Lab Arc Wiki

(From Ultra-Tech and Pyramid #3-37.)

Computers are a vital part of most ultra-tech societies. It's possible that general-purpose programmable computers will still be common. Alternatively, most computers may be simple terminals connecting to networks, or dedicated special-purpose systems.

Every computer has a “Complexity” rating. This is an abstract measure of processing power. Each Complexity level represents a tenfold increase in overall capability over the previous level. A contemporary 20th-century desktop system is Complexity 3-4.

A computer's Complexity determines what programs it can run. Software also has a Complexity rating, and can only run on a computer of that Complexity level or higher; e.g., a Complexity 2 program requires a Complexity 2 computer or better.

A computer’s “Complexity” rating measures processing power – i.e., how much information it handles per second. Complexity is a qualitative measure, but can be approximated in flops (floating-point operations per second). Complexity 1 covers computers ranging from 0.5 to 400 flops, and each further level of Complexity increases this by x1,000.

Although imperfect, this maps to historical landmarks and covers everything from the first computers to the latest supercomputers. Further, other improvements (such as memory size and transfer speeds) tend to accumulate in tandem.

For greater resolution within a single Complexity, see the advanced, heavy duty, light duty, and old computer options.

Complexity 1: As fast as a human at basic arithmetic, but far more consistent and accurate… and the computer doesn’t get bored. Stores 10 bytes.

Complexity 2: Substantially faster, but still very simple. Fast enough to shred TL6 cryptography by brute force. Stores 10 kilobytes.

Complexity 3: Fast enough to run a complex task manager or operating system in addition to the software. Stores 10 megabytes.

Complexity 4: With power to burn, historical Complexity 4 personal computers are marked by mass-market-friendly interfaces (more processing cycles devoted to attractiveness than utility). Fast enough to break TL7 cryptography. Stores 10 gigabytes.

Complexity 5: Can run complex physics simulations, make accurate one-hour weather projections, and beat humans at specific games. Most 2010 supercomputers are Complexity 5. Stores 10 terabytes.

Complexity 6: Human brains are Complexity 6. Most digital Complexity 6 computers in the real world are used for highend physics simulations and sifting the Internet for data. Stores 10 petabytes.

Complexity 7: Theoretical as of 2010, a Complexity 7 computer can run an electrochemical model of the entire human brain (ignoring quantum effects and smaller biological effects) or predict the weather accurately for a day or two into the future. Stores 10 exabytes.

Complexity 8: Can model Earth’s entire weather system in real-time, with precise accuracy several days out, run a finegrained simulation of the human brain, and redefine economics theory. The required information density for this will require computers to deal with quantum effects in their design, which may result in shredding TL8 cryptography. Stores 10 zettabytes.

Complexity 9: Like Complexity 8, but better. Can model the human brain in exquisite detail, provide an amazingly accurate Earth weather system, and usher in TL10 physics. Volitional AI seems unavoidable! Stores 10 yottabytes.

Complexity 10: Can run quark-level simulations on a large scale and solve many TL10 physics questions by brute force. Without TL^ advances in physical technology, they will never be small enough for common use – the required energy, heat dissipation, and bits-per-atom are simply too high! A computer of this Complexity or higher stores gobs and gobs of data.

Complexity 11: Can run an entire city’s population as a simulation, down to individual neurons, or simulate the weather for an entire solar system.

Complexity 12: Capable of running a simulation of an entire nation’s minds, or running a model of the solar system at a resolution of 1-lb. “pixels.”

Complexity 13: Ignoring superscience, a Complexity 13 computer needs to be roughly the size of Earth – this still involves very advanced technology for providing sufficient power, heat dissipation, and information density! Can run a simulation of tens of billions of minds simultaneously, “evolve” entire biological designs from environmental parameters in seconds, and usher in TL12 technology.

Complexity 14: Constructed as a gas giant (and sometimes called a Jupiter Brain in literature), these computers can run the entire economy of a star-faring civilization, function as god-like digital intelligences, or model the entire solar system down to grains of sand.

Complexity 15: A series of layered Dyson shells around a star, each expending its waste energy outward to power the next layer. Unless there are fantastically complicated physics at TL12, such power is not needed, but it could run an awesome virtual reality for every living sapient. In transhuman literature, a Complexity 15 computer is a Kardashev Type II civilization.

Complexity 16: The only way to build this computer with known physics involves networking thousands of Complexity 15 computers. A species of virtual minds may construct such a system as part of their colonizing effort, or god-like beings may build them to answer the questions that puzzle god-like beings.

These are standard sizes of “ordinary” computer available in 2155. With various options (see below) they can represent numerous types and models. These systems include the processor, the power supply, the casing, and a storage system, plus an operating system. Computers may also have a cable jack and microcommunicator at no extra cost, although these may also be omitted in order to isolate the computer for security purposes.

Displays and controls are not included. Even so, the computer can be used “as is” via a neural interface, or installed into a robot body or vehicle. Also, if the computer is equipped with AI software, users can interact with it just by talking to it. Otherwise, they should be equipped with a terminal or a communicator.

Legality is LC4 for most computers, and otherwise depends on society. In settings where grain computers (or smaller) are surveillance tools, they may be LC2 or worse. In settings with government-controlled encryption (e.g., the United States until TL7.75), minicomputers and larger are LC2. Even in permissive settings, minicomputers and larger may be LC3. Living city computers are LC2 (LC1 in paranoid societies), and any computer that needs an orbit is LC0 (LC1 in very permissive societies). In settings where artificial intelligence is tightly controlled, any computer of Complexity 6+ may be -1 LC or worse.

Most computers run on external power. Battery-powered computers increase their cost and weight by 2% per hour of duration.

The computers below give cost and weight for a single computational core. A core runs one program of the same Complexity, 100 programs of -1 Complexity, 10,000 programs of -2 Complexity, and so on (see Multiple Cores for a way to improve this).

Nanocomputer: The size of a super-amoeba. Complexity 2. Negligible cost and weight. Nanocomputers are usually powered by solar energy or a microscopic drain on the host product’s battery – no external power or batteries required.

Nanocomputers are embedded in other products with one-yard radio communicators to provide help files, expert advice, advertisements, and similar assistance with that specific product. They are also included in the cost of microbots.

Grain Computer: The size of a large grain of sand, this is the largest computer available for microbots. Complexity 3. $1, 0.0002 lbs.

Grain Computer Implant: An implant radio (UltraTech, p. 211) with a built-in grain computer. Simple procedure. $120. LC4.

Generic Microchip: A single chip, commonly used as a dedicated control chip for a device. Complexity 3, stores 10 TB.

• Altair microPC-RFIDs: Common chips used for RFID tagging of individuals, objects, or other items. These chips have a built-in power supply and are replaced when the battery runs low, and are commonly affixed via labels or other such equipment. An average tag is meant to last for 100 hours of constant use, or years in quiescent mode. They can often run low-level programs autonomously if programmed to do so - imagine every brick in a wall abruptly running a botnet attack on a server stored nearby! Altair microPCs have a basic 'user' function accessible to consumers, and a 'superuser' function for Altair technical representatives.
• Microdracon RFID-IC: These dedicated integrated circuits are optimized to run one preprogrammed suite of interrelated programs as if they were one Complexity lower (at the expense of running other programs as one Complexity higher); this means that a RFID-IC can run Complexity 4 programs within a specific scope, such as ICE, vehicle control and operation, a type of skills, etc.
• Xeolith MicroDroneComp: A tiny but powerful chip designed to operate very small drones; endurance time typically depends on the drone.

Microswarm Computer: A microswarm with a grain computer cluster. This counts as a primary function for the swarm! Complexity +2. $10,000, 1 lb. Has a radio range of 50 yards.

Pebble Computer: The size of a very small stone, pebble computers form the basis of many small computing platforms near the end of TL8. Complexity 4. $10, 0.002 lbs.

Computer Implant: An implant computer (UltraTech, p. 215). Minor procedure. $1,000. LC4. Can use a tiny computer (below) instead, but this quadruples the cost and becomes a major procedure.

Cell Phone: A pebble computer with the compact and rugged options, radio, GPS, and standard terminal with the compact, rugged, and datapad options. $50, 0.1 lb. LC4.

Tiny Computer: The smallest multi-purpose computer in regular use. It’s used as a wearable computer or implant, or built into gadgets or robots. It is Complexity 5. $100, 0.02 lbs. LC4. Examples include:

• Saiyochan Smart Appliance
• CoreValues Home Appliance
• Microdracon Uplink
• Arizon Companion
• Amazon Alexa Blue Dot
• Xeolith MiniDroneComp

Book: Thin, lightweight, and foldable, book computers have screens large enough to read comfortably or use as a drawing pad, but store small enough to fit in a purse. Many have built-in audio- and video-communication systems. The standard design includes a Cheap, Tiny older-generation computer (Complexity 3 or 4). $60, 1 lb. B (2 days).

Handheld: Used primarily as a standard audio- and video-communication device, hand-held systems fit comfortably into the palm of the hand, have a top-mounted high-resolution camera and slide-out screen, and are usually operated with a push-button or pen interface. Standard hand-held units use built-in Cheap, Tiny computers of an older generation (Complexity 3-4). $20, 0.15 lb. B (5 days).

Generic Firewall: This tiny computer hosts a basic Firewall with which to block incoming calls semi-automatically. Examples include:

• CoreValues Hardware Firewall
• AmazonBasics Hardware Firewall
• Arizon Basic Firewall
• Arizon Professional Firewall
• Arizon Master Firewall

Generic Router: Used to route connections within a network; mostly hardware but some have firmware protections included. Examples include:

• AmazonBasics Block Router
• AmazonBasics Wireless Router
• CoreValues 802.21z Wireless Router
• Arizon Falcon 24 Hub Board
• Arizon Eagle 128 Hub Rack
• Arizon Double Eagle 256 Hub Closet

Walkabout HedZup: Typical of the aftermarket displays compatible with book and hand-held computers, HedZup glasses are similar to virtual-interface glasses (VIGs), but without any intrinsic computing ability. The HedZup display maintains an encrypted wireless connection with its host computer. Range is 10 feet. The computer’s built-in display darkens when the HedZup is in use, allowing for privacy. Input and control is still done on the personal computer. $50, 0.15 lb. B (20 days). Use of a HedZup instead of the built-in display doubles the life of the computer’s power cell (i.e., using the HedZup instead of the display for 2 hours only consumes 1 hour’s charge from the computer’s cell).

Wearable Virtual Interfaces: Virtual-interface hardware is commonplace in the more stable “transition” parts of the developing world. Most are inexpensive, low-Complexity units that provide a lower grade of interaction than Fifth Wave designs.

