Roleplaying Asyncs

As an async, you should keep the origin of your abilities in mind:

Watts-MacLeod strain infection. You may or may not be aware of this source, but you undoubtedly know that you underwent some sort of transformation and have talents that no one else does. If unaware of the infection, you have likely learned to keep your abilities secret lest you be ridiculed, attacked, or whisked away to some secret testing program. Learning the truth about your nature could even be the starting point of a campaign and/or your introduction to Firewall. If you know the truth, however, you must live with the fact that you are the victim of a nanoplague likely spread by the TITANs that may or may not lead to complications, side effects, or other unexpected revelations in your future.

You should make an effort to explore the nature of your infection and how your character perceives it. Asyncs are profoundly changed people. The invasive and alien aspect of your abilities should not be lost on you. For example, you might conceive of your psi talents as a sort of parasitic entity, living off your sleights, or you might feel that using these powers puts you in touch with some sort of fundamental substrate of the universe that is weird and terrifying. Alternatively, you could feel as if your personality was melded with something different, something that doesn’t belong. Each async is likely to view their situation differently, and none of them pleasantly.

One key aspect to roleplaying an async is to treat the infection as a distinct, if mostly dormant or removed, entity. It is a constant presence below your async’s consciousness. It may have its own unique aspirations, but these should remain mysterious. While many of the behavioral compulsions and motivational urges imply a level of sociopathy or destructiveness, think of it more as lacking a moral compass. The exovirus has none of the reference points for morality that transhumanity has. It is not evil so much as indifferent, callous, and alien.

Psi

Source: Stellar Intelligence (Updated Precis)

The term “psi,” coined by biologist Bertold P. Wiesner, was originally an umbrella term used to describe paranormal phenomena, including so-called “psychic” abilities such as telepathy and extra-sensory perception. While the term was used extensively in the field of parapsychology and pop culture in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, the study of psi was largely considered a pseudoscience with flawed methodologies and gradually lost funding and support.

During the Fall, however, repeated rumors and accounts of unexplained abilities drew the attention of scientists, military leaders, and singularity seekers alike. Numerous biological and nanoviruses had been unleashed upon transhumanity, racing through populations and transforming as they spread. Some inflicted only minor biological or mental changes and impairments, but many were vicious and deadly. The most feared variants, however, were those that came to be labeled as the exsurgent virus — a transformative plague that mutates its victims and subverts them to its will. The exsurgent virus was observed to radically modify the subject’s neural patterns and mental state, affecting synaptic arrangement and even modulating synaptic currents. In some cases, infected brains even developed new anatomical modules. With some strains, these changes alter and enhance the victim’s cognitive capabilities. In others, they also endow the capacity to sense and affect the minds of others from a short distance. Both of these are dubbed “psi” as the causal factors continue to mystify us.

A New Exsurgency

The exsurgent virus is exceptionally mutable and adaptive, however, and two Argonaut researchers who were studying it made an interesting discovery. A variant strain was found that endowed the subject with exceptional mental abilities without engaging the excessive transformative processes of the other strains. Though infection still has other drawbacks, many agencies have come to regard this strain as “safe” in the sense that it does not make the subject infectious to others, the subject does not transmogrify into an alien monstrosity, and their general personality remains intact. Intrigued that this avenue of inquiry might lead to a way to nullify the effects of other exsurgent strains, a number of groups are known to experiment with the strain with the cooperation of willing test subjects. It is known that some hypercorps and habitat authorities have also experimented with these strains using unwilling victims.

Labeled the Watts-MacLeod strain after the researchers who isolated it, further study has gained insight into the effect this virus has on transhuman brains. Careful analysis of infected subjects discovered that their altered synapses generate a modulated brainwave pattern that is extremely difficult to detect. These asynchronous brainwaves are now widely referred to as “psi waves,” fitting with the Greek letter designation of other brainwaves (alpha, beta, delta, gamma, theta). Likewise, affected individuals are known as “asyncs.”

