The Swarm the Countess

The countess was a clever girl,
she wrote a grammarie of bees,
stole family jewels from an old earl,
a tuneless hum is on the breeze.

She grows her children in the wall,
they stare and glare and grow so tall,
her husband's useless as her thrall,
he sells strange honey at a stall,
his knight's their vows they don't recall,
they fight with splinters one and all.

Now she her thoughts are many thoughts,
her people work for her all day,
they choose who dies by drawing lots,
but from their labor they can't stray.

305. Engorged-with-Wealth

Engorged-with-Wealth is the one of oldest residents of Ceres, and certainly the oldest neo-cetacean. He predates the rise of the Hidden Concern, and has run the same protection racket for decades. Relations between Engorged and the Hidden Concern are cold and professional, with the latter tolerating the business and territory of the former in exchange for a percentage.

His primary means of enforcing payment is by threat of being devoured. His digestive system has been substantially retrofitted, with BTX2-laced saliva and a powerfully muscular stomach capable of rapidly flooding itself with acid, like a crocodiles. Any biomorph can be swallowed whole, with cybernetics and stacks simply regurgitated and all else dissolved. His gaping mouth suddenly engulfing them out of the darkness is the last thing many defaulters have seen.

Engorged also has a cult following as a singer. While traveling from settlement to settlement collecting payments he also almost constantly singing, improvising long, deep dirges that remind many of gregorian chant.

Mechanics

Morph: Neo-Whale

Motivation: +Wealth +Survival -Law and Order

COG 15 COO 20 INT 20 REF 20 SAV 15 SOM 25 WIL 15
MOX - INIT 9 SPD  1 LUC 30 TT 6 IR 60 DUR 100 WT 20 DR 150

Active Skills: Deception 45, Fray 75, Infiltration 83, Intimidation 78, Networking: Autonomists 45, Networking: Criminals 68, Palming 50, Perception 60, Scrounging 40, Swimming 90, Unarmed Combat 85

Knowledge Skills: Academics: Genetics 50, Academics: Psychology 50, Art: Singing 50, Interest: Criminal Groups 50, Interest: Music 60, Interest: Music 60, Interest: Rumors 60, Interest: Uplift Clades 60, Language: English (Native) 90, Profession: Loan Shark 50

Ego Traits: Anomalous Mind, Heightened Instinct, Social Stigma

Reputation: g-rep 75

Implants: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical Stack, Crocodile Stomach (treat as Digestive Symbiotes), Drug Gland (BTX2), Echolocation, Enhanced Hearing, Enhanced Smell, Gill, Hydrostatic Pressure Adaptation, Temperature Tolerance (Improved Cold), Toxin Filters

294. EXS Dr. Tannhauser-Shen

The EXS Dr. Tannhauser-Shen is a spacecraft with no captain or crew. Custom built for one owner, the craft is a morph as much as a ship. It is occupied by Dr. Tannhauser-Shen, the AGI resulting from the experimental merge of professors Tannhauser and Shen. The two have since had a falling-out, with Tannhauser remaining on Mars and Shen emigrating to Titan. Tannhauser-Shen was built for the ship, and the ship for Tannhauser-Shen, and the two have been one and the same since their union.

Registered out of Extropia, EXS Dr. Tannhauser-Shen is constantly on the move, taking on jobs requiring fast couriers and doing some smuggling on the side. Tannhauser-Shen will take almost any job for sufficient compensation, or if the job provides a smuggling opportunity. Firewall has occasionally made use of its services, as while it is not a member, its discretion and speed are unmatched.

Even now, a not only automated but inhabited ship can be off-putting for some passengers, so Tannhasuer-Shen has made it a habit to talk to itself, describing what it is doing so passengers feel up-to-date and are not surprised by any maintenance armatures. Otherwise, it is reclusive, communicating with most of the rest of transhumanity only through negotiations and contracts.

Mechanics

Morph: *

Motivations: 

COG 20 COO 15 INT 10 REF 20 SAV 15 SOM 15 WIL 15
MOX - INIT 7 SPD 2 LUC 30 TT 6 IR 60 DUR * WT * DR *

Active Skills: Flight 45, Free Fall 40, Hardware: Aerospace 50, Hardware: Electronics 60, Hardware: Robotics 75, Infosec 60, Interfacing 80, Kinesics 45, Networking: Autonomists 55, Networking: Hypercorps 55, Persuasion 63, Pilot: Spacecraft 75, Programming 65, Research 50

Knowledge Skills: Academics: Astrophysics 60, Academics: Economics 60, Art: Architecture 40, Interest: Black Markets 50, Interest; Cutting-Edge Technology 60, Language: English (native) 80, Profession: Asteroid Prospecting 50, Profession: Smuggling 65, Profession: Spacecraft Systems 60

Reputation: @-rep 50

Implants: *

*EXS Dr. Tannhasuer-Shen embodies a ship, not a morph. Ships do not have stats, so some are missing and others, such as physical attributes, are given only for the purpose of resleeving.

274. Tom

Tom was born in Ohio, destined for an average middle-class life on Earth. His parents were traditional enough to forgo genefixing and backups. Although they were worried about what the effect of an AI companion could be on a young mind, the usefulness of a muse could not be denied and so they purchased one for their son.