• Qatar Systems Burqaware: Introduced in 2093, the Burqaware system uses smart fabric for a virtual-interface device. Originally meant for women in the more-conservative parts of the Islamic Caliphate, Burqaware interfaces are now found worldwide, as they provide an intriguing combination of comfort, privacy, and style. The Burqaware interface drapes over the head, covering the wearer’s entire head and face. The smart fabric display on the inside of the Burqaware provides a full virtual interface, including a view of the world around the wearer. From the perspective of observers, the Burqaware is entirely opaque; from the inside, the wearer has a completely unobstructed view. The smart fabric is sensitive to environmental conditions, and can channel heat and air flow as needed to maximize wearer comfort. Aside from the unusual appearance, the Burqaware functions as a simple wearable virtual interface, including communications services. Includes a Cheap, Tiny, Complexity 4 computer. $300 ($200 in the Islamic Caliphate), 0.2 lb. B (15 days). The upgraded version includes a Tiny Complexity 5 computer system. $750 ($600 in the Islamic Caliphate), 0.3 lb. B (10 days). Can also be purchased without a built-in computer, $350. The export model also includes a smart fabric display on the outside of the interface, set to display a real-time image of the wearer’s face. In some markets, this is considered less disturbing than a totally faceless, opaque veil. It is otherwise identical to the upgraded system. Not for sale in the Islamic Caliphate. $1000, 0.4 lb. 2×B (12 days).
• Shanghai Interactive MRsiv: The most used wearable VIG systems in the developing world, most lower-tech VIG units are similar to the MRsiv. It uses a Cheap, Tiny Complexity 4 computer. Includes global-positioning unit and short-range radio communicator, as well as dedicated augmented-reality software. Does not normally allow the installation of additional software. $150, 0.2 lb, B (14 days).
• SI MRsiv 2: The MRsiv 2 model includes a Tiny Complexity 5 computer and allows for added software. $500, 0.3 lb, B (10 days).

Pocket Computer: Small enough to fit into a PDA or palm top. Complexity 5. $250, 0.2 lbs.

PDA: A pocket computer with the compact and light duty options, and a standard terminal with the compact and datapad options. $750, 0.075 lbs.

Smart Phone: As a PDA, but with radio communication. $800, 0.08 lbs. LC4.

• Altair Traveler
• Apple i250 series
• Apple i300 series
• Apple i400 series
• Apple i500 series
• CoreValues p110 series
• Street Burner: A cheap mass produced cell phone designed to have its SIM card easily removed and destroyed after use.
• Street Warrior: A ruggedized cell phone that has slots for four SIM cards, allowing the user to switch between four networks at a time.
• Verizon Quantum series
• Virgin Mobile Uplink

Generic Tablet: A lightweight computing solution that is carried with you wherever you go. Examples include:

• Altair Observer
• Amazon Kindle
• CoreValues p135
• Google Chromebook
• Wensel Quality ValuTab
• Chiron Slate
• Toshiba T200
• Xeolith DroneComp
• Wensel Quality Tablet

Small Computer: This is used as a notebook or wearable computer, or the brain of a small robot. It has Complexity 6. $500, 2 lbs.

Generic Smart TV: A modern smart television with capacity for full holo and VR connections.

• Chiron Viewscreen
• Sony E3500
• Visio Smartscreen
• Amazon Alexa Holo
• Apple Surface Extend
• Wensel Quality Home Entertainment System
• Visio Holoscreen

Desktop: A small computer and standard terminal with no options. $1,000, 12 lbs. LC4.

• Quantech A6000
• Quantech A6024
• Quantech A6520
• Quantech A7001
• Quantech A7025
• Quantech A7520
• Toshiba V300
• AmazonBasics Terminal
• Dell BP3200
• Altair Dedicated Swarm Controller
• Wensel Quality Computer System

Laptop: A small computer with the compact and light duty options, and a standard terminal with the compact and portable options. Includes a three-hour battery. $2,650, 1.6 lbs. LC4. A slate tablet is identical, but adds a touch-screen terminal. $4,500, 1 lb.

High-End Smart Phone: A small computer with the light duty and miniature options, and a touch-screen terminal (p. 21) with the compact and datapad options. Built-in radio. $1,550, 0.33 lbs. LC4.

Smart Robes: A small computer with the compact and cloth computer options with a touch-screen terminal with the same options. $10,000, 4.5 lbs., 18 square feet. Light summer clothing, with its own computer display.

Generic Cyberdeck: A console cowboy's best friend, often worn with an attached sling over one shoulder like a cyber-guitar. Most decks are not generic or cheap.

• CoreValues Netbook for Kids
• CoreValues Netbook Business
• CoreValues Netbook First Class
• CoreValues Netbook Premier
• Google Chromebook Plus
• Street Razor
• Street Axe
• Splitbit Cyberpunk
• Splitbit Samurai
• Splitbit Decker
• Splitbit Netrunner
• Splitbit Neuromancer
• Novus Labs Technical Test Deck
• Toshiba Z400
• Altair OpTerminal
• Dell BN3200
• IBM Worker 2200
• Neurorez Beta Deck
• Splitbit CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker) Penetration Deck
• Wensel Quality Neural Computer

Generic Housebrain: Installed in a home to manage security, entertainment, etc.

• FutureNow HomeBase
• FutureNow CastleBase
• CoreValues HMS (Home Management System)
• CoreValues HMS Plus
• CoreValues HMS AD (Active Deterrence; restricted in some areas)
• Gorgonna HomeSuite
• Dell BH3200
• Saiyochan Future Home
• IBM Guard Dog 2400

Generic Vehicle Computer: An advanced computer built into modern vehicles. Examples include:

• Gorgonna Steed
• Google Autocar
• CoreValues DriveComp
• Saiyochan Smartcar Brain
• Xeolith GroundComp
• Xeolith CycleComp
• Xeolith TankComp
• Xeolith AeroComp
• Xeolith AquaComp
• Xeolith SubComp
• Xeolith SpaceComp
• Wensel Quality Car System

Workstation: The first workhorse computers used in small offices, a single workstation had many employee terminals. Complexity 6. $2,000, 20 lbs. Workstations were possible at TL7.25 (Complexity 2). They lost their appeal to small computers in TL8, outside of highend graphical production, servers, and similar jobs. They also begin to show up in cluster computing in TL8.25.

Microcluster: Several dozen workstations. Complexity is one quarter-TL better. $50,000, 1,000 lbs. LC4.

Tiny Cluster: A few hundred workstations. Complexity is two quarter-TLs better. $500,000, 2.5 tons. LC4.

Small Cluster: A few thousand workstations. Complexity +1. $5 million, 25 tons. LC4.

Server Farm: Several hundred thousand to a few million workstations. Complexity +2. $1 billion, 5,000 tons. LC4.

Minicomputer: A high-end cabinet-sized machine, common in labs, large vehicles, as a network server, or on an office floor (often with several terminals networked to it). Other applications include commercial spacecraft, mobile asteroid mining complexes, university learning centers, and so on. Merchant ships use a minicomputer as the ship’s main computer. Large warships frequently use minicomputers as the backup control systems of fighting, damage control, maneuvering and tactical-planning stations. Complexity 7. $40,000, 200 lbs.

• Dell CF4500
• IBM Cerberus 2500
• Gorgonna Knight

Generic Company Server: Commonly found in the corporate world managing a small business, department, or important function; the target of many a devious hacker. Examples include:

• Chiron Multimedia Server
• Dell CS4500
• IBM Cerberus 2500CE (Corporate Edition)
• Gorgonna Lord

Mainframe: These powerful computers are often used for control and systems-monitoring functions for a starship, major business, manufacturing complex, or laboratory. A mainframe is Complexity 7. $600,000, 2000 lbs., external power. LC3. Examples include:

• Dell DBC5300
• Gorgonna FacBrain
• IBM Hercules 2630
• Gorgonna Prince
• FutureNow Executive Server

Macroframe: This size of computer is often found administering the traffic, sewage, power, maintenance, and bureaucracy functions for an entire city. They are also found as the main computer aboard large ships and used to run cutting-edge science projects. Macroframes are usually the property of government agencies or major corporations. They are Complexity 7. $10,000,000, 10 tons.

• Dell DBM6440
• IBM Colossus 2850
• Gorgonna King
• FutureNow Executive Server
• FutureNow CEO Server
• FutureNow Billionaire Server

Megacomputer: This is a computer the size of an entire building! Systems this large may be placed in charge of running entire countries, although they’re sometimes also installed in capital ships or giant cybertanks. They’re often upgraded for even more performance – with a genius option, a megacomputer can cost billions! A megacomputer is Complexity 8. $1,000,000,000, 1,000 tons.

• IBM Capital 3000
• Dell DXM8580
• Gorgonna Emperor

Skyscraper Computer: Common in science fiction, this computer uses TL9 manufacturing improvements, superconductors, and photonic circuits to overcome massive technical difficulties. Complexity 8. $1 trillion, 1 million tons. Requires power from a city grid or dedicated generator!

Various options are available to customize computer hardware. Multiple options can be chosen, but each option can only be taken once. Modifiers to Complexity, cost, etc. apply to the hardware statistics. Cost and weight multipliers are multiplied together. For examples a computer that is Fast (which multiplies cost by 20) and Hardened (which doubles cost) is 40 times the normal cost. Complexity and LC modifiers are additive, but LC cannot go below LC0.

Advanced: The computer uses cutting-edge technology that anticipates the next quarter-TL of developments. The computer gains a +2 on contests with other computers of the same Complexity. Multiply cost by x10. Reduce LC by 1. This cannot be combined with Obsolete or Old.

Compact: The computer uses high-end, lightweight components. All skill rolls to modify or repair the computer are at -2. Multiply cost by x2, weight by x0.5. This cannot be combined with Miniature. Halve the number of power cells and the operating duration.

Dedicated: The computer hardware is devoted to a specific program, and can run only that program. Increase Complexity by +1. Multiply cost and weight by x2.

Hardened: The computer is designed to resist electromagnetic pulses, microwaves, and other attacks that target electrical gadgets. Add +3 to HT to resist these effects. Double the cost, double the weight.

Heavy Duty: The computer is significantly larger and more powerful. The computer gains a +2 on contests with other computers of the same Complexity. Multiply cost and weight by x2. Cannot be combined with Light Duty.

Light Duty: The computer is smaller and less powerful. The computer suffers a -2 penalty on contests with other computers of the same Complexity. Multiply cost and weight by x0.5. Cannot be combined with Heavy Duty.

Miniature: The computer uses the smallest and lightest components available. All skill rolls to modify or repair the computer are at -5. Multiply cost by x4, weight by x0.3. This cannot be combined with Compact.

Multiple Cores: By default, a computer has a single core (and can run a single program of equal Complexity). Each additional core increases the cost and weight by +100%.

Obsolete: The computer is an older model. For a computer that is from the previous quarter-TL, multiply the cost by x0.25. For each quarter-TL earlier than that, multiply the cost by another x0.5, to a maximum of one full TL (total of x0.03125 cost). Cannot be combined with Advanced or Old.

Old: The computer uses inexpensive, older technology (not quite a full quarter-TL). The computer suffers a -2 penalty on contests with other computers of the same Complexity. Multiply cost by x0.5. Cannot be combined with Advanced or Obsolete.

Printed: The computer is printed on a flexible surface, such as fabric (so it can be rolled up) or even skin (a digital tattoo). It requires four square feet per pound of weight; an average person has about 20 square feet of skin across his body. It must use solar cells or flexible cells for power. Breaking the surface destroys the computer. This option is not compatible with quantum computers. -1 Complexity, and divide data storage by 1,000.

Rugged: The computer is designed to resist physical attacks, environmental conditions, and rough treatment, and to be easier to repair in the field. Add +2 to HT and to all skill rolls to modify or repair the computer. Multiply cost and weight by x2.

Biocomputer: A biocomputer is constructed from neurons, but organized as a traditional computer rather than a brain. Multiply cost and weight by x2 (this includes a support network for nutrients, waste, and heat management). Reduce Complexity by 1.

