GURPS 4th edition. Transhuman Space: Teralogos News – 2101, Third Quarter

4 Pages·2010·0.413 MB·English

by  Phil Masters, Jon F. Zeigler

TM
2101, T Q
TM
HIRD UARTER
Written by PHIL MASTERS and JON F. ZEIGLER
Edited by PHIL MASTERS
Illustrated by MARCIO FIORITO
An e23 Sourcebook for GURPS®
STEVE JACKSON GAMES
®
Stock#37-6710 Version1.0–March2010
C
ONTENTS
2101, THIRD QUARTER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
ParahumanGeneticTemplatePublished..............3
Teralogos has obtained copies of
InterviewWithaThinker...........................3
ExiledKazakhLeaderDenouncesWorldCommunity...4 some of the documentation . . .
About GURPS
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I
NTRODUCTION
Back in 2002-2003, the background for Steve Jackson The incidents described in these reports can occur whenever
Games’TranshumanSpacehardSFsettingwasexpandedby suitsyourowncampaign.
aseriesofreportsfromthatsolarsystem’sleadingnewssource, –PhilMasters
Teralogos News (Fifth Wave, p. 64), distributed through an
e-mail mailing list. Since then, this rich collection of setting A E
BOUT THE DITOR
details,localcolor,andpotentialscenarioseedshasonlybeen
availableintheformofalittle-knownrawtextfile. Phil Masters is the author of Transhuman Space:
Sowe’vedecidedtodosomethingaboutthat.Thisisoneof Changing Times, Transhuman Space: Shell-Tech,
fourfreePDFfilesthatcollectthosereports. Transhuman Space: Personnel Files 1-5, and a chapter in
Thedatesoneachreportareabitofstylisticdetail,relatedto Transhuman Space: High Frontier. He has also worked on
thereal-worlddatesonwhichthepostswereoriginallydistrib- countless other GURPS products, including GURPS Castle
uted. Don’t take them too seriously as setting canon; after all, Falkenstein,TheDiscworldRoleplayingGame,andGURPS
Transhuman Space doesn’t have a fixed future or “metaplot.” Y2K,andonproductsforothercompanies.
GURPSSystemDesign(cid:2)STEVEJACKSON ManagingEditor(cid:2)PHILIPREED PrepressChecker(cid:2)WILLSCHOONOVER
GURPSLineEditor(cid:2)SEANPUNCH AssistantManagingEditor(cid:2)MONICASTEPHENS MarketingDirector(cid:2)PAULCHAPMAN
TranshumanSpaceLineEditor(cid:2)PHILMASTERS ArtDirector(cid:2)WILLSCHOONOVER DirectorofSales(cid:2)ROSSJEPSON
e23Manager(cid:2)STEVENMARSH ProductionArtist(cid:2)NIKOLAVRTIS GURPSFAQMaintainer(cid:2)–––––––
PageDesign(cid:2)PHILREEDandJUSTINDEWITT EditorialAssistance(cid:2)JASONLEVINE VICKY“MOLOKH”KOLENKO
I 2
NTRODUCTION
2101, T
HIRD
Q
UARTER
P G methattheywereallbyAugusteRodin−theKisstomyleft,
ARAHUMAN ENETIC
theBurghersofCalaistomyright.Itwasimpressive,ifyoulike
TEMPLATE PUBLISHED thatsortofthing.Me,I’mmoreofaNeo-Abstractionistfan.
Ienteredthehouse,andfoundanotherstatueinthemiddle
SINGAPORE/Teralogos:July1,2101 ofthecentralhall.Ididn’tneedadatabasetolabelthisseated
figure,chinonhand.
PTNusantaraBiotek,aprominentIndonesiangengineer-
Then the Thinker looked up, and that verdigris-green
ing firm, has angered E.U. biotech corporations by publish-
face smiled. “Mr. Velasquez,” he said, “what do you think of
ing the complete specification for its “Rama” parahuman
myhome?”
template.Thedocumentwasquicklysuppressedonthemain
“Veryhandsome,”Ianswered,“butwhyVictoriansculpture?”
Web, but the specifications are apparently being widely dis-
Heshruggedandstoodup.(Themusclesmovedsmoothly
tributedonTSAsites.
but naturally under his metal skin, without ever losing the
Aristos Designs of Athens, Greece has denounced the PT
sculptedeffect.Goodprogramming.)“Amatterofphysiology
Nusantara Biotek release. “The Rama template is directly
andpsychology,”hesaid.“Rodinunderstoodinstinctivelyhow
reverse-engineered from a number of genetic sequences for
theelementsofhumananatomyexpresswhat’sgoingoninthe
whichAristosDesignsholdsexclusivepatents,”saidcompany
mindinside.I’velearnedalotabouthumanityfromhim,and
spokesmanJohannCornet.“Theopenpublicationofthistem-
this is my tribute. It’s a copy of his house, actually. Please,
plateisabare-facedinvitationtogeneticpiracy.Wewantthe
though−comeandsitdown.”
European Union to act decisively with the WTO to tighten
Itturnedoutthatoneofthesideroomswassetupforvisi-
sanctions on Indonesia as a deterrent toward future scofflaw
tors, and Eilard sat with incongruous delicacy on one of the
behaviorfromthenanosocialistnations.”
slenderwoodenchairs,andlethisfaceslipbacktopensiveness
Teralogoshasobtainedcopiesofsomeofthedocumenta-
as I sipped virtual coffee (lethally strong and black). “So,” he
tion accompanying the Rama code. It claims that the Rama
saidafteramoment,“whydidyouwanttotalktome?”
designissignificantlystrongerandmoredexterousthanthe