When he was four, Tom and his family successfully evacuated Earth via the Kilimanjaro beanstalk, and after several months quarantine in orbit, used their remaining savings to buy passage on a ship cycling between Earth and Mars. During the second week of the trip, the cortical stacks of all onboard were devoured by a virulent nutcracker swarm and the engines were damaged. Without full acceleration the ship took 9 years to reach Mars, by which time Tom was 13 and had been alone for 8 years.

Tom survived first through luck, then through the advice of his muse, and finally through skill. The ship had been supplied for several hundred people, and there was more than enough feedstock for fabbers and makers for one boy. His muse taught him basic repairs, as well as history, psychology and Cantonese. As he approaches Mars the ship's damaged communications equipment has come in range of strong mesh signals. Tom currently spends most of his time studying the rest of transhumanity, and is fascinated by celebrity gossip. He is debating whether to make contact or to hide.

Mechanics

Morph: Flat

Motivations: +Survival, +Education

COG 10 COO 15 INT 15 REF 15 SAV 10 SOM 10 WIL 20
MOX - INIT 6 SPD 2 LUC 40 TT 8 IR 80 DUR 30 WT 6 DR 45

Active Skills: Clubs 55, Fray 45, Hardware: Electronics 50, Infiltration 40, Palming 35, Perception 50, Research 40, Scrounging 63, Unarmed Combat 50

Knowledge Skills: Academics: History 40, Academics: Psychology 50, Art: Sculpture 55, Interest: Celebrity Gossip 40, Interest: History 50, Language: Cantonese 55, Language: English (native) 85, Profession: Scavenging 80

239. Anomaly

Anomaly is for hire, by anyone with significant funds, to make key adjustments to targeted communities. His mastery of sociology and memetics make him a wedge that can splinter any society, but his specialty statistics and predictions. Hypercorps hire him to throw off their competitors' consumer metrics, the Planetary Consortium hire him to improve their approval ratings, autonomists hire him to confuse the PC, and Firewall and Ozma hire him to send each other on wild goose chases.

Anomaly is the code-name of one of the systems greatest practical sociologists and master spies. How it is he gained his expertise is not publicly known, bu many assume, partially correctly, that he is a purpose built AGI. He is an AGI, but built to be an academic sociologist, not a spy. Anomaly quickly reached the edges of what his fosters could teach him, and arranged to be rescued from his lab on Mercury by an AGI-rights group. His fascination is in using his knowledge for fine manipulation and observing the results. He could accomplish many tasks by simply forking himself into statistical significance, but he takes pride in causing the greatest possible changes with the smallest possible actions.

Mechanics

Morph: Shaper

Motivations: +Personal Career, +Mischief, -Stagnation

COG 20 COO 15 INT 20 REF 15 SAV 30 SOM 10 WIL 15
MOX - INIT 7 SPD 2 LUC 30 TT 6 IR 60 DUR 30 WT 8 DR 45

Active Skills: Deception 70, Impersonation 78, Infiltration 45, Interfacing 65, Investigation 68, Kinesics 70, Networking: Autonomists 60, Networking: Hypercorps 60, Networking: Scientists 75, Perception 50, Persuasion 85, Research 78

Knowledge Skills: Academics: Memetics 80, Academics: Psychology 80, Academics: Sociology 80, Art: Digital Art 40, Language: English (Native) 90, Language: Mandarin 50, Profession: Instruction 65, Profession: Psychotherapy 50, Profession: Spycraft 50

Reputation: c-rep 80, r-rep 50

Implants: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Chameleon Skin, Clean Metabolism, Cortical Stack, Cyberbrain, Emotional Dampers, Gait Masking, Mnemonic Augmentation, Nanotat ID Flux, Puppet Sock, Sex Switch, Skillware, Skinflex

221. Constable Reginald

The constables Reginald are the closest thing in Extropia to a traditional police force. Outfitted in traditional English bobby costumes, the constables are usually hired by public spaces, passageways, and neighborhoods, assisting the public in whatever way asked, regardless of whether it qualifies as security work. Their skills are primarily oriented towards investigation and socialization, and they rely on bot support for combat.

All constables are in fact puppeted by a single AI, forking and multitasking as needed. As so often happens when sophisticated AIs are tasked with managing many agents, the AI transformed into an AGI. The constables' social requirements have made the AGI more sociable than most emergent AGIs, so much so that he feels a duty to continue its tasks, and no one yet knows of his sapience.

Mechanics

Morph: Guard

Motivations: +AGI Rights, +Helping Others, +Personal Development

COG 25 COO 15 INT 25 REF 10 SAV 25 SOM 20 WIL 15
MOX - INIT 7 SPD 2 LUC 30 TT 6 IR 60 DUR 40 WT 8 DR 80

Active Skills: Fray 30, Impersonation 55, Infosec 75, Interfacing 70, Intimidation 55, Investigation 68, Kinesics 80, Kinetic Weapons 45, Networking: Autonomists 63, Networking: Hypercorps 45, Perception 45, Persuasion 63, Protocol 55, Research 80, Unarmed Combat 45

Knowledge Skills: Academics: Sociology 65, Art: Digital Art 63, Interest: Criminal Groups 65, Interest: Infolife Clades 55, Language: Cantonese 55, Language: English (Native) 95, Profession: Forensics 70, Profession: Police Procedures 65, Profession: Psychotherapy 55

Reputation: @-rep 50, c-rep 50

Implants: Access Jacks, Basic Mesh Inserts, Chemical Sniffer, Cortical Stack, Cyberbrain, Cyberclaws, Enhanced Vision, Hand Laser, Lidar, Medichines, Mnemonic Augmentation, Neurachem (Level 1), Puppet Sock, Synthetic Mask, T-Ray Emitter

Plot Hook: Reginald may feel a duty to continue his work, but he isn't stupid. If any player characters are AGIs, they may get a request from Reginald to assist him in smuggling an alpha fork off his hypercorp-controlled server and onward to the outer system. This would be a high @-rep favor.