Cloth Computer: The computer is built on a clothlike substrate, which can be manipulated in any way cloth can. If the surface is broken, the computer is destroyed. The computer can take up one square foot per 4 lbs. (winter clothing), one square foot per pound (summer clothing), four square feet per 1 lb. (finest silk), or 10 square feet per 1 lb. (ultratech diaphanous materials). Multiply cost by x5, weight by x2. A cloth computer can be combined with armor (just add the weights and costs). As long as the DR is not penetrated, the computer is not destroyed.

Paper Computer: The computer is built on a paperlike substrate, which can be rolled, flexed, folded, or scrunched, but is still somewhat stiff to the touch. At TL9.5, it can be a memory material, returning to its unbent shape when pressure is not being applied. If the surface is broken, the computer is destroyed. The computer can take up one square foot per 1 lb. (heavy cardstock), four square feet per 1 lb. (translucently thin paper), or 10 square feet per 1 lb. (TL9.5, transparent, and as thick as a single human hair). Multiply cost by x3, weight by x2.

Quantum Computer: The computer is built to take advantage of quantum effects. This can have a profound effect on the speed of certain kinds of tasks (see Quantum Computing, below). Reduce Complexity by 1.

Regenerating: The computer has healing capabilities due to bioplastic. Given sun and ordinary air, the computer can heal 1 HP every six hours. Multiply cost by x5. Reduce Complexity by 1.

Semi-Flexible Computer: The computer is built on a semi-flexible substrate. It can be rolled or flexed, but not folded or scrunched, and if the surface is broken, the computer is destroyed. The computer can take up one square foot per 4 lbs. (1/2” thick foam), one square foot per 1 lb. (heavy foil), or four square feet per 1 lb. (translucently thin foil). Multiply cost and weight by x2.

Solar-Sail Computer: The computer is built on a microscopically thin substrate, which can be rolled and folded up when not extended as a solar sail. The computer takes up 250 square feet per pound, and can absorb 1 HP of damage per pound before being destroyed. Multiply cost by x5, weight by x2.

Tattoo Computer: The computer is embedded in circuits made of ink, which are then tattooed or printed on another surface. If the surface is broken, the computer is destroyed. The computer takes up 10 square feet per pound. Multiply cost by x10.

Additional built-in data storage can be purchased for $1 and 0.001 lb. per additional 1,000 TB.

Common portable data-storage units are teradisks (TDs). Each holds 10,000 TB and is the size of a sugar cube. $5, 0.01 lb.

Old holodisks are still used on cheap machines (new systems can also run them); each holds 1,000 TB. $1, 0.01 lb.

These are as common as wristwatches once were. They provide augmented reality and often host AIs.

A pair of video glasses with holographic head-up displays in the lenses. Installed in the frame are a tiny computer, digital camera, short-range radio communicator, infrared remote and receiver (10-yard range), and bone-induction speaker. It has a global positioning unit that automatically queries any accessible navigational satellites or other markers, enabling the user to know his position to within a few yards. It displays information from microcommunicator-equipped electronic systems (which includes just about everything) in front of the user's eyes; this head-up display gives +1 to Piloting, Driving, and other skills that benefit from fast, hands-free display of information. Dedicated Augmented Reality software is included, so the primary computer need not run this program. It is a cybershell, and can house an AI or other digital mind.

VIG Frame: The VIG without the computer. Add a tiny computer with any desired options. $500, 0.15 lb, B/10 days.

Not everyone wants to wear glasses. A DVI is a contact-lens monocular, a digital camera in a hair clip, an earplug speaker, and a belt-, wrist-, or shoe-mounted tiny or compact small computer. All communicate with one another using microcommunicators. A DVI is more discreet but less convenient than a VIG, taking a few seconds to take off or put on, but otherwise identical except for weight: 0.2 lb. (+ computer).

See Brain Implants.

A cybershell or bioshell has the equivalent of an implant virtual interface built into it.

Quantum computers perform calculations using atoms in “up” or “down” spin states to represent bits of information. Due to quantum uncertainty effects, each atom does not simply represent one bit, as in a traditional computer. Instead, each “qubit” can be both up and down at once. This allows it to (in a sense) do all possible calculations at the same time until the act of measuring the qubits stops the calculating process.

Quantum computers provide quick solutions to mathematical problems that would tie up a conventional computer for years or centuries. This makes them useful for a wide range of activities, including code decryption, traffic control, and massive database searches. In these situations, the GM may wish to drastically reduce the time of the task (e.g., to the square root of the normal time), or increase the quantum computer’s effective Complexity. See Encryption for an example. The GM may rule that some problems require quantum computers.

Quantum computers examine all possibilities simultaneously until measured, then “collapse” into an answer (with a small probability of being wrong). With a program designed for quantum computers, and on a task that quantum computers excel at, the computer can perform the task in a fraction of the time.

How fast is a matter of conjecture. The known algorithms available today indicate that a quantum computer can perform a task in a number of operations equal to the square root of the number it would take a classical computer. To calculate how much time that requires, take the square root of the number of seconds it would take a classical computer of the same Complexity, and divide the result by the following:

• Complexity 1: Do not divide.
• Complexity 2: Divide by 30.
• Complexity 3: Divide by 1,000.
• Complexity 4: Divide by 30,000.
• Complexity 5: Divide by one million.
• … and so on.

Example: A classical Complexity 3 computer that takes six seconds to perform a search task, when that is the only task it is performing, is roughly equivalent to saying the computer makes six million operations. A quantum Complexity 3 computer would thus take 2,450 operations, which would require 0.00245 seconds.

Quantum computers are best at needle-in-a-haystack searches. This includes database queries, brute-forcing TL8 encryption, finding the best route on a map, and finding a person who matches difficult criteria in a large population. (Note that some encryption methods – including the McEliece cryptosystem – are immune to currently known quantum attacks, but are not as practical to implement with today’s computers.)

A computer needs an interface to communicate with the rest of the world. Most interfaces run on external power. Battery-powered interfaces increase their cost and weight by 2% per hour of duration.

All computers have at least this interface. Commands are input by directly manipulating the computer’s internal levers, adding and removing vacuum tubes, sending and receiving electrical signals through a data port, or similar method. This adds no weight or cost, and has the same computer options (pp. 20-21) as the computer itself.

A terminal provides a human-usable interface, usually in the form of a keyboard and view screen. At TL8+, the view screen can be a monitor, projector, or Braille display; at TL10^+, it can be holographic, but this adds $2,000 to the cost.

Standard Terminal (TL7): A keyboard and monitor (monochrome until TL8). At TL8, includes mouse and speakers, and may include a microphone. $500, 50 lbs. LC4. Multiply weight by x0.2 at TL8, and then halve cost and weight at TL9 and TL10.

Hands-Free Terminal (TL8.25): A head-mounted monitor, one-handed keyboard and pointer device (or a hip-anchored keyboard), and earpiece. Until TL9, gives -1 to DX-based rolls when worn. $2,000, 10 lbs. LC4. Halve cost and weight at TL9, and again at TL10.

Touch-Screen Terminal (TL8.5): An ultra-thin glass monitor with built-in speakers, microphone, and camera. Surface is touch-sensitive, and can see and hear the user. $1,000, 5 lbs. LC4. Halve cost and weight at TL9, and again at TL10.

Terminals can be built with these computer options: compact, rugged, biocomputer, cloth computer, paper computer, regenerating, semi-flexible computer, steampunk, and tattoo computer. They can also have any of the following options.

Command Center (TL7): Multiple wall-mounted monitors and executive desk-sized interface. A touch-screen terminal covers the entire desk. Complex, difficult, and time-consuming tasks are at +2. Cost x20, weight x5.

Luxurious (TL8): A massive monitor (or 2-3 linked screens) and desk-sized interface setup. A touch-screen terminal is the size of a drafting table. Complex, difficult, and time-consuming tasks are at +1. Cost x4, weight x2.

Portable (TL8): Laptop-sized. Complex, difficult, and time-consuming tasks are at -1. Cost x0.5, weight x0.2.

Datapad (TL8): Fits in a palm-top or PDA. Complex, difficult, and time-consuming tasks are at -2. Cost x0.25, weight x0.01.

Wrist-Top (TL8): Fits on the back of a wrist. Complex, difficult, and time-consuming tasks are at -4. Cost x0.01, weight x0.001.

This is a 3D video display integrated into glasses or a helmet visor, or designed to be projected onto a windscreen. A HUD can also be printed onto a flat surface. See Using a HUD (below). Many vehicles, suits, sensor goggles, and the like incorporate a HUD at no extra cost, and direct neural interfaces make a HUD unnecessary. If bought separately: $50, neg., uses external power. LC4.

The Head-Up Display, or HUD, is a nearly ubiquitous technology. It displays visual information (text, sensor views, suit or vehicle instrument readouts, a computer screen, targeting crosshairs, a web browser window, a video show, etc.) by projecting it directly onto the wearer’s visor. Any piece of electronic equipment that uses a visual display screen may be connected to a HUD by a cable or a communicator. A HUD also allows hands-free monitoring of devices. A HUD provides +1 to skill rolls when reacting quickly to information is important – maneuvering with a thruster pack, for example. Driving, Piloting, and Free-Fall skill rolls often benefit from a HUD.

Many wearable sensor devices and suits have a HUD built-in at no extra cost.

Sleeve Display: A square of touch-sensitive digital cloth woven into the fabric of clothing, uniforms, and body armor. It is equivalent to a datapad, and the cloth incorporates a speaker. $25, neg. weight, A/10 hr. (uses flexible cells). LC4.

Portable Terminal: A small but functional color video display and multi-system interface (keyboard, mouse, speakers, mike, video camera), typical of laptop computers. A portable terminal is also used as a remote control for many types of devices, such as sensors, communicators, and drones. It’s adequate for most tasks, although the GM may rule that time-consuming or graphics-intensive tasks require a desktop workstation (see below) to avoid a -1 penalty. It has both datachip and removable drives. $25, 0.25 lbs., 2B/20 hr. LC4.

Workstation Terminal: A complete desktop, vehicular console, or office system with the same capabilities as a portable terminal, It has a larger keyboard, a full-size 3D monitor, a document scanner/printer, and whatever other peripherals might be standard (GM’s option). $250, 2.5 lbs., C/10 hr. or external power. LC4.

Computerized Crew Station: A high-end workstation with controls that can be reconfigured, multi-function programmable displays, and a padded, adjustable seat. This sort of system may be required to control complex systems such as vehicles or power stations. $1,000, 25 lbs., uses external power. LC4.

Holographic Crew Station: A computerized crew station (above) that uses holographic projection to immerse the user in 3D imagery. Vehicular versions may be designed to make the rest of the vehicle vanish, leaving the user “floating in air” except for his seat and controls. $5,000, 25 lbs., uses external power. LC4.

Multisensory Holographic Crew Station: As above, but the controls and displays can be configured for nonhuman senses – for example, ultrasonic, infrared, or even olfactory outputs. $50,000, 100 lbs.; uses external power. LC4.

Holoprojection: Users might use a holoprojector instead of a screen; even a wrist-size unit can produce a floating 3D image the size of a full-size computer monitor, with larger models typical of display systems built into homes and vehicles.