Analysis of Psi

Exploration of the explicit causal factors behind psi waves remains stymied. Neuroimaging and mapping have enabled scientists to pinpoint structures within the brain, neural activity, and perturbations in the brain’s bioelectric field that are associated with psi processes, but attempts to duplicate these features in non-infected brains have resulted in failure or worse. Researchers have proposed a number of imaginative theories: mental processes with the ability to change quantum states, subconscious interactions with dimensions of reality we cannot normally perceive, brain modules with advanced hypercomputational abilities, or even distributed synaptic processes that manipulate some as-yet unidentified substrate of reality. At least one Argonaut has advanced the argument that asyncs may prove the Simulation Hypothesis, with their abilities functioning as cheat codes in a simulated universe. Hard evidence and explanations, however, remain frustratingly inconclusive. Numerous dead ends have prompted many researchers to postulate that the mechanics underlying psi are simply too strange and too far beyond transhumanity’s understanding of physical sciences — perhaps reinforcing theories that the exsurgent virus is in fact of alien origin. Of course we can only speculate in accordance with known research — it is quite possible that some parties have made further breakthroughs, but are keeping the information to themselves.

The initiation and use of psi talents is generally understood to take place on a subconscious level, meaning that the async is not actively aware of the fundamental processes that trigger the effects. Practice and training, however, allows an async to focus on activating specific psi abilities. These are called “sleights:” mnemonic or cognitive algorithms that enable the ego to manifest a particular psi function. Some researchers have organized sleights into two categories. “psi-chi” sleights are mental enhancements and new cognitive functions. These largely impact the async’s perceptions, metabolic processes, information-processing abilities, and self control. Once an async learns to activate this capability, it remains always on, like a new sense or bodily function. Some asyncs only have psi-chi abilities. A second category of “psi-gamma” sleights involve the ability to impact biological neural functions in others. Though the range on these sleights is limited (with success rates dropping sharply after ~10 meters), the capabilities are more diverse. Specific sleights have been shown to read thoughts, affect memories, inflict damaging neurofeedback or pain, modify senses, and influence cognitive and physiological functions. Research indicates that asyncs are able to detect and influence other asyncs at longer distances. Sleights have also proven effective on animals, though the lower the level of sentience the harder they reportedly are to affect. Asyncs capable of both psi-chi and psi-gamma sleights have shown an ability to sometimes “push” their sleights for greater effects.

PUBLIC AWARENESS

Though incidents of psychic abilities are sometimes reported on in mainstream media, experienced in livestream X-casts, and sensationalized in popular vids and games, they are widely assumed to be the result of hysteria, misunderstood technology, or outright fakes. Though most authorities are aware of the validity of these reports, they often take pains to conceal these matters and keep them under wraps, so as not to trigger widespread panic. Among autonomist and other open communities, knowledge of psi is more widespread, but details are vague and reports are greeted with skepticism.

The percentage of the transhuman population believed to have contracted the Watts-MacLeod virus remains statistically insignificant — less than .001% of the population. This, however, still may indicate that there are tens or even hundreds of thousands of asyncs scattered among transhumanity. Given the widespread lack of information or acceptance of their capabilities, many asyncs may not even realize they are affected, having never expressed their abilities or understanding what they are. This situation is compounded as the Watts-MacLeod strain remains elusive to standard detection practices, with few asyncs (<3%) being correctly identified (though there is some evidence to indicate that those recently infected are more likely to be detected). Attempts to identify asyncs by scans of psi brainwave patterns have also not proven reliable. However, asyncs have a larger standard deviation in terms of how frequently their brainprint ID pattern alters and must be updated. The vast number of identified asyncs have been recruited by various agencies, “disappeared” for study, or simply eliminated as a potential threat. It is known that several polities, hypercorps, and habitats analyze ID and private medical data for signs of Watts-MacLeod infection.

Hidden Dangers

# Start EyeChat #
# Active Members: 7 #

Router: Why are we being summoned into another chat? We finished the op overviews last week and our next check-in isn’t scheduled until Monday.

Filter: I called this special session. We have an issue with Jun-Seo that requires extra care and discussion. And I think it’s time we revisit our policy on asyncs.

Crow: Oh not this garbage again.

Filter: Perhaps you feel that discussion of an infection risk within our own ranks is not worth our time. That we should all be fine with letting our enemies corrupt us from within.

Crow: Oh ffs, there’s no infection risk. We’ve been over this a thousand times. The virus altered them, that’s it. It did not turn them. They are not infectious. They are not—

Filter: You don’t know tha—

Scanner: Friends! Hold up a nanosec. Before we stir up this firestorm again, can we deal with the current situation first? That seems more urgent, and then we can push the Great Undying Async Debate to the side channels and handle it in our precious free time.

