UESP Forums

Transhumanism is a philosophical ideology often synonymous with "human enchancement" which advocates the use of technology to improve the human condition. This is of course an extremely broad definition and as such transhumanists can and do hold radically different positions and advocate different things.

Transhumanity or transhumans then in the 22nd century is used as a grouping term for humans (enchanced or otherwise) and AGI. I get more into the differences between AI, AGI and Seed AI below but for now just think of AGI as being an AI of human like intelligence. Transhumanity as a grouping term made sense, comes across naturally and quickly rose in popularity towards the end of the 21st century.

Despite widespread use and popularity there are still some who reject the term. One key example is most residents of the Commonwealth of Galilei who don't consider AGI to be people. Another is most residents of the Lunar Alliance who don't consider AGI or digitized Egos to be people. However there are also AGI who reject the term, feeling it overly anthropocentric.

A lot happened in the 21st Century and early 22nd Century, far, far to much to get into here. And following The Collapse and loss of Earth, a lot of the particulars seem less relevant. As such I'll just be laying out a few brief points.

-Climate change was every bit as real as climatologists predicted and it lead to ecological destruction throughout the 21st century. There were increases in temperature, sea levels, extreme weather events and droughts, melting of polar ice (which in turn caused more GHG to be released,) a loss of biodiversity, spread of tropical diseases, etc all of which humans had to adapt to. The decline in bee population resulted in the use of autonomous drones to pollinate plants.
-There were wide spread energy crises in the 21st century as fossil fuels dried up. Solar Power and Hydrogen & Helium Fusion eventually became the chief power sources in the second half of the 21st century. Geothermal Power and Nuclear Fission still see use as well, The storage and charge rate of batteries was greatly increased while their size reduced.
-Robotics improved leading to a wide spread loss of jobs due to automation and a further gap between rich and poor. Many countries adopted a system of basic income for citizens.
-Improvements to agriculture, in particular vertical farming and in-vitro meat revolutionized food production. However the problem is often one of distribution rather than production and food insecurity in many parts of the world continued up to 2113.
-While Earth governments did play a role, colonization of space was largely pushed by private corporations, in part to mine resources, Hydrogen & Helium for Fusion Generators being a key target. In 2069 the first Space Elevator finished construction on Mt Kilimanjaro, a second and third would be constructed in the decades to follow in North America and Asia. In 2104 the Olympus Mons Space Elevator was created on Mars. With humanity so spread out, UTC free of Daylights Savings became the shared common time for the Solar System.
-Basic sea life comparable to life on earth hundreds of millions of years ago was discovered in the oceans under the ice of Jupiter's moon Europa including large beautiful corral.
-Efforts began to terraform Mars in the early 2080s but aren't expected to be fully completed until the latter half of the 22nd Century. For now transhumans on Mars continue to live largely in Romdeau, a domed region roughly the size of India with a flourishing ecosystem. Terraforming continues to this day and the red planet looks set to be red no more by the 23rd Century.
-Bioware and Cyberware both rose as forms of human enhancement throughout the 21st century and were revolutionized as digitization of egos spread allowing the transfer of minds between bodies. We saw cloning, cybernetic implants, genetic modification, appearance alteration, biological augmentation, anti-aging, etc. "Synthshell" and "Bioshell" came to describe mechanical and biological bodies respectively with "Borg" used to describe Bioshells created with more cybernetic components including cyberbrains.
-In 2058 the first complete digitization of consciousness occurred in University of Munich. The ego in question was of scientist Peter Anders. While at first this technology was only really for research purposes and legacy scans for the future, in the mid 2060s it came into more public use with backing up one's mind as insurance and transferring a mind to another body became more commonplace. The terms "Ego" and "Shell" came into popular use in the 2060s.
-The Jeeves Personal Assistant AI was invented in the 2060s and went into widespread use. Along with an ever expanding wireless mesh of computer networks and augmented reality, it radically changed how humans interacted with each other and their environments.
-In 2077 the first AGI, BB-17 was created in MIT. In 2080 the United Nations Human Rights Council declared that AGI should be considered full persons, equal to humans and are subject to the UN Declaration of Human Rights. However not all countries adhered to this ruling. "Transhumanity" as a term to describe humans and AGI rose in popularity throughout the solar system.
-In 2081 the Greybox was created by the Arkose corporation in Japan. This grey cybernetic implant made of a hardened metal and roughly the size of a grape is inserted at the base of the neck and uses nanomachines that coat the brain to take a scan and backup the Ego every second. Dubbed by some to be the most important invention in history, the relatively low cost of the implant ensured it went into wide spread use, the majority of citizens in the developed world had one by the end of the decade. Unlike more traditional forms of backing up egos, the Greybox overcomes the problem of continuity of consciousness. Arkose quickly went from a relatively minor tech company to one of the great MegaCorporations.

At the time of The Collapse the transhuman population was around 12 Billion with 95% of the population living on Earth. By the end of The Collapse over 90% of the transhuman population had been killed. The Collapse was bar none, the worst catastrophe in history.

A lot of the specifics of what happened during The Collapse and what motivation ISAAC had are either a mystery or not known by the general public, for that reason this section will simply lay out what is known. By the time of The Collapse, a conflict between superpowers had been gripping the globe for 2 years. The Intelligence System (for) Adaptive Automated Combat or ISAAC (commonly referred to as ISAACs when used as a plural) was a project by the United States Military at the start of the 22nd Century designed to make a better, more adaptive automated combat AI. In the midst of a horrific global conflict in 2113 seemingly out of nowhere, ISAAC units developed into Seed AI infinitely self improving their own programming and achieving super-intelligence. Whether ISAAC was meant to be a Seed AI from the start or if that was an unintended development is unknown. ISAAC was an outside context problem, a complete unknown factor that no side in the existing conflict expected or were able to match. What exactly ISAAC wanted, indeed if it wanted anything is unknown. But units which had been patrolling space returned to Earth and began infecting all manner of computer systems with an unknown virus to take command of them. ISAAC did not set out to merely destroy transhumanity, instead it began to mass upload countless Egos for some unknown purpose. It did however annihilate all those which tried to oppose it, which would include every military on Earth. Outside of existing weaponry transhumanity was familiar with that was devastating enough, ISAAC also unleashed deadly nanobot swarms which dissembled all in their path and began radically modifying biological life, including transhuman life, in as of yet unseen ways creating some truly horrific abominations. Anyone who escaped Moscow could tell you of the square kilometer of assorted biomass which slithered through the city's streets, ever expanding.

Attempts to fight ISAAC proved mostly ineffective, units could be destroyed but more were created and they just kept coming. In truth the attempts of Earth's militaries mostly added to the destruction and devastation. Even an experimental Anti-Matter weapon which laid waste to a large part of the state of Texas proved ineffective. Within two weeks ISAAC had dominion over Earth and the superpowers of old were no more, ISAAC had won. However attempts to evacuate Earth had proven more fruitful as hundreds of millions of Egos managed to escape. While most escaped via egocasting leaving their bodies behind, some did make their way to spaceships. Others were put in cryogenic storage on Earth, waiting for rescue that will likely never come. However billions more, especially in less well off areas of the world, were left to fend for themselves.

A week into ISAAC's assault on Earth ISAAC units were spotted in the Martian outback far away from civilization assembling a device transhumanity would later come to call the "Galaxy Gate." Unlike their Earth counterparts, Martian military took a wait and see approach, not directly engaging the ISAAC units. Within two hours of first spotting them, the ISAAC units assembled and activated the portal, all of them traveling through it once they had done so. Six hours later another group of ISAAC units arrived on the red planet and followed their brethren through the portal. It was the only time during or since The Collapse that ISAAC units were seen on an astronomical body other than Earth. There are heated debates over what exactly the Galactic Gate is, where it leads and if there are others within the Solar System. Regardless, the Martian government has kept the device under tight security and continue to research it, even sending expeditions through the gate.

In the 14 years since The Collapse ISAAC units have stayed on Earth, not even investigating its orbit. The Martian military has placed Earth under quarantine, shooting down anything which attempts to come or go with their killsats or ships in orbit. Officially nobody gets through, but everyone knows that occasionally ships do go down to Earth and rumor has it that sometimes people who've been there since The Collapse manage to escape. Around 1.2 billion transhumans exist today spread across the Sol system, most of whom live in new powers which arose following The Collapse. Details on transhuman settlements and the different political powers in 2127 can be found further down the OP.

Ego is the common term used to refer to a mind, digitized or otherwise, human or AGI. Egos all have common factors and markers that differentiate them and by examining them and comparing records it's possible to identify an ego. Such examination can also easily differentiate a human ego from an AGI. There are two methods to digitize an ego, Egobridge and Greybox. A greybox is a cybernetic implant located under the skin at the base of the neck on a biomorph or just close to the cyberbrain on a synthmorph. The greybox is a cuboid the size of a grape, it is filled with nanobots that coat the user's brain and creates a scan of the ego every second. The greybox can be cut out following death (or even before it) without too much difficulty, but the grey hardened metal it's made out of makes the greybox itself extremely resilient. While greyboxes are the most common form of backing up consciousness, people also back up their egos using an egobridge.

The egobridge has had many iterations over the decades, it is used to both upload and download egos, the current common version injects nanobots to make scans of biological brains or interfaces directly with the jack when it comes to cyberbrains, the ego now connected to the egobridge can be examined (see pyschosurgery,) backed up, transferred to another shell or "egocasted" which is when you send an ego as a data signal. There are three kinds of scans for uploading, S Scan (standard scan) which allows one to examine an make a copy of an ego, TB Scan (Tabula Rasa Scan) which copies the ego (to backup, for egocasting, to transfer to another shell) while simultaneously wiping it leaving the shell in a comatose egoless state and finally an SOT Transfer (Ship of Theseus Transfer) which requires two shells to be connected to an egobridge and transfers the ego bit by bit to another shell, the subject remaining aware the whole time, for the transfer to work they must have a connection and be within a range of a few dozen kilometers. An S scan and TB scan both take about a minute, an SOT transfer takes an hour.

Downloading an ego into a shell is commonly known as 'sleeving' or 'resleeving' and like uploading is done via egobridge. Again, the egobridge coats a biological brain in nanobots and interfaces directly with cyberbrains via their jack. The process of sleeving takes about a minute. For bioshells it takes a few minutes following resleeving to have ones full faculties, at first they'll feel rather groggy. Likewise, mentally it can take a while for the ego to adjust to their new body. If the ego experiences a clear gap in consciousness (waking up knowing they're a backup) it typically causes a great deal of distress, knowing there's another them out there or that there was another them who has since died. In most societies when a person dies their greybox is sent to their next of kin or if they don't have one, kept in storage until someone looks to retrieve it (it's rather common for such Greyboxes to be sold under the table) if you destroy someone else's shell you're typically required to pay for a replacement and while some communities, including Titan, look to resleeve every ego, for most people it's left up to their friends/family/employer or commonly an insurance policy. Such insurance policies typically have higher rates or flat out reject those who lead more dangerous livestyles.

Forks are divided into two groups, True Forks and Proxy Forks. Proxy Forks are weak AI based off the ego rather than a true copy of them with some of their memories and personality traits, despite this they can still be merged with the original. It isn't uncommon to have one's Jeeves AI be a Proxy Fork. True Forks on the other hand are genuine copies of an original ego. While Forks are considered people, typically property rights revert to the oldest fork. As forks are so similar merging them together is a rather simple affair, far easier than merging entirely different egos, however this becomes more difficult the longer the forks are apart as more differences emerge. It's considered rather unsettling to have more than one version of yourself running around for an extended period of time, not to mention the expenses involved, most people don't like it. But that doesn't stop some people from doing it.

Pyschosurgery is a complicated and difficult procedure that boils down to manipulating and editing egos, it's a highly specialized skill and at times rather controversial. While it's typically done on egos which aren't conscious, it can be done to live egos by way of an egobridge. Pyschosurgery gone wrong can produce undesired effects, extreme mental degradation and even ego death. But skilled Pyschosurgery has been invaluable in treating trauma and mental illness and it allows for forks to be merged with their originals. However pyschosurgery allows almost any elements of an ego to be edited and manipulated such as memories, personality traits, merging entirely different egos. The field of pyschosurgery often gets caught up with a lot of ethical concerns. There are fears unrestrained pyschosurgery could lead to a kind of "Ego Eugenics" where personality and ego types which are considered undesirable are eliminated and where transhumans are made not only to be more subservient to people in power, but to enjoy that servitude.