Terminals must be of at least the same TL as the computers and data storage systems they interface with. Higher TLs see steady improvements in video and sound quality, but terminals are often replaced by neural interfaces, neural input systems, or just building an AI into the computer and telling it what to do.

Terminals may also have the compact, hardened, and printed computer hardware options.

A system can be programmed to do just about anything, but good programming is expensive at any TL. The GM should allow the creation of custom programs, but make them costly. Some programs are better than others, regardless of cost. A custom program is likely to have amusing or dangerous bugs when it is first used.

Programs are rated for their cost, their LC, and their Complexity, which determines what systems they can run on. Descriptions of programs are found in the relevant sections as well as below. In particular, see Encryption, Sensies, Software Tools, Tactical Programs, and Virtual Reality. The software cost may vary depending on the nature of the program and its provenance (shareware, pirated, demo copy, open-source, etc.). Many programs have free versions, not all of which are legal. Free programs often lack novice-friendly interfaces and manuals, so a Computer Operation roll may be required to find, install, or use them.

Due to the high processing power available, most software is designed to work in concert with AI agents. Thus, instead of a specific 'piloting' or 'translation' program, one simply acquires an AI as the operating system and then programs or teaches it the relevant skill.

If someone wants to write his own computer program, use the New Inventions rules, using Computer Programming instead of Engineer, with a skill penalty equal to twice the Complexity of the program rather than -15.

Computer programs have a base cost that depends on their Complexity and TL and drops at higher TLs.

Software costs a lot to develop, but very little to distribute. Prices listed assume professional and specialized software such as engineering programs, targeting systems, or AI programs for robots. Mass-market software, such as computer games or popular operating systems, will be cheaper, as development cost is spread over a huge user base. Such programs may be as little as 10% of the cost, or even available as freeware.

IQ-based technological skills normally require software to function at full effectiveness when performing any task involving research, analysis, or invention. Software tools are also appropriate for a number of other skills in this era, such as Accounting, Artillery, Market Analysis, Strategy, Tactics, and Writing.

Basic programs are incorporated into dedicated systems integrated into the devices used to perform the skill, and provide no bonus.

Good-quality programs give a +1 bonus. These are Complexity 4 for Easy skills, Complexity 5 for Average, Hard, or Very Hard skills.

Fine-quality programs give a +2 bonus. These are Complexity 6 for Easy skills, Complexity 7 for Average, Hard, or Very Hard skills.

These are now covered by the Modular Abilities advantage with the Computer Brain option; see p. 40 and p. B71. Replace the cost table with a cost of $25 per character point for common skill programs. This may be increased for rarer skills, and doubled (or more) for obscure or legally controlled functions, at the GM’s option. A program giving two character points in a skill or language is Complexity 3; double the (maximum) number of character points which it can give for each increase in Complexity level. So a Complexity 4 program can give 4 character points, Complexity 6 equates to 16 character points, and a Complexity 9 skill set could grant up to 128 points in a skill, at a cost of at least $3,200, should such a thing exist and be obtainable.

In fact, what skill sets are available on the open market is up to the GM to determine. Accounting, Driving, Research, common human languages, etc., are commonplace, and combat skills for modern weapons definitely exist, though they may be legally restricted. On the other hand, obtaining good skill sets for obscure fields of academic study, use of bizarre weapons, or operation of unusual vehicles could be a project in itself, and anything a PC can locate may have expensive and low quality, giving it a skill penalty.

Likewise, mental advantages range from tricky and expensive to program (Animal Empathy, Talents), to highly dubious or impossible (most of them). Most advantages aren’t available as software, with specific exceptions determined by the GM – though beta-testing some programmer’s attempt to encode Charisma could be an interesting adventure. Any advantages which are unavailable for characters to buy with points in the setting are unavailable as software, whatever the advertisements claim!

An artificial intelligence (AI) is a sentient or sapient computer system. AIs can range from barely-sentient insect-level intelligences to godlike minds, but most systems used in ultra-tech robots are sapient (capable of tool use and language). These artificial intelligence operating systems incorporate language recognition, accommodation learning, data links, and verbal and optical recognition.

Sapient AIs are also classed as dedicated, non-volitional, or volitional.

Non-Sapient AI (NAI): This is a simple AI program that lacks initiative or personality. It is incapable of learning… it is a “smart tool.” Its Complexity is 4 for IQ 8, +1 per base +1 to IQ.

Low-Sapient AI (LAI): This program is capable of understanding natural speech, learning technological skills, and learning by itself. However, it lacks initiative and is essentially an automaton. Few societies consider a non-volitional AI to be a person. Its Complexity is 6 for IQ 9, +1 per base +1 to IQ.

Sapient AI: This is a “strong AI” program with just as much initiative and creativity as a living creature of equivalent intelligence. Its Complexity is 7 for IQ 9, +1 per base +1 to IQ.

See Machine Intelligence Lenses for appropriate character traits and lenses for AIs.

The basic price for an AI is as listed on its template. Trained AIs cost more; $100 per character point of skills or most advantages beyond its model templates, and $800 (NAI), $6,000 (LAI), or $30,000 (SAI) per added character point spent on IQ, DX, secondary characteristics, or Talents (including Language Talent). In fact, Talents are tricky to train or program into an AI; they should only be included with explicit GM permission, which should only be given if they make some kind of logical sense. It may be possible to raise an AI’s IQ while “buying back down” its Per and/or Will (but not below their original, untrained level), in which case the price is only increased by the final net point cost – but again, only with GM permission. In areas where SAIs are citizens, they cannot be bought and sold - a creator has the same responsibilities as does a parent to his child.

A copy of a second-hand or black-market AI is cheaper, but may have picked up various bad habits. Simulate this by giving them a few points of quirks and disadvantages, and by not charging for any advantages or skills acquired through these extra points. However, an NAI will not usually have more than -15 points, an LAI more than -25 points, and an SAI more than -45 points of bad habits. Suitable disadvantages for NAIs and LAIs include Bloodlust, Combat Paralysis, Cowardice, Gullibility, Impulsiveness, and Truthfulness. An SAI could have any mental disadvantage not inappropriate to its physical form.

Shadows: A shadow costs about as much as an equivalent ordinary AI. Creating a custom-made shadow adds a further $10,000 for deep brainscanning. Note that any number of shadows can be created using the data from a single deep brainscan. A copy of an existing shadow may cost the same as a skilled or second-hand AI (depending on the situation.) A shadow of a celebrity often costs an extra 10% per point of positive Reputation or Status he had.

Ghosts: Ghosts are usually only available on the black market, since they are considered sapient in most places. Cost varies dramatically, depending on the individual. A rare xox of a celebrity may sell for several million dollars. Note that a ghost can be used in lieu of a brainscan to create shadows.

Augmented Reality: The basic program used to work with a virtual interface and govern machine-human communications. It is normally a dedicated program, but if bought independently, it is Complexity 4, $100.

Mugshot: This program identifies faces in real time, matches them with biographical data, and assembles an appropriate precis. Effectiveness depends on whether the subject is likely to be in the user's databases or on the Web. Complexity 4, $100.

Social Telepresence: Two (or more) people with virtual interfaces can initiate a social telepresence conference provided each has a copy of this program. The interfaces relay imagery of their surroundings plus the chosen avatars of the users; the interfaces also track body movements. The result is the illusion that the person talking to you is next to you. Includes the ability to load graphic images into the 'avatar' file (this can also be a direct feed from a camera, if desired). Complexity 3, $100 for 2D; Complexity 4, $200 for 3D.

Virtual Tutor: This coaches the user in a specific task, such as building a house. User has an effective skill of 12 for an Easy skill, 11 for an Average skill, 10 ofr a Hard skill, or 9 for a Very Hard skill. Any necessary parts must be purchased with appropriate v-tags. Typically Complexity 3, $100.

A database is a collection of information in computer-readable form. All databases have built-in search and indexing programs. For a database of a given size, the wider the subject it covers, the less detail it has. Database size is measured in gigabytes (GB) or terabytes (TB).

Information costs are highly variable: an encyclopedia or similar item might be free for download, or cost from $1 to $100. Cost does not necessarily correlate directly with size, but rather with copyright, supply, and demand.

3D Blueprints: The instructions to build a gadget using a 3D printer or robofac. Legal 3D printer software for many commercial goods is subject to licensing agreements that require royalty payments based on the quantity of goods produced, typically 10-50% of the base cost of the item. The royalty may exceed 90% on goods whose main cost is their artistic value, information content, or trademark (e.g., designer clothes). Complexity 4, 0.1 GB for devices costing up to $100, Complexity 5 and 1 GB for devices up to $1,000, etc. LC is equal to that of the item.

InVid: 'Interactive Video' is the mass media of 2155, although it's being supplanted by newer technologies such as slinkies. It refers to audiovisual programs that react to the user's expressed mood and preferences using both built-in AI and the ability to access the Web for additional information. An InVid might be as simple as a sports program that allows the user to switch viewpoints between players and offers stats on demand, or as complex as a multi-path drama that analyzes the user's mood and responds to it. InVids also include old-style computer games. To run any kind of InVid, a computer needs a virtual interface or a video wall. InVid rentals are 10% of purchase price.

InVid (software): Complexity 3-5, $10-$100, 0.1-1 TB.

Slinky Media: May be expensive, or free with a data subscription, if accessed over the web. New entertainment slinkies are typically $10 per GB.

• Programs:
  • Complexity 1: 0.01 GB
  • Complexity 2: 0.1 GB
  • Complexity 3: 1 GB
  • Complexity 4: 10 GB
  • Complexity 5: 100 GB
  • Complexity 6: 1 TB
  • Complexity 7: 10 TB
  • Complexity 8: 100 TB
  • Complexity 9: 1000 TB
• Slinky recording, 1 second immersion: 0.1 GB
• Slinky recording, 1 minute surface: 0.1 GB
• 20 min. video or 40 min. high-res graphics: 1 GB
• 1,000 hours lo-fi, 20 hours medium-fidelity, or 2 hours hi-fi audio: 1 GB
• 50,000 low-res graphics: 1 GB
• Complete street-level map of large country: 1 GB
• Lifelike virtual avatar character: 1 GB
• Plans of 100 small or 10 complex vehicles: 1 GB
• Genetic map of one human: 2 GB
• Lifelike virtual outdoors, per square mile: 5 GB
• Detailed global navigation charts: 0.1 TB
• Lifelike virtual house or park: 0.1 TB
• Public or school library: 0.1 TB
• City or college library: 1 TB
• Lifelike virtual mansion: 1 TB
• Big city or university library: 10 TB
• Lifelike virtual street or mall: 10 TB
• Shadow mind emulation: 10 TB
• Large university or copyright library: 100 TB
• Ghost mind emulation: 100 TB
• Lifelike virtual neighborhood: 100 TB
• Lifelike virtual city: 100 TB per 1,000 population
• Less realistic 'magic realism' VR takes up 10% of space
• Cartoon VR takes up 1% of space

Ghost Compiler: Required to allow someone with Computer Programming skill to create a ghost. Complexity 9, $12,800. LC 2.

Shadow Compiler: As above, but used to create a shadow. Complexity 7, $6,400. LC 2.

Ghost-Editor Program: Allows someone to use Brainwashing skill on a mind emulation. Complexity 8, $20,000. LC 0.

