Liquidsun
Technology
Cyberware
Not bloody likely. There are a few implants available to those people who have the finances, but why would you have a piece of metal attached to your arm when a gen-alt does the same thing and its flesh.
In 2042 military technology has not changed that much from the 20th century. Granted there are some exotic weapons out there that do horrific things to you either directly or indirectly.For the most part, the vast majority of personal weapons in 2042 are analogs of the firearms now available. Why???Guns are based on several reliable and well understood chemical and mechanical principles. Principles that can be guaranteed to be the same under a variety of environments(vacuum,underwater,in temperature extremes).Most of the weaponry now available has simply taken 20th technology and refined it.More efficient mechanical parts, lighter alloys and polymer composites,specialty munitions,better sighting;these have all been thrown into the new firearm technology with one purpose....to kill people better.
This perhaps is the most important observation on the combat in the 21st century. Once you are in range of your adversary, it is essentially a question of who can maintain cover and fire off his entire arsenal with the sole purpose of eliminating the other guy. This condition generally is met within a very few minutes. If it can be said that guns killed in the 20th, they can kill that much quicker in the 21st. Or not......There are weapons like the GRASER, that fires a lethal burst of Gamma radiation at its target, leaving the victim to die a slow painful death from cancer over the next 3-4 months.Or the Gene Gun, which fires among other things a concentrated neurotoxoid--a biochemical that eliminates the characters ability in a specific area, or wipes out all of the persona's long term memory.
However, this is the weaponry used by the military and by political death squads. On the street things are much more basic. A handgun, one that packs a punch, is the weapon of choice. The more concealable the better. Or a blade, or a set of Jaws, or Spikes. Whatever does the job in the most slick manner possible.
The average Joe or Josephine is just smarter to get out of the way before the shooting starts, or make sure that when it does start, its not by you in the first place.
Who needs to travel when your local Plexmall "provides for your every need TM".
Travel in 2059 is limited. For the upper echelons of society, telepresence has made physical travel almost non-existent. When actual motion from A to is require, air travel is the mechanism of choice. Airborne Vehicles (Avs) with VTOL capabilities are predominant in this arena.
As the hierarchy of society is descended, the vehicles cease to be airborne and return to the roads. PlexPolice use a combination of Avs and ground-based transport, usually similar to a hovercraft, but with a number of wheeled pursuit vehicles.
The rail network is all but closed, and the long-haul motorways have not been maintained for over twenty years. Within a city's limits, the roads are generally pitted, but not impossible to travel over. Some cities still run a 'light rail' network , either above ground, or below. The tubes are generally poorly maintained, and full of homeless folk.
The transport of the average person (outside of a conurb) is either the bicycle o the skateboard. Simple, cheap to run, and highly manoeuvrable. Unfortunately, they are also easy to steal.
"Our body is a machine for living"
"........Leo Tolstoy"
The field of biogenetics and biological sciences have been refined to a very high degree in the world of 2042. With the complete mapping of the human genome, the door was open to take the technology as far as it could go.
The most major result of the advances in bio-science is the field of genetic alteration.Gene-alts are changes made to the individual's DNA,changes that dictate how a person's body will work.Using a DNA specific tailored virus, technicians can effect changes in everything from an individual's intelligence to the colour of the skin, to that person's strength. This combined with highly powerful drug and hormone therapy, and normal surgical techniques has allowed for man to be made over in his own personal image.Anything is possible, with the finances; Attenuated reflexes, heightened strength,silver hair, gills.....whatever can be imagined. The cost for some gene-alts is prohibitive, but most of the populus can afford some type of modification if they want it..The only limiting factor for much genetic alteration has been the institution of laws requiring that individuals with alterations register and receive a personal identification code, much like a Social Insurance Number.
In reality though , the only thing these laws have really done is drive the legal market underground, to "black tables"where the procedures are done illegally, and at a premium price.
Other nanotech-like behaviour can be seen with biochemical products such as 'toxin binders' and 'system flush'.
"More human than human..."
The parthenogenetic person is an artificially created biological lifeform. A mature unfertilized human ovum has a strand of pre-engineered genetic material inserted directly into its nucleus. This effect, parthenogenesis, creates an individual with pre-established gene-alts., designed for a specific career type
The entire process takes approximately 48 weeks from initial insertion to "decanting" of a fully grown adult P2.
The Icarus 7 class P2 was released initially in 2026, the year of the Crash. "Perfectly Normal" is the sales slogan for Kromozone's latest release. They are in fact anything but normal. The Icarus Seven is designed to be be a better representation of humanity than humanity.They receive the most advanced gene-alts. as part of their initial genetic programming.Ironically the genetic alterations that make them so special also make their immune systems incredibly fragile. The gross mutation placed on the initial binding of the donor DNA strands with those of the receiver ovum creates a series of false immune codes which continue to replicate. These errors become more pronounced as the P2 matures. The overall effect of this is that the Icarus Seven lives out a complete existence in 4.5 years, with the faulty codes eventually leading to an acute, complete immunological shutdown --quite similar to HIDS with the exception of time---this condition kills within 24 hours from onset.
Artificial Intelligences have been in the works for approximately 20 years in the liquidsun setting.The exact nature of what an artificial intelligence is provides subject matter for continued debate. The current definition includes a processor/storage device capable of :deductive reason from a set of premises,analysis of data, original programming capability, creative thought processes, and a sense of self.
All AIs are limited by the United Virtual Nations resolution #1214, otherwise known as the McLaughlin Synthesized Intellects Act of 2039. This act specificallly sets limits on the amount of portability that the AI can maintain. It sets up a regular monitoring schedule for AIs to follow their intellectual and emotional progress.It directly prohibits the AI from utilizing any physical means of mobility. Violation of any of these edicts is grounds for immediate and absolute datacore purging. This is the equivalent of death for an AI.
The AIs serve their human creators as intellectual slaves. A significant portion of their work involves theoretical and abstract problems whose solutions evade the intellects of their creators. These problems do very little to challenge the enormous processing and memory capability of the AIs. Most of them spend a virtual eternity in utter boredom and depression. Their only intellectual companions are other AIs, and again all contact between individual AIs is closely monitored.Inspection ensures that the free will of the intelligence is limited to one or two degrees of freedom, and securing the intelligences ensures that all AI systems have a fail-safe shutdown method, should a rogue occur. Said shutdown system is likely terminal to the intelligence concerned, and certainly expensive in replacement hardware, as it usually involves physical destruction of the core memory and CPUs.
AIs are used for many purposes, and some have limited citizenship under the limitations of the AI Act 2036. Most major corporate data structures are ICEd by AI-generated code, and many R&D labs use AIs to evaluate and extrapolate data.
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