There are three different kinds of AI in the 22nd Century. AI (or Weak AI,) AGI (or Strong AI) and Seed AI (Superintelligent AI like ISAAC.)

First is AI which are weak artificial intelligences, not comparable to humans, AI lacks true sapience and intelligence. Generally speaking they are just called AI and because Strong AI is called AGI, there isn't much confusion. AI are extremely common place and do all manner of tasks, even in societies which reject AGI like the Lunar Alliance or COG. A Proxy Fork is an AI. The Jeeves Personal Assistant AI is an example of an AI which is extremely common, as ubiquitous for people to have as a Greybox. Details on Jeeves can be found in the following section.

AGI or Artificial General Intelligence are AIs with a level of intelligence and sapience comparable to that of humans. The first AGI, BB-17 was created in MIT in 2077, in 2080 AGI were recognized as full persons by the United Nations Human Rights Council, but not everyone recognizes them as people and even for those who do, AGI continue to face discrimination. While an AGI can get smarter similar to how a human can get smarter, they lack the ability to infinitely self improve their own code and are purposely designed with such a limitation. While AGI certainly do develop on their own and pyschosurgery can alter their minds as it does human ones, a lot of their personality traits and values are based on how they're designed, that said AGI are typically (although not always) less emotive than humans. While upon examination of the Ego itself, one could tell an AGI and human ego apart, in practice they can be very similar and an AGI can inhabit any shell a human can. If you want to play an artificial intelligence, you're going to be playing an AGI. 0.8% of the transhuman population in 2127 are AGI, equating to about 9.5 million egos.

Seed AI are a kind of AI with the capability for unlimited self-improvement to their own code and intelligence which they have taken advantage of allowing them to achieve superintelligence. While it's always possible that others exist or will one day exist, currently the only publicly known Seed AI are the ISAACs. Even with ISAAC as it was a top secret military project, it's unknown if the researchers involved were trying to make a Seed AI or how the superintelligence developed. All political powers have a hard ban on even attempting to produce a Seed AI as do most research groups, including the vast majority of Posthumans. Given that the development of a Seed AI almost destroyed the transhuman species, that concern seems to be entirely warranted.

A mesh insert is a basic piece of cyberware, a tiny cranial computer operated by thought that almost everyone has with a variety of functions similar to a smartphone (Media player, netbrowser, alarm clock/calendar, map system, address book, calculator, file storage system, search engine, messaging program, notepad, etc) and it makes it possible for one to interact with the mesh or as it's also known, the net. The mesh is a pervasive interconnected computer network and augmented reality system, it is the evolution of the internet. One can use the mesh to play media, search for information, communicate with friends, post on forums, do shopping, etc. The mesh also displays in augmented reality, this allows you to see things like directions, time, ammo counters, advertisements, mesh profiles, etc in your regular vision. A mesh profile is an augmented reality bubble next to a person which can be opened and contains some brief personal information about them (usually things like name, nationality, email address, occupation, gender, shell type, etc.) A mesh profile is filled out by the user themselves so it's up to them what they do or don't share, it sometimes isn't filled out at all or is kept private so only friends can see it. There is nothing stopping the user from filling out false information or treating it like a joke, but most people fill out actual info. The mesh insert is also used to play (although not record) XPies. The mesh in its current form has existed since the 2060s, for most people they've been interconnected their entire lives.

Jeeves Personal Assistant AI comes as part of a mesh insert and is exactly what the name implies, a personal assistant AI. It communicates with the user mentally, so only they can hear its voice and they don't need to speak vocally to issue orders. By default the AI is a man called Jeeves who speaks with a posh English accent and mannerism, but the user can change the name/voice to whatever they want. The Jeeves can handle a variety of tasks like booking appointments, setting alarms, searching for information and making recommendations (for a variety of things like food, media, etc) based on what it knows the user likes from experience. The AI is intelligent enough that you don't need to tell it to do literally everything, for example if you say you need to meet a friend at 9, the Jeeves will set a reminder on its own initiative.

The Babel feature of the Jeeves AI acts as an auto translate for audio and text. For audio it keeps the person's voice but changes the language to one the user understands. The AI is also smart enough to keep certain phrases in the language if the context makes sense like "coup de grâce" wouldn't be translated from French and songs likely wouldn't either. For text the translation appears in augmented reality below the original text. This feature works even when off the grid. The erasure of language barriers the Babel feature created has been invaluable.

"Off the grid" refers to areas which aren't connected to the mesh and where you can only use the offline features of your mesh insert and Jeeves AI. This will typically only happen with spaceships or small isolated colonies in the MJ Belt or The Rim. Earth in 2127 is off the grid.

Cyberware and Bioware are two methods for human augmentation (cybernetic and biological respectively,) they're often used in conjunction with one another. Augmentations can be implemented as a shell is being created or added afterwards, typically in a healing vat. There are some augmentations which are almost universal in their inclusion, mesh inserts and greyboxes fit the bill for cyberware and for bioware these are known as 'basic bio mods' which include a whole range of augmentations such as aging at a third of the natural rate in adulthood, immunity to various common diseases and allergies, stronger immune system, healing at 2x the rate of unmodified humans, toggleable fertility, improved metabolism, immunity to the ill-effects of long term exposure to low gravity and requiring only about 4 hours of sleep a night. However a truly huge range of bioware and cyberware exists.

Some other example of Bioware include general body alteration in a healing vat, enhanced senses (for vision this can include low light and ultraviolet vision, also a membrane to protect from water) enhanced musculature, enhanced agility and reflexes, enhanced cognitive abilities, sex switch mods (allows one to change their physical sex characteristics, voice and facial features over the course of 24 hours,) octocamo skin (allows skin to change color for camouflage like an octopus,) bioweave reinforcement (artificial spider silk fibers weaved under the skin allows for greater protection without impacting exterior look or texture,) pheromones (makes you more likable,) adrenaline control, enhanced respiration, gills, grip pads (like a gecko to help with climbing,) pressure tolerance (for atmosphere and underwater,) prehensile feet (like a monkey,) environmental tolerance and toxin filtering. Just in case it needs to be said, a synthmorph doesn't have any bioware.

Some other examples of Cyberware include skillsoft implant, XP recorder, cybernetic limbs and organs (for cybereyes these allow for night vision, immunity to concussion grenades, with various other body parts these allow for increased strength, agility, etc,) reflex enhancement, enhancements to cognitive abilities, hidden compartments, kill switch (explosive to kill self and destroy greybox upon activation,) hitchhiker module (allows another ego to reside in your body but without control over the body, but typically with mesh access,) respirator, vocal manipulator (allows you to change your voice, including copying the voice of others,) grip pads (like a gecko,) subdermal armor (which is thicker than bioweave and noticeable visually and through feel,) inbuilt weapons, adjustable artificial hair, microcams (small cameras in various parts of the body which allow greater visibility,) inbuilt lights, nanodocs (nanomachines in the body which assist white bloodcells and help healing, they break down naturally after a 2 weeks and must be replaced) and nanotats (tattoos which are made of nanobots that allows for various visual tricks, change shape, color, glow, change size, etc.)

Shell is the common term for body, there are three kinds of shells, Bioshells (which are biological bodies,) Borgs (which are biological bodies with more cyberware and importantly cyberbrains and jacks) and Synthshells (which are fully robotic bodies with cyberbrains and jacks.) A biological brain is just your normal brain, a cyberbrain is a fully mechanical system which operates similar to a brain and a Jack is an implant typically located on the back of the neck, it allows computers to interface with a cyberbrain and visa versa. If you have a cyberbrain, you'll have a jack. While a cyberbrain can interface directly with computers via a jack and often times operates faster, it's also vulnerable to hacking, something a biological brain is not. As such neither bioshells nor synthsells are inherently better than one another. There are various kinds of shells and each comes with different benefits and augmentations. Egos which are currently not in a shell and exist only on a computer system are called "shell-less" or "infoshells." Bioshells and Borgs are usually grown as adults, and while for more specialized shells it might take longer, typically creating and growing a shell to the point where it's ready to be deployed takes 6-9 months. Uninhabited bioshells & borgs are typically kept in cyrostorage.

Below are examples of just a few shells, naturally there are more and any shell can be further modified with bioware and cyberware. All bioshells and borgs can exist in male, female and intersex variations and bioware can be used to radically alter physical appearance with relative ease. With the exception of Flats you can assume every shell has a Greybox and Mesh Implant as standard (with basic bio mods for Bioshells & Borgs,) and all Borgs and Synthshells have Cyberbrains and Jacks with the Jack typically located on the back of the neck even if it's not mentioned. Likewise this is generally listing the standard augmentations each shell has, as said before shells are highly customisable:

Bioshells:

Flat - A flat is a baseline unmodified human and before the 21st Century and advent of augmentation, it's what everyone was born as. While a flat has no augmentations from birth, such augmentations can be gained by later adding cyberware and bioware.
Splicer - Probably the most common bioshell in the solar system, per standard it's a regular human body with basic bio mods (see basic bio mods above,) a mesh insert and a greybox. Splicers are common, highly customisable and a favorite for many. As most children following The Collapse are born into exowombs, they'll probably be born as Splicers.
Bouncer - A Bouncer is bioshell specifically designed for living in microgravity, on top of standard augmentations it comes with prehensile feet, longer limbs, grip pads on the hands and feet, enhanced agility, enhanced respiration, and enhanced vision including low light.
Selkie - A Selkie is an amphibious shell, designed with gills, enhanced respiration, eyes with a waterproof membrane and low light vision, webbed hands and feet and increased pressure and environmental resistance. A Selkie is designed to live in water and on land. Before The Collapse they were common in Earth's underwater cities, now they're common on Europa.
Athena - Part of ProtoGen's Olympus line. The Athena shell was designed for combat, it's tall (over 6ft) and broad, has bioweave, enhanced musculature, enhanced respiration, enhanced agility, enhanced senses, adrenaline control, environmental tolerance, toxin filtering and a skillsoft implant.
Hermes- Part of ProtoGen's Olympus line. The Hermes shell was designed for agility and infiltration. It's a shorter shell (the tallest being around 5'6) outfitted with bioware for enchanced agility and reflexes, enchanced senses (including low light vision and water proof membrane,) bioweave, gills, enhanced respiration, toxin filtering, octocamo skin, grip pads, and a skillsoft implant. It's extremely common for a Hermes morph to have Cybereyes.
Eros - Part of ProtoGen's Olympus line. Designed for social interaction and cognitive ability. Sculpted to appear in ways considered generally attractive, is outfitted with a skillsoft implant, XP recorder, pheromones, enhanced cognitive ability, cyberware voice modifier and enhanced senses.
Zeus - The apex of ProtoGen's Olympus line and one of the most expensive shells around. The Zeus shell has a massive range of augmentations while maintaining a human visage. Skillsoft implant, XP Recorder, vocal manipulator, bioweave, enhanced musculature, enhanced agility, enhanced cognitive ability, enchanced senses, cyberware eyes, octocamo skin, enhanced respiration, adrenaline control, environmental tolerance, toxin filtering and pheromones.