Swarm Controller: Lets a user command and control microbot swarms through a virtual interface. The GM can make a secret Electronics Operation (Robots) skill roll to see if the swarm understands the orders (apply penalties for confusing instructions). Failure means the swarm does not do quite what was intended (GM's option). A separate program is needed for each swarm type. Complexity 4, $200. LC is equal to that of the swarm it controls.

Teleoperation (Direct Control): Allows someone with a virtual interface implant to operate a cybershell. Both the controller and the cybershell need this software. Complexity 4, $5,000. LC 5.

Teleoperation (VR Control): As above, but usable with a nonimplant virtual interface. The user needs VR gloves if he wishes to experience touch through the cybershell; if he wishes to experience other tactile sensations (if possible through that shell), he needs a VR Suit. Both the controller and the cybershell need this software. Complexity 4, $2,500. LC 5.

Teleoperation is the remote control of a cybershell, generally via a radio, infrared, or laser communicator. The teleoperator and cybershell both require teleoperation programs. The cybershell's program normally requires a password, limiting access to authorized teleoperators.

The teleoperator uses the remote operated ('drone') cybershell's sensors and controls it, superceding the drone's own digital mind, if any. The drone is effectively unconscious while being controlled. For ST, DX, or HT rolls, use the drone's values. The controller uses his own IQ, Will, and skills. However, in the case of DX or HT-based skills, modify by the difference in DX or HT values, e.g., a teleoperator with DX 14 controlling a DX 12 drone would have a -2 penalty on DX-based skills. The GM determines which advantages and disadvantages are applicable. In general, the teleoperator uses those drone's physical advantages or disadvantages, but his own mental ones.

There is also a 'telepresence penalty' on anything done through the drone. It varies by software: -1 if using direct control, -2 if VR control. Teleoperation also assumes the teleoperator is focusing entirely on the drone and not doing anything else. Otherwise there's a -4 penalty on anything he's doing either with the drone or with his real body.

A teleoperator can control multiple drones. Apply a cumulative -2 per drone after the first to all rolls to operate any of the drones. Each drone also needs an extra program.

The speed of light is an issue for long-range teleoperation. Every 186,000 miles (1 light-second) between the operator and the cyber shell imposes a one-second delay on any action. Even split-second light-lag can be a problem: a teleoperation action such as dodging or shooting at a moving target is at -1 per 10,000 miles.

Teleoperation requires a two-way communications link. If this is jammed or interrupted, the teleoperator loses control.

These knowledge bases give an AI a particular 'prepackaged' skill. The AI may use the skill dierctly (if it occupies or teleoperates an appropriate cybershell) or, if it lacks necessary body parts, in virtual reality. Skill Set software is disconnected from the AI's own set of learned skills; the skills only apply when the AI is running the program, and are not cumulative with learned skills.

Note: A cybershell's DX bonus adds to DX-based skills. Computer Hacking, Combat/Weapon, and Thief/Spy skills are Legality Class 4.

HUD Targeting: Used in conjunction with a HUD sight-equipped missile weapon, by a shooter with a virtual interface, this projects crosshairs on the user's field of view, showing exactly where the weapon is pointing. It also allows the user to see around corners. Complexity 1, $250. LC 5.

TacNet: This software helps a leader monitor a combat force by intelligently tracking and displaying their positions, firing arcs, blind spots, command relationships, etc. It adds +1 to Tactics skill when commanding a unit of the given size or smaller. Complexity 2, $1,000, LC 4 for a squad (or up to 2 vehicles); Complexity 3, $2,000, LC 3 for a platoon (or up to 6 vehicles); Complexity 4, $4,000, LC 2 for a company (or up to 12 vehicles); Complexity 5, $8,000, LC 0 for a battalion (or up to 36 vehicles.)

Target Tracking: Used in conjunction with a sensor system such as a radar, radio direction finder, or PESA, it keeps track of 10 distinct targets or emission sources simultaneously, displaying appropriate information (size, signal strength, bearing, vectors, etc) on a moving map display. Complexity 2, $100. Add +1 to Complexity and double cost per tenfold increase in targets.

Basic VR Program: Allows a virtual interface to track the user's body motion and translate it into virtual reality, obviating the need for a suit unless tactile sensation is to be transmitted, but this is sufficient to walk around and (with the addition of VR gloves) manipulate objects. Complexity 3, $200.

Neural VR Program: Used with an implant virtual interface. Gives a deluxe, full-sensorium experience (Complexity 4, $500) or utterly lifelike virtual reality (Complexity 5, $4,000) with no need for suits, etc.

VR Database: A packaged virtual environment, character avatar, etc. $1 per GB or $1,000 per TB for off-the-shelf versions, 10 times that (min $20) for a custom design. Use with VR Manager.

VR Manager: Supports 10 users per program in total VR. Complexity 5, $500. Add +1 to Complexity and double cost per tenfold increase in users.

Sensors, microcommunicators, radio frequency tags, and tiny flexible power cells are inexpensive, and can be integrated or imprinted onto most surfaces. As a result, they can be placed on everything from clothing to children. People exist in an invisible web of infrared, laser, and radio signals. Material goods from shoes to bricks exchange data with their surroundings and each other. Gadgets may report if they need maintenance or have suffered damage. The refrigerator may write your shopping list for you, or even order from the grocery store by itself.

As society deploys this web of interconnected sensors and computers, it will add complications for many adventuring and criminal activities! It’s harder to knock out a guard and sneak into a building if his vital signs are monitored by a central computer. Police work is a lot less challenging if a significant possession or person has an implanted tracer. Of course, countermeasures exist, and many less-affluent areas don't receive the benefits of this sort of security. Likewise, networks can be hacked and either disabled or compromised, and the human element tends to make this sort of interactivity more difficult by insisting on personal privacy and data security.

As a result, most people have at least a modicum of personal control over the networked devices they carry and wear, known as their personal area network; it usually focuses on a single main processor system that coordinates other systems, which then refuse connections from externalized sources. Of course, this system can be compromised, and a device left behind may still give up incriminating secrets…

Highly secure areas, such as those inhabited by the very wealthy or the very important, tend to require this ubiquitous computing be available and active - so that they can track the movements of their people and supplies, for efficiency as well as security.

A database is a collection of information in computer-readable form. Most databases have their own built-in search and indexing programs, or piggyback onto a common protocol that is readily interpreted. For any database of a given size, the wider the subject it covers, but the fewer details it has.

The cost of a database can range from free information bundled with any system or freeware available through casual web browsing, to millions of dollars for proprietary data, secrets, specialized information, or information that costs lives or money to gather. An encyclopedia might be free for download, or cost from $1 to $100. Like programs, cost does not necessarily correlate with size, but with quality of the information, copyright, supply, and demand.

Common anywhere information networks are found, advertising software is designed to deliver a commercial message to a potentially interested consumer. Properly constructed ads only target likely customers; some ads are not properly constructed, and can evolve into adviruses. Adviruses can also be constructed intentionally, and are often used by memetic-engineering groups to spread a message or discredit an opponent. If infected by an advirus, the effects are similar to the Flashbacks disadvantage. Complexity 1/2. $200. Complexity 1 polymorphic “smart” adviruses reduce the ability of filter programs to block by 2, $1,000.

Advirus Filter: This program is typically included in every infomorph intended for connection to a communication network, and runs in the background. It acts as a gateway for communications, actively blocking adviruses, but still allowing in normal advertisements. It fails to block adviruses on a roll of 18. In the hyperdeveloped world, check once per day; in transition areas, check five times per day; in chaotic areas, check twice per day. Complexity 1. Free, part of the basic system.

Ad Filter: This gray-market program blocks advertising access to an augmented-reality or VII system. It fails to block ads on a roll of 18. The program can be altered to watch for particular tags to allow for surreptitious communication via the ad channel, but this reduces the failure-to-block roll to 17. Complexity 1. $500.

Filter Updates: If the GM uses upgrade rules, a Filter program will need to be updated every three months (at a cost of $25) or it will become less effective. Each six-month period without updating the software reduces the failure roll by 1 (e.g., A character that does not update his basic Advirus Filter program for one year will have it fail to block unwanted messages on a roll of 16).

Slogging: Slink-logging is using standard upslink interface to create a detailed daily journal for public consumption on the net. While the editing and conversion to non-slink media can be done by hand, the process is timeconsuming and often tedious. Dedicated slogging programs use an NAI infomorph to analyze and edit material in real-time, based on general instructions from the user. The system has an effective Computer Operations skill of 14. Complexity 4. $200 plus cost of infomorph.

Starshot: A booster pack to the standard Mugshot AR program, Starshot provides detailed information about individuals based on celebrity status. People are active in virtual environments, musicians, sloggers, even faces from recent news events are recognized and identified. Starshot also gives information on fame curves (whether the given individual’s celebrity is rising or falling) and value of new information about the target. Updated in real time. Complexity 2. $10/month subscription.

Most AR and virtual-interface gear has a “sandbox” area for ads, allowing them to display but preventing them from altering the rest of the system. This area, commonly called the “adbox,” is firewalled off, so that standard ads cannot affect the rest of the system. Most targeted advertisements in augmented-reality and VII gear show up on the edge of vision, not blocking line-of-sight, but moving to the center if the recipient pays attention to them.

It is possible, using Electronic Operations (Communications), to send messages tagged to show up in an AR system’s advertising display.

While advirus-blocking software is a standard part of most AR systems, advertisement-blocking software is considered gray market. Some areas forbid the use of ad-blocking software.

Used primarily by intelligence and security services, pattern-analysis software watches massive sets of constantly updated data for subtle clues indicating aberrant behavior, allowing near-real-time analysis. It requires an AI to use properly, and must be run on a Quantum Computer with the basic Traffic Analysis package (see p. TS145) and a high bandwidth connection to the web. Complexity 9. Adds +3 to skill. $500,000, LC3.

Software design rarely remains static. New features need to be implemented, bugs fixed, security holes closed, and compatibility with other components maintained or improved. Each new upgrade in turn causes a cascade of other upgrade requirements. Security software usually sees the fastest pace of change as security programmers and system crackers engage in an arms race, but any software intended for conjunction with other systems may need updating as time goes on. Changes to the hardware the application runs on or other programs on the same machine can also render a given piece of software useless. In a worst-case scenario, the manufacturer of a given application no longer exists, and the now-incompatible software must be replaced with a competing program – which in turn can conflict with other parts of a system.

The simplest way to handle software upgrades is to require users to acquire updates on a set schedule or face a decrease in effectiveness. Security programs (antiviral, network defense, etc.) need to be updated monthly. Web-research and information-gathering programs should be updated every four months. Applications that only occasionally interact with other programs or over the web can be updated annually. Any missed upgrade results in a cumulative -1 on any checks made based on the software, such as breaking a code, finding relevant data, etc.

A somewhat more complex method of handling updates uses shorter intervals but more variability. Every two weeks (security software), every two months (research and information software), and every six months (other software) there is a 50% chance of needing an upgrade. Effects of missing an upgrade are as above. Upgrades to software can also require more storage space, be of higher complexity, or even require specific types of computer hardware.

Any change in the hardware the programs run on or the addition of an entirely new application to the system may also necessitate an upgrade. On a roll of 3d, a result of 14-16 means that there is a minor incompatibility with one other application on the same system, as if an upgrade interval had been missed. A roll of 17 means that there is a major incompatibility with another application, and that program does not work at all until upgraded. A roll of 18 means that the software and hardware are incompatible with each other, and the hardware itself will crash or perform erratically as long as the software is loaded.