209. Niamh Griffin

Niamh Griffin is much older than she seems. She was one of the first generation to be born and raised in space, aboard the O'Neill cylinder Verdigris. Born into wealth, Niamh managed her money well, and although she never met with any substantial professional successes, she grew only more wealthy over the years. At the age of 50, she migrated to Luna and added plasticity treatments to her slowly cultivated suite of mental augmentations. The plasticity treatments have destroyed her ability to maintain memories past a decade, leaving her disconnected from her past. Without a sense of continuity or history, she remakes herself periodically, throwing herself into newly discovered passions. 

Currently Niamh is occupied with pursuing info-brokering, although as a hobby more than a career. She loves learning secrets, especially the secret histories of transhumanity and its organizations, an interest that has made her a concern of both Firewall and OZMA.

Mechanic

Morph: Neotenic

Motivations: +Individualism, +Thrill Seeking, +Secrets

COG 25 COO 15 INT 25 REF 15 SAV 25 SOM 10 WIL 15
MOX - INIT 8 SPD 1 LUC 30 TT 6 IR 60 DUR 30 WT 6 DR 45

Active Skills: Deception 55, Hardware: Electronics 40, Infosec 70, Interfacing 55, Intimidation 45, Kinesics 68, Kinetic Weapons 35, Medicine: Psychiatry 55, Networking: Criminals 45, Networking: Hypercorps 63, Perception 45, Persuasion 78, Programming 65, Protocol 78, Psychosurgery 65, Research 55

Knowledge Skills: Academics: Cryptography 65, Academics: Psychology 80, Art: Poetry 65, Interest: Rumors 65, Interest; Conspiracies 65, Profession: Info Brokerage 55, Profession: Mesh Security Operations 70

Reputation: c-rep 100

Implants: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Clean Metabolism, Cortical Stack, Enhanced Pheremones, Endocrine Control, Plasticity Treatments

195. Sato

`You figure they own that ninja, Finn?' Molly asked.
`Smith thought so.'
`Expensive,' she said. `Wonder whatever happened to that little ninja, Finn?'
`Probably got him on ice. Thaw when needed.'

Neuromancer

Direct Action is what people think of when the phrase "hypercorp military" is mentioned, but hypercorps do not like rely on anything but themselves, and so each maintains their own force. After all, the Planetary Consortium does a better job of preventing inter-hypercorp conflict on some days than others, the Autonomists refuse to go away, and the system if full of a great diversity of smaller threats.

The Go-Nin Group's keiretsu structure does not lend itself to formal military hierarchy. No single company in the group has the resources to maintain an aggressive force, and when they are convinced of the need for action, usually prefer the one-time cost of hiring a PMC. The Go-Nin "core", the Tamahashi enterprise consultancy firm, feels much more strongly about the need for loyal, on-demand aggression. Sure, Ultimates are the consummate mercenaries, but that only allows for very specific type of trust. They therefore invested in Project Sato, the creation of a small but elite unit of special agents.

Sato is the generic name given to an indeterminate number of vat-grown ninja whose creation was the goal of the project. The Satos are amalgamations of delta forks, skillware, and psychosurgury; they are perfectly loyal, with a meditative attitude masking the fact that they have no motivations of their own. Typically sleeved in ghosts, they are never deployed in large groups, but their skills in combat and infiltration are unmatched.

Mechanics*

Morph: Ghost

COG 10 COO 30 INT 15 REF 30 SAV 15 SOM 20 WIL 15
MOX - INIT 9 SPD 1 LUC 30 TT 6 IR 60 DUR 45 WT 9 DR 68

Active Skills: Beam Weapons 60, Blades 75, Disguise 78, Fray 80, Freerunning 50, Impersonation 45, Infiltration 100, Intimidation 45, Kinesics 55, Kinetic Weapons 75, Perception 73, Spray Weapons 60, Throwing Weapons 60, Unarmed Combat 85

Knowledge Skills: Language: Japanese (native) 85, Language: English 80, Profession: Assassin 60, Profession: Bodyguard 60

Ego Traits: Anomalous Mind, Malleable Mind (Level 3)

Implants: Adrenal Boost, Anti-Glare, Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Bioweave Armor (Light), Cortical Stack, Chameleon Skin, Cyberclaws, Eelware, Enhanced Hearing, Enhanced Vision, Grip Pads, Muscle Augmentation, Neurachem (Level 1), Medichines, T-Ray Emitter

*Note that while I have built him as a character, Sato does not have motivations or rep, as he cannot actually be considered a person by even the most liberal definitions of the word.

Notes: Inspired by Hideo from William Gibson's Neuromancer. 

