The Eye Fanzine #001

8/8/2019 The Eye Fanzine #001

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Eclipse Phase is a trademark of Posthuman Studios LLC. Used without permission. Some content copyright

Posthuman Studios LLC under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.

For more details, see http://eclipsephase.com/cclicense

//ROOT DIRECTORY//

Te Eye Is Open 2

Eclipse Phase vs.Mass EfectKinetic Barriers 4Martin Swan

Rule Hacking:Swarmanoid Morphs 6Jordan Al-awoos

Interview: David Brin 10Sarah E Hood

Te Sign Up 12Justin Killiam & Damien Hunt

Exsurgents Under Te Sun 16Costn Sequeiros

Jins Path 27Costn Sequeiros


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Content EditorsDonnie Clark, G.W. Cooper, Sarah E. Hood,Martin Swan, Shannon VanDenbos , Gra-ham Wark, William Wilson

Graphic DesignDonnie Clark

Site Programming

Sarah E. Hood (www.rewall-darkcast.com)

ArtistsAlgol (pg. 28), rentin C Bergeron (Mast-head), Diego Barucco (pg. 17), Sarah E.Hood (pg. 8 & 20), Char Reed (pgs. 13),Graham Wark (pg. 3)

Page 2 art courtesy o NASA

The Eye//An Eclipse Phase Fanzine

ETTER//LETTER//LETTER//LETTER//LETTER//LETTER//LET

Content EditorsDonnie Clark, G.W. Cooper, Sarah E. Hood,Martin Swan, Shannon VanDenbos , Gra-ham Wark, William Wilson

Graphic DesignDonnie Clark

Site Programming

Sarah E. Hood (www.rewall-darkcast.com)

ArtistsAlgol (pg. 28), rentin C Bergeron (Mast-head), Diego Barucco (pg. 17), Sarah E.Hood (pg. 8 & 20), Char Reed (pgs. 13),Graham Wark (pg. 3)

Page 2 art courtesy o NASA

2

Adam Jury wanted a anzine or Eclipse Phase. With-

in two days o expressing this on his blog and twit-ter eed, a production ramework was already be-ing built on Darkcast (www.rewall-darkcast.com)and ans began the DIY process o collaborating ona budding project that promised to make ull useo the Creative Commons license that PosthumanStudios released the title under. Home-brewers,rule-hackers, writers, artists, designers, editorsand one awesome Drupal coder (all ans oEclipsePhase) were there looking or a way to help out andoer their time and eort.

Only a ew months have passed since work beganon what eventually became titled Te Eye, and therehas been an unbelievable amount o work accom-plished. A general workow has taken shape and theprogrammer at Darkcast continues to take eedbackrom the crowd, developing tools and processes tomake the job easier. Contributors have stacked upseveral issues worth o material already, and a coresta o editors has shaped up to make sure that it is allprooed and clear. Te design group has done their

best to create a consistent layout and style guide orthe magazine to provide as much production valueas possible or this reshman issue oTe Eye.

We have all learned a great deal while putting thistogether and we are proud to see it produce suchresults rom the Eclipse Phase an community. Wecan thank Adam or planting the seed o thoughtor this publication, but I think he will agree thatit does not matter iTe Eye turned out to be as heimagined; its what the ans want it to be, and thats

what counts.

Welcome to all! Working with Te Eye to build

the tools and build the team behind Te Eye has re-ally been a delight. I hope all our our readers enjoythe work as much as we enjoyed creating it (moreeven!). Te creators o Eclipse Phase have beenkind enough to invite the world to play on theirplayground, so please, read! Enjoy! Pass this issuearound to all your riends, and to at least one riendwho doesnt know what Eclipse Phase, or even role-playing is; we hope to be a wonderul introduction.Join us or the next issue!Sarah E. Hood

The Eye Is Open


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4/29The Eye//An Eclipse Phase Fanzine

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Mass Eect contains many interesting components that I think would be antastic when applied into the

Eclipse Phase world. A good example o this is the kinetic barriers that are prevalent in the ME universe.

For those who are unaware, kinetic barriers are extremely advanced pieces o technology that protect

their wearer rom incoming kinetic damage. In Mass Eect this is done by utilizing the mass eect felds

that much o its technology is based on, a technology that is not present in Eclipse Phase. Instead o

making an attempt at explaining exactly how they work, I have instead decided to simply put it down to

an unknown alien physics eect, which handily also explains why they have not come so prevalent that

everyone is wearing them. Te ollowing contains both the rules and some descriptive text to go along

with them.