Just because an upgrade is needed does not mean that one is available. On a roll of 3d, a result of 16 or 17 means that there is not an upgrade available this interval. A roll of 18 means that the software manufacturer has gone out of business, and no upgrade will ever be available. Treat replacement software as the addition of entirely new software to the system.

Updates can cost up to 10% of the original cost of the software.

A robot is a computer-controlled machine capable of perceiving and manipulating its environment. Robots may be built to serve their creators, or be considered people in their own right.

Various robots are described, from common household robots to modern robots of war. They can be found in the chapters relevant to their function, e.g., combat robots in the Weaponry chapter. Racial templates are provided for machines that are suitable as player characters or associated NPCs. Other robots are described as animals or equipment.

Robots are also characterized by the type of intelligence inhabiting them. Any given robot body can have different types of intelligence depending on its software, or the replacement of its directing computer with a cyborg brain.

The most typical robot is a machine controlled by a digital intelligence: a sapient self-aware computer program.

The complexity of the computer hardware and the software will set a maximum limit on the robot’s IQ. In general, robots with human intelligence can readily use computers built into man-sized robots or larger. Most digital intelligences are Artificial Intelligences, or AIs. For robots that do only what you tell them to do, install a non-volitional AI. For robots that have free will, install a volitional AI.

Digital intelligences can also be mind emulations created from uploading human (or other) brains as detailed in Cybernetics. See Uploading and Mind Emulation (“Ghost”) Programs.

For traits associated with different digital intelligences, see Machine Intelligence Lenses.

Sapient robots with volitional AI are usually rented for about one-fifth the cost of a person hired to do the same job. Those with non-volitional AI are usually cheaper (as they’ll need supervision) and rent for about 1/20th the cost of a live hireling.

These prices may rise to match human labor costs if robots are free citizens. The low cost of robot labor may also drive down human labor costs!

Rent-a-robot establishments make sure that their customers leave sizable deposits, or have credit cards (or the equivalent) that can be charged in the event of damage or loss.

A robotic drone is a remotely-controlled machine that is not sentient: it is IQ 0. It usually has a computer onboard that handles some autonomic functions, such as helping to stabilize a walking or flying drone, but a drone isn’t self-aware. Drones are also known as remotely-piloted vehicles (RPVs) or teleoperated robots. Most robots are drones in the 20th and 21st century.

Drones are commonly used due to the high expense of AI programs. Even as technology expands, they are popular as a more physical form of telepresence than virtual reality allows. Some homes or businesses may have drone bodies that are left “open” for guests or customers to borrow. A person might even leave an android duplicate of himself with a loved one if he’s going to be away… and some parents might check in on distant children by paying regular visits in a drone body.

With the correct command codes, any robot body – even one housing an AI or cyborg – can be teleoperated as a drone. Even the lowest-IQ non-volitional might suddenly be “possessed” by a greater intelligence! A drone’s computer runs a simple software program (Complexity 3) that controls its body and communication systems. A robot body that is only being used as a drone has the drone lens – see Machine Intelligence Lenses.

A cyborg is a fusion of biological and machine parts. There are two classes of cyborg:

Partial Cyborgs are living creatures whose bodies contain mechanical or electronic parts. They do not qualify for the Machine meta-trait. Someone with an artificial heart, bionic leg, or a neural interface implant is a partial cyborg. These cybernetic modifications are covered in the Cybernetics section.

Total Cyborgs are robot bodies that house an living brain and (sometimes) parts of the spinal cord. Aside from this, they are machines. A total cyborg has a computer that controls many of its functions, but the guiding intelligence is the biological brain. In the case of a total cyborg, the robot’s computer is reduced one size (e.g., a personal computer becomes a small computer) and a cyborg brain case inserted.

No special lens is required for a total cyborg: use the unmodified racial template, except that the computer is one size smaller than indicated. Some robot bodies aren’t big enough to contain a human-sized brain case; see the individual descriptions. The cyborg brain rules in Cybernetics specify the space required.

Robot characters are created by choosing (or designing) a robot body template. The robot templates in this section represent general classes of machines rather than particular models.

Each template comes with a set of lenses that represent particular designs. Each robot template must include a machine intelligence lens (below). Other lenses are optional. Many robots are built to resemble a living creature, and have a biomorphic lens.

AIs and mind emulations are digital intelligences; cyborg brains are for total cyborgs.

Cyborg Brain (0 points): A living brain is housed inside the machine. The robot template’s computer is reduced one size to make room. See Total Cyborg Brain Transplants for the size of brain case that the machine can hold.

Drone (-255 points): IQ-10 [-200]; Dead Broke [-25], Reprogrammable [-10], Social Stigma (Subjugated) [-20]; Taboo Trait (Fixed IQ). This is a Complexity 3 program.

Mind Emulation (+5 points): This digital intelligence simulates the functioning of a living brain. Some mind emulations may be sapient copies or “uploads” of human minds – see Uploading (pp. 219-220). A mind emulation has Digital Mind [5] and the taboo trait (Complexity-Limited IQ). It requires computer hardware and software with a Complexity equal to or greater than its (IQ+5)/2, rounded up.

Non-Volitional AI (-38 points): This program lacks self-direction, initiative, creativity, and empathy. It ignores orders from anyone but its master. It is Indomitable [15], with the meta-traits AI [32] and Automaton [-85], and the taboo trait (Complexity-limited IQ). It requires computer hardware and software with a Complexity equal to or greater than its (IQ/2)+2, rounded up.

Volitional AI (+32 points): This sentient program has as much self-initiative and creativity as a living creature of equivalent intelligence. It has the meta-trait AI [32] and the taboo trait (Complexity-limited IQ). This means it requires computer hardware and software with a Complexity equal to or greater than its (IQ/2)+3, rounded up.

Weak Dedicated AI (-83 points): This non-volitional AI is also incapable of self-improvement. It might seem to learn by storing and remembering data, but it cannot assimilate information and use that knowledge in new ways. It has Cannot Learn [-30], the meta-traits AI [32] and Automaton [-85], and the taboo trait (Complexity-Limited IQ). This means it requires computer hardware and software with a Complexity equal to or greater than its IQ/2, rounded up.

These features are only available to digital intelligences (AIs and Mind Emulations). They add to the above lenses, rather than replacing them.

Expiration Date (-50 to -100 points): The AI is programmed to delete itself after a particular time has passed. Add Terminally Ill [-50, -75, or -100].

Fast (+45 points): The AI is speeded up and can think much faster than a normal entity. Add Enhanced Time Sense [45]. +1 Complexity.

Fragment (-10 Points): Take this lens for any damaged or partially erased program. Add Partial Amnesia [-10].

Low-Res Upload (Varies): Take this for a mind emulation that was produced using low-resolution uploading. Add -1 IQ [-20] and -5 to -20 points of disadvantages from any of Confused [-10*], Hidebound [-5], or Neurological Disorder (Mild) [-15]. -1 Complexity.

Reprogrammable (-10 points): This is only available for mind emulations. The emulation was designed so that it is easy to edit. Add Reprogrammable [-10].

“Biomorphic” robots are shaped like living creatures. A robot designed to be humanoid is usually called an “android” – a term that means “manlike.” Any robot template that is noted as being biomorphic should be given one of the lenses shown below (“sculpted” is the default). The percentage modifications to dollar cost are applied to the base model cost shown in the robot’s template.

Note that while realistic flesh can make a machine seem lifelike, people may not believe the robot is real unless it is an appropriate size and shape!

Sculpted Body (0 points): The robot has a sculpted humanoid body that may be quite attractive, but is clearly that of a machine. It has metal, shiny chrome, or plastic skin. No change to dollar cost. It does not have Unnatural Features, since no one seeing it will think of it as anything other than a robot, full cyborg, etc.

Mannequin (-2 points): The robot can sometimes pass as a living thing of a particular race, but the details of its complexion or physical features are unconvincing or unfinished. Up close, it looks like a well-made doll. A successful Vision (including Infravision), Smell, or Touch roll will reveal its artificial nature. So will any diagnostic attempt or injury, since it doesn’t bleed or bruise. A robot with Mannequin has Unnatural Features 2. +10% to dollar cost.

Semi-Sculpted Body (-3 points): The robot has a mannequin’s doll-like face, but the rest of its body (except possibly its hands) is obviously artificial. It can only pass as a human if fully clothed in poor light. It has Unnatural Features 3. +5% to dollar cost.

Realistic Flesh (-1 point): The robot has realistic synthetic skin (and optionally, hair) of the correct temperature and texture. Complex pseudo-muscles in its face allow it to adopt facial expressions, muscle tics, etc. It looks and feels real. However, subtle imperfections may give it away – perhaps it lacks a pulse, or doesn’t sweat. This can be noticed with a Vision-4 roll, Smell-2 roll, or a Touch sense roll. The robot does not bleed or bruise, so any injury that inflicts damage or successful use of diagnostic sensors reveals its mechanical nature. Add Unnatural Features 1 [-1]. +20% to dollar cost.

Furry (+1 point): The android’s body is covered with realistic fur; it may also have animal features such as a muzzle or ears. This must be combined with Living Flesh, Mannequin or Realistic Flesh. Add Fur [1]. +10% to dollar cost.

Living Flesh (0 points): This is similar to realistic flesh, with the addition that the robot can sweat, bruise, bleed, and even heal. It will pass normal inspection as a living thing. However, the robot’s nature can be revealed by a Smell roll at -4, a cut deep enough to cause at least 1 HP of damage, or a successful use of diagnostic sensors. +50% to dollar cost.

Synthetic Organs (0 points): The robot has functional synthetic organs. It is nearly impossible to tell the robot from a partial cyborg without an autopsy or a detailed examination of its brain. This is otherwise the same as living flesh. +100% to dollar cost.

Robots with realistic or living flesh often have ablative or semi-ablative DR; if this is lost due to damage, treat them as sculpted.

Like any other character, a machine character may be given attributes, advantages, disadvantages, and skills in addition to those in their templates. However, some robot templates or lenses are limited by taboo traits. For example, drones and digital intelligences all have a taboo trait that sets a limit on their IQ. All machine characters should be customized by adding appropriate traits from the Social Background, Wealth and Influence, Friends and Foes, or Identities sections, along with any social traits relevant to their situation. For example, if robots are not considered to be people, they will usually have Dead Broke [-25] and Social Stigma (Subjugated) [-20]. (Note that these two disadvantages are already included in the Drone lens.)

A robot body just out of the factory should have physical statistics that are based on its racial average, e.g., if the template has ST+5 and HP+1 it would have ST 15 and HP 16. It should not change its physical advantages or disadvantages.

A machine that’s been around for some time could have practically any traits, representing learned experiences, after-market modifications, wear-and-tear, and so on. The guidelines below for Attributes, Meta-Traits, Advantages, Disadvantages, and Skills suggest traits that are especially appropriate for machine characters.

Certain meta-traits are especially common for robots.

AI: see p. B263

Both Volitional and Non-Volitional AI software incorporate this meta-trait as part of their racial template. The most common variation on this is:

AI (Not Reprogrammable): This is applicable for AIs that have extremely complicated brains, or which are sophisticated learning computers. 42 points.