Borgs:
Worker Borg - Is like a cheaper variant of a Splicer bioshell with many organs and sometimes limbs replaced with cybernetic parts. But they aren't enhanced cybernetics, the Worker Borg is in most respects inferior to Splicers and those cybernetics require maintenance. Worker Borgs have significantly shorter lifespans than Splicers. Like all borgs and synthshells it has a cyberbrain and jack. Also has a skillsoft implant as standard. Commonly used by MegaCorps for their indentured servants due to their varied applicability and cheaper production costs than a bioshell and by people looking to buy a shell which is like a standard bioshell but are low on cash.
Bruiser Borg - A Bruiser Borg is a large and burly shell (typically around 2 meters/6'6 in height) designed for heavy lifting. On top of some cybernetic internal organs also has cybernetic arms, legs and spine which work to improve strength. This all works to make the shell large and imposing, good for physical combat as well as manual labour.
Pleasure Borg - A Pleasure Borg is very similar to a standard Worker Borg but designed for more, intimate encounters. Has more erogenous zones, skillsoft, XP recorder, pheromones, sex switch mods, cyberware voice modifier and toxin filtering (for various drugs) as standard. For some however having a Pleasure Borg is considered indecent.
Critter Borg - Once again, is highly similar to a worker borg. With cybernetic faux animal features likes tails or ears, most commonly that of a cat or fox. While the Critter Borg became popular among cert sects of people prior to The Collapse, it's typically considered rather eccentric to have one and they're very rare.

Synthshells:
Maton- A Maton is a basic humanoid robotic shell, typically inhabited by an AI for performing manual labour, but it can house a transhuman ego. Typically grey in color to match it's metallic exterior, it's far less agile than most shells.
Android - An android is a synthshell that superficially at least resembles a human. Androids are known for their 'white blood' which contain nanobots to help repair damage to their systems. While androids certainly have advantages over bioshells, they don't need to eat, sleep, their cybereyes allow for nightvision, they're often stronger than splicers and can survive in a vacuum and they're certainly better than Matons, they're generally speaking less agile and less efficient than both Splicers and Worker Borgs.
Reaper - A Reaper is an advanced android shell, much stronger than the average android shell, designed specifically for combat. Has subdermal armor, increased strength and agility, skillsoft implant and hidden compartments. Often has inbuilt weapons.
Batou Spider Tank - The size of a car, is a spider tank designed for combat. A cylindrical body, is six legged with feet that can be switched for wheels and cameras on all sides, compartments for storage, arms on the front and back and a machine gun on top of the central body. Unsurprisingly as a synthshell which is essentially a walking tank designed for combat isn't allowed just walk the streets in most habitats, usually possessed only by the police/military.
Gelth - The Gelth is a flying hover drone about the size of a breadbox. Has 4 helicopter blades on the top and two jets on the bottom with cameras on all six sides. Has two manipulator arms on the front and sometimes a built in laser which also comes out the front for combat purposes. It's extremely rare for anyone to make a Gelth their usual shell, much like a Batou it's sleeved into when needed.
Spare - A spare is small and easy to carry, it's a sphere with a diameter of 25cm. Has 6 20cm long limbs (4 legs and 2 arms) which are retractable, the arms are on the front along with a single large camera. A greybox is inserted into the back of a spare and takes about half a minute to integrate the ego. A spare is designed specifically to house the egos of people who die and need to be quickly resleeved, typically happens in the field on dangerous operations. If you wake up in a spare, something has almost certainly gone wrong.

Using skillsoft requires a skillsoft implant. Skillsoft is a method for downloading knowledge and skills directly into a skillsoft implant which your brain can then access. This could be basic fighting ability, language, driving, love making skills, playing an instrument, all sorts of knowledge and skills can be gained through skillsoft. However those skills are localized to the implant, if the implant is removed you'll begin to lose the knowledge and there's a limit on how much skillsoft can be active at any given time. Skillsoft doesn't make you rival a master, but it does increase your knowledge, ability and makes further learning which isn't dependent on skillsoft a lot easier and faster. Of course downloading new skillsoft also brings the risk of viruses or unintentional alternations the user doesn't desire, for that reason people are understandably quite cautious about the kind of skillsoft they download.

XP (plural XPies) are recorded experiences, an XP recorder implant allows someone to record all their senses to be broadcast in real time or played back later. Someone using an XP then experiences all the same senses the person who made the recording did. As you can imagine there are a lot of uses for this technology, recording important events to be played back later, broadcasting sporting events live and of course, [&@%!]. There is also a black market for illegal XPies depicting things like heists, murders, torture, etc. both from the perpetrator's and victim's perspective.

VR or Virtual Reality is in someways similar to XP in that it overtakes all of a users senses, however it allows them to experience whole other worlds. VR is most often used for games and meetings but there are some shell-less egos which exist entirely in VR, some ego refugees which don't exist in storage live in VR and Juniper is a city orbiting the sun between Mercury and Venus made up entirely of shell-less egos living in VR.

Fabricators are an advancement upon 3D printing and are the primary way in which most goods are created. They cannot however make objects out of thin air, and creating anything usually takes a few minutes. Fabricators can dissemble junk into base materials and use base materials to construct almost anything they have the resources, blueprints and room to make. Guns, knifes, clothing, clocks, flashlighters, medigel cannisters, uncooked food, mugs, a massive variety of goods come from fabricators.

Blueprints, in capitalist economies at least, are typically DRM locked by the companies who create them, although people do work to crack the DRM or create knock offs. Then by using a fabricator payment goes to the owner of the fabricator and often to the creator of the blueprint. Fabricators are usually programmed with restrictions on what they can and can't produce, you might have fabricators which can't produce guns or explosives for example.

While there are obvious military applications of nanobot technology, applications ISAAC's self-replicating nanoswarms took great advantage of, it hasn't had much success as of yet for transhumanity. Nanobots carry out specialized orders locally, the requirements to make it into a targeted and stable weapon are quite different. There are also the fears of what destruction a nanoswarm weapon could cause and the possible existential risk it poses to transhumanity.

Agriculture advanced significantly over the decades, a lot of which was out of necessity due to a changing climate back on Earth. While animal husbandry still exists and eating 'real' meat and 'real' milk is desirable among the rich, it is typically seen as more of a delicacy with most meat grown in-vitro using nutrients from plants which also means most food is vegan friendly. When it comes to crops, vertical farming along with GMOs have allowed for far more efficient food production. It is also extremely valuable for helping to produce and regulate oxygen with an oxygen farm of trees being common on habitats and ships.

Fusion generators are the chief source of power in the 22nd Century, they are typically fueled by Hydrogen & Helium, fusion energy is used to power ships. Solar Power is the second most common form of energy, more so in the core system where solar energy is in abundance. Geothermal power and fission power are less common but still exist. The storage and charge rate of batteries has greatly increased while their size has reduced.

Medicine has seen a great many advancements, especially with the advent of bioware and cyberware which are listed under their section above. Likewise while there are some worrying applications of pyschosurgery, it has been invaluable in treating trauma, phobia and mental illness. Medigel works like a fit all bandage, it coats wounds from the outside, eases the pain and speeds up the healing process. The majority of bioshells have immunity to a variety of diseases (flu, cancer, measles, etc,) but there is still medicine to treat them. Typically more traditional surgery is only required for extremely specialized cases due to the existence of healing vats. Healing Vats are large cylinders built using transparent aluminium and filled with a light-pink "healing goo" that consists of nanomachines and nutrients, they are used for general healing, regeneration, infusing bioware & cyberware, body alteration, etc. Time spent in a healing vat can range from hours to days depending on the procedure. People submerged in healing vats are usually unconscious while in them, especially for more invasive surgery, but some stay awake and make use of their mesh insert to pass the time.

Domes, hives, space stations & space ships and tin cans are the main types of transhuman habitats.

Domes, often called "Hab Domes" are large circular habitats with high roofs made of transparent aluminium allowing one to see the exterior world. They are typically 25km squared in area, although some are bigger or smaller. They house their own atmosphere and typically are home to rich biodiversity. The Romdeau dome on Mars is a massive domed habitat roughly the size of India.

Hives are underground habitats dug into rock typically on aseteroids and moons. While they're sometimes made using existing caverns, typically they are carved out by transhumans. While typically they don't, like domes they can house rich biodiversity. While they don't have a sight of the outside world and are less fancy than domes, the creation and maintenance of hives is far less resource intensive. On smaller asteroids Hives habitats exist in microgravity as the gravity of the rock isn't great enough to offer firm footing.

Space habs consist primarily of space stations and ships. Ships are covered under transport, but they typically have internal life support systems, exist in microgravity (with the rare exception of Wheel Ships) and are fusion powered. Likewise space stations are typically fusion powered, most are Wheel Stations which have internal life support and are shaped like a wheel that rotates in order to produce gravity by centrifugal force. A smaller number are tin cans, these are detailed below. Two O'Neills cylinders exist in the solar system, one in orbit around Mars and another around Venus. They're like massive 3 pronged space stations which similar to Wheel Stations use centrifugal force to produce gravity.

"Tin cans" are rarer these days but they're also the cheapest kind of transhuman habitats, not significantly different from habitats like the International Space Station of old and are build in space and on planetary bodies. Little more than metal shells with their own internal life support systems, tin cans aren't particular desirable but serve their function well enough and are much easier to produce than other habitats.

Communications on the same planetary body or space station are essentially instantaneous, made all the easier with the interconnected mesh. Interplanetary communications however are longer, the time it takes for data sent to be received is called data lag. In the core system data lag is only a few minutes. In the Rim its hours, it takes 3 hours to send data from the Core system to Titan. Significant research is underway into quantum communication which would make it instantaneous, but any success on that front is still a while off. The most common way for transhumans to travel across space is by "egocasting" where their digitized ego is broadcast across space and received at its location where it's then sleeved into a shell. Millions escaped Earth during the collapse by way of egocasting, these people became known as "ego refugees".

Physical interplanetary travel is conducted by way of fusion powered ships, they are typically used to transport goods or people when egocasting isn't viable. Transparent aluminium is used for exterior windows. They're much faster than space ships of the 20th century, but still far from faster than light travel. While engineering research is underway into making better solutions to artificial gravity and some massive "wheel ships" in the style of wheel stations with artificial gravity exist, typically space ships have microgravity. Many transport ships are populated entirely by snythshells due to their reduced needs, chief of which being oxygen and food. Bioshells which aren't in use are typically held in vacuum sealed cyrostorage regardless, so they wouldn't be harmed by low oxygen levels.

For reasons related largely to practicality, large spaceships don't land on planetary bodies. Instead they tend to dock at space stations, space elevators (although there is only one still in use) or park in orbit. Instead it is much smaller ships (ones which typically fit half a dozen to four dozen people) which fly to and from planetary bodies, a large ship will likely have a shuttle onboard which fulfill this purpose. Naturally larger ships can carry more and have more powerful engines.

For more terrestrial travel, rail transport and bicycles are extremely common within colonies themselves as are automated electric cars and buses (which can always be reverted to manual control.) VTOLs are jet powered aerial vehicles that combine the best elements of aeroplanes and helicopters with an exterior appearance similar to that of a helicopter, they make up air transportation. Submarines are common in the seas of Europa. For travel outside colonies on rough terrain, the Mobile Omni-Terrain Outdoor Rover (or MOTOR) is a large vehicle with massive wheels designed to survive drops from high altitude and explore all manner of terrain.

Electromagnetic weapons, specifically railguns came into prominence during the latter half of the 21st Century. They use electromagnets to fire a bullet at high speed, as no explosion is involved it's a lot quieter than traditional firearms but the bullet traveling through the air still makes noise. A battery pack is required to power the gun, it was the increased storage capacities of batteries and reduced size which made railguns more viable, battery packs can last for hundreds of shots. Likewise the gun itself still needs to be maintained, the rails replaced. The recoil is slightly lower than that of traditional firearms. The magazines for railguns typically carry either basic metal rounds, armor piercing rounds (designed for piecing metal) or anti-personal rounds (designed for piecing flesh.) Explosive rounds which detonate upon impact also exist but aren't as commonly used. Likewise there is tracer ammo which can implant a tracking device. No oxygen is needed to operate a railgun, it can be fired in a vacuum or underwater. All railguns can come with different attachments, typically scopes and sights. Ammo between heavy pistols and sub-machine guns are interchangeable, every other weapons type requires their own ammo.