Filter: Fair enough. We have an issue in Noctis-Qianjiao. The NQPD just discovered a clutch of two dozen networked cyberbrains amid a bunch of unspecified jury-rigged mesh-server gear. They’re not quite sure what to make of it yet, but they’ve called in some TITAN specialists and Oversight to help them figure it out. You’ll want to take a look at the location. <Attached Files>

Register: Oh sweet Ganesh. That’s our safehouse, isn’t it?

Filter: Indeed it is. It’s the tertiary safehouse for the team we’ve had active in Noctis the past six months. [Vector2], tell them what you told me.

Vector2: Aye. OK, mates, I ran through the security logs on the safehouse (or at least the ones we had backed up, today’s logs are in the hands of the jacks). We haven’t really touched it since we set it up and gave the codes to the sentinels. I didn’t see any signs of trespassing or security breaches. But there are heaps of logged visits from one of the sentinels, at all sorts of random times. Guess which one.

Router: Damnit.

Filter: While [Vector2] and I are doing as much as we can to clean this up, we’ll need some assistance. The police have the logs too and will soon be searching for Jun-Seo. The whole team’s cover may be compromised. And we’re not certain what led the police to the safehouse in the first place — something we need to look into.

Vector1: On it.

Filter: And, of course, there’s the issue of Jun-Seo. We need to neutralize them and warn the team.

Router: Jun-Seo is not a threat. We already knew there was the potential for this. The team has reported that on several occasions Jun-Seo’s morph had been active while Jun-Seo themself had been “checked out.” Asleep.

Filter: You already fucking knew the virus was taking over their body? And you left this menace interfaced with the team? What kind of shitshow are we running here?

Router: Calm the eff down. The team was aware and knew the risks. They’d taken extra precautions to keep Jun monitored. And this sort of somnambulism is a known if rare issue with some asyncs.

Filter: Are you fucking kidding me? We have an active exsurgent on our team and you didn’t bother to tell the rest of us?

Crow: I knew. I’ve been helping Jun-Seo find treatment for the issue since we first identified it. Calling them an exsurgent is a bit extre—

Filter: It’s rather fucking extreme to let a hostile alien entity seize control of one of our operatives, don’t you think? This entire server could be in danger.

Router: The risks are known and accepted. All of Firewall has had this debate, multiple times. Having asyncs on our side has been mission critical on more occasions than we can count. Like any technology, it sometimes bites us in the ass. We have measures in place to mitigate the problem.

Scanner: Actually, I share some of [Filter’s] concerns and I’d appreciate a bit more background on this. We have 5 active teams with asyncs, so it’s relevant. Is this the same as the Voice I’ve heard Hex mention? Or are we talking a complete subversion of the ego here, like an exsurgent or TITAN puppet?

Crow: Every async’s alteration is different. Some of them feel a presence or talk to voices in their head. Some hallucinate. A lot of them get overwhelmed with strange urges. Their personalities sometimes change, like mood swings. For the most part, these effects are low-level and manageable. They’re in control. However, there’s a correlation between heavy use of psi sleights and more significant effects. Lethal biofeedback. Emotional trauma. Some asyncs report that they impulsively self-sabotage. A very small sampling have reported episodes of lost time, waking up in places different then they went to sleep or with tools in their hand. This may be akin to sleepwalking, or it may be something more. We are still investigating.

Filter: Two. Dozen. Networked. Cyberbrains. In a different part of town. That’s quite the sleepwalk.

Router: Look, we share your concerns. This is obviously abnormal. We’re working on it. But it’s premature to equate all asyncs to exsurgent sleeper agents or mind-hacked puppets. We have no reason to treat Jun-Seo as an enemy agent at this time.

Filter: If we suspected any member of that team to be exsurgent-infected, this entire collective would be yelling to kill them with fire. I am not certain if you’ve all grown soft, if you’re deluded, or if you’re already compromised too.

Vector1: Yo, comrade [Filter]. You still outsourcing some of your spin-control ops through that Experian troll farm?

Filter: What does that have to do with anything?

Vector1: Well since we’re throwing around accusations of being compromised, I was wondering how much intel you trade them on top of the invoice. We all know there’s no way the Oaxaca-Maartens just look the other way at the sort of business we bring them. If they smell juicy intel, they go after it.

Filter: How fucking dare you.

Scanner: Friends, friends, let us stop this. We do not need to be at each other’s throats. We have a serious problem to address.

Register: I have a question that may impact the matter at hand.

Router: Yes?

Register: Whose cyberbrains are these that Jun-Seo collected?