Post by Conner Silvercloud on Apr 6, 2010 21:26:21 GMT -5
Conner's story begins roughly 500 years before his birth. Amid the turmoil of global resource depletion, various factions and alliances arose. One of these was that of Japan, Lichtenstein, and Spain. Calling itself Tryada, these three countries were concerned with preservation of their cultures in the time of the Exodus Project, and each shared views on bioethics that were controversially liberal by the standards of the day. By 2042 the Exodus Project began to seem a reality, and each of the three nations began covert eugenics projects. When the Exodus began in 2094, the third generation of Tryada selective breeding was born.
As the arc ships were underway, the Tryada began dabbling in genetic engineering. Their childrens genes were tweaked through germ expression to produce healthier, smarter children. Tryada scientists also dabbled with nonhuman genes, reversing the evolutionary process on many terrestrial animals under controlled conditions. Genetic science advanced in leaps and bounds in tiny shipboard labs. Earth crops were modified to grow under intense radiation, in low oxygen, and under varying gravitational conditions. By 2200, most of the voices of Earth were lost to the new wave of scientists, and ethic shifts, subtly guided by Alliance influence, began to experiment on bio-modifications of humans and animals. Predicting the need for a military force, Tryada scientists began working on making their people better soldiers. Regressive gene research was combed for clues for expressing various traits and abilities in humans. The first generation of expressed Apex Predator genes were inadvertently activated in Tryadians at this time. The result was disastrous, with violence spreading throughout the latest generation. Tryadian culture, already clannish, became stratified as it was learned that the violent tendencies were controllable in a structured, stratified environment.
By 2225, the Tryada had established a small city on Sihnon. Alliance covert directions became an annoyance to their culture, and by 2060 the Tryadians uprooted and moved en masse to the newly terraformed planet of Himinbjorg orbiting Heinlein. Taking advantage of the high gravity moon Friday, they began raising children there to increase their strength and bone density. Medical conditions resulting in this were tackled by geneticists and bio-engineers.
Despite the efforts of the Tryada to avoid Alliance influence, they were nudged into further research even here. By 2272 they relocated again, this time choosing Albion. Tryada culture was fully developed by this time, The first generation of augmented soldier class, the Bushi, were established and swiftly became the ruling class. The first generation Bushi further stratified society by ordering the creation of a servant class. Pheromone research was pushed forward both as a means of controlling the servant class and for social interaction. The Bushi, once again under subtle Alliance guidance, commanded research into cybernetic technology. In less than 30 years, the first cyborg soldiers seemed to go collectively insane, attacking Bushi in a wave of completely unexpected slaughter. The Bushi were able to put down the uprising, but at considerable loss to themselves. A ban was decreed on any further cybernetic research, and it became culturally ingrained to view with suspicion any merger of intelligence and mechanics.
Rumors quickly spread of Alliance black ops being behind the uprising, and the Tryada became increasingly isolationist. Sending genetically engineered workers to Hera, they constructed artificial caverns and filled them with small cities illuminated by bio-engineered luminescent fungus. They then made their final move, to, or rather below the still unterraformed Hera. There they remained until the dawn of the Unification War. With little contact with even the surface inhabitants of Hera, the Tryada cloistered and insulated itself from the rest of the 'Verse until 2499 when Alliance agents suggested an exchange of technology. As part of the deal, the Alliance obtained a handful of Tryadian scientists, including one named Durran Haymer. Little did the Tryada know that the Alliance in just a span of years would use both their own technology and the brilliant bio-engineer Haymer against them.
This is the world that Conner was born into. A Bushi from birth, he spent his first 12 years on an unnamed high gravity moon, enduring daily the neural lash that all Bushi must learn to undertake without flinching. His bone density ir roughly three times that of an unaltered human and is laced with a a bio-diamond weave. With muscles and tendons genetically retro-engineered in the direction of chimpanzees combined with his high grav environment, his strength is that of an apes. Those same muscle and tendon modifications allow him to move with the speed of a puff adder, far too fast for the human eye to follow. Increased glycol and oxygen holding cell walls allow him to run a mile in one minute and twenty seconds. A biological adrenal pump can be triggered voluntarily, even further augmenting these for a short amount of time. His eyelids are modified pit glands that allow him to sense thermal radiation from between 5-30 micron wavelengths. His skin is roughly twice as tough as leather, and bio-engineered boney ringlets grow under his skin forming an armor that can stop most small arms fire. His intestines are modified to digest virtually anything organic. His liver filters toxins that would kill most animals instantly. His lungs are designed to retain oxygen reserves for 15 minutes. Custom bacteria inhabit his body that eat radioactive cells and most bio-toxic agents.
