appear to have hardened carapaces without visible hairs, though they sometimes to retain them. Some designers even give them a wooly appearance underneath. Void Spiders were originally designed as budget pest control, as they are able to crawl both in a ship's hull and skitter across the outer surface, where they could keep vermin and rogue pets in line (especially Plasma Moths, which often eat micrometeorite shielding). However, they also became a bit of a budget security measure, as they can disable or eliminate biodrones and often discourage unwanted visitors in ship maintenance areas. Treat as a Space Roach (p. 330 EP) but add Bioweave Armor (Light), Vacuum Sealing, Claws, Poison Gland (Twitch) and Grip Pads. [Moderate]

Unfortunately, the tenacity, small size and ability to survive hard vacuum for extended periods has made Void Spiders a bit of a pest, especially in the areas heavily trafficked by Scum Swarms. More than one habtech or vac-worker has gotten a nasty surprise of a stalking Void Spider in an access panel or waiting by an airlock. They cause little harm to transhumans, but their venom is potent enough to temporarily disable one. Similarly, many Neo-Avians are particularly disgusted or uncomfortable - if not outright afraid - of Void Spiders due to their enlarged size and relations to "bird eating" spiders from Earth. However, if one encounters a vermin problem, such as a rogue colony of Space Roaches or Smart Rats or a "feral" Smart Racoon, the Void Spider is one of the best solutions to root them out. However, as they are live beings, many of the original biodesigners of the Void Spider frown upon breeding them purely for pranks. To help "soften" their image, "modern" Void Spiders are often colored in bright patterns which fluoresce under certain lighting (making them easier to spot) or are "wooly" to have soft, hypoallergenic covering which makes them less menacing.