Friday, February 13, 2015

44. Medicrabs

Thanks to their life-saving exploits and a cartoon commercial featuring "the little Medicrab who could", Medicrabs were one of the most popular robots around, being found in first-aid kits or in place of first aid kits, in households, and in vehicles, ready to pop out in case of an accident.

Medicrabs are roughly hand-sized, with a body plan that is half crab and half spider. While this could easily be unsettling, they have been carefully designed to appear cute and non-threatening. They feature numerous medical tools: mandibles capable of precise little sutures, claws used to cut through clothing, spinnerets weaving bandages and an antiseptic breath spray. Their low slung bodies allow them to crawl through rubble and make them virtually impossible to knock over, and they are tough and durable besides.

Medicrabs have been rendered largely obsolete by medichines and nanobandages, but they remain in use in the Jovian Republic and are backup systems in many habs.

Mechanics

Medicrabs are robots [Low]

A Medicrab AI has Medicine 40.

Plot Hook: Stories are being told in the souks of Valles New-Shanghai of a wild artificial described as being very similar to a Medicrab. It seems a Medicrab has gone feral, seeking out injured people and treating them in the night, or perhaps some mischievous roboticist has brought "the little Medicrab who could" into reality.

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