“Itstruckmethatyoumighthaveaninterestingopinionon
human baseline, and includes genetic sequences for vastly
aquestionI’msupposedtobeanswering,”Ireplied.
improved night vision and hearing. Standard traits for
“Whichis?”
longevity and disease resistance have also been spliced into
“Doyousalvagespecialistshaveadistinctsub-culture.That
thetemplate.
is,isthereaVacuumCleanermeme?”
–filedbyJonF.Zeigler
For a moment, that bronze face remained a mask. Then,
Eilard threw back his head and roared with laughter. Just as
I W T
NTERVIEW ITH A HINKER quickly, he stopped. “Me?” he said, “Because I’m an AI, you
mean?”
LAMMERGEYERSTATION,LEO/Teralogos:July7,2101
“Partly”Isaid.“Andyou’rerelativelynewuphere.Youmay
ShortlyafterIarrivedonLammergeyerStationinLEO,the havemoreimpartialinsights.”
admin AI called with an invitation to visit Eilard Gamma at He smiled again. “You want to know why my fellow sal-
home. This was good; Eilard seemed to be one of the more vagers and debris blasters are so evasive on this subject?” he
interesting of the Vacuum Cleaners, and I wanted to talk to asked. I nodded. “It’s not that they’re worried about memetic
him.I’dheardhecouldberatherdifficult,buthisorbitalsal- warfare, or because they are becoming estranged from other
vageship,theTangente,wasindockforthenextfewdays,and subcultures, or because they have any sort of phobia. It’s
evidentlyhewasinterestedbythemessageI’dsenthim. becauseitwouldspoilthejoke,Mr.Velasquez.”
SoIfoundmyselfinfrontofanelegant,slightlyrun-down BeforeIcouldaskmore,hesuddenlylookedpastme,back
Parisian-stylevilla,standingingardensfullofdarkevergreen intothehall.“I’mafraidwe’llhavetocontinuethisconversa-
shrubsandbronzestatues.Myvirtualinterface’sdatabasetold tionlater,”hesaid.“Mycrewmateswishtotalkaboutwork.”
GURPS,Warehouse23,andtheall-seeingpyramidareregisteredtrademarksofSteveJacksonGamesIncorporated.TranshumanSpace,TeralogosNews,“2101,ThirdQuarter,”
Pyramid,e23,andthenamesofallproductspublishedbySteveJacksonGamesIncorporatedareregisteredtrademarksortrademarksofSteveJacksonGamesIncorporated,
orusedunderlicense.TranshumanSpace:TeralogosNews–2101,ThirdQuarteriscopyright©2010bySteveJacksonGamesIncorporated.
Someart©2010JupiterImagesCorporation.Allrightsreserved.
Thescanning,uploading,anddistributionofthismaterialviatheInternetorviaanyothermeanswithoutthepermissionofthepublisherisillegal,
andpunishablebylaw.Pleasepurchaseonlyauthorizedelectroniceditions,anddonotparticipateinorencourage
theelectronicpiracyofcopyrightedmaterials.Yoursupportoftheauthor’srightsisappreciated.
T N : 2101, T Q 3
ERALOGOS EWS HIRD UARTER
Followinghisgaze,Isawthattherewerenowthreeother worsethanslaves,foraslavehashopeofliberation.Wehave
people in the virtual house, their images flickering in that longsincegivenuphope.”
annoyinglow-resway... Ismailovrecitedalitanyofabusesattributedtothegovern-
>>This is a free sample of one of our popular multi-modal mentofSergeyZarubayev,thedictatorwhohasheldpowerin
magazine items. For the rest of this story, including InVid and Kazakhstan since 2024, and been nicknamed Stalinashka by
Slinkyuploadsofinterviewswhereavailable,pleasesubscribeto his opponents. “Even among the regime’s Russian-descended
TNN-People.Forafullbusiness/politicalanalysis,subscribeto elite,thereisnohopeofprivacy,one’severywordoractionis
TNN-MemeData.<< monitored,” said Ismailov. “Bioroid soldiers, ugly parodies of
–filedbyPhilMasters human life grown in vats, patrol the streets night and day.
Death comes to any who speak out against the regime, or at
E K L Stalinashka’swhim.Evenindeaththereisnoescape.Corpses
XILED AZAKH EADER
ofthevictims,robbedoftheirlivingbrainsandrunbypuppet
D W implants,returntousasStalinashka’shiddenpawns.”
ENOUNCES ORLD
The European Parliament is scheduled to open debate
COMMUNITY later this week on a resolution condemning “crimes against
humanity”inKazakhstan,andtopassanewpackageofeco-
STRASBOURG,France/Teralogos:July14,2101 nomic sanctions against Zarubayev government. Ismailov
dismissed these moves, claiming that they have had little or
Speaking before a rare plenary session of the European
noeffectontheregime,whichcontinuestotradewithneigh-
Parliament,KazakhresistanceleaderOlzhasIsmailovangrily
boringRussia.Instead,hecalledformilitaryactionto“liber-
accusedtheworldcommunityofdeliberateinactionintheface
ate”hishomecountry.
ofhuman-rightsviolationsinhishomeland.
–filedbyJonF.Zeigler
“Fordecades,theZarubayevregimehastreatedtheMuslim
populationofKazakhstanasslaves,”saidIsmailov.“Indeed,as
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T N : 2101, T Q 4
ERALOGOS EWS HIRD UARTER