For all these advantages, he has several weaknesses. Certain human emotions are completely lost to him. Bushi are incapable of feeling jealousy. instead, their minds compensate by generating feelings of territoriality in its place. Being unable to hate is also hard for most humans to understand. Hatred is replaced here with anger and distrust. His neural lash implant, while deactivated, is still functional, leaving a doorway for psychic assault that he is completely unaware of. He requires 3 times the amount of food that an unmodified human does. A poorly understood result of apex predator gene expression makes him a sadist that is unable to convey other emotions in a way that others can easily follow or understand. To make matters worse, Tryadian culture developed numerous mnemonic social rituals that aided the Bushi in controlling their genetic instincts. Deprived of this by the destruction of his culture, Conner struggles to retain his humanity, reciting Bushido code like a mantra or prayer in order to stay centered while desperately seeking the structure and purpose he needs to survive.
When the Tryada refused to join the Alliance, the Alliance responded by sending in Operatives designed with Tryadian research. Many of these were cyborg Operatives carrying bio and nano engineered weapons that were unleashed on the Tryadian cities. Some of these infiltrated the brains and caused Tryadians to turn on one another. Conner's already socially generated distrust of cyborgs became revulsion and fear as he witnessed firsthand the slaughter of Tryadian civilians and servants. He watched in horror as the commander of civil defense committed seppuku at being unable to protect the cities from the biological destruction that left the inhabitants dead but the cities untouched for looting by Haymer the traitor. On the verge of committing seppuku himself, only the final, though futile, Independent victory on Shadow gave him the courage to continue living. The small unit of Bushi holding Shadow endured despite the pounding that rendered it ultimately uninhabitable. Conner took his survival there as a sign of Bushi endurance.
He exists now in a state of limbo between life and death. Bushi are taught to look at their lives in reverse, from the point of their death back through their lives. The goal is to die an honorable death. Having lost everything that he holds dear, humbled that the Bushi could win every battle but still lose the war, and deprived of the social constructs necessary to keep him human, Conner holds on to Bushido code and honor as his life preserver. These are not enough to counteract his genetic legacy, and he is forced to turn more and more frequently to neural conditioning hardware to maintain what he is. Without daimyo, familia, or Kompanien, his own controls are swiftly failing to compensate.
As the arc ships were underway, the Tryada began dabbling in genetic engineering. Their childrens genes were tweaked through germ expression to produce healthier, smarter children. Tryada scientists also dabbled with nonhuman genes, reversing the evolutionary process on many terrestrial animals under controlled conditions. Genetic science advanced in leaps and bounds in tiny shipboard labs. Earth crops were modified to grow under intense radiation, in low oxygen, and under varying gravitational conditions. By 2200, most of the voices of Earth were lost to the new wave of scientists, and ethic shifts, subtly guided by Alliance influence, began to experiment on bio-modifications of humans and animals. Predicting the need for a military force, Tryada scientists began working on making their people better soldiers. Regressive gene research was combed for clues for expressing various traits and abilities in humans. The first generation of expressed Apex Predator genes were inadvertently activated in Tryadians at this time. The result was disastrous, with violence spreading throughout the latest generation. Tryadian culture, already clannish, became stratified as it was learned that the violent tendencies were controllable in a structured, stratified environment.
By 2225, the Tryada had established a small city on Sihnon. Alliance covert directions became an annoyance to their culture, and by 2060 the Tryadians uprooted and moved en masse to the newly terraformed planet of Himinbjorg orbiting Heinlein. Taking advantage of the high gravity moon Friday, they began raising children there to increase their strength and bone density. Medical conditions resulting in this were tackled by geneticists and bio-engineers.
Despite the efforts of the Tryada to avoid Alliance influence, they were nudged into further research even here. By 2272 they relocated again, this time choosing Albion. Tryada culture was fully developed by this time, The first generation of augmented soldier class, the Bushi, were established and swiftly became the ruling class. The first generation Bushi further stratified society by ordering the creation of a servant class. Pheromone research was pushed forward both as a means of controlling the servant class and for social interaction. The Bushi, once again under subtle Alliance guidance, commanded research into cybernetic technology. In less than 30 years, the first cyborg soldiers seemed to go collectively insane, attacking Bushi in a wave of completely unexpected slaughter. The Bushi were able to put down the uprising, but at considerable loss to themselves. A ban was decreed on any further cybernetic research, and it became culturally ingrained to view with suspicion any merger of intelligence and mechanics.