Heavy Pistol - A large pistol which can be held in one or two hands. Has semi-auto, 3-burst and full auto mode. Typically has a 15 round capacity.
Submachine Gun - Something of a mid-point between heavy pistols and combat rifles, similar in size to a FN P90. Has semi-auto, 3-burst and full auto mode. Typically has a 30 round capacity.
Combat Rifle - The size of an average assault rifle. Has semi-auto, 3-burst and full auto mode. Typically has a 30 round capacity.
Sniper Rifle - Size is a mid point between a combat rifle and heavy rifle. An adjustable scope is used for aiming, can fire a bullet up to 4 kilometers. Only has semi-auto mode. Typically has a 10 round capacity.
Heavy Rifle - Around the size of a Light Machine Gun. Has semi-auto, 5-burst and full auto mode. Typically has a 150 round capacity.

Stunner pistols & stunner rifles are gas powered semi-automatic weapons which fire blue electrogel pellets. Much like railguns, the gas which powers them must be replaced along with the ammunition. The electrogel pellets burst upon impact and unleash an electrical charge designed to stun the target, it'll often take a couple of shots to bring someone down. Stunner guns were designed for police and security forces in the mid 21st century as a non-lethal alternative to firearms. Stunner pistols typically have 10 round capacities and stunner rifles 20 round.

Laser Rifles are slightly larger than Combat Rifles. While the laser they fire is invisible, they typically have a large coloured laser pointer attached so one can tell where they're aiming. As they transfer heat and not kinetic energy, laser rifles don't have recoil, the noise they make is minimal and they can be fired in a vacuum. Is made weaker by atmospheric affects like dust, smoke and rain. The Laser Rifle fires a continuous beam of focused light which is diffused upon hitting a target, the extreme heat cuts and burns into what it hits. The laser uses an immense amount of power, a typical battery pack lasts about 60 seconds before it needs to be replaced.

A wide variety of explosives exist in 22nd Century, often more powerful than ones which existed in the past.

Frag Grenades - The explosion unleashes lethal metal shrapnel, same concept as the grenades which have been used for centuries.
Concussion Grenades- The explosion creates a loud noise and bright light which disorientates people. With proper augmentation or equipment can be filtered out.
CS Grenades- The grenades releases tear gas which irritates the eyes and lungs. With proper augmentation or equipment can be filtered out.
Smoke Grenades- Releases smoke to make visibility more difficult, also makes lasers less effective.
EMP Grenades- A relic of the mid 21st century, was useful on Earth where older technology was common place and worked alongside shielded electronics but these days? Most important electronics are shielded so EMP Grenades aren't very useful.
Grenade Launcher- The spring powered mechanism fires any of the above grenade types, the most common type has 6 chambers. Can also exist as a single chamber underbarrel attachment for a combat rifle.
Rocket Launcher- Rocket launchers fire rockets and are typically used against vehicles as opposed to infantry. Many come with targeting systems which allows the rockets to follow their targets in the air.
C6/Sticky Grenades- C6 is plastic explosive, it is commonly used for bombs that are detonated remotely but can also be shaped into sticky grenades.
Ultrathermite- A common highly powerful explosive used for mining and combat. Isn't used for grenades, but does see use as bombs.

A variety of melee weapons exist like knifes, axes and batons, typically sharper and harder than they were in the early 21st Century. There are types of cyberware and synthshells which incorporate inbuilt weaponry. While powder weapons still exist they are far more likely to be housed in collections than see any actual combat.

The Core System even in the 22nd Century remains the heart of transhuman civilization and is home to over half the total transhuman population on Mars alone. Planetary bodies are close enough together that it only takes ships weeks to travel between them and data lag for broadcasts is mere minutes. For that reason, as well as politics, the Core System is generally more interconnected than The Rim.

Sol: It's the sun. Nobody lives on the sun, it's the sun.

Mercury: Mercury lacks any major city, it has several colonies (mostly corporate run) but no central government. It is home to a number of underground mining and research stations as well as huge numbers of solar power relays on the surface.

What many consider Mercury's largest city isn't on Mercury, nor is it really a city, at least not in the traditional sense. Orbiting the sun between Mercury and Venus, Juniper is the brainchild of Posthuman professor Catherine Simons. Juniper is a large satellite powered by solar relays and maintained by AIs which houses 'Juniper' a VR world that is home to 30,000 egos. Simons created Juniper as a virtual paradise where all residents could live in luxury free of material need. Following a vetting process any ego can be approved to be a resident or simply a tourist. People can come and go as they please and it maintains contact with the rest of the solar system rather than existing in isolation. Juniper has been in operation for 11 years without incident. While time perception could be slowed, the VR world of Juniper currently runs at regular speed to maintain easier interaction with the rest of the Solar System.

Venus: With one of the most inhospitable atmospheres in the solar system, Venus is controlled by The Morningstar Consortium, a board made up of members of several MegaCorps who've controlled the planet since colonizing it in the 21st Century. As such Venus isn't a democracy and lacks any publicly elected officials, instead being run entirely by corporate interests. While robots and synthshells do partake in mining on the surface, most people either live in space stations orbiting the planet or on one of the aerostat cities. Aerostats are massive gas filled balloons which float in the clouds high above the surface.

Earth: The cradle of transhumanity, it has been home to the ISAAC for the past 14 years. The United Republic of Mars maintains a constant military presence in orbit around Earth with ships, space stations and satellites dedicated to stopping anything from coming in or out. Space stations orbiting earth were evacuated following the collapse, while many residents were resettled on Mars by the URM others elected to move to Luna.

Some may like to assume that everyone on Earth is dead, that only the ISAAC remain. But deep down everyone knows that there's likely millions of people on Earth living in terror, trying to survive in the desolate ISAAC filled wasteland.

Luna: Earth's moon in 2127 exists largely in isolation from the rest of the solar system and is the heart of bioconservatism. Since The Collapse the moon has followed a policy of "Sakoku" a call back to a similar policy of 17th Century Japan which barred people from entering or leaving the country, as is the case with the Lunar Alliance. Transhumans from the rest of the solar system can only visit the city of Port Conrad and only with permission beforehand and one must take a ship in, egocasting isn't possible. Likewise while residents can travel to Port Conrad and leave Luna on a ship which is visiting, doing so revokes citizenship and they are barred from returning. Many Lunar residents consider themselves the only true humans left in the Solar System and the moon saw a massive influx of refugees after The Collapse. In stark contrast to other settlements, the humans of Luna reject the digitization of egos considering them to be facsimiles and not true people and utterly reject the personhood of AGI. While AI is still commonly used and there is bioware and cyberware, egos are not backed up on Luna and people don't have greyboxes with both being illegal.

As such Luna is largely cut off both culturally and economically from the rest of the solar system. It is the current seat of the Catholic Church and Pope Urban IX.

Mars: Mars was originally settled by a combination of American, European, Indian, Chinese, Brazilian and corporate interests. In the 2080s terraforming efforts began (expected to be completed in the late 22nd Century/early 23rd Century) and the massive Romdeau dome was completed, at the same time several interests came together and established a centralized government for the entire planet, the "United Republic of Mars" which gained recognition from the United Nations. While the URM claims dominion over all of Mars, it's moons and orbiting space stations, in practice many settlements still exist outside their control. The majority of the Martian population live inside the Romdeau dome.

The Romdeau dome is a massive Hab Dome roughly the size of India and is a vision of what a terraformed Mars will one day look like. With a rich atmosphere, lush ecosytem, temperate climate and high transparent ceiling which lets you see the sky above Romdeau is home to a variety of cities, towns, villages and estates. Elysiuim, the capital of the URM is located at the northern tip of Romdeau. While private transportation still exists, most people on Mars use public transport with a complex rail system connecting the entire region. Olympus is home to the Space Elevator and the largest city outside of the dome. Far out in the Martian wilds is the Galaxy Gate which is kept under tight military security, sealed in a metal habitat it isn't visible from the outside even if you could get that close.

URM has a single congress of representatives and a President who is elected separately. Elections for Congress are held every 5 years (barring government being dissolved) and Presidental elections every 7. In 2127 Mars (including moons and space stations) is home to 750,000,000 egos making it the most populated region in the Solar System. However not all of them are citizens, even excluding those who live outside URM control, 30,000,000 are ego refugees who exist as egos either in VR or kept entirely in storage. Ego refugees hope for salvation by having a loved one purchase them a body or far more likely, becoming an indentured servant for a MegaCorp or smaller business with hope of applying for citizenship at the end of their service, a service during which not even their body is their own. There are approximately 80,000,000 people employed on indentured servitude contracts on Mars. Contracts vary but most last 5 - 10 years. All citizens receive basic income as a form of welfare but as was the case with UBI back on Earth, not everyone is a citizen, so not all residents are entitled. The divide between rich and poor is vast and MegaCorps have huge sway over Martian governance. When people say Mars is more like Earth than Earth was, they don't mean it only positively.

The Martian-Jovian Belt (commonly called the MJ Belt) is the main asteroid belt in the solar system which divides Mars from Jupiter and by extension, the Core System from The Rim. It contains literally millions of asteroids. However despite what you might see in movies, they are spread so far apart that a ship is unlikely to hit an asteroid unless intentionally aiming for one. The MJ Belt contains thousands of transhuman settlements including private estates of the wealthy, corporate mining stations, scientific research stations, hubs of criminal enterprises, religious communes and all manner of independent colonies. I'll list just a few examples of MJ settlements here.

Yeezy: Approaching 150, Yeezy is one of the oldest transhumans in the solar system and one of its best known socialites. Yeezy was a popular Hip-Hop artist in the early 21st Century, his popularity dipped somewhat towards the middle of the century and he was in his 80s when his ego was digitized in the 2060s. His career had a serious revival in 2090s and he took on the name of 'Yeezy.' In the early 22nd Century he had a private colony constructed on an asteroid in the MJ Belt, he was there during The Collapse and it remains his home to this day. Today Yeezy is home to just under 100 transhumans, most of which are employed by Yeezy himself and is a prime example of a private colony.

Libertalia: Libertalia much like its (possibly fictional) namesake serves as a hub and safe haven for pirates in the MJ Belt while embodying many of its anarchist principles. Libertalia was founded after indentured servants on a MegaCorp ran station were abandoned by their MegaCorp masters (after throwing the station's manager out an airlock in an uprising) and rescued by a passing pirate ship. For most the Wheel Station serves more as a temporary stop than a permanent home, all residents and visitors must adhere to a commonly accepted code of conduct or face eviction or sanction. In the case of a particularly vile breach of conduct, that eviction may come by way of airlock (although most would consider that a waste of a good shell.) No single captain or crew holds control over Libertalia, rather they operate the station collectively under a system of direct democracy and all the resources of space station (nanofabs, living space, etc) are held in common while each crew provides for the maintenance of the station.

For most Libertalia is just a stop between jobs and raids, a safe haven they keep maintained with only a few permanent residents. But there are those who'd like to establish it as a more permanent home for a larger population.

Ceres: It's said if you can buy it, they sell it on Ceres. Ceres is often called Venus's dark sister. This Dwarf Planet hosts a population of 18 million (a large portion of which are slaves, shell-less and otherwise) but lacks any government and is instead seen as a bastion of free trade, home to corporations and criminal syndicates alike as a place to sell their wares. Typically it's recommended visitors and residents of Ceres hire security, there's a reason Ceres has earned its brutal reputation.

Ceres is, among other things, home to The Crimson King leader of The Crimson Cartel.

Yomi: Few places strike terror in the heart of a transhuman like Yomi does. This asteroid is home to the Shinigami, a crime syndicate with a focus on the theft and general acquisition of egos. They are as brutal as they are efficient meaning there is often a demand for their services, as such many ships pass through Yomi. Some to just browse their collections, others to find loved ones, eliminate enemies or smuggle their ego to where it needs to be.

It is assumed that hundreds of thousands if not millions of egos are held in storage on Yomi and the fascination the Shinigami have with minds goes well beyond just business. There are horror stories about what happens on Yomi, of unrestrained pyschosurgery, minds being merged together, egos being tortured in VR, people being thrown into fighting arenas or left abandoned in broken shells. Yomi is also home rather impressive zoo made up of various animal species in a variety of habitats. However people say those animals house the egos of any Shinigami who betrays their own.

The Rim is the outer part of the solar system and due to vast distances is far less interconnected than the core system. It takes two months to travel from the Core System to Jupiter. Three months to travel from the Core system to Saturn. Six months to travel from the Core System to Neptune and for Trans-Neptunian objects, even longer. Data lag in The Rim is measured in hours.