Eclipse Phase vs. Mass EffectKinetic Barriers

Kinetic Barriers

An example o some o the incredibly advancedtechnology le behind by the long dead civilizationsound through the Pandora Gates, kinetic barriershave been adopted throughout the system by elitemilitary teams, especially those who have strongties with the Planetary Consortium. Smuggled outrom under the nose o the Pathnder Corporationby an unknown beneactor, these alien devices havealso ound themselves highly sought aer by manyblack market dealers, eager to cash in beore one othe hypercorp research acilities trying to replicate

their eects makes any progress.

Unlike armor, which reduces the amount o dam-age taken by its wearer, kinetic barriers are capableo completely absorbing a limited number o directhits by many kinetic based weapons (such as classi-cal rearms and rail guns) beore temporarily over-loading and shutting down. Each kinetic barrier hasa pool o deense points representing the protectionis applies against all kinetic damage. Tey have noeect on energy or psi damage.

Whenever someone wearing an activated kineticbarrier takes kinetic damage, an amount o thatdamage up to the number o deense points remain-ing is absorbed, completely protecting the wearerrom that absorbed damage. Tis absorption is de-termined beore any protection oered by armor.For every point o damage absorbed by a kineticbarrier it loses a deense point.

Deense points recharge over time, however eachtime they absorb damage this recharge is delayed.

At the beginning o each action turn any kineticbarrier that did not take damage during the pre-vious action turn recharged a number o deensepoints as determined by the particular make ormodel. While outside o combat a kinetic barrierrecharges at a separate rate, also determined by themake or model o the device. A kinetic barrier re-charges deense points even while deactivated.

Kinetic barriers utilize a still undiscovered meanso protecting their users. All recorded attempts at

replicating these devices by transhuman kind hasresulting in ailure, occasionally catastrophic ail-ure. As such they can only be purchased, not cre-ated by transhuman means.

by Martin Swan


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KB-Alpha

Te rst o a series o kinetic barriers ound onan unknown exoplanet, the KB-Alpha oers theleast protection, and as such is sold or the low-est price. Many o these devices have recently beendiscovered in the hands o low level criminals, andauthorities are beginning to suspect that some-one may have discovered the means o replicatingthem. Whenever the KB-Alpha is struck by a highspeed projectile it ares blue, with a pulse o eerielight emanating rom the contact point along thewearers body.

Defense Point Pool: 30Combat Recharge Rate: 1/Action TurnOut of Combat Recharge Rate: 20/MinuteCost: Expensive (exceptionally rare)

KB-Beta

Although only slightly more eective than theKB-Alpha range o kinetic barriers, the KB-Betagoes or many times the price on the black market.Although ew o these devices have been oundon criminals and their ilk, there have been spo-radic reports o Direct Action equipping several otheir more prestigious units with them. Wheneverthe KB-Beta is struck by a high speed projectile

it ares red, with a pulse o eerie light emanatingrom the contact point along the wearers body.

Defense Points Pool: 50Combat Recharge Rate: 2/Action TurnOut of Combat Recharge Rate: 40/MinuteCost: Expensive (exceptionally rare, min. 50,000)

KB-Gamma

Very ew examples o these devices have been doc-umented within the system, and many believe thatthey only exist in the hands o the exceptionallywealthy collectors o alien technology. Much moreeective at protecting its owner than the KB-Al-pha, the KB-Gamma has more than triple the de-ensive properties o those inerior devices. Unlikethe other examples o this technology, when a KB-Gamma barrier is struck by a high speed projectilethere are no light ares, the bullet simply seems toharmlessly drop to the ground beore striking.


www.frewall-darkcast.com

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KB-Alpha

Te rst o a series o kinetic barriers ound onan unknown exoplanet, the KB-Alpha oers theleast protection, and as such is sold or the low-est price. Many o these devices have recently beendiscovered in the hands o low level criminals, andauthorities are beginning to suspect that some-one may have discovered the means o replicatingthem. Whenever the KB-Alpha is struck by a highspeed projectile it ares blue, with a pulse o eerielight emanating rom the contact point along thewearers body.

Defense Point Pool: 30Combat Recharge Rate: 1/Action TurnOut of Combat Recharge Rate: 20/MinuteCost: Expensive (exceptionally rare)

KB-Beta

Although only slightly more eective than theKB-Alpha range o kinetic barriers, the KB-Betagoes or many times the price on the black market.Although ew o these devices have been oundon criminals and their ilk, there have been spo-radic reports o Direct Action equipping several otheir more prestigious units with them. Wheneverthe KB-Beta is struck by a high speed projectile

it ares red, with a pulse o eerie light emanatingrom the contact point along the wearers body.