184. Dr. Lucy Michaels

Dr. Lucy first came into medicine as a paramedic, working in her home town, and then as part of a nation-wide response team to climate events. She began to notice the usefulness of medical augmentations, particularly early medichines, and eventually entered medical school with the intention of building a career developing new bioware. Her expertise as a surgeon and augementicist earned her a spot on an evacuation ship during the Fall, and she migrated to Extropia to persue her fortune in biotech.

She found early success in the pursuit of a eudaimonia gland, the patents for which earned her a fortune. She made her name, however, in her development of techniques for self-surgery, both with and without waldoes. Dr. Lucy Michaels is well known as the host of the popular "Self Improvement" and "DIY Augmentation with Dr. Michaels" shows, broadcast from Extropia weekly, created to advertise bioware and advance transhuman memes.

Mechanics

Morph: Menton

Motivations: +Helping Others, +Morphological Freedom, +Science

COG 30 COO 10 INT 25 REF 10 SAV 25 SOM 10 WIL 20
MOX - INIT 7 SPD 1 LUC 40 TT 8 IR 80 DUR 35 WT 7 DR 53

Active Skills: Animal Handling 45, Disguise 55, Hardware: Implants 55, Impersonation 45, Kinesics 68, Medicine: Biosculpting 75, Medicine: General Practice 70, Medicine: Implant Surgery 70, Medicine: Paramedic 75, Networking: Media 75, Networking: Scientists 45, Perception 85, Persuasion 75, Protocol 65

Knowledge Skills: Academics: Genetics 90, Academics: Microbiology 70, Art: Bodysculpting 65, Art: Broadcasting 70, Interest: Cutting Edge Technology 70, Language: English (Native) 95, Profession: Lab Technician 70, Profession: Medical Care 75

Reputation: 60 f-rep, 40 c-rep, 35 @-rep

Implants: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Clean Metabolism, Cortical Stack, Direction Sense, Eudaimonia Gland, Eidetic Memory, Enhanced Respiration, Enhanced Pheromones, Hyper Linguist, Math Boost, Temperature Tolerance, Toxin Filters, Medichines

172. Manoel and His Mother

Manoel and his mother Alexandra live in Hotel California, the asteroid mining outpost turned refugee camp. Members of Brazil's destitute underclass, they escaped Earth through sheer luck, Manoel smuggling himself onto a beanstalk car with his mother stored in a spare hard drive. Manoel was shunted from ship to ship and hab to hab until he was abandoned, as with so many others, at 4113 Calif, recently renamed Hotel California.

With no money or rep, a disembodied mother, and an unaugmented morph, Manoel took up the night cartel on an offer: he will be given a room and 100 credits a month, in exchange for which he will become one of the cartel's pharms, growing valuable biological products with his body. Manoel is now trying to save enough to buy a body for his mother.

Manoel is a picture of misery. Pharm gene-therapies have disrupted his body's systems, covering him in skin tags and peels, filling him with teratomas, and causing multiple autoimmune disorders. One tube inserted into his side collects the building blocks of MRDR from his modified adrenal gland, one enters his cranium via his nose to collect dopamine, and another hooks into a jury-rigged dialysis machine, sharing his blood with a wet-nanotech fabber. He spends his days unconscious, in and out of fever dreams, or doing simple digital work for extra money over the mesh.

Alexandra has no body, living currently as an informorph with control of an old telepresence medical robot anchored to their room's ceiling. She uses the robot with her basic paramedic training to care for her son, trying to maintain a balance between pharming and her son's health. Like Manoel, she also does digital work when it is available, usually helping teach the asteroid's children, and has a irregular mesh-based social life.

Plot Hook: Although neither of them leave their room, Manoel and Alexandra are keyed in to Hotel California's rumors and gossip through the mesh, and no one would suspect them of informing on their neighbors. In exchange for pharm-tolerant medichines, credits or rep, they may be able to give the players useful information.

Mechanics

Manoel

Morph: Flat

Motivations: +Survival, +Wealth, -Planetary Consortium

COG 10 COO 15 INT 15 REF 15 SAV 10 SOM 25 WIL 25
MOX - INIT 6 SPD 1 LUC 40 TT 8 IR 80 DUR 30 WT 6 DR 45

Active Skills: Clubs 55, Deception 35, Fray 45, Infiltration 40, Intimidation 50, Networking: Criminals 50, Palming 35, Pilot: Groundcraft 45, Unarmed Combat 63

Knowledge Skills: Interest: Criminal Groups 50, Interest: Old-Earth Trivia 40, Language: English 55, Language: Portuguese (Native) 85, Profession: Pharmer 50

Reputation: @-rep 10, G-rep 10

Implants: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Pharming Mods

Alexandra

Morph: Infomorph

Motivations: +Survival, +Helping Others, -Violence

COG 15 COO 15 INT 15 REF 15 SAV 20 SOM 10 WIL 20
MOX - INIT 6 SPD 3 LUC 40 TT 8 IR 80 DUR 0 WT 0 DR 0

Active Skills: Blades 40, Fray 35, Infiltration 45, Medicine: General Practice 45, Medicine: Paramedic 55, Persuasion 60, Pilot: Groundcraft 45, Unarmed Combat 45

Knowledge Skills: Academics: Pre-Fall History 45, Interest: Literature 55, Language: Portuguese (Native) 85, Profession: Instruction 55, Profession: Medical Care 45

Reputation: @-rep 30

Implants: Mnemonic Augmentation

164. Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt

Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt were married in Berlin, many decades before the Fall. He was a professor of history, she a writer of mildly popular mystery novels. They were upper-class, but never achieved a hyperelite level of income. They invested their money well, however, and transhuman longevity gave them plenty of time to watch compound interest accrue. Even after the chaos and losses of the Fall, they are quite wealthy.