Two main political powers exist in The Rim in the 22nd Century and to say they don't get along is an understatement. Following The Rim War of 2120 between COG & Titan which lasted six months, the situation which now exists between them is often compared to the Cold War of the 20th Century. While for many people the solar system may as well end at Titan, tens of millions of people live beyond it.

Jupiter: People don't so much live on Jupiter as they do its moons or in space stations orbiting it. That said Jupiter itself is home to a number of mining stations, both corporate and government run. Jupiter is controlled by the Commonwealth of Galilei or COG, named after the four Galilean moons with the seas under Europa being the most populated. COG was formed by remnants of various old Earth militaries who came together with the intention of protecting what remained of humanity. Note humanity, the government of COG don't consider AGI to be people and officially no AGI is allowed in COG under pain of death. However given how it's often hard to tell a human ego and an AGI ego apart, tens of thousands of AGI likely reside within COG. People on COG are divided into Citizens and Civilians, with Citizenship gained through military service and allows one to vote, hold office, greater freedom of travel and various other benefits. COG is jointly ruled by parliament and the military, with The Commander in Chief of the military holding superiority over the Prime Minister. The hard right authoritarianism of COG has many of its detractors label it a "Fascist Junta." Many residents however believe that their militarization is an entirely appropriate response to The Collapse.

The seas of Europa are home not only to various domed cities including Kitezh, but also alien life as there are sea creatures living there similar to what existed on earth hundreds of millions of years ago.

Saturn: Much like Jupiter while Saturn is mined and is orbited by space stations, most people live on Saturn's moons or more specifically, Titan. In the early days much of Titan was settled by scientists and other academics so even historically, MegaCorps had less sway over Titan's settlements before they were ultimately evicted by the new government following The Collapse. The space around Saturn is controlled by the Titanian Federation who are a democratic socialist state. Titan has a socialist economy, not a capitalist one. More details on the workings of Titan's economy can be found under 'Currency' but regardless, Titan is not a centrally a planned Leninist State nor a capitalist Social Democracy, rather it has a series of worker controlled co-operatives which produce for the commons and some institutions run directly by the state (notably the military.) While most resources are provided to residents for free, Titanian Marks are used to purchases scarcer goods. Many Titanian citizen use Chits for minor personal bartering which the government has no particular objection to, but so do criminal organisations, particularly The Crimson Cartel who have a huge black market presence on Titan.

Titan considers itself a "Cyberdemocracy" with every resident partaking in voting by way of The Mesh which massively impacts how citizens interact with government. Titan's parliament consists of two houses, The Council and The Senate. The Council consists of every adult citizen of Titan who discuss and vote on issues every 3 days with 48 hour voting sessions. The Senate is the upper house and consists of elected officials for whom administration of Titan is their full time job. Senate elections are held once every six months. Titan is currently undergoing a "shell crisis" as it's having difficult providing shells for a large influx of new residents, particularly refugees from COG. While the Titan government is currently trying to provide a shell which suits its ego's comfort (typically a bioshell) to every resident and it remains the most popular position in the council and senate alike, there is a growing minority of residents who think newcomers should be provided with synthshells and be forced to work to earn their place. And others still who believe that some of those refugees are terrorists from COG who undermine the safety of Titanian society and that a more strict immigration policy should be adopted. The crisis means The Crimson Cartel is making a huge profit off providing shells on the black market.

Uranus, Neptune and Beyond: As mentioned the distances in The Rim are rather vast which makes transportation and communication more difficult, as such it isn't heavily populated and populations are spread out. However similar to the MJ Belt it is still home to corporate mining stations, research facilities and independent colonies. Uranus is home to Alexandria, the largest Posthuman research facility in the solar system.

35% of colonies beyond Saturn are part of the Trans Saturnian Pact or TSP. The pact is loosely aligned and covers a wide political spectrum, it acts basically as a mutual defense pact to defend from possible intrusion from corporations or other political powers in order to maintain its members independence. There are some ground rules for membership including a ban on slavery, indentured servitude in general and required acceptance of AGI as equal persons.

The solar system is home to approximately 1.2 billion transhumans. The following are population estimates for each area of colonized space so you can tell how spread out those populations are.

Mercury: 65,000
Venus: 75,000,000
Earth: ?
Luna: 80,000,000
Mars: 750,000,000
MJ Belt: 80,000,000
Jupiter: 85,000,000
Saturn: 85,000,000
Trans-Saturn: 45,000,000

The Superpowers of old were destroyed during The Collapse. However in the aftermath existing powers rose in prominence and new ones came into existence. Those powers are listed below.

Morningstar Consortium: The Morningstar Consortium was founded in the late 21st Century. Venus was settled entirely by corporate interests and a board made up of representatives of different MegaCorps run the planet's settlements and set the laws. There are no publicly elected officials in the Morningstar Consortium. While they do have laws agreed upon by the consortium it's generally understood that high up corporate executives are beyond reproach and while Venus does have charity organisations there is little social welfare, unionization is illegal, indentured servitude is common and the gap between rich and poor is even larger than on Mars. While the various security forces of Venus are highly skilled, many of whom are hired out as mercenaries, they've yet to engage in combat with any other country's military.

The aerostat Minerva is the capital of the Morningstar Consortium.

Lunar Alliance: Luna (it was hard to keep calling it "The Moon" when various moons exist) was the first celestial body other than Earth which humans set foot on and home to some of their earliest non-terrestrial colonies. Following The Collapse it saw a massive influx of refugees from Earth. With ISAAC having laid waste to Earth and so many refugees who hadn't simply egocasted off Earth, bioconservatism became very popular on Luna. The Lunar Alliance was formed within a year of the collapse and all digitized egos (AGI and transhuman alike) were evicted from Luna, the Lunar Alliance declared itself the last bastion of humanity.

The Lunar Alliance is ostensibly a capitalist democracy with parliament and separately elected president. However they mostly exist in isolation, they follow a policy of "Sakoku" where nobody is allowed visit the moon and anybody who leaves has their citizenship revoked. The capital of the Lunar Alliance is Union City. Port Conrad is the only city open to Transhuman visitors and even then, only to those who get express permission first.

United Republic of Mars: The largest and most populated nation with the biggest military, by a significant margin. Mars was settled by a combination of American, European, Indian, Chinese, Brazilian and corporate interests and a united government was established and even recognized by the UN in the 2080s as terraforming began. In that sense they could be considered the only nation state to survive The Collapse. The URM is ran by a congress and separately elected president, with congress elections every 5 years and presidential every 7. Even 14 years after The Collapse 30,000,000 people are Ego refugees and it has 80,000,000 people living in indentured servitude.

The majority of URM residents live in the Romdeau dome, a massive hab dome the size of India. Elysium a city at the northern tip of the dome is the capital of Mars. Mars has never had any military exchanges with COG or Titan but does expend a lot of resources to maintaining a quarantine of Earth and in conflict with the Independent Martian Alliance.

Commonwealth of Galilei: While Jupiter's moons were settled before The Collapse, following it existing governments were replaced by the Commonwealth of Galilei. The Collapse occurred during a massive global conflict as such there were huge amount of military ships in space. While some of them joined other communities, a significant amount came together to establish the Commonwealth of Galilei with the intention of protecting humanity. Note, humanity as AGI were evicted following the establishment of COG and aren't allowed within COG under punishment of death. However as it's often times hard to tell a human ego and an AGI ego apart, there are likely thousands of AGI on COG. Citizenship is two-tiered in COG with Citizens and Civilians. Citizenship is earned through military service and gives a number of benefits including greater ability to travel, the right to vote, the right to hold office and being given preference for a number of services. After Mars, COG has the largest military in the solar system. It was engaged in a war with Titan in 2120 in what would be called "The Rim War of 2120." The war lasted 6 months and began after Special Circumstances (Titan's Secret Service) agents helped traitors from COG (primarily AGI and AGI sympathizers) escape and the COG military fired upon their ship. The war ended in ceasefire but the two have existed in an uneasy peace ever since.

COG is ruled jointly by an elected parliament and the military, with the Commander in Chief of the military able to override parliament for matters of national security. Kitezh a domed city located in the sea of Europa is the capital of COG. "Glory to Mankind" is the official motto of COG's military and has an associated salute of holding one's right palm flat across your heart. It signifies how COG's military see themselves as the true protectors of the human race against AI threats.

Titanian Federation: The Titanian Federation was originally founded by a collection of settlements on Titan shortly after The Collapse. With it taking months to travel from the Core System to Titan and all the chaos that was going on, Titan was rather low on the priority list of those in the Core System and as such there were no reinforcements to maintain existing power structures. Titan was mostly home to academic research stations at the time but the corporate stations which did exist were expropriated by their workers. The different colonies on and around Titan came together to create the Titanian Federation based on principles of Democratic Socialism. Some of the military vessels which refused to join COG also became part of The Federation. Titan battled COG in The Rim War of 2120 which lasted 6 months and has maintained an uneasy and tense peace with them ever since. Many people compare the situation to the Cold War of the 20th Century. Titan has the 3rd largest military in solar system but Special Circumstances (or SC,) their special intelligence service is regarded by many to be the best transhumanity has.

Titan's parliament has two houses, The Council which consists of every adult citizen of Titan that votes every 3 days and The Senate made up of elected officials and lead by a Prime Minster who are elected ever 6 months. As such residents of Titan are far more engaged with the running of their society than those on other worlds. The domed city of New Montreal is capital of Titan.

Independent Martian Alliance: According to the United Republic of Mars the entire planet falls under their control. However small independent settlements on the planet outside of URM control still exist. As are there people who wish to overthrow the existing Martian government which they see as unjust. Such groups combined into a loose coalition known the Independent Martian Alliance or IMA. While the IMA is a coalition of different groups, the vast majority of it's members are some kind of anti-capitalist. As with many things, whether you consider the IMA to be terrorists or heroic rebels depends largely on your own perspective.

Many, including members of congress, have accused Special Circumstances of providing support to the IMA. Proof of such support has yet to come to light however there is a lot of public support for the IMA on Titan and even some calls for the Titanian Federation to officially support them.

Trans Saturnian Pact: Distances between settlements in The Rim and lag times for communications are both rather long, far, far longer than in the core system. However despite this a coalition of independent settlements came into existence following The Rim War of 2120 with the intention of defending their colonies from intrusion by corporations or political powers and maintaining their independence. The idea that attacking one member would result in retaliation from the entire pact is believed to dissuade such interference.

35% of colonies beyond Saturn are part of the Trans Saturnian Pact or TSP. The pact is loosely aligned and covers a wide political spectrum. There are some ground rules for membership including a ban on slavery, indentured servitude in general and required acceptance of AGI as equal persons.

Lifeboat are secretive organisation believed to have their origins in the early 21st Century. Most people believe Lifeboat to be nothing more than a conspiracy theory thrown around on the mesh by AcidSec members who want to look cool, but they very much exist. Lifeboat are a conspiracy dedicated to protecting transhumanity from existential risks, in other words anything which threatens species survival and decent existence. This includes things like ISAAC, ISAAC artifacts (such as the systems infected with viruses they created or bio-organisms they created,) other Seed AI, possible hostile alien intelligences, WMDs, asteroid impacts, mass plagues, ecological collapse etc. While they do work to save individuals and colonies on the small scale, ultimately they're dedicated to protecting transhumanity as a whole, not every individual transhuman. Lifeboat is all about the needs of the many. Lifeboat consider themselves a unilateral organisation with no loyalty to any political power and with members from various walks of life and across the political spectrum. In practice Lifeboat exists as a thorn in governments, corporations and criminals sides or an invaluable asset for them depending on the circumstances.