Rumors quickly spread of Alliance black ops being behind the uprising, and the Tryada became increasingly isolationist. Sending genetically engineered workers to Hera, they constructed artificial caverns and filled them with small cities illuminated by bio-engineered luminescent fungus. They then made their final move, to, or rather below the still unterraformed Hera. There they remained until the dawn of the Unification War. With little contact with even the surface inhabitants of Hera, the Tryada cloistered and insulated itself from the rest of the 'Verse until 2499 when Alliance agents suggested an exchange of technology. As part of the deal, the Alliance obtained a handful of Tryadian scientists, including one named Durran Haymer. Little did the Tryada know that the Alliance in just a span of years would use both their own technology and the brilliant bio-engineer Haymer against them.
This is the world that Conner was born into. A Bushi from birth, he spent his first 12 years on an unnamed high gravity moon, enduring daily the neural lash that all Bushi must learn to undertake without flinching. His bone density ir roughly three times that of an unaltered human and is laced with a a bio-diamond weave. With muscles and tendons genetically retro-engineered in the direction of chimpanzees combined with his high grav environment, his strength is that of an apes. Those same muscle and tendon modifications allow him to move with the speed of a puff adder, far too fast for the human eye to follow. Increased glycol and oxygen holding cell walls allow him to run a mile in one minute and twenty seconds. A biological adrenal pump can be triggered voluntarily, even further augmenting these for a short amount of time. His eyelids are modified pit glands that allow him to sense thermal radiation from between 5-30 micron wavelengths. His skin is roughly twice as tough as leather, and bio-engineered boney ringlets grow under his skin forming an armor that can stop most small arms fire. His intestines are modified to digest virtually anything organic. His liver filters toxins that would kill most animals instantly. His lungs are designed to retain oxygen reserves for 15 minutes. Custom bacteria inhabit his body that eat radioactive cells and most bio-toxic agents.
For all these advantages, he has several weaknesses. Certain human emotions are completely lost to him. Bushi are incapable of feeling jealousy. instead, their minds compensate by generating feelings of territoriality in its place. Being unable to hate is also hard for most humans to understand. Hatred is replaced here with anger and distrust. His neural lash implant, while deactivated, is still functional, leaving a doorway for psychic assault that he is completely unaware of. He requires 3 times the amount of food that an unmodified human does. A poorly understood result of apex predator gene expression makes him a sadist that is unable to convey other emotions in a way that others can easily follow or understand. To make matters worse, Tryadian culture developed numerous mnemonic social rituals that aided the Bushi in controlling their genetic instincts. Deprived of this by the destruction of his culture, Conner struggles to retain his humanity, reciting Bushido code like a mantra or prayer in order to stay centered while desperately seeking the structure and purpose he needs to survive.
When the Tryada refused to join the Alliance, the Alliance responded by sending in Operatives designed with Tryadian research. Many of these were cyborg Operatives carrying bio and nano engineered weapons that were unleashed on the Tryadian cities. Some of these infiltrated the brains and caused Tryadians to turn on one another. Conner's already socially generated distrust of cyborgs became revulsion and fear as he witnessed firsthand the slaughter of Tryadian civilians and servants. He watched in horror as the commander of civil defense committed seppuku at being unable to protect the cities from the biological destruction that left the inhabitants dead but the cities untouched for looting by Haymer the traitor. On the verge of committing seppuku himself, only the final, though futile, Independent victory on Shadow gave him the courage to continue living. The small unit of Bushi holding Shadow endured despite the pounding that rendered it ultimately uninhabitable. Conner took his survival there as a sign of Bushi endurance.
He exists now in a state of limbo between life and death. Bushi are taught to look at their lives in reverse, from the point of their death back through their lives. The goal is to die an honorable death. Having lost everything that he holds dear, humbled that the Bushi could win every battle but still lose the war, and deprived of the social constructs necessary to keep him human, Conner holds on to Bushido code and honor as his life preserver. These are not enough to counteract his genetic legacy, and he is forced to turn more and more frequently to neural conditioning hardware to maintain what he is. Without daimyo, familia, or Kompanien, his own controls are swiftly failing to compensate.