Shells

Description

Shells are engineered helper constructs designed using a combination of cybernetics, biometallic components, and genetic material recovered from Hian archaeological sites. The Janus Corporation holds the copyrights, patents, and full intellectual property rights not only for the Shells themselves, but for the entire known Hian genome as well. This has become a point of contention between the Sovra's CEO, Vahnn, and Post-Empire Hian diasporic cultures looking to reverse their rapid genetic slide away from original Hian stock.

Shells come in a variety of shapes, colors, sizes, and functions. They're bipedal with long tails for balance, and have a generally humanoid body plan. Soft, filamentous down covers the posterior or dorsal half of their body to varying degrees. They have long claws on their digits, including a sickle-shaped dew claw on their feet. Although organic, their skin has a rubbery quality and is shot through with conductive biometal. Their faces are wedge-shaped and almost mammalian in appearance. Their dentition is similar to that of caniform zoanthropes, with sharp meat-tearing front teeth paired with flat molars capable of shredding plant material. Where their "eyes" should be is a scoop-shaped indentation into which a meshnet-enabled personality node can be socketed into. These nodes vary drastically in both appearance and content depending on the intended function of the shell, and tend to look like a helmet or visor when "plugged in." The shell body is entirely inert when the personality node is removed, going into a "standby mode" that can be sustained for one or two weeks before the fleshy body begins to degrade.

Many shell owners invest in some degree of customization. This can include but isn't limited to: designer uniforms, branded tattoos, specialty grooming, cropped ears and tail, filed claws and teeth, and extensive hardware modifications. Shells are also "fed" a nutrient slurry that's injected directly into their stomach using pre-filled cylinders, and there is a not insignificant meshnet culture that has risen up around "optimizing" this process with the most nutrient-dense, culinarily complete injections possible. Although the Janus Corporation doesn't encourage the practice, many owners create their own "shell batteries" in their personal kitchens using traded recipes.

Although the Hian genome was specifically chosen both for the prestige and majesty associated with it and its cultural distance to modern-day spacefarers, shells haven't been introduced to the world by JanusCorp without some degree of controversy. A contingent of anti-Sovra unincoporated bodies see them as a gross affront to the natural dignity of all sapient space-faring races, and tantamount to manufactured slavery. Others argue for their great utility in caring for and assisting older and disabled populations, making them important equity tools. Many who can afford them profess that they can't imagine how they'd go through life without them, comparing them to the invention of the personal manned vehicle. Smaller SCEs are beginning to consider shell proxy soldiers in place of traditional options in a bid to mitigate the price of maintaining a standing army. JanusCorp is currently prototyping a shell model specifically meant for this potential customer base.

Connections

• Shells utilize the Hian genome, with current models reflecting the genetic profiles of the diplomacy, technician, and worker castes.
• Shells are manufacurated by the Janus Corporation, a Sovra headed by the mysterious CEO Vahnn.
• Shells are capable of connecting to the meshnet, an intergalactic information network largely owned by JanusCorp.

Sources

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