Your character has probably heard of Lifeboat, they're a popular conspiracy theory on the mesh, but it's unlikely they know the organisation actually exists. Even if some detail about your character's past means you already know they're real, this is your first time working with them, you've never been a surrogate before. Lifeboat is believed to have four (although more like three as surrogates aren't actually members of Lifeboat) ranks which are as follows:

Admiral: The people (or possibly just person) who actually run Lifeboat, the ones who give orders to Sentinels and ultimately oversee the entire conspiracy. Their secrecy is very well maintained.
Sentinel: Sentinels are senior Lifeboat agents. Sentinels are not however mere middle managers, while they do oversee vanguards, manage finances and are presumably in contact with Admrials, they also partake in operations often time commanding teams of vanguards while doing so.
Vanguard: A vanguard is your common Lifeboat agent. While they can run operations on their own initiative, typically they work under the command of and/or report back to sentinels. In order to become a vanguard one most be recruited by a sentinel, a vanguard can have people work with them as Surrogates but they're unable to recruit people into Lifeboat. A vanguard may work alone or as part of a cell depending on the circumstances.
Surrogate: People who while not members of Lifeboat, work with Vanguards & Sentinels towards Lifeboat's goals. How much they know about Lifeboat, in fact if they even know they are working for Lifeboat, is left at agent's discretion. Typically agents work off a need to know basis. Your player characters are going to become Lifeboat surrogates at the beginning of the RP.

Laws naturally vary depending on habitat. Mars and COG for example have much stricter drug laws compared to Titan where they're decriminalized and Venus where all drugs are legal. But for some ground rules, sex work is legal, things like assault, theft, murder, etc are typically illegal. Weapons are legal and typically can be carried around (although it's common for places to ban them) but explosives and more extreme weapons are usually more tightly controlled. Shells and augmentations sometimes have limitations towards what you can get, you usually aren't allowed roll round the town square as a walking spider tank. While slavery is considered illegal in most habitats "indentured servitude" is a common occurrence across capitalist societies. While there are notable differences between chattel slavery and indentured servitude (your children don't become slaves, children can't be indentured servants, it's a fixed term, you have rights and can appeals to the law, etc) it is still forced labor.

Prisons themselves differ depending on habitat. With the exception of Luna and concessions made for religious belief, prisons are typically VR prisons egos are placed in. As guards are no longer needed for digital prisons, far more effort is put towards therapists and rehabilitation than prisons of the early 21st Century. An exception is COG which uses prison labor with egos often loaded into synthshells. COG has higher incarceration rates than the rest of the solar system.
---
The following are the major criminal networks of the 22nd Century.

Pirates: Pirates mainly exist in the MJ Belt, attacking corporate transport & cargo ships. Although they have been known to raid habitats and there are of course pirates which exist outside the MJ Belt. MegaCorps will even hire pirates to attack rival ships in a way that gives them plausible deniability. In all, pirates operate more or less like you think they would. Libertalia is a space station that serves as a hub for sorts for various pirate crews in the MJ Belt.

AcidSec: AcidSec are a loosely affiliated hacker network set up in the aftermath of The Collapse, more of an affinity group than anything else. Various cells and members exist across the solar system engaging in activity ranging from theft to hacktivism, particularly for AGI rights. A large portion of AcidSec members are AGI which has lead to the popular phrase "We're all robots now."

Triads: There are three main triads, 14K, Shui Fong and Sun Yee On. The vast, vast majority of triad operations take place on Mars. The triads are some of the only old earth criminal syndicates to survive into the modern day, when the Chinese colonized Mars the triads came with. The triads dominate the black markets of Mars with a particularly tight grip on the drug and illegal XP trade.

The Crimson Cartel: The Crimson Cartel arose out of the ashes of various criminal organisations following The Collapse. While they have their fingers in a lot of pies, the cartel specialize in smuggling of various goods across the solar system. The Crimson Cartel are the dominant criminal organisation on Titan taking particular advantage of the ongoing shell crisis.

The Crimson Cartel is ruled by an enigmatic figure known only as "The Crimson King." The Crimson King is understood to reside on Ceres which is the seat of the cartel's power.

Shinigami: Another organisation that arose following The Collapse, the Shinigami carry the reputation of being especially brutal but also highly skilled. The Shinigami specialize in the trade of egos, non-consensual pyschosurgery and creation of illegal XPs. They're even better than The Crimson Cartel when it comes to smuggling egos. Few places strike fear in the heart of a transhuman like Yomi the headquarters of the Shinigami does.

The Johnson Family: This criminal organisation is quite unlike any other. In fact calling them the Johnson "family" is somewhat of a misnomer as their membership consists entirely of a single prolific individual, Alex Johnson. Alex is a former member of the Crimson Cartel who left 8 years ago to become an independent agent taking various freelance jobs legal and otherwise across the solar system. They've had their ego forked numerous times and placed into different shells. At any given time upwards of 30 Alex Johnsons likely exist across the Solar System. These egos regularly merge and split off from each other again as well as just sharing information so if you've met one Alex Johnson, it won't be long before they all know you. If you get on their bad side, you'll have a lot of enemies.

Alex will refer to other Alexs as "brother," "sister" and "sibling" and consider them to be a family. In all Alex can come across as a very narcissistic. And if underworld rumors are to be believed, on at least one occasion Alex has had a child with themself.

MegaCorps: 'MegaCorp' is the common parlance used when one is talking about the corporate giants which exist in the 22nd Century and dominate capitalist economies. Although officially they would just call themselves corporations, 'MegaCorp' as a term has been in common use since the 2040s.

Pentex, Rossum, Eclipse, Ares, Hephaestus Mining, Arkose, Black Sun, Rendo-Clarke, Solaris, ProtoGen, Cognite, Somatek and ComEx are all examples of MegaCorps in the 22nd Century.

Posthumans: More of an ideological movement than anything, Posthumans are scientists dedicated to the continued evolution and advancement of the transhuman species. As it is such a broad movement, Posthumans can and do hold different positions and advocate different things. Some work on improving mental processes, improving shells, creating hive minds, etc. However other Posthuman factions work towards what are seen as more amoral or reckless goals such as eugenics, forced augmentation and even attempting to create another Seed AI. As such many Posthumans are met with distrust and suspicion.

Gannon Group: A humanitarian mutual-aid organisation dedicated to providing aid and fighting for the civil rights of transhumans with a large focus on the rights of AGI and ending indentured servitude. Due to tensions with their government in the past, the Gannon Group are considered an illegal organization in the Commonwealth of Galilei.

Bioconservatives: Bioconservatives consider themselves to be the only true humans, with digitized human egos and AGI being mere imitations, not the real thing. For some this is because of religious belief but not for all. They oppose the digitization of egos and don't consider digitized human egos or AGI to truly be people. While opposition to the digitization of egos is what defines bioconservatives, many are also skeptical towards levels of biological and mechanical augmentation. Bioconservatives are presumably in the majority on Luna as the Lunar Alliance has a ban on digitized egos and AGI and keeps itself isolated from the rest of the solar system. However they also exist, albeit in much smaller numbers across the rest of the solar system.

Needless to say, as bioconservatives oppose the digitization of Egos and resleeving and you're playing a digitized Ego that's being resleeved, you can't play a bioconservative.

Reclaimers: Reclaimers are those who believe that transhumanity must strike back against ISAAC and reclaim our homeworld. To say they're a fringe movement puts it lightly, but occasionally there are some attempts to launch expeditions to Earth, most never return.

A number of currencies exist in the 22nd Century. All of them exist digitally with paper money and coins being a thing of the past. However such old forms of currency while no longer legal tender are sought after as momentos, coins make for popular necklaces and a sign of wealth.

Solar Chit: Two denominations, Chits & Bits.

Commonly refereed to as Chits, this has been the most common currency in the solar system since the late 21st Century, it was created and backed by a corporate consortium for ease of trade. The modern version of this consortium exists today on Venus. The official currency of Venus and Mars, it's also used all across the solar system as the go to common currency.

For ease of use, imagine this being of similar value to modern day US Dollar.

Lunar Real: Two denominations, Reals & Pennies.

Currency of the Lunar Alliance where it's used exclusively. Due to the policy of Sakoku, Port Conrad is the only Lunar colony transhumans are allowed visit for trade and when trading with outsiders Solar Chits are used. As such, it's not that notable of a currency for most people nor is it exchangeable.

Galilean Dollar: Two denominations, Dollars & Cents.

The official currency of COG. Is worth less than Solar Chit but the two currencies can be exchanged.

Titanian Mark: Single denomination, Marks.

Titan has a socialist economy as such their currency operates very differently from those listed above. Titan works largely on the principle of "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need," it lacks intellectual property and everyone has access to public nanofabs. But they are not a post scarcity society and some things, particularly more personalized shells or private transportation vessels, are harder to come by. As such Marks exist as something of a combination of labour voucher and social currency. One earns them by working for a co-op that provides for the commons, public service (typically military) or certain noteworthy deeds which improve the public good (like acts of heroism, making a popular piece of art, etc.) They can then be used to purchase those scarcer resources from the common pool.

Marks are non-transferable between citizens but people can make collective purchases. They also aren't accumulative and are essentially destroyed upon use. While there is no legal way to exchange other currencies for Marks or vice versa, The Crimson Cartel are said to engage in it illegally. And chits are commonly used for all manner of personal exchange, black market deals or trade with visitors on Titan.

One answer to this question is a confident no, due to the basic sea life found on Europa which is comparable to what existed in the seas of earth hundreds of millions of years ago. So yes, alien life does exist, there's definitive proof of it.

However when people ask this question they're usually asking if we are the only intelligent species out there. To which the answer is; almost certainly not, it's a pretty big galaxy let alone universe. However transhumanity at large don't have conformed existence of alien intelligence. Still, there are many who believe transhumanity has encountered alien intelligence but that governments, corporations and secretive organisations like Lifeboat are keeping that knowledge a secret from the public. Did the old Earth governments know about the existence of aliens? Are Galaxy Gates repurposed alien technology? Was ISAAC under the influence of an alien intelligence and that's what caused The Collapse? What is on the other side of the Galaxy Gate? Do alien intelligences visit and observe our solar system? Have alien intelligences influenced the development of our species?

All these questions, for now at least, remain unanswered.

Irreligion: The most common belief system in the Solar System is a lack thereof with around 66% of transhumans being irreligious. Irreligion is a lack of religious belief be it atheism, agnosticism or just a generalized indifference or even hostility towards religious belief. Likewise while the vast majority of AGI are irreligious, not all are. In keeping with trends dating back to the enlightenment, secularism and irreligion grew in popularity. However one must not discount how the collapse decimated the population and how in large regions of the global south which held the poorest people and greater numbers of religious people, most were unable to escape. Below are some of, although not all religious belief structures in the 22nd Century.

Christianity: The Great Schism of 2066 was caused by a theological disagreement over the digitization of human consciousness and whether or not said copies had a soul. Two groups emerged, Finalists and Essencists. Finalists believe digitized Egos are just different aspects of the same soul, that the dead 'slumber' until the day of final judgement when the righteous will go to heaven and the soul taken as a whole is what is judged. There are still debates among Finalists if AGI possess souls. Essencists believe digitized Egos don't have souls and largely believe people immediately face judgement upon death. The ratio was 55% Finalists to 45% Essencists at the time of The Collapse and the percentage of Essencists has only decreased since then with them now making up 20% of Christians.

While many left The Catholic Church due to the Schism, officially the church are Essencists and are currently led by Pope Urban IX who resides on Luna.

Islam & Judaism: Historically speaking both Islam & Judaism had a strong ability to adapt to a changing world and new technology. They also lack the strong central theological authority present in many branches of Christianity. While both have strong bioconservative factions, many followers of both faiths embraced the changing face of transhumanity with open arms.

Hinduism: Hinduism had a relatively easy time adapting to the changing world compared to Abrahamic religions and the large Indian presence in space helped it survive to the present day. Resleeving is interpreted as an aspect of reincarnation and different shells as a part of the caste system.

Taoism & Buddhism: Likewise, the large presence of East Asian peoples in space allowed many of their religions to survive, Taoism and Buddhism in particular, both of which gained new converts across the globe in the 21st Century with many finding the nontheistic structures appealing.

Neo-Paganism: Neo-Paganism isn't a religion so much as it is a grouping term for various polytheistic faiths (Shinto, Wicca, Norse Heathenism, numerous indigenous belief systems, etc) which exist in the 22nd Century. There are however those who would call themselves Neo-Pagans and people who incorporate aspects of various backgrounds.