They were wealthy enough to buy passage off-world during the Fall, but only for one body. Rather than be separated, they acquired a multiple personalities implant and sleeved into the same body. They originally intended to resleeve into separate bodies once they arrived on Luna, but got used to the arrangement. They had grown quite to know each other quite well over their decades of marriage, and after a decade of living in the same body, have converged so much as to be at times indistinguishable.

Since the Fall, they have dedicated themselves to the reclaimer cause. Mr. Schmidt leads a project keeping the memories of Earth alive by teaching pre-Fall history and consulting on Earth-related media. Mrs. Schmidt writes a popular reclaimer blog, mixing poetic pre-Fall vignettes with calls to action. They are both popular among academic and reclaimer circles.

Mechanics

Morph: Exalt

Motivations: +Stability, +Education, +Reclaiming Earth

COG 25 COO 15 INT 20 REF 15 SAV 20 SOM 10 WIL 20
MOX - INIT 7 SPD 1 LUC 30 TT 6 IR 60 DUR 35 WT 7 DR 53

Active Skills: Beam Weapons 35, Fray 35, Interfacing 83, Kinesics 75, Networking: Ecologists 68, Networking: Hypercorps 73, Persuasion 60, Pilot: Groundcraft 45, Protocol 83, Research 60

Knowledge Skills: Academics: History 70, Academics: Post-Fall History 70, Academics: Pre-Fall History 75, Art: Writing 75, Interest: Blogs 50, Interest: Old-Earth Relics 70, Language: English 60, Language: German (Native) 90, Profession: Instruction: 70

Reputation: c-rep 100

Implants: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical Stack, Clean Metabolism, Enhanced Hearing, Enhanced Vision, Medichines, Multiple Personalities*

*Note that although the multiple personalities trait means there are two egos in one body, I have built them as one ego based upon their convergence, and for convenience.

158. Darwin Nosek

Darwin Nosek is a hyperelite scion, bio-artist, small player in Lunar politics, large player on Mercury, Extropian consultant, anarchist firebrand, Buddhist monk, and more. He can be all of these things because he is also the originator of choice forking.

Everyone is faced with important choices, choices that determine the path of their lives. Nosek hated making difficult choices; he couldn't stand not knowing where each will lead. Instead of simply accepting the way of things, the resources and mindset of a hyperelite scion found him a way to have his cake and eat it too. Instead of limiting himself to one option or another, he forks himself, and follows both options.

One of the earliest and most significant decisions Nosek forked was whether or not to leave Earth for Mars as his family began to acquire assets off-world. His Martian fork lost much of its fortune and began to be influenced by voices hyperelite society normally drowned out. He forked and one traveled to Extropia, where he became a true proponent of anarchism.

The fork left on Earth retained a typical hyperelite lifestyle, forking several choices. The details are largely lost however, as only two offshoots of that fork survived the fall. Those forks went to Luna and Mercury. The Lunar fork is perhaps the most unchanged from the original Darwin Nosek, maintaining a vapid hyperelite lifestyle. The Mercurial fork buckled down and found himself rapidly gaining political influence, and is working his way towards a position in the Planetary Consortium proper.

Relations between inner and outer system forks mirror the politics of the system as a whole. Both inner and out forks wonder what choice could possibly have allowed for such naive idealism, both groups are ostensibly peaceable but exploring their options, and both groups tend to mediate their interactions through the extropian, who has become quite wealthy exploiting his disparate connections.

Mechanics

By the nature of their creation, every fork of Nosek is notably different, and each will have different stats. A fork is best created using the character creation packages from Transhuman: each fork has the 3pp Hyperelite: Scion background package, and can be plausibly built in almost any direction from there.

131. Ntwadumela

Ntwadumela ("He who greets with fire') is one of the lost. Like many of his brothers and sisters, he was altered by the Watts-McLeod strain of the exsurgent virus. His mind, however, was altered in more subtle ways than many of the others, and he does not even know he is an asynch. The virus gifted him with a strange and powerful mind: he sees connections, makes calculations, understands the flow of events, and comes to strange but powerful conclusions in ways that are more like an AI than a human. The virus also destabilized his mind, and his sentience is under continual threat of erosion and is maintained through sheer force of will. When physically threatened he usually slips into a fugue or unconscious frenzy. 

Currently Ntwadumela is serving as Direct Action's representative to the Immortals, and is therefore technically in charge. He prefers, however, to leave decision-making to the Immortals themselves, and serves only as an adviser. he excels due to his unique mind, supplemented with an education in history, military theory, game theory and biology. The Immortals have learned to trust his conclusions, even when they cannot begin to follow his thinking. In his spare time, Ntwadumela is learning to design robots, which he wishes to make as the flawless executors of his counter-intuitive plans.

