Cyborgs
Type: Technology
Cyborgs are individuals with mechanical implants. More than mere prosthetics, cybernetics are surgically linked directly to the nervous system, making cyborgs truly part machine. Most people are leery of permanently altering their bodies in significant ways, but there’s been a growing movement of cybernetic enthusiasts pushing the boundary between living and mechanical.
- Abilities: Similar to A.I., cyborgs can be modified with a multitude of mechanical upgrades. In fact the only body part that can’t be completely replaced is the brain. Depending on the needs of the cyborg, integrated tools, weapons, sensory upgrades, and armor are possible, along with many other enhancements. Most cyborgs have cerebral chips installed, allowing them to interface directly with computers without the need for an arclink. They also handle injuries well, on account of the biosupport systems needed to integrate their cybernetics.
- Origin: True cyborgs aren’t simply people with prosthetics. The cybernetic integration procedure requires specialized surgery to permanently link the machinery to the cyborg’s living body. This usually involves installing connectors directly to the central nervous system to allow greater control and better feedback. More extensive cybernetics often come with chemical alterations to the cyborg’s body to allow it to handle all the upgrades.
- Varieties: For the most part, cybernetics are installed as replacements for body parts that have been lost. However, a growing community of transhumanists have been experimenting with voluntary cybernetic alterations, leading to the development of cybernetics with features that go well beyond simple limb replacements. While most other metahumans will reject cyber-surgery, cybernetics are nonetheless on the cutting edge of hybrid experimentation. For example, cyberzombies are corpses that have been reanimated with cybernetics, rather than with the power of Nihil. Creatures that have been both extensively chemically or genetically altered and also have extensive cybernetics are usually considered cyborgs, too, rather than prometheans.
- Personality: Standard cybernetics have no impact on the recipient’s personality. However, there are various kinds of cerebral implants that can allow cyborgs to upgrade their brains as well as their bodies. Because machine intelligence works differently from biological intelligence, this isn’t as simple as an IQ upgrade, but it can allow them to process certain kinds of information with the speed a computer could.
- Visibility: Known. Cyborgs are somewhat exotic, but quite well known to the public.
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