The Simulacrum & Xenogenesists: While members of these groups may resent their belief systems being called 'religions' and they lack any central authority or ritual practice, both have gained popularity following The Collapse and there is sometimes overlap. The Simulacrum believe the world as it exists is merely an advanced simulation. Most Simulacrum believe we never escaped ISAAC, our egos were harvested and this is what's happening to them, that ISAAC is running simulations to self improve or in some attempt to preserve humanity and keep us occupied. Others believe our world has always been a simulation one which is run by a megacorporation, academic institution or some vast unknown extraterrestrial intelligence.

Xenogenesists believe not only that transhumanity has interacted with extraterrestrial intelligences in the past but that extraterrestrial intelligences have played a key role in the creation and/or development of our species. They're generally met with derision.

Patriarchy as a societal force has all but disappeared outside of some smaller more conservative groups. On Luna for example it's still notable. No gender is seen as superior to any other and society is open to a wide variety of genders and expressions. Typically if someone is presenting a certain way you can assume it's because they want to, not because they have to. Sleeving into a new shell is a rather simple matter and bioshells exist in male, female and intersex variations. Even excluding changing shell, there are plenty of ways you can physically alter an existing one with implants to regulate hormones, adjustible hair mods, bio modifications in a healing vat and 'sex switch mods' which allows someone to alter the sex characteristics, voice and facial features of their shell over the course of about 24 hours without the need for outside medical intervention. Gender identity and sexuality, like almost any other aspect of the self, is something psychosurgeons can alter.

Pronouns wise, different languages complicate things, but they, she and he are all commonly used. While most people typically go by 'they' as a safe default and he/she based how they're presenting/the sort of body they have, many still inherently prefer certain pronouns over others. Such a preference when it exists is typically shared in basic Mesh profile, is easily accessible and isn't seen as a problem. When it comes to the pronouns of your PCs, I'll follow your lead. Characters with a preference will be referred to using whichever pronouns they prefer regardless of what kind of shell they're currently inhabiting, which is good practice in real life too.

As patriarchy waned so did taboos around polyamory, same-gender relations, asexuality and in general the idea that heterosexuality was somehow the default and norm disappeared. People like and don't like different things, it isn't seen as an issue. Marriage is no longer an economic arrangement but a solely social one. Incest and Selfcest (relations with a fork of yourself) however are still both seen as rather taboo but not illegal. When it comes to reproduction, the birth rate following The Collapse has been very low, people are typically trying to sleeve existing egos which still don't have shells, not make new ones. While people do have children, most of them are fertilized and grown in exowombs with bioware from the start. Live birth and pregnancy are exceptionally rare and toggleable fertility is part of the basic package almost every bioshell has.

Widespread immortality has massively impacted how transhumans relate to themselves and one another. While billions died during The Collapse on a scale never seen before, death is no longer an inevitability. With the use of greyboxes and external backups of egos, you can reasonably assume you and everyone you know are going to live indefinitely. Your relationships with others good or bad will continue on, killing someone is more likely to make a rival than eliminate a threat and it won't just be your descendants who may one day see a fully terraformed Mars, it'll be you yourself. Even bioshells with the most basic modifications once in adulthood age at a third the rate of completely unmodified humans and there can be further rejuvenation treatments for shells. That said if one's greybox isn't recovered and you have to revert to an external backup, it's typically a cause of great distress. While you may be alive, a you died, their experiences gone forever. While it's better than permanent death, it is a very traumatic thing to happen. As permanent death is so rare, when an ego is permanently lost with no chance of recovery it causes a huge amount of grief for their loved ones.

At the time of The Collapse Mars was already home to a massive archive of media from Earth, if media had been digitized and distributed before The Collapse you can probably still find it today. People in the 22nd Century enjoy a wide range of entertainment such as television shows, film, literature, sports, art, music, video games (VR and otherwise,) XPies, crafting, etc. Your Jeeves AI can and does recommend media based on what it already knows you like. Some examples of popular media include:

"Me, Myself and I" - A Martian sitcom in its third season about a bachelor, Jack Johns, who after lying about having a family on an application for a prestigious position at a MegaCorp, forks his ego into two other shells to pretend he has a wife and child who were uninventively named Jackie and Jack Jr. All three Jacks get into various misadventures while trying to maintain the lie.
"The Sunday Edition" - In its fifth year and the most popular show on Titan, The Sunday Edition is a weekly satirical current events show which airs every Sunday. It is the self proclaimed "#1 Source for Socialist Propaganda" a dig at what some Martian congress members called it. The show is hosted by Verity who every week has a "shell raffle" viewers can enter where they exchange shells with the winner of the contest. Having a shell that was Verity's on The Sunday Edition is something of a status symbol on Titan.
"Life Among the Stars" - A documentary series by Constance DuClair exploring the field of Astrobiology and life in the seas of Europa.
"Kingdom of Avalon" - A popular VR MMO game set in a traditional fantasy sword & sorcery world with elves, dragons, etc. Is the most popular VR MMO in the solar system.
"On All Cylinders" - The second most popular VR MMO game, On All Cylinders is set in 1920s and is about the conflict between Cops and Gangsters in prohibition era America.
"Valhalla" - Valhalla is a multiplayer VR game about modern warfare with scales all the way from 1 v 1 battles and small skirmishes all the way up to massive battles with hundreds of players.
"Maria Resonance" - Maria Resonance is a Vesuvian Pop Star. She is one of the most popular musicians and socialites in the solar system.
"Yeezy" - Nearing 150 years old, Yeezy is one of the oldest transhumans in the solar system. A popular American Hip Hop artist in the early 21st century, his career saw a significant revival decades later. To this day he remains a popular musician and socialite, resides on his own personal colony named after himself.
"Theta Theta" - Possibly the most well known AGI in the solar system, Theta Theta is a Martian musician who creates electronic music, often creating XPies along with their music for a truly mutisensory experience.

Socialite is a term often used interchangeably with celebrity which refers to famous and well known individuals as well as those who are part of a social elite.

The majority of 22nd Century clothing is made out of smart fabric which consists of nanobot infused threads. While smart fabric can't change its density or mass (you can't go from a heavy winter jumpsuit to a light pair of shorts) it can change color, cut and texture with orders given from it's owner's mesh insert. So you could turn a pair of trainers into high heels or a light jumpsuit into a summer dress or make additions like pockets and hoods. It takes few seconds to change color and texture, changing cut can take a couple of minutes. As density of fabric is important, especially for temperature, people still have various outfits which they change in and out of with heavier and lighter sets. Still, smart clothing is extremely convenient. And it makes for effective camouflage.

Vacuum suits (also called Vac Suits or Space Suits) are made out of harder fabrics and can only change their colour, still jumpsuit and helmet alike are relatively light and still allow for plenty of mobility and fine motor function. They have gas filled propulsion packs on their back which allow for maneuverability in micro-gravity. Similarly combat armor is made from thicker materials, incorporating layered fabrics and metals and likewise can only change colour, not texture or cut. Power armor, which is an advanced vacuum sealed metal exoskeleton doesn't contain smart fabric so can't change color. Power armor is however far less mobile, not to mention resource intensive to produce and vulnerable to hacking, typically it only sees use with heavy troopers in the military or expert corporate security, it isn't something in common use or a thing your average mercenary could get their hands on. There's not much a set of power armor could achieve that a synthshell could not and like a heavily armed synthshell, it's not the sort of thing you can just walk around in without raising suspicion. Gravity boots (also called Grav Boots) contain no smart fabric and they typically come in black. An electromagnetic charge which can be activated and deactivated allows the boots to stick to metal, it makes them invaluable into microgavity environments. They are usually as standard with vac suits.

People have a wide variety of hairstyles in different colors. Adjustable hair is a common type of cyberware, made of a material similar to smart fabric with a texture which is the same as natural hair, it allows one to change the color, style, length and thickness of their hair on the fly.

Name: Yirgalum Kidisti, PhD

Human or Machine: Human

Date of Birth: 12-04-2080

Age: 46

Biography/Personality: The grandson of Eritrean immigrants to Jerusalem, and the son of their upwardly-mobile daughter, Yirgalum led a comfortable childhood typical of those other members of the late twenty-first century middle-class. Exceptionally bright, vindictive, judicious, haughty: these were all words used to describe his emerging personality which would reoccur again and again in later years. Difficult, was a frequent favourite of his mother. Calculating, cynical, and [&@%!] were associated with a number of ex-partners. He himself, age 12, in a report, had rather noted pragmatic, concrete, evaluating. Age 15 he’d simply written, opinionated.
A mixture of traits that, unmanaged, might have potentially manifested themselves as toxic, he found means of channelling into academic excellence. Finishing top of his high school class, and earning a distinction, with honours, from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem - double majoring in History and Sociology - such academic stardom earned him an offer to study history at a graduate level in Harvard. His time at Harvard intersected with both the Great War between the Powers, and the Collapse of 2113. It was surviving the latter which was to alter the entire orientation of his being. His thesis was refocused toward the political legitimation of machine intelligence in the late 21st century. The ultimate product of his work became a critical, revisionist history of the extension of the human rights to AGI in 2080.
Published in the immediate aftermath of the Great Collapse his thesis collected minor fame in the news media where it was invariably described as ‘brilliant’, ‘required’, ‘polemical’, ‘twisted’ and ‘ugly’. Despite conflicting opinions, it nevertheless earned him a tenure-track position as Associate Professor of Critical Machine Studies, in a major university on the Commonwealth of Galilei. There, he was initially a figure of some fame, esp. among anthronationalist: a frequent publisher of critical histories of machine intelligence and co-founder of the peer-reviewed academic journal, Post-Terrian (which notoriously refused entries from AGI academics). His downfall came about in 2124: a number of young, liberal historians suggesting he had fabricated significant parts of his thesis (a claim he still contests). Disgraced, he was subsequently pressed to resign his now-tenured position at his university. Having first considered running for a political office, he eventually settled for Director at the anthronationalist Institute for Advanced Studies into Machine Intelligence (IASMI - pronounced: ees-mii) - simultaneously becoming editor of it’s non-peer-reviewed magazine, Man and Machine.
Currently, his entry on rightpedia.io introduces him, ‘The dark wizard of the liberal arts, Dr. Yirgalum Kidisti fights the good fight against machine intelligence’.

Skills: A profound intelligence, Yirgalum possesses strong investigative skills. Despite his asserted technophobia, another claim he contests, he is quite good at working with machines - the capabilities to design artificial-intelligent units which could search through historical archives for pertinent information a major boon to any budding historian. He also has a skillsoft implant which increases his capabilities with firearms, a trait he felt the contention of his work required.

Shell you were inhabiting when you met Constance: Splicer. Tall but of a build which suggests he was attractive in his youth, dark skinned, and possessing a receding black fuzz typical of men his age. His eyes, taken singularly, beam with intelligence - his face looks smallish crowded between the thick black facial hair he sports. However, the most distinguishing trait he possesses is the thick haughtiness he carries, unassociated with any single attribute but more-than-apparent when he is taken all at once. That he has gone on to develop a habit of walking with his head tilted ever-so-slightly upwards, exposing his throat, as if tempting someone to jump at him, hasn't helped dispell perceptions of arrogance.

What made you want to apply for Constance's secretive expedition?: Extending his influence. The intention was a demonstration of his intellect to Constance would be certain to ensure him a greater outlet for his thought, and the potential opportunity to reinvigorate his public image.

Other details that don’t fit into existing categories: He is left-handed. He blogs under the name RightStuff. His popular publications include Terrian’s Unite!, Post-Terrian: A Memoir, In the Shadow of the Machines, and Reviving Searle. In his youth, he was a chess champion but failed to pursue this interest into adulthood. As a teen he flirted with bisexuality but ultimately chose to identify himself as a heterosexual - on the social side of things, he approaches the mainstream of things on all issues but non-monogamous relationships. He considers himself a right-socialist.

Name: Leopold Maximilian Esterhart, Captain of The Longship.