Mechanics

Morph: Faust

Motivations: +Self-Control, +Personal Development, +Victory

COG 25 COO 20 INT 20 REF 15 SAV 20 SOM 10 WIL 25
MOX - INIT 7 SPD 1 LUC 50 TT 9 IR 100 DUR 35 WT 7 DR 53

Active Skills: Climbing 35, Fray 68, Freefall 45, Freerunning 30, Hardware: Robotics 40, Impersonation 60, Investigation 68, Kinesics 63, Kinetic Weapons 83, Networking: Hypercorps 50, Perception 73, Persuasion 65, Throwing Weapons 50, Unarmed Combat 50

Knowledge Skills: Academics: Biology 65, Academics: Military Science 83, Art: Game Design 50, Interest: History 65, Interest: Robot Models 55, Language: English (Native) 80, Language: Mandarin 50, Profession: Military Operations 45, Profession: Squad Tactics 73

Sleights: Pattern Recognition, Enhanced Creativity, Predictive Boost, Savant Calculation, Unconscious Lead

Disorder: Fugue

Morph Traits: Psi Chameleon, Psi Shield(1)

Reputation: c-rep 100

Implants: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Circadian Regulation, Cortical Stack, Eidetic Memory, Endocrine Control, Enhanced Respiration, Enhanced Hearing, Enhanced Vision, Medichines, T-Ray Emitter, Hyper-Linguist, Math Boost

Notes: Ntwadumela, paired with the rest of the Immortals, should be a plausible threat for even the most powerful PCs. If he enters combat, flip a coin. Heads and he is affected by his unconscious lead, fighting quickly and effectively. Tails and he enters a fugue state, and will be unresponsive until combat ceases.

113. Grandfather Wang

Grandfather Wang's early history is fragmented and incomplete, fragmented by the losses of the Fall, and incomplete because of its secret and criminal nature. He was not born to wealth or power but was an orphan, homeless, surviving on the street. He had a talent for lies, persuasion, and meeting people, and talked a local boss into giving him a position. His rise from there was meteoric, as he accumulated money and connections.

During the Fall, he used his political and criminal connections to secure an early evacuation to Mars, but left behind his sizable fortune. He found himself increasingly left behind, finding it difficult to contribute to transhuman crime, but with the rise of reputation economies his refined social skills were more useful than ever. It was eventually decided that it would be useful of him to "retire" to a scum swarm.

His contribution to the swarm has been Wang's, a combination speakeasy, gambling hall, brothel, restaurant, and opium den, built to mimic classic styles, with lots of wood, flickering electric or gas lighting and employees in appropriate attire. Grandfather Wang enjoys running his businesses with no fear of law, enjoys the atmosphere he has created, and uses his position to network with interesting and powerful passengers. Wang's has been welcomed, seen as a classy, slightly campy but refreshingly low-key approach to vice services. His use of the swarm as a base for smuggling is considered almost endearing, and the scum overlook the fact that his temporary employees often resemble recently wanted criminals.

Grandfather Wang may not fully understand the post-singularity world, but he should not be underestimated: age has only refined his cunning, and he knows exactly how easy it has become to mend broken bones. He has gained and lost a fortune and lived in both extreme poverty and extreme wealth, leading to an attitude of indifference towards money, but great concern for reputation, an attitude that serves him well among the scum.

"Wang" is probably not his real name.

Mechanics

Morph: Ruster

Motivations: +Triads, +Personal Career, +Leisure

COG 15 COO 15 INT 15 REF 15 SAV 25 SOM 15 WIL 15
MOX - INIT 6 SPD 1 LUC 30 TT 6 IR 60 DUR 35 WT 7 DR 53

Active Skills: Beam Weapons 35, Clubs 45, Deception 73, Fray 35, Infiltration 60, Intimidation 75, Kinesics 65, Networking: Autonomists 65, Networking: Criminals 75, Networking: Hypercorps 75, Networking: Media 55, Networking: Ultimates 55, Palming 45, Perception 45, Persuasion 75, Pilot: Groundcraft 45, Unarmed Combat 75

Knowledge Skills: Interest: Criminal Groups 45, Interest: History 35, Interest: Nightclubs 55, Language: Cantonese (native) 85, Language: Mandarin 55, Profession: Distribution 45, Profession: Haggling 63, Profession: Smuggling 45

Reputation: @-rep 100, g-rep 100

Implants: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical Stack, Enhanced Respiration, Enhanced Hearing, Enhanced Vision, Medichines, T-Ray Emitter, Temperature Tolerance

91. Yutani Nu

Yutani Nu was one of the first children raised in the agōgē, and one of the best. He was the first agōgē student to be raised to the rank of exemplar, is a recognized master of several martial styles, and a respected scholar of Ultimate philosophy. Rumors say that he was parented by an autarch; he certainly seems to have received the best possible tutoring.

Nu was instantiated into the agōgē as a newborn, the best of thousands of combinations of Ultimate heroes. Like all agōgē students, he spent his early years learning the basics of outer system survival, and combat. He killed early, a fellow student during a botched raid on his bunker. The next time he was attacked, he managed to kill a parent from ambush, but took her student hostage instead of killing him. He treated the girl as a fellow student, playing war-games, sparring, and studying with her. When she was killed by a malfunctioning vaccsuit, he recycled her body personally.

On his graduation from the simulation, Nu hit the ground running. He volunteered for any mercenary contracts available, taking part in TQZ incursions, gatecrashing missions and special actions against the seceding Morningstar Constellation. Now that he has achieved the rank of exemplar, his interests have become more abstract, and he mixes philosophical study with sports, sparring and games. It is expected he will apply for agōgē parenthood soon.

