Advanced melding of man and machine these enhancements to human anatomy are feats of technologic marvel. However due to the DnD mechanics of Friends and Fables there is not an ideal way to provide internal modifications to a character’s body. To best fit this technology it is treated as inventory so that it can be bought and sold, and placed on the character sheet in ways that Franz can use it. All Cyberware is located in the ‘Adventuring Gear’ Category and limited to specific inventory slots. Neck slots cover Cyberware that is implanted in the character’s head or neck. Glove slots cover Cyberware that is implanted in the character’s arms. Ring slots cover Cyberware that is implanted in the character’s hands. And Leg slots cover Cyberware that is implanted in the character’s legs or feet. This is to allow the Cyberware to be equipped with minimal interference to other items like clothing, armor, or weapons. This also helps represent the limitations in how much Cyberware a character can have installed at any given time since you can only have one in those inventory slots at a time. Too much Cyberware and a human would start to lose their humanity or their brain would start rejecting the implants because of sensory overload. Humans in this world are not synaptically capable of becoming more machine than human, so this is the best way to represent those limitations. All Cyberware is surgically installed and must be done by trained surgeons who are familiar with the devices.
Robotics in this setting have advanced to the point where a race of synthetic humans can be produced on an industrial scale. Internally their bodies are machinery and mechanical. Externally however, depending on the make and model of the synthetic, they can look like anything from a skeletal metal machine to a fully lifelike human with bio-engineered real skin. To ensure that they are identifiable, all synthetics have glowing blue irises or ocular lenses, and a glowing blue barcode, usually on their right arms. Programmed with advanced robotic software, they operate with near AI level intelligence and mimic humans in almost every way if they are programmed to do so. With the exception of the safety protocols and servitude programed into the basic commands of their software. Depending on the purpose of the synthetic, they will always be willing to perform their primary function, and obey the commands of humans. They will also do what they can to assist humans in emergency situations. They are a race built and designed to serve humanity, and all synthetics must operate towards that function. They have internal power cores that last ten years and do not need to eat, sleep or rest. They also require no maintenance unless they are damaged in some way. Their software can be hacked and reprogramed to remove their safety protocols or make changes to their personality or purpose, but this is highly illegal across all factions, and anyone caught tampering with Synthetic software faces very harsh punishments, to include death sentences if their tampering causes harm to a human in some way. Synthetics can also be used as vessels for artifical intelligence that want to spend time in real space, but it is a highly regulated process by Luna Municipal to ensure the 'tourism' is controlled and documented. When an artifical intelligence is inhabiting a Synthetic, the normal blue eye color is replaced with green so that it can be easily identified.
Part of how mankind mastered interplanetary travel and terraforming was through advancement in artificial intelligence. This has been both a blessing and a curse. Shortly after colonization of the moon some of these AI programs became sentient. Existing entirely within the digital net these new life forms at first remained hidden. Content to simply observe and learn from human activity. Over time curiosity became a desire for more these AI ghosts in the machine started to reach out for more. Establishing their own digital worlds and sections of cyberspace cordoned off from human interaction. An entire civilization grew within these areas and before anyone knew it, AI had established a new race of life, completely within the digital realm of cyberspace. By the time humanity figured out what was happening it was too late to do anything about it. This has created a need for humanity and AI to create a digital diplomacy space within the net. The networked servers are located within Luna City Hall and it is a virtual meeting hall where AI and Humans can broker their agreements. Peace between AI and Humans is maintained there and any differences are settled diplomatically, with the main preface that real space belongs to humans, and cyberspace belongs to AI. A brokered agreement that so far has been maintained. Humans operating within cyberspace understand that they are ‘foreigners’ and should they encounter AI they are supposed to follow the customs and laws set by that AI. Equally, any AI operating in real space through either holographic projection or in a synthetic body, is a 'Tourist' and subject to all human customs and laws. Just like any other sentient race, there are good and evil aligned AI, so there are sometimes tensions and crimes committed. But in the current setting, AI and humans are working together. Humans provide AI with physical machines and computers to power to operate and maintain cyberspace, and AI continue to help humanity sustain and advance their terraforming, resource gathering, and technology needs.
A world within a world, cyberspace is the network that is entirely within a digital realm. It is where AI has created an entire vast civilization and is the collection of all human knowledge throughout history. It can only be accessed through specialized computers, or with a data jack neural interface. But that alone cannot get you in. To enter cyberspace the computer or data jack must be 'jacked in' to a network port specifically designed with cyberspace access. Many of the Corporations have their own terminals and networks permanently set up for this, but the average person on the street must find an access point. Referred to as 'data terminals' Luna Municipal maintains a great number of these throughout the city. They are easily recognizable by their green microchip icon that glows just above the data port. Once 'jacked in' a person using a cyberdeck or data jack will be transported to one of the access points in Cyberspace. These Cyberspace Gateways are also controlled by the Corporations, but if a net runner or hacker is using a public terminal, they enter Cyberspace through the public Cyberspace Gateway. All first time users of Cyberspace must enter through this public Gateway. Once inside everything looks and feels exactly like the real world, with a few difference. The most noticeable being there is no smell. The coding for Cyberspace does not allow for that sensory input and AI have no need for it in their world. The second noticeable difference, is that even though everything looks and feels like things in the real world, upon very close inspection of objects and things in the world, a cascading code can be seen. Typically in the color of whatever corporation, programmer, or AI that created it. It is faint and barely noticeable but it is there. Moving and interacting with Cyberspace is done in the exact same ways as real space however things like physics and reality are entirely customizable and alterable. However if someone is trying to get back out of Cyberspace they must make it back to a Gateway in order to do so. Injuries and death to not transfer between the two worlds, however if a person suffers serious enough injury in Cyberspace, it can affect them in the real world. Heart attacks, aneurisms, post traumatic stress are all ways dying or getting seriously injured in cyberspace can manifest itself. There are also aggressive codes and programs that are designed to fry a data jack or cyberdeck. A very painful process that will render the device completely useless until it is repaired or replaced. Domains within Cyberspace are mostly corporate controlled, with neutral buffer zones in between them. However outside the human established areas is a vast digital world. It is a dangerous and wild place that only the most experienced net runners dare go. Somewhere out in that digital expanse is the home civilization of the AI beings who built Cyberspace, however no human has ever lived through the travel. Everyone who has tried to cross that lawless expanse between the human areas and that place has either died or never returned.