KB-Gamma

Very ew examples o these devices have been doc-umented within the system, and many believe thatthey only exist in the hands o the exceptionallywealthy collectors o alien technology. Much moreeective at protecting its owner than the KB-Al-pha, the KB-Gamma has more than triple the de-ensive properties o those inerior devices. Unlikethe other examples o this technology, when a KB-Gamma barrier is struck by a high speed projectilethere are no light ares, the bullet simply seems toharmlessly drop to the ground beore striking.


5




6

As I pored over the original PDF o the Eclipse Phase Core Rulebook, the swarmanoid morph immediately

jumped out at me, pregnant with possibility. I began craing a character centered around this notion o aswarm body, but in the process I had to dispel some misconceptions that arose. First, swarmanoid morphsare composed o micro-drones, not nanoswarms. Tey are not IAN artiacts, nor are they alien technol-ogy. Teir scale is closer to that o cockroaches or wasps than microbes.

Rule Hacking:Swarmanoid Morphs

Playing a swarmanoid morph also required rethink-ing some o my expectations. Nearly anything re-quiring a SOM est is a no-go, and combat optionsare strictly limited, although the creative player willalways gure out something. Te simple need tobe held makes most weapons and other equipment

useless, unless it can be modied to t on a micro-drone body. Psi is out even i your ego is an asyncsince sleights require at least a partially biologicalbrain. Nanoswarms are un to play with, but theyrequire a General Hive which, again, the morphcant carry. Te idea o letting loose disassemblernanoswarms was compelling enough to me that Iincluded a six-legged walker servitor during char-acter generation specically to lug the General Hiveabout. Other players have made their swarmanoidcharacters play the hacker, scorching egos rather

than morphs.

Tings get messy again when you begin dig in andbegin asking about egos in a swarmanoid morph.Does every micro-drone possess a ull ego? I a mi-cro-drone gets crushed, do you suer brain dam-age? At what point is a swarm considered dead?Tere are two related concerns here. Te rst is aquestion o where the ego resides. How one answersthat question will leads into the second; where thecyberbrain and cortical stack are located on a swar-

manoid morph? According to the Core Rulebook,the computer and sensor systems are distributedthroughout the swarm. However, having dugaround amongst private emails, public waves andorum postings on EclipsePhase.com and Firewall-Darkcast, I ound several dierent theories havebeen proposed or gameplay, each orthodox but us-ing incompatible hermeneutics. I youre playing asa swarmanoid, make sure you and your GM have

the same assumptions going in.

Ego & Cortical Stack

Here, in outline, are summaries o the competingtheories surrounding egos in swarmanoid morphs.

Proletariat TheoryTe ego resides in every micro-drone.

Deceptively simple at ace value, the implicationso this theory are enormous. A given swarm wouldhave the equivalent o hundreds o alpha orks,requiring constant synchronization. Changingmorphs would be highly traumatic. Capture o oneor more micro-drones would constitute kidnappingthe character. Resleeving would not be required, intheory, unless every drone were destroyed or inca-pacitated. Separation o drones or loss o commu-

nication would result in orking.

Queen Bee TheoryTe ego resides in a particular micro-drone.

Te Queen Bee hypothesis poses a single masterunit that coordinates the rest o the swarm. All mi-cro-drones will protect the queen at all costs, andlosing the queen means a resleeve. Te cortical stackis assumed to reside with the queen, making sleev-ing and stack retrieval simpler. Te micro-drones

are useless without the queen, so swarm separationor loss is easily remedied with the manuacture oreplacement drones.

Queen Bees Theory Multiple copies o the ego exist in specic micro-drones throughout the swarm.

Rather than having a single point o ailure in thequeen, this theory adds several inactive queens

by Jordan Al-Tawoos


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SWARMANOID

The swarmanoid is not a single shell per se, but

rather a swarm of hundreds of insect-sized robotic

micro-drones. Each individual bug is capable

of crawling, rolling, hopping several meters, or

using nanocopter fan blades for airlift. The con-

trolling computer and sensor systems are distrib-

uted throughout the swarm. Though the swarm canmeld together into a roughly child-sized shape,

the swarm is incapable of tackling physical tasks

like grabbing, lifting, or holding as a unit. Indi-

vidual bugs are quite capable of interfacing with

electronics.