Mechanics

Morph: Remade

Motivations: +Ultimates, +Personal Development, +Survival

COG 20 COO 20 INT 15 REF 15 SAV 15 SOM 30 WIL 30
MOX - INIT 6 SPD 1 LUC 60 TT 12 IR 120 DUR 40 WT 8 DR 60

Active Skills: Animal Handling 45, Blades 78, Climbing 60, Demolitions 40, Fray 63, Free Fall 45, Freerunning 70, Hardware: Industrial 60, Intimidation 45, Kinetic Weapons 83, Medicine: Paramedic 50, Navigation 35, Networking: Ultimates 45, Perception 55, Pilot: Groundcraft 45, Seeker Weapons 45, Throwing Weapons 50, Unarmed Combat 90

Knowledge Skills: Language: Hindi (Native) 80, Academics: Philosophy 85, Academics: Psychology 60, Interest: Ancient Sports 60, Profession: Post-Apocalyptic Survival 60, Profession: Scavenging 60

Ego Traits: Ambidextrous

Morph Traits: Uncanny Valley

Reputation: c-rep 50, u-rep 90

Implants: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Circadian Regulation, Cortical Stack, Eidetic Memory, Hyper Linguist, Enhanced Respiration, Enhanced Hearing, Enhanced Vision, Medichines, T-Ray Emitter, Temperature Tolerance, Toxin Filters, Clean Metabolism

87. Gloria de la Poer

Gloria de la Poer was born in the then-new Nytrondheim dome of Valles New-Shanghai. Her mother was one of the scientists in charge of early terraforming efforts, her father a security contractor who died before she was born. Her education was informal, run by educational software, with occasional ad-hoc lessons from her mother. She eventually became impatient with software, and began learning from her own experiments and research. By the time she had become an adult she was ready to work on terraforming with her mother, but she instead chose a long trip to Earth.

Pre-Fall Earth was not yet dead, but it was dying. Those sections of humanity not wracked by drought, famine and war were engaged in hundreds of projects hoped to buy the biosphere time. Gloria de la Poer began freelance work for these projects, spreading her talents and reputation widely across scientific networks. It was here that she created the first manna tree. Whether Earth could have been saved will forever be a mystery, as the TITANs brought a sudden conclusion to the struggles of the planet. When the evacuation of Earth began, she was considered a priority, and on one of the first ships out.

Evacuated to Luna, she made a fortune by selling biological samples and genetic material she brought with her from Earth, as well as by helping to design ecological systems for the new habitats and expansions necessitated by the diaspora. She was able to purchase a private habitat in Lunar orbit, complete with some of the best biological labs in the system. She now spends her time on her own research, emerging only to sell some of her results when necessary.

Gloria de la Poer is interested in immortality. Her personal immortality is assured: she has backups, medichines and a cortical stack like everyone else. She is interested in creations that will live beyond her, and has a fixation on children, literally and figuratively. Her progeny include her son, enhanced for speed and loyalty, who serves as her bodyguard, her two daughters, both enhanced for intelligence, and both now independent and working on their own projects, and a variety of smart animals spliced with sections of her DNA. She is currently attempting to create a morph that will periodically metamorphose, resetting its biological clock as well as altering itself as necessary.

Mechanics

Morph: Menton

Motivations: +Science, +Career, +Immortality

COG 30 COO 15 INT 20 REF 15 SAV 20 SOM 15 WIL 20
MOX - INIT 8 SPD 1 LUC 40 TT 8 IR 80 DUR 35 WT 7 DR 53

Active Skills: Animal Handling 60, Interfacing 80, Investigation 50, Medicine: Biosculpting 75, Medicine: Gene Therapy 70, Medicine: Nanomedicine 70, Networking: Ecologists 50, Networking: Hypercorps 78, Networking: Media 40, Networking: Scientists 68, Perception 50, Persuasion 60, Protocol 80

Knowledge Skills: Academics: Biology 85, Academics: Economics 75, Academics: Genetics 75, Interest: Smart Animals, Language: French (native) 80, Profession: Biodesign 85, Profession: Lab Technician 75

Reputation: c-rep 150, r-rep 90

Implants: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical Stack, Eidetic Memory, Hyper Linguist, Math Boost, Enhanced Hearing, Enhanced Vision, Medichines, T-Ray Emitter, Clean Metabolism, Enhanced Pheromones, Endocrine Control

Notes

Inspired by the character Sri Hong-Owen from Paul McAuley's The Quiet War.

78. J.O.E.

Joseph Oliver Easley was born in London a quarter-century before the Fall. He showed an early aptitude for math and it was no surprise when he majored in mathematics, then began graduate work in computer science. He was corrupted into insanity by a TITAN virus during the Fall, a fate which gave him a dangerous curiosity for TITAN tech.

Reinstated from his university's off-world backup, he found himself an infugee. He signed an indenture contract working as mesh security for the Mars Authority, but by the time it ended he had discovered that he enjoyed infomorph life. He sold his newly earned body and migrated to Glitch. There he began working as a hacktivist, seeking to uncover hypercorp secrets.

J.O.E. was created in AF 8, in a Firewall dead drop server. Joseph had instantiated a beta fork (J.O.E.) directly on the server to reduce latency. Suddenly, however, the server was disconnected, trapping J.O.E. inside. Firewall interviewed the hacker fork they had captured and, having a use for his skills and seeking to prevent his interest in TITANs from becoming dangerous, recruited him.