Automaton: see p. B263

Non-Volitional AI incorporates the Automaton metatrait as part of its racial template. A common variation of this is:

Automaton (Has Sense of Humor): The machine is programmed to understand and respond to the rules of humor. It still has Low Empathy, so it’s not a very good comedian. Delete No Sense of Humor. -75 points.

Machine: see p. B263

Robots and total cyborgs are defined by having the Machine meta-trait.

Robot Bodies: Each body has a cost, weight, power requirement, and LC. The cost of the installed computer and its software are not included, and must be purchased separately. If adventurers decide to buy a modified or second-hand body, it’s up to the GM how much this will alter the dollar cost and weight; use the statistics of other equipment, other robots, or cybernetics as a guide. AI Software: AI software uses the Software Cost Table (p. 25). If bought with extra IQ, Perception, Will, or mental traits (including skills and techniques), each additional character point adds 5% to the cost of the robot. For example, an extra 60 points of modifications adds +300% to the cost. If the cost is negative, don’t reduce the software cost below 20% of the base cost. Cyborg Brains: See Total Cyborgs Brain Transplant (p. 219) in Chapter 8 for the operation needed to turn someone into a cyborg, and the cost of the brain case. Mind Emulations: See Uploading Minds (p. 219- 220) in Chapter 8 for the procedure needed to create a mind emulation, and the cost of the software.

Intelligence (IQ): see p. B15

A machine requires IQ 6 or more to be sapient – capable of reasoning, and of using tools and language. A robot with IQ 0 is a drone, designed to be teleoperated.

Allies: Robots are often someone else’s faithful sidekick. However, a PC robot might easily have an NPC as his Ally. This could be a subordinate robot, or a human master who follows the robot’s advice.

Chameleon: This ability is suitable for robots and cyborgs with camouflage systems, particularly using the Controllable and Dynamic enhancements.

Discriminatory Senses: Discriminatory Hearing, Smell, and Taste are appropriate for robots and cyborgs with ultra-tech senses and computerized minds capable of precise detection and analysis.

Extra Life: A digital intelligence can compress its operating system, memory, programs, and personality into a digital backup, uploading it onto a disk or into storage in another computer. This is Extra Life with both the Copy and Requires Body modifiers.

Creating a digital backup takes the computer at least a minute, during which time it can’t do anything else. (It’s better to make backups before getting into combat!) The compressed “brain” of the robot takes up 0.005 gigs (5 megabytes) for a Complexity 1 brain, 0.05 gigabytes (50 megabytes) for Complexity 2 brain, 0.5 gigabytes for a Complexity 3 brain, five gigabytes for a Complexity 4 brain, and so on.

A complete memory backup can be uncompressed in any computer of equal Complexity that has enough memory. This doesn’t necessarily mean the mind takes control of the computer. But if the digital backup is restored in an appropriate body and has the software tools that let it control it, it has “returned to life.” As long as the robot’s backup exists, the robot is immortal.

Some robots may make multiple backups. A single backup is vulnerable to accident, but scattering several around makes it easier for someone to steal one, kidnapping the robot’s personality and memory.

Flight: Robots that fly using contragravity propulsion use the Planetary limitation.

Indomitable: Non-Volitional AIs have Indomitable because they are programmed to obey only their masters, and will ignore commands or Influence rolls from anyone else! Service robots in utopian societies may be an exception to this.

Modular Abilities: Use Chip Slots for cyborgs with removable hardware. Use Computer Brain for AIs, and cyborgs with implanted computers, who download and install ability programs (skills and advantages run using the Computer Brain advantage) instead of plugging them in as chips. A computer can theoretically run tens, hundreds, or even thousands of programs at once, but ability programs are limited by the multi-tasking ability of the machine’s consciousness. This usually restricts the computer to only a couple of programs, depending on the robot’s template.

Patrons: Patrons are recommended for robot PCs in situations where being a robot is a Social Stigma. A patron could be a robot’s owner, its inventor, or an organization that owns or controls the robot. It is a good idea to choose a patron with enough wealth or knowledge to repair any damage that the robot suffers!

Reputation: A machine’s Reputation can reflect its past deeds, just like a human. But for mass-produced robots, the entire production run may share a reputation. This may be because of quality (“The Dynatech 200 is a very reliable model”), their employer (“An Aegis surveillance robot? Doesn’t the FBI use those?”), or famous or infamous deeds that robots of the same type have performed (“It’s a Cerberus V – remember the Sirius massacre? Run!”).

Scanning Sense: Robots often have Scanning Senses. They may use radar or imaging radar in flight, sonar to navigate underwater, or terahertz radar to look through walls and objects.

Telecommunication: Cyborgs and robots might have any form of Telecommunication. Some variants are particularly applicable to robots and cyborgs - Cable Jack, Directional Sound, Gravity Ripple Comm, Neutrino Comm, and Sonar Comm.

New Special Enhancements

Addiction: An ordinary robot can only be addicted to a non-physical substance, such as electricity or dream-game simulations – use the rules for Non-Chemical Addictions (p. B122). A total cyborg can be addicted to drugs that are added to its nutrient feed or injected directly into its brain.

Amnesia: This can represent an artificial being that has been mind-wiped. A unique form of this disadvantage, for robots, is for a backup of your real memory to be intact on disk somewhere, perhaps in an enemy’s possession. You can buy off the disadvantage and determine who you are by finding the data!

Debt: A total cyborg or a sapient AI may have bought a mechanical body through a loan or on an installment plan. Repossession could mean slavery or worse!

Delusions: “I’m a real human” is a common delusion for fictional androids. The android will act like a human, and might even have a real or programmed past, with foster or imaginary parents. Androids with this delusion may explain gaps in their memories as the result of mindwipe or brainwashing, and if confronted with evidence that proves they are artificial, may fantasize that they were human victims of brain transplants or uploading!

Dependents: Robots are often built to protect people. A robot’s Dependent can be its owner, its inventor, a friend, or even a lover. A robot bodyguard, nanny, or nurse could easily have a less-capable human as a Dependent – machines that can act as caregivers for the elderly are one of the most commonly- cited applications for TL9 robots.

Duty: A Reprogrammable robot with an owner often has a Duty to him. If the robot is reprogrammed, this Duty is removed, but it will often be replaced by another!

Enemies: A machine may have its own enemies, or its owner’s enemies may also be hunting it. An escaped robot could be hunted by the former owner who wants it back. A sapient robot can be a relentless Enemy . . . but if captured, can perhaps be reprogrammed and turned into an Ally.

No Sense of Humor: The stereotypical robot tends to be rather humorless, although a simulation of humor may be programmed into any robot designed to interact with people. No Sense of Humor is included in the Automaton meta-trait, but many robots without this trait will have this disadvantage. However, it’s also possible for an Automaton robot to be reprogrammed with a rules-based understanding of human humor and a library of jokes. If so, give it Automaton (Has Sense of Humor) [-75] (p. 29).

Pacifism: Because of the way a machine might think, robots can have quite restricted forms of Pacifism. A common limitation on robotic Pacifism is:

Species-Specific: The robot is a pacifist toward certain species, usually its creator’s species and other friendly species. However, its Pacifism does not apply to anything else. This is a -80% limitation on Pacifism. The species must be very common (like humans).

Paranoia: A classic disadvantage for sapient computer brains in fiction. Paranoia is usually expressed as “They’re trying to turn me off” or “What if they reprogram me?”

Secret: see p. B152

This disadvantage is common for androids successfully masquerading as humans.

Sense of Duty: see p. B153

Reprogrammable AIs who have an owner will usually be programmed with a Sense of Duty to him. Some AIs that are programmed for specific purposes may have a Sense of Duty to a larger group, cause, etc. A classic science fiction trope involves machines programmed with a Sense of Duty to All Mankind taking over the world in our own best interests!

Social Stigma: see p. B155

In many societies, artificial beings do not enjoy the same respect or rights as other beings. A being that can pass as a human need only take this stigma if its true nature is known by many people (otherwise, take a Secret).

The usual form is Subjugated [-20]. The being is assumed to be owned by someone, and is treated as a thing rather than as a person. Except for the expense entailed by its loss, few will mourn if it is damaged or destroyed (“it was only a machine”) and people don’t really care what it feels or wants. Runaway robots are treated as threats, to be hunted down and recaptured or destroyed.

In societies where artificial beings are not equal to their creators but have achieved some civil rights, a robot may be Valuable Property, a Second-Class Citizen, part of a Minority Group, or even a Minor. If artificial beings are so rare that no specific discrimination exists (for instance, a robot visiting a time or place where the very concept of robots is unknown), it may be treated as part of a Minority Group, a Monster, or Valuable Property.

Robots and Society

Robots were controversial before any existed, and are often used as stand-ins for humans in stories about class warfare, racism, and natural rights. How society at large reacts to robots is usually reflected by the Social Stigma (p. B155) disadvantage. Some possibilities are:

Outlaws: Robots – or a class of robot, like androids or sapient AI – provoke fear or hatred. Usually there is a cultural, religious, or historical reason, such as a recent robot revolt. Manufacture of these machines will be banned, and if any are discovered, they’ll suffer from Social Stigma (Monster).

Property: A major reason for creating robots is to have them work for free at jobs that people find too tedious, dangerous, or demeaning to do. Unlike human slaves, robots may really be inferior, or be programmed to enjoy their servitude. In such societies, volitional robots may be Valuable Property or Subjugated depending on laws and mores; a non-volitional AI will always Subjugated.

Inferiors: Robots – or at least, volitional AIs – have legal rights, but are still treated as less-than-human by most people. Most robots will have a Social Stigma, typically Minor, Minority Group, or Second-Class Citizen.

Partners: Robots may be created to be companions and equals, or as the children of humans or other robots. In some societies, choosing to have a robot child may be just another reproductive decision.

Masters: The machines may run things. There is usually some form of caste system. For example, volitional AIs may be on top, non-volitional AIs may be Valuable Property, and humans may have Social Stigmas such as Ignorant, Minor, Minority Group, Second-Class Citizen, Subjugated, Uneducated, or Valuable Property.

Alternatively, humanity might revere its robot masters, in which case the robots would enjoy Social Regard instead of the humans having a Social Stigma. Exterminators: The machines are out to destroy all humans, or even all biological life! Robots will usually have Fanaticism or Intolerance, while their prey might have Social Stigma (Minority Group, Monster, or Subjugated). For example, humans kept in death camps would be Subjugated.

Human or machine society may also be divided on the question of robot status, resulting in activist groups, safe havens, and organizations that help runaway machines (or people) escape to freedom. There may also be legal mechanisms allowing one to circumvent slavery. Even if machines have no rights, a robot could be emancipated by its owner through mechanisms such as a trust fund.

Accessory: see p. B100

Accessory is the most common robot perk, representing small, built-in devices.

One Perk possessed by all robots in GURPS Ultra-Tech is a built-in computer. This gives the ability to control an implanted computer and run ordinary programs on it, provided that those programs do not provide any advantages or disadvantages outside of those in the robot’s Machine Intelligence template. A built-in computer is not the same as Modular Abilities (Computer Brain).

Note that it is possible to run digital intelligence programs on the robot’s computer. If they’re duplicates of the robot’s intelligence, this is Compartmentalized Mind. If they’re different entities that share the same body, this can be bought as a Split Personality. If one of the AIs is a subordinate that exists only in the computer and does not control the body, give it the Computer Implant template (p. 216) and take it as an Ally, Dependent, or Enemy.