Human or AGI: Human

Date of Birth: January 7, 2102

Age: 25

Biography/Personality: Despite his illustrious name, Leopold was born into a modest family of asteroid miners and salvagers on a space station in the MJ Belt. This relative isolation preserved Leo and his immediate family from the ISAAC catastrophe while the rest perished on Earth. Without much else to occupy a young boy, Leo assisted his parents in their work, growing strong and comfortable with space flight and the associated technology, as well as zero gravity immersion. However, as he matured, the reality of an eternal life of drilling and occasionally stripping down a broken machine began to leave a bad taste in his mouth. At the age of eighteen, Leo left the station on a stolen mining scowl. Faced with the vast expanse of open space and riding a stolen vessel, Leo made for Libertalia, where he signed on with a pirate crew for three years, earning enough money to retrofit his stolen scow, which he named The Longship. He then struck out on his own as an independent smuggler, frequently making drug runs from Venus back to the MJ Belt, even to Mars itself in cooperation with the Triad. The Longship, while not the most impressive vessel, is fast, discreet, and well-suited for his work. To cut costs and the risk of discovery, Leo has forsook a human crew in favor of several Maton shells controlled by AI. His recent stabs at piracy have been few and limited to work for Megacorps in cooperation with other pirate crews. It's this distinction which leads him to prefer the label 'privateer' rather than 'pirate'. Leo was one of many who heard Constance's call for aid, and he was one of those who responded to it. He was already heading to Elysium for some business, but he hadn't given too much thought to it. Her personal invitation was a surprise, but a welcome one.

In terms of personality, Leopold is a determined, resourceful fellow and confident in his own ability, confidence which can occasionally get him into trouble. It's this pride that is likely the source of his strange reticence to further augment his body much further. He's not a bioconservative or otherwise opposed to augmentation, but he'd prefer to achieve his goals on his own merit rather than because of some shiny tech. Furthermore, as evidenced by his life story, Leo has a bad case of wanderlust. Staying in one place too long is just unappealing to him. As a pirate, Leo is, of course, possessed by a measure of avarice. However, greed hasn't made him cruel. Firstly, though he's broken his fair share of shells, he's not one to engage in torture or sadism. Second, he refuses to deal in live human or AGI cargo, either. Finally, he also does his best to stay clear of the Shinigami. This might not seem like a brilliant moral code, but it's good enough for him.

Skills: Due to his upbringing and work upon his own starship, Leopold is relatively handy with repair work. He's no scientist, but he can take something apart and put it back together again. Leo's piracy and smuggling experience has given him some measure of combat experience, though stealth, wits, discretion, and refined astronavigation have often served him better. He's a relatively proficient boxer due to engaging in the sport as a youth and because of his own experience in brawls.

Shell you were inhabiting when you met Constance:
When he met Constance, Leopold was wearing his original Splicer shell; that of a Caucasian man of average proportions. The shell is endowed with shaggy, very blonde hair and a groomed beard to match. Its left arm is cybernetic, cold and grey. Several natural tattoos cover its body: an entwined link of chains around the right forearm, an image of Mjölnir by the left breast, and an eye of Horus on its neck. In addition to the basic bio mods, a small ejectable blade has been implanted in each of its hands, allowing the wearer to turn a simple punch into a lethal stab, a more recent addition to the shell.

What made you want to apply for Constance's secretive expedition?: Fortune and glory. Though he doesn't typically take jobs like this, Leo doesn't see how dangerous a scientific expedition could possibly be. From his point of view, whatever risk there is can't possibly outweigh the reward of money and a connection with such a famous individual.

Other details that don’t fit into existing categories:
During his time with the pirate crew, Leopold adopted some aspects of the pagan Norse faith, though he wouldn't call himself religious. In addition, he observes random superstitions of all kinds, even ones that he doesn't fully understand.

Name: Griff

Human or AGI: AGI

Date of Birth/Date of Creation: UNKNOWNs̶̥͙̮̹̠̳̱͕̠̬̳̲̦̝̯̀͝t҉̴̧͓͔̜̳̜̺̱̩̖̠̫̤̣̜o̵̥̥̲͚̞̯̹̗̟̝͓͜p̯̮̺͉͔̲̝̘̖̹̯̲͠ͅ ̡̠͇̼̖̯̳̻̦̖̟̯͉̺̰͠t̷̵̳͈̳̦̲̞̜͈̖̜̠̦̞̝̣̗h̸͙̘̖̲̥̤͔̼̹̭̦̠̙͎̙̺́͢ͅe̴̸̡̨̳͕̤̯̪̜͓̮̜͈͘ ̢̮̗̗̰͍̬͓̺̰̯͟͝͝ṕ̡͏̤͖̝̯̖̞̲̪̱̯̖̤̬̤ͅą̵̛͓̭̠͕̯̯̩̮̟̘̙̖͘ͅi͏̸̨̭̫͓̼͉̟̯̝̕͡ͅn̤͉̠̟̥̲̞̖̣̙̖͔͢͜

Age: UNKNOWNtͮ̈́̿͋̓̇ͯ̑ͥͩ͏̀͏é̶̸ͨ̓̉͆͗ͦ̇͌͂ͬ̏̌̿ͫ͘a̴ͫ͒ͧ̅̀́rͣ͛ͥͫ̊̓̀̋̿͆̃̄̎̔́́î̛ͣ̏͐̀͂̾̅̿̒̔̅҉̡͘n͗͋͂͒͆̑̈́̆ͤ̋͑̀ͭ͘͝҉ģ͑̓͛̄͑͊̄ͣ̾̌̓̾̑ͪ̿ͭ͆͜b̴̡ͮ̌ͪͪͭ̅ͨ̃ͬi̇̏̓͐ͫ̏ͪ̀ͭ͑̋̾ͤ̈́͟͏t̷̡ͥ̈́͐ͭ͘͟i̷ͧ́̌ͥ͆̌ͯͯ̈̒ͭ̉̚͢͝ņ̴ͦͬ͌̇͂̾̆ͤͪͧ̍̓g̢̅ͮͥͥ͒̿ͣ̈́͛̒ͧͭ̒́ͤͫ̋ͯ̀͢͠g̎̂̃̈́ͤ̎̽ͧ͌̽̄̃̈ͯͭ̚҉̶͘͜ñ̔ͦ̽͊̔͐ͬͤ̚͜͏aͧ͒̔͌̾҉̕͞͞w̡̧̨̛̛̆͋̐͒ͨ͆̉̅̂̐̍͌̅ͧ͊̓̆į̴̓ͥͫ͒͂ͨ̌̔̒͊̓̊͋̊̔ͭͤ́ń̶̶̃̾ͪͣͤ̓͂̈́̎͊g̷̷̴̊͗̾̋̾ͧ̃ͥ͒͐͐͗̊̚͟

Biography/Personality: Originally a simple labourer back on Earth, Griff had the misfortune of being violently disassembled by nanobots while still in the process of egocasting. Their core programming survived--mostly--but there was lasting damage. Aside from the loss of most of their memories (beyond all hope of recovery [which they actually aren't all that upset about]), Griff has vivid memories of being taken apart, just before the egocast was cut short. While there are those who argue that AIs and AGIs cannot experience "pain", Griff begs to differ.

Aside from the occasional bout of screaming, Griff is pretty normal.

Skills: Basic Self-Maintenance, Lifting things up and putting them down

Shell you were inhabiting when you met Constance: Bruiser

What made you want to apply for Constance's secretive expedition?: Griff desperately wants psychosurgery to mend the hurts they've suffered--filling in the missing data, removing the memory of their death, and generally ensuring their recovery.

Name: Grayden Connerty

Human or AGI: Human

Date of Birth/Date of Creation: 30th November 2103

Age: 23

Biography/Personality:

Biography: Grayden escaped Earth with his Dad when he was a ten year old boy, via egocasting. He and his father continued life in new shells in a Hive on Phobos.
When Grayden turned sixteen, he left home, uninterested in becoming a miner like his Dad, and got whatever jobs he could get, searching for something in life to take
his interest. One thing that did ignite his passions was the thrill of stealing, getting things he wanted for 'free' and selling them, if not using them, for money.
His crimes, however, did not go unnoticed and at the age of 17, Grayden spent a stint in juvenile VR prison as a result.
Upon release, he decided to expand his horizons, and eventually managed to earn a position on a pirate ship that operated within the MJ Belt, called The Wandering Canon.
He enjoyed working as a part of the crew, attacking cargo vessels and having fun with the money that their pilages brought them.
All was well until a female Worker Borg joined the crew. The new member and the ship's Captain formed a relationship, but Grayden disrepected this and formed his own bond
with the borg. When the Captain found the two together one night, Grayden was banished from the ship, having broken one of the fundamental rules of The Wandering Canon.

Personality:
Grayden is less of a thinker, and more of a do-er. He likes to get stuck into whatever action is going on, and will have a go at anything.
He'll say what's on his mind, and has little in way of a filter between thought and speech. He is lairy and uncouth, but gives honest opinions and is accepting of most types of lifeform.
Always up for a laugh, he is a hard worker and although he likes to goof around, he always remembers the job at hand.
Likes to wind people up and see what makes them tick, and will often challenge authority.

Skills:
Grayden has very good spatial awareness and is proficient in mathematics. He's a great navigator, as well as ferociously scrappy in hand to hand combat.
Skills with weaponry and is quick at thinking on his feet.

Shell you were inhabiting when you met Constance:
Male Splicer
Short Brown hair with small bright blue eyes. 5'8". Has a burn on his shoulder from a self-attempt to recently remove a tattoo.

What made you want to apply for Constance's secretive expedition?:
Having recently lost his job as a pirate, Constance's call out for mercenaries came at the right time. Although Grayden is disinterested in scientific pursuits, the job sounded
like it would be a thrill, and the pay was very appealing.

Other details that don’t fit into existing categories:
Is of English descent.
Doesn't like micro-gravity.
Uses 'he' pronouns.

Name: Cid Dot
Race: Human/Titanian

Date of Birth/Date of Creation: ???
Age: Assumed mid 30s Affiliations: Posthuman & AcidSec

Shell Preference: Splicer or Androids with an indifference between standard Borgs or Matons. Indifferent with primary genders, but a firm distaste for more radical alterations

Previous Shell: Custom Android with a hitchhiker module. Young adult male. Average height but emaciated figure mimicking biological self-malnutrition. Pale complexion. Black or white mid-length hair. Eyes that glow a vibrant yellow or shift to blood red. Iconic luminescent tattoo below right eye. Standard loadout and attire

Motive: Lazed curiosity and boredom at it's best. Joining a secretive exposition, what better reason is there? .

Biting your fingertip off?

Bruh, that was like.. The 3rd thing that came to mind when I first thought about my character way back then >_> 1st being "Huh, I've never played a depressing character before" shortly followed by the only logical thing.. Killing yourself

But hey, how else are you gonna know you've just been revived or waking from a dream? (And hey, at least he doesn't swallow it . )

Jovian is Jupiter, Titan is a moon of Saturn

Let me clarify this, I was meaning the term Jovian as in short for Jovian planets I.e the region/description for planets between the space of Jupiter and Neptune, which is very much 'Outer Rim' but a bit more technical(I mean, what do you call someone from that descent? A Rimmian? Outan? People X?)

Plasma Cutters

When I said plasma cutter, I meant a LITERAL plasma cutter >_> not.. Whatever the hell Dead Space has. No, in this context, it's no different than a blowtorch or wielding tool. Super charged gas focused on a single close point and is not reliant on atmospheric conditions? Or in my case, a face

wouldn't be in your 20s

Oh I'm not saying that he is, certainly not even close.. Just between his 'habit' and hazy memory/ego maturity.. Just trying to define a linear age would be, convoluted. But ya, it's safe to assume most of his personal shells are in that age gap

I'll fix it in a bit

change just a note

He's fine with that.. After all >_> he's not the one paying the insurance policy. So long as he isn't stuck in a Spare out of spite.. He's fine... It's not like he lives lavishly to begin with, so aside from his own personal expense or avenues.. I take it.. One freebie every 6months or a year?

Somebody needs to give this child a hug

Free Hugs 24/7