Enhancements: Access Jacks, Basic Mesh Inserts,

Cortical Stack, Cyberbrain, Mnemonic Augmenta-

tion, Swarm Composition

Mobility System: Walker (2/8), Hopper (4/20),Rotor (4/32)

Aptitude Maximum: 30

Durability: 30

Wound Threshold: 6

Advantages: See Swarm Composition (p. 311)

Disadvantages: See Swarm Composition (p. 311)

CP Cost: 25

Credit Cost: Expensive



SWARMANOID

The swarmanoid is not a single shell per se, but

rather a swarm of hundreds of insect-sized robotic

micro-drones. Each individual bug is capable

of crawling, rolling, hopping several meters, or

using nanocopter fan blades for airlift. The con-

trolling computer and sensor systems are distrib-

uted throughout the swarm. Though the swarm canmeld together into a roughly child-sized shape,

the swarm is incapable of tackling physical tasks

like grabbing, lifting, or holding as a unit. Indi-

vidual bugs are quite capable of interfacing with

electronics.

Enhancements: Access Jacks, Basic Mesh Inserts,

Cortical Stack, Cyberbrain, Mnemonic Augmenta-

tion, Swarm Composition

Mobility System: Walker (2/8), Hopper (4/20),Rotor (4/32)

Aptitude Maximum: 30

Durability: 30

Wound Threshold: 6

Advantages: See Swarm Composition (p. 311)

Disadvantages: See Swarm Composition (p. 311)

CP Cost: 25

Credit Cost: Expensive

7

which each possess a cortical stack and a ull copyo the ego, regularly synced. I an inactive queenno longer hears the signal heartbeat o the activequeen, it awakens and takes over control. Tistheory combines the simplicity o the Queen Beetheory with intriguing gameplay situations such assynchronizing multiple copies o the ego, and me-

chanical mitosis. For some, however, the require-ment o multiple cortical stacks in a single morphmakes this theory untenable.

Emergent Ego TheoryTe ego resides in the entire swarm, and cannot be[much] reduced.

Te Emergent Ego is the most magic explanation,in that it doesnt really speciy where either the egoor the cortical stack resides, only that theyre pres-

ent as long as the bulk o the swarm is too. I theplayers arent sticklers or detail, this is a simpletheory to operate on. Micro-drones that get sepa-rated rom the main swarm are useless, possessingneither ego nor ability to act. I the swarm splits,the smaller swarm is no longer part o the ego un-til it is reunited with the larger swarm; i split upenough, the entire swarm may become dormant.Given sucient damage (% o swarm lost, at GMsdiscretion) the character would need a resleeve.Tis theory assumes that the ego only unctionally

exists in the presence o a majority o the swarm.

Ego Ratio Theory Multiple copies o the ego are distributed acrossthe swarm.

Te Ego Ratio theory assumes that there are ullcopies o the ego distributed throughout the swarm.Tey are not reducible to specic micro-drones,and are synchronized via line-o-sight communica-tions. Ratio can increase with the production o ad-

ditional micro-drones, but more drones wont x anego ratio below 1.0, at which point the player suersbrain damage, memory loss, trauma, or death at theGMs discretion. Te swarmanoid is susceptible tomechanical mitosis and capturing any amount othe micro-drones will mean obtaining some per-centage o the ego.

A typical assumption is that 1 ull copy o the egois available amidst 100 micro-drones, with a stan-

dard swarm size consisting o 500 to 1000 micro-drones. Assuming a 500 micro-drone swarm with5 ull copies o the ego, the ego ratio would be 5.0.Damage only occurs when the ego ratio dips below1.0this may happen even in swarms larger than100 micro-drones, i some portions o the ego areduplicated whilst others are unaccounted or. Ego

ratio is checked using the Stack Recall action.

Mechanics (Ego Ratio Theory)Step 1. Simpliy ego ratioRound your ego ratio to the nearest whole number.

a. I your rounded ego ratio is 1.0, you suer se-vere trauma and require a resleeve. Alternately, theGM can rule to allow the swarms to persist, the egoequivalents o gamma orks.

b. Above 1.0, perorm the Group Size est. I onegroup ends up with ewer than 100 micro-drones,




8

it takes damage as outlined below. All othergroups take the Stack Recall est.

Example 1:Ego Ratio is 5.3, we rounddown to 5.0

Example 2:Ego Ratio is 1.5, round upto 2.0

Step 2. Group Size estRoll 1d10 twice. Choose one othe rolls as the percentage o total mi-cro-drones in Group 1. Te remainder arein Group 2.

Example 1

Roll 10, 40Choose 40Group 1 receives 40% o totalmicro-drones (40% o 530 =212 micro-drones)Group 2 receives 60% o totalmicro-drones (60% o 530 = 318 micro-drones)

Example 2:Roll 30, 20Choose 30

Group 1 receives 30% o total micro-drones (30% o150 = 45 micro-drones)Group 2 receives 70% o total micro-drones (70% o150 = 105 micro-drones)In this example, Group 1 takes damage and doesnot perorm the Stack Recall est. At less than 100micro-drones, there is no chance that there is a ullego present.