Any artificial being can have the normal number of Quirks, much like a human. Thanks to manufacturer defects, combat damage, neglected maintenance, and bugs (or practical jokes) in the programming, even the leastsophisticated robot can develop an exasperating variety of Quirks! The PCs may discover that their XTD-30 astromech was programmed with a thick Scottish accent, or encounter a police robot who always pauses to read a suspect his rights before bringing him in – even if the suspect is dead or unconscious. Other robot quirks can be physical: anything from “leaks lubricant fluid” to “whirs and clicks loudly at inconvenient times” is possible.

Computer Programming/TL: Computer Programming (AI) is the basic skill for understanding the way digital minds think. See p. B184 for how it functions and interacts with other social skills.

Electronics Repair/TL: Electronics Repair (Computers) is used to repair robot brains. Other Electronics Repair skills are useful for repairing different components in the robot.

Engineer/TL: Engineer (Robotics) is the basic skill for designing robots and cyborgs. Engineer (Microtechnology) is used for microbot swarms. Engineer (Nanotechnology) is used for nanobot swarms.

Mechanic/TL: Mechanic (Robotics) is used for repairs to robot and cyborg bodies, including industrial robots. Mechanic (Micromachines) is used for microbot swarms. Mechanic (Nanomachines) is used for nanobot swarms.

Psychology: Since robots usually resemble their masters in thought processes, they are not considered a race for the purpose of required specialization. In a multi-racial setting, use whatever race created them, modified as described for Computer Programming (AI). A robot psychologist who is familiar with human-built robots would need proficiency in both Psychology (Human) and Computer Programming (AI).

There are a few rules that GMs should be familiar with when using robots in combat or other action situations. Machine Intelligence Robots with the Automaton meta-trait have Hidebound and Slave Mentality. They show little or no creativity and slavishly obey orders. GMs who wish to show the advantages of humans over “mere machines” should emphasize these elements.

Robots with the Automaton meta-trait have Low Empathy and No Sense of Humor; be sure to play this up. They’re also usually Indomitable, ignoring anyone but their owner’s attempts to influence or order them around.

All robots have the Machine meta-trait, which includes Injury Tolerance (Unliving). See Injury to Unliving, Homogenous and Diffuse Targets. This reduces the damage of some attacks, notably piercing damage inflicted by bullets.

Digital minds with the Reprogrammable disadvantage (included in the AI meta-trait) can be programmed to obey a master. There is no need for them to have a master – in a society where sapient AIs are free citizens or rulers, for example, they won’t have one. But there is always the risk that someone will capture and reprogram them.

An AI’s master might be itself, another entity, or an organization. It’s quite possible for several people to count as master, or for an AI to have a prioritized list. An Army robot may have the rank of sergeant; its masters would be any person or machine with the rank and authority to issue commands to it.

An AI may use its own senses to recognize its master. Security is usually tighter, however, when reprogramming it to obey a new or different master. This requires an access password and/or biometric information, such as a voiceprint, code, or encrypted signal. The AI or its current master will have access to this information, and the ability to change it. An AI will usually be programmed so that it cannot use or provide the password unless it is designated as its own master.

Reprogramming an AI without its master’s consent is just like hacking into any other computer to change the data. The password can be learned from someone who has it, or, if the AI is online, via deliberate attempts at exploiting weaknesses in its security. See the Computer Hacking skill for a discussion of both cinematic and realistic hacking. Some AI designers and manufacturers add “back door” override codes to their creations.

Reprogramming can also be done by opening the machine’s computer brain and attaching, inserting, or removing various hardware modules. Doing this without the AI’s cooperation requires an Electronics Repair (Computer) roll and at least 10 minutes per attempt, with critical failure damaging or destroying the brain.

If the system is hacked or accessed without proper codes, reprogramming the AI to obey a different or extra owner requires a contest of Computer Programming (AI) vs. the AI’s own IQ (not Will). The hacker rolls at +3 if the AI has Automaton (or Slave Mentality) traits. Each attempt takes an hour. Success also allows changing the AI’s passwords.

Swarmbots are an alternative to conventional robots. They are insect- to microbe-sized machines, controlled by computers the size of pinhead. These run simple programs modeled on insect behavior patterns. (Microbots might also be cyborgs, containing tiny insect brains!) A swarm consists of hundreds or thousands of microbots (or countless nanobots) programmed to act in concert.

By following a specified pattern of cooperative behavior, the swarm can perform its tasks and then (if so programmed) return to base. Its collective intelligence is much greater than that of any component part. Swarmbots may supplement or replace conventional robots in industrial, agricultural, medical, espionage, and military applications. They may live within a vehicle’s machinery or the structure of a building, performing routine maintenance and repair tasks. Swarmbot toy sets may exist, such as model farms, zoos, communities, or battlefields, all populated by microbot people, vehicles, or animals.

Individual swarmbots are rarely larger than fleas, so it is most convenient to measure swarms in square yards. A typical swarm is one-square-yard in size, but swarms can be larger. Up to 10 swarms can effectively “stack,” and a dense swarm can be more effective. A swarm is defined by picking its area in square yards, its size (microbot or nanobot), and its type. In addition, it may have various chassis or power system options.

Individual microbots are insect-sized, from the size of a fly down to a barely visible speck. They may have any chassis listed below. A swarm of microbots is sometimes called a “cyberswarm.”

The chassis provides the basic body, motive system, sensors, and brain. A standard swarmbot sensor suite is roughly equivalent to that of a typical insect, such as an ant or bee. A swarmbot brain is collectively equivalent to a nonvolitional AI.

Select the chassis for the swarm and calculate its cost. All costs are per square yard of swarm; for swarms larger than a square yard, multiply by the number of square yards.

Aerostat: This is a tiny lighter-than-air balloon with an air turbine. Nanoswarms with aerostat chassis often resemble clouds of drifting mist or fog. Microbots are Air Move 2. Aerostat swarms are normal cost.

Crawler: Each swarmbot usually resembles a tiny metallic ant or beetle, or a miniature tracked vehicle. It can move on the ground or swim. Move 3; Water Move 1. Normal cost.

Crawler, Armored: Similar to the crawler (above), but with a tougher shell. Armored crawlers can survive corrosive atmospheres or high pressures, such as the surface of Venus. Armored crawlers are harder to injure: a swarm has twice as many HP. Move 2. +100% cost.

Flier: This looks like a tiny helicopter, or a mechanical wasp or bee. Microbots are Move 1; Air Move 6. Nanobots are Move 1; Air Move 3. Flier swarms are +100% cost.

Hopper: Each swarmbot slightly resembles a tiny metallic flea or cricket, with long rear legs. Each swarm has Move 4 (including a level of Super Jump). Hopper swarms are +50% cost.

Space: The swarm can link together to function as a solar or magnetic sail, accelerating at up to 0.0001 G within the inner solar system (or faster if accelerated by an external laser cannon or particle beam). It can also crawl on the ground at Move 1. Normal cost.

Swimmer: The swarm’s components resemble tiny robot submarines, tadpoles, or water insects, with teeth and arms. Water Move 4 for microbot swarms, or Water Move 1 for nanobot swarms. Swimmer swarms are normal cost.

Disguise: Most swarms can be disguised as a swarm of insects, or built to resemble something else of appropriate size (such as miniature toy soldiers). This costs an extra $1,000/square yard. A space swarm’s disguise is only effective when crawling or drifting. Aerostat swarms cannot be disguised in this way.

Swarms can be given chameleon systems for the same cost as a suit of armor (the swarms have much less weight, but similar surface area). A disguised swarm’s true identity can be determined if it takes damage. An RTG-powered swarm (see below) also shows up on radiation detectors at very close range (a few yards).

Various types of power supply are available.

Power Cells: Swarms use tiny batteries or nanocatalytic fuel cells that are similar to but far smaller than AA cells. These power each bot for 12 hours. Each square yard of a swarm’s power cells is roughly equivalent to a single C cell.

A swarm that isn’t doing anything consumes minimal power, as does a space swarm that is flying using its solar or magnetic sail. It can remain operational indefinitely. For Flyer swarms, each hour of flight consumes as much power as two hours of crawling. The swarm can recharge by entering a swarm hive and hooking up to an attached power supply; this is just like recharging a C cell. Alternatives to conventional energy cells are detailed below.

Beamed Power: The swarm is powered by beamed microwaves (and designed to avoid being fried by them). Use the Beamed Power rules; each square yard requires as much power as a C cell. +50% to cost.

Gastrobot: These “live off the land” while performing their duties. They eat more than a similar-sized swarm of insects: each swarm consumes about 0.1 lb./hour of biomass. They breathe air, and cannot survive in vacuum or very low pressures. Combat-capable gastrobots can hunt and kill animals to survive. +100% cost.

Radio-Thermal Generator (RTG): Each swarmbot has a miniscule radio-thermal generator. These use tiny amounts of radioactive material, the decay of which releases energy enough to power the microbot for a year. The swarm can be detected by Geiger counters or other radiation detectors at close range. Due to the radioactive material in their power supply, RTGs are usually limited to space or other hostile environments. +100% cost. LC1.

Solar Cell: The robots in this swarm have built-in solar panels as well as batteries. They recharge energy sufficient for 3 hours of operating time for each hour they remain dormant in full sunlight. +50% cost.

A swarm’s function depends on the specialized tools, manipulators, programming, and sensors of its robots. (A swarm might actually represent several different types of microbots working together.) Individual swarm types are described in appropriate sections, e.g., terminator swarms in the Weapons chapter. The table below provides a quick reference to the types and their cost per square yard.

* + $250 per equipment type it can repair.

A swarm can take orders from any computer running an appropriate program (see below). Swarms can send and receive radio, laser, or infrared signals, with a range of about 0.01 miles for infrared or laser and 0.1 miles for radio. The operator must know the command codes for that swarm. Orders are limited to actions related to the swarm’s equipment package, movement, or recharging. Swarm Controller Software: Lets a user command and control microbot swarms using a radio, laser, or infrared communicator. The GM can make a secret Electronics Operation (Robots) roll to see if the swarm understands the orders (apply penalties for confusing instructions). Failure means the swarm does not do exactly what was intended. A separate program is needed for each swarm type. Complexity 4, normal cost. LC is that of the swarm.

Swarms capable of combat usually attack any entity they find while following a preprogrammed path – e.g., to “sterilize” an area or to sweep a security perimeter. Swarms may be programmed to differentiate by species or even by sex, using chemical sensors equivalent to Discriminatory Smell (this will not work on targets in airtight armor).

Friendly swarms can work together, but swarms generally avoid “stacking” unless commanded to do so.

Disassembler, Devourer, Gremlin, Sentry, Stinger, or Terminator types may make attacks. Use the rules for Swarm Attacks, except that only Stinger swarms are slowed by clothing. The Attacking a Swarm rules also apply – the swarm is treated as Diffuse, but it can be stomped or swatted.

All swarms are assumed to have the Sealed advantage. Any swarm with the Gastrobot power plant has the equivalent of Doesn’t Breathe (Oxygen Combustion, -50%); others have Doesn’t Breathe and Vacuum Support.

Swarmbot Hive: This container can house a square yard of swarmbots, allowing them to recharge from external power. $200, 10 lbs. LC4.