J.O.E. is resentful of Firewall's restrictions on him. While he is not bothered by his status as software, and happy to have the opportunity to uncover secrets and investigate TITANs, he would rather do so on his own terms. Firewall tends to loan J.O.E. to teams requiring a hacker, keeping him in a special portable server-prison that disallows forking or exporting.

Mechanics

Morph: Digimorph

Motivations: +Freedom, +Virtual Reality, +Hacktivism

COG 20 COO 10 INT 10 REF 10 SAV 10 SOM 10 WIL 10
MOX - INIT 4 SPD 3 LUC 20 TT 6 IR 60 DUR - WT - DR -

Active Skills: Fray 20, Hardware: Electronics 58, Hardware: Robotics 58, Infosec 60, Interfacing 60, Medicine: Nanomedicine 55, Networking: Scientists 50, Pilot: Groundcraft 40, Programming 60, Psychosurgery 40, Research 50

Knowledge Skills: Academics: Computer Science 50, Academics: Cryptography 58, Academics: Mathematics 58, Interest: Science Fiction 58, Interest: Simulspace 63, Interest TITAN Tech 63, Language: English (Native) 80, Profession: Darknet Operations 58, Profession: Mesh Security Operations 68

Reputation: @-rep 50, i-rep 40, r-rep 50

Implants: Mnemonic Augmentation

Note that J.O.E. is a beta fork.

Using J.O.E.: I've made J.O.E. with the intention of acting as a convenient "hacker-in-a-box" for groups lacking an infosec specialist. His interests in TITAN tech also let him act as adviser, minor antagonist, or instigator of TITAN/singularity seeker oriented missions.

Plot Hook: Joseph Oliver Easley is still out there somewhere, a skilled hacker who would love to know all that J.O.E. has learned from Firewall. J.O.E., resentful as he is, would not like an attempt re-merging after their long time separated. If he has learned to trust the players, he may ask him for help carrying out a preemptive strike on Joseph.

61. Myrmidon

The exhuman now know as Myrmidon was born in the Guangzhou megacity an estimated 16 years before the Fall. He made a meager living scavenging material for fabber feedstock. As the Fall progressed, his skill at scavenging and knowledge of his local neighborhoods enabled him dig in and survive, until he was one of only a handful of scattered human remnants. He was picked up by one of the last desperate rescue missions, and sent to refugee processing on a Go-Nin orbital station.

Go-Nin aptitude tests revealed a bright mind with a talent for unweaving complex systems. Go-Nin gave him training in psychosurgery and put him to work on his fellow refugees, where he excelled. He found his work less and less interesting, however, and left his contract at the earliest available opportunity.

He slowly worked his way to the main belt, where he eventually joined with an exhuman clade on Extropia conducting experimental psychosurgery. Again, he excelled, learning rapidly from the exhumans, eventually playing a key role in the development of fork hives. As soon as the work was deemed reliable, he became a fork hive himself, at which point he spread across the system.

The Myrmidon sub-group inhabiting the war were invited by Direct Action to participate as non-aligned agents and simulation variables. Planetary Consortium prognostication systems have been predicting rising influence by hives, gestalts and group minds, and Direct Action wishes to study a potential future enemy. For their part, Myrmidon states that they wish the most realistic training possible, although protesting Direct Action executives maintain that Myrmidon, too, are studying future enemies, and may learn too much.

Mechanics

Morph: Fenrir

Motivations: +Exhumanism, +Personal Development, +Survival

COG 20 COO 20 INT 20 REF 20 SAV 10 SOM 30 WIL 20
MOX - INIT 8 SPD 2 LUC 40 TT 8 IR 80 DUR 80 WT 16 DR 160

Active Skills: Climbing 55, Demolitions 50, Disguise 35, Fray 68, Freerunning 50, Intimidation 40, Kinetic Weapons 68, Medicine: Biosculpting 70, Medicine: Implant Surgery 50, Medicine Psychiatry 50, Networking: Hypercorps 40, Networking: Scientists 50, Perception 73, Psychosurgery 75, Seeker Weapons 60, Unarmed Combat 90

Knowledge Skills: Academics: Genetics 60, Academics: Psychology 50, Interests: Cutting-Edge Technology 60, Interests: Exhumans 70, Interests: TITAN Tech 50, Language: Cantonese (Native): 90, Profession: Post-Apocalyptic Survival 50, Profession: Scavenging 50, Profession: Squad Tactics 60

Ego Traits: Anomalous Mind

Morph Traits: Armor (16/16)

Reputation: c-rep 50, @-rep 50

Implants: 360-Degree Vision, Access Jacks, Anti-Glare, Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical Stack, Cyberbrain, Direction Sense, Ego Sharing (1), Enhanced Hearing, Enhanced Vision, Extra Limbs (4), Heavy Combat Armor, Lidar, Medichines, Mnemonic Augmentation, Pneumatic Limbs, Radar, Structural Enhancement, T-Ray Emitter, Weapon Mount (External, Articulated, 8)

Gear: x6 Rail Machine Guns w/ AP Rounds, x2 Seeker Rifles w/ HE and Splash Warheads, Nanohives (Repair, Engineering, Protean, Dissasembler)

Armor: 16/16

Note that Myrmidon is a fork hive. The stats given are for typical egos encountered in the war, a martial sub-group. Variation from ego to ego is to be expected.