3. Stack Recall estPerorm the Stack Recall est once per group, where

the total number o micro-drones in the group is100 or greater.

Subtract the % o total micro-drones in the oppo-site group rom the total number o micro-drones.

Example 1 (Group 1)otal Micro-Drones (both swarms) = 500Percentage o otal Micro-Drones in other group = 60%

500 60 = 440

Example 2 (Group 2)otal Micro-Drones (bothswarms) = 150Percentage o otal Micro-Dronesin other group = 30%150 30 = 120

Divide the result by the roundedego ratio

Example 1 (Group 1)Ego Ratio = 5.0440 / 5 = 88Roll d100. A successul Stack Recall est is an88 or lower.

Example 2 (Group 2)Ego Ratio = 2.0

120 / 2 = 60Roll d100. A successul Stack Recall est is a60 or lower.

DamageI you ail the Stack Recall est, the group in questiondoes not possess a ull ego and may lose memories,mental abilities, or other unctions. A test againstLUC with a 20 or 30 modier is also warrantedhere, but may be avoided with a Moxie point or aGMs grace.

Miscellaneous Concerns

Can multiple swarms join to orm a gigaswarm?Tis is plausible i one combines the notions o dig-ital computing(1) with sparsity theory(2), allowing,in theory, each micro-drone to see the orest usingjust its tree. Te GM may require the modular de-sign enhancement to be present in each swarm, andan alpha ork o the original ego would be copiedto the subsequent swarmanoid morphs. However,

note that swarmanoid morphs are not sel-repli-cating, nor do they repair themselves without ad-ditional equipment.

How are communications between micro-dronesprotected?Most players discussing swarmanoid morphs on-line have utilized line-o-site communications orin-swarm communiqus. Communications aresigned by the individual micro-bots, but this does


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Mechanical Mitosis

In biology: Mitosis divides the chromosomes in acell nucleus.

In Eclipse Phase: Te splitting o a swarmanoidmorph into two or more alpha orks by physicallyseparating and impeding communication betweenmicro-drones. Te split may be player-initiatedor caused by circumstances beyond the playerscontrol. In either event, the separate swarms losecommunications and enter damage recoverymode, acting as thought the other swarm has beendisabled or destroyed. Each swarm takes a StackRecall test, and becomes the equivalent o an

alpha ork i the test is passed.

Resistance

A message was intercepted by Lunar authoritiesthat was transmitted between several locationson Earth. Te sender claims to be the leader o agroup o survivors who believe that Earths ate

was shared by whole system. Tey have survived10 years amidst the horrors o IAN technol-ogy, and i rescued could provide unique andvaluable insights regarding IAN tech, but itcould be another trap le by the IANs thatpreys on human empathy.

//Root



Mechanical Mitosis

In biology: Mitosis divides the chromosomes in acell nucleus.

In Eclipse Phase: Te splitting o a swarmanoidmorph into two or more alpha orks by physicallyseparating and impeding communication betweenmicro-drones. Te split may be player-initiatedor caused by circumstances beyond the playerscontrol. In either event, the separate swarms losecommunications and enter damage recoverymode, acting as thought the other swarm has beendisabled or destroyed. Each swarm takes a StackRecall test, and becomes the equivalent o an alpha

ork i the test is passed.

Resistance

A message was intercepted by Lunar authoritiesthat was transmitted between several locationson Earth. Te sender claims to be the leader o agroup o survivors who believe that Earths ate

was shared by whole system. Tey have survived10 years amidst the horrors o IAN technol-ogy, and i rescued could provide unique andvaluable insights regarding IAN tech, but itcould be another trap le by the IANs thatpreys on human empathy.

//Root

Mitosis

Two diploidcells

DNAreplication

9

not rule out the ability or an enemy to perorm aspoo attack to analyze incoming and outgoing sig-nals rom captured micro-bots.

Can the queen o a swarm sel-destruct i it losescontact with the swarm?By all means, i you and your GM agree to the no-

tion. One idea that was broached in the EclipsePhase orums was to have the queens (or any mi-nority o micro-drones) wipe themselves i theylapse too long without receiving a broadcast time-stamped passphrase.

What constitutes death or swarmanoids?Death is a little uzzy a concept or transhumanityin general, but particularly or swarmanoids. Oncethere is no more unctional cyberbrain/cortical stack(either due to lost queens or a depopulated swarm)

your character would need a restore rom backup.In the case o a depopulated swarm with a distrib-uted ego, some memories may be retrieved, but async would be required, as with merging orks.

How would one play as a hive mind?Jack Graham covered this well on his blog http://www.eclipsephase.com/playing-game-can-i-be-col-lective-mind.

I an enemy captures part o a swarm, can it ob-

tain memories and other parts o the ego?I an enemy captures a queen (assuming QueenBee(s) Teories) or 1.0 or greater o the ego (assum-ing Ego Ratio), then standard cyberbrain hackingrules apply. Less than that, and a penalty should beapplied by the GM, reducing either the likelihoodo success or the amount o inormation retrieved,or both.

Does increasing or decreasing the size o theswarm afect stats?

Te only stat that seems reasonable to change in re-lation to swarm size would be durability, and eventhen you and your GM need to work out an agree-ment on this point.

What i my character just wants to moonlight ina swarmanoid morph?Severe morphing disorder is recommended whentranserring into or out o a swarmanoid morph; itsgoing to be jarring jumping between handling one

Article Reerences

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributed_computinghttp://www.wired.com/

magazine/2010/02/f_algorithm/all/1

http://www.eclipsephase.com/playing-game-can-i-be-collective-mind

body and several hundred, and most o the musclememories will be invalid or counter-productive. Tatsaid, I wholeheartedly recommend the experience.



VIEW//INTERVIEW//INTERVIEW//INTERVIEW//INTERVIEW//IN

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Interview: David Brin by Sarah E. Hood

Te Eye: Te most obvious inuence o your workon the Eclipse Phase setting can be seen in the con-cept o Upli, the process used to raise less sentientanimals to a level o consciousness equal to human-

ity. What benets do you see in humanity pursuingthe eort to upli other species?

David Brin: Im not the rst author to explore thisconcept. Alas, all those who came beoreWells,Boule, Cordwainer Smith, and othersseemedtoo willing to go along with the basic clichethatthis would be done by evil people or by ools, whowould thereupon suer just punishment or theircruelty and hubris. (In all cases, the uplied ani-mals are enslaved.)

Tese morality tales serve a purpose. Tat certain-ly is one o many ailure modes to warn against,but I saw no benet rom my doing exactly thesame thing. Instead, I wondered, What i the jobis done by us? By an open, modern diverse civi-lization lled with reciprocal criticism and sensi-tive to issues o oppression? Our culture wouldnot do upli to get slaves, but to get diversionthings/voices that are new, dierent. We are pro-pelled by novelty.

In other words, i we ail to make contact withaliens, well make our own. Trough A.I., or upli,or by emphasizing the dierences among ourselves.On the plus side, upli would add resh, new mindsto our civilization, and new perspectives.

On the down side, I doubt experiments on higheranimals will be allowed. In order to get to talking

dolphins and chimps, there would be y gener-

ations o trial and error, and quite a lot o pain. Askyoursel, would it be worth it? I can see the point othose who say no. I disagree.

E:Eclipse Phase is the rst RPG setting releasedunder Creative Commons. What are your thoughtson copyright in creative elds?

DB: Mixed eelings. Copyright and patents were

invented or good reasons. Tey ended 4,000 yearso renetic secrecy and magical thinking. Heron oAlexandria knew enough about steam power thathe might have sparked an industrial revolution. Butthe only way he could benet was through secrecyand it all was lost.

Yes, intellectual property owners today can betrolls, parasites, and obstructors having the OPPO-SIE eect than the one Ben Franklin called or.Tese abuses arise out o human nature (greed) and

should be stopped. Copyrights should expire.

And yet, I depend on them to eed my kids. I youcriticize, try to do so with ull awareness o the ear-lier problems IP was designed to overcome. Syn-thesize new ways to achieve winwin games.

E: Does the looser copyright o a CC share-alikelicense benet the cultural dialogue o society? Is itworth it?

We recently caught up with award winning novelist David Brin, to ask him some o his views regarding

many o the themes that appear in Eclipsephase. Mr. Brin is one o the leading voices in the current sci-

ence fction genre. His books have been translated into over twenty languages, and have won multiple

Hugo and Nebula awards. He is a scientist and writer,

with a great deal to say about our world and society,the uture, and writing itsel. For more inormation

about Mr. Brin, or to explore deeper into his views

on any number o subjects please drop by his website

at http://www.davidbrin.com, its a worthwhile read.



IEW//INTERVIEW//INTERVIEW//INTERVIEW//INTERVIEW//INT

1

DB: As author o Te ransparent Society: Willechnology Make Us Choose Between Privacy andFreedom?, I am a big believer in general opennessand generally ree inormation ows. Te book hasa chapter on Intellectual Property that olks mightnd balanced, nuanced, and unusual.

But dialogue has not come as ar as it should haveby now! For a rather intense look at how truthis determined in science, democracy, courts, andmarkets, see the lead article in the American Bar Associations Journalon Dispute Resolution (OhioState University), v.15, N.3, pp 597-618, Aug.2000, Disputation Arenas: Harnessing Con-ict and Competition or Societys Benet, or athttp://www.davidbrin.com/disputationarticle1.html.

E: Te setting o Eclipse Phase makes a strongdistinction between the mind and the body o anindividual. In the setting an individual can switchbodies, even take up a robotic orm, or remain aspure inormation in a digital environment. Whatare your views on the nature o identity in thosecircumstances? Would a human who goes throughthe process o switching bodies still be human?

DB: It sounds a lot like my novel Kiln People! Itwould change things. As I describe in the novel.

Certainly this changes game play!

E: One o the key struggles in Eclipse Phase is withthe idea o a post scarcity economysome parts ohumanity have leaped into the post scarcity econ-omy wholeheartedly, while others have struggledto continue with more traditional economic styles.Do you think a post-scarcity economy is easible?

DB: Why not? Most o us already live in onecom-pared to all past cultures.

Star rek is our beckoning lure. See how it comparesto another amed universe in Star Wars On rial.

E: Would it be a beneit or a detriment to hu-man society?

DB: Iain M Banks handles this well in his Cul-ture series.

E: Most o your works would be classied underhard science ction, being o the more scienticbent, as opposed to so science ction. Why didyou make the choice to write on the harder side othe genre?

DB: I am scientically trained. I also think that ap-praisal o CHANGE is the most important role oscience ction, because change is the abric o ourlives. It might end or exalt us.

Still, I dont call my Upli Universe hard SF. Surethere is a lot o un science extrapolations a goshwow speculation. But there are also too many netsthat are le deliberately down, or the best reasono allto have un! And to take the readers on arollicking ride.

E: Why is hard science ction valuable?

DB: See several essays on this at http://www.david-brin.com.

E: And lastly, the most dicult question o allassuming that Im out o books to read and have al-ready read all o yours, which three authors shouldI pick up next?

DB: Vernor Vinges Rainbows End. Anything byKim Stanley Robinson. Hal o the books by GregBear. Nancy Kress. Some o the works o Stross,Scalzi, Asaro. Older works by Sheckley, Anderson,Boyd, iptree.

Reerenceshttp://www.davidbrin.com/disputationarticle1.html

http://www.amazon.com/Kiln-People-Books-David-Brin/dp/B0000DK4HM

http://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-rial-Science-Fiction/dp/193210089X

http://www.amazon.com/Iain-M.-Banks/e/B000APXAVG/

http://www.amazon.com/Rainbows-End-Vernor-Vinge/dp/0812536363

http://www.amazon.com/Kim-Stanley-Robinson/e/B000APVJXC

http://www.amazon.com/Greg-Bear/e/B000APY7S6

http://www.amazon.com/Nancy-Kress/e/B000AQ4SK2

http://www.amazon.com/ransparent-Society-echnology-Between-Privacy/

dp/0738201448



ION//FICTION//FICTION//FICTION//FICTION//FICTION//F

12

by Justin Killam & Damien Hunt

I scream and claw my way back to consciousness,blind, dea, and dumb, but not numb. Te painconsumes my every nerve, as the nano-swarm con-

sumes my esh one cell at a time. I cant stop themas they eat me aliveI cant stop them as they eatmy amily aliveI cant stop them as they eat theworld aliveI cant stop them

I wake up, screaming or real.

Te pain is phantom, gone as soon as I realize its just a dream, but I still want to scream. Te samedream, always the same. I think, sometimes, that itsnot a dream. I despair, at times, that its a memory,

the memory o my death. It could have happenedthat way, it could have happened any way at all. Iwill never know, because the bastards took thataway rom me. Tey are not content with stealingmoney and power. Tey think they must steal andcontrol my memories, my mind, my soul

Now Im just rambling on to mysel in my head,trying not to think about the dream, trying not tothink about Samantha, or little Sammy.

[Its quite early, sir

]

[Yes, it is] I oen wonder i Seraph can hear theweariness in my thoughts. It oen seems as thoughhe can. Beore I even ask, Seraph tunes up the roomslights, gently illuminating the cramped space that Icall home, or now. Maybe it can read moods viamy vitals or something.

[It did seem that progress was being made in yourlatest simulation, sir. Perhaps]

Seraph leaves the suggestion unsaid, knowing al-ready that he has turned my mind back to the latestsimulspace design. At the edge o my eld o vision,a series o requency designations begin to scroll by.Te dream, my pain, the grie, it all ades away asmy ocus tunes into the numbers and calculations.

[I ound the oscillation requencies you requested,sir]

[Yes, thank you Seraph. Tis is exactly what I waslooking or.] I slide out o bed, a hot cup o coeealready waiting or me to grab rom the dispenser.

My lab is an oversized chair next to a table hold-ing a small block o dull metallic tech. I settle intothe chair and place the block in my lap, the coeealready orgotten. Hard connection established viatouch, I access the wireless-incapable mini-serverand dive in.

/ / /

Te darkness o the system spreads out beore me,pinpricked here and there with tiny dots o light.

Between my hands is a ball o plasma, dimmed soas to not ash-ry my optics. Tis sim is based onreality, and it can kill me even here in this ctionaltechno-wonder o a recreation. Seraph has stoppedtrying to talk me into enabling the saety protocols,the entire point is the realism. Otherwise how am Iever going to learn anything

Floating near my head is Seraph, inhabiting a tinywhale-like creature. Te Surya. I wonder, not orthe rst time, i any o the Suryas were whale up-

lis. I cant remember i they died out beore theFall. I always orget to look it up.

Streams o data ow into the miniature sun, the newcalculated requencies. I adjust them, merge themwith existing research. No calculating subroutineis needed, this Menton Morph does have its uses.Still, I do long to return to Sol.

Finally it is ready to test. Seraph merges with me,the Surya simul-morph encompasses us both

and Sol surges into reality

virtual reality. I soarthrough the plasma elds o the corona once moreand eelalmost ree. Almost. I know, already thatit still isnt just right, but ride it out. I never lie tomysel, I dont stay just to collect data. I know myown mind, I need this to stay sane.

I glide along the magnetic waves, owing with plasmacurrents that would instantly incinerate most beingso this galaxy, but register as warm rippling caresses.

The Sign Up



ON//FICTION//FICTION//FICTION//FICTION//FICTION//FI

1

Now this is how I should try to go to sleep. It is notlong when the alarms signal the sudden increasedmagnetic activity below. Te storm is coming, arbelow me the suns photosphere is churning and thesunspot begins to emerge. Already turbulence tearsthrough the moments-ago calm plasma currents androcks me around the now chaotic corona.

Te sunspot spreads below me. Tough I remainwithin the corona o the sun, the less bright areabelow rapidly dwars me. Tere is no escaping it.Tough I know this is a simulation, instinctively Ilaunch into action, as does Seraph. All non-essen-tial systems go ofine as power and resources arepumped into navigation, sensors, and most impor-tantly the magnetic deense elds. I am about to berocked, and I love it.

Navigation is ofine. I dont need it anymore, Ihave absolutely no control over where this stormtosses me. Magnetic elds are holding, and I haveyet to deplete my store o medichines as they workovertime to clean the ions out o the outer layerso this biomorphs esh. Sensors are maximized,and trained on the sunspot still uctuating below.I await the Angelre.

I remember, beore, when it was real. Te anoma-lous magnetic wave readings caught my attention

even though I was in danger o destruction. Teyowed up rom the sunspot, curves o plasma ow-ing in a complexity o coronal loops and reconnec-tion events. And I saw it, the pattern. I saw it, and itcalled to me, called to something buried deep with-in me. Called it orth. And then everything was lostin an eruption o a solar are.

I continue to await the Angelre, but it does notcome. I remember it, recall it with perect detail,but the simulation does not reproduce it. Te storm

rocks me violently. Faintly I taste blood and knowI have bitten my lip back in reality. Te Angelrecontinues to elude me.

I disconnect.

/ / /

[A successul run was it sir?]



ION//FICTION//FICTION//FICTION//FICTION//FICTION//F

14

[No, Seraphit was not. But I expect success willcontinue to elude me or some time. It was, however,a good run. Te reconnection event in sector F769-H903 was a pleasant surprise.]

[Yes sir, I am overjoyed that you were pleased withyour near death experience.]

I laugh out loud. I can never tell i Seraph is seriousin his comments or just that good at deadpan humor.He will never tell me, and I know that he knows thatI wouldnt have it any other way. Already he is busyimplementing the digital restrictions into the com-pleted simulspace design. Like the rest o the Angel-re projects, this will be limited to a single hardlinejacked user and be dicult to copy out o the mini-server. I am already planning on how to dispose oit securely, minimizing the chance it can be traced

back to me, when there is a knock at the door.

[essa, sirand Captain Obron]

I set the mini-server aside as I rise, hiding it romsight, and key the door open with a thought. I seeessas ace and smile, unconsciously running ahand through the tangled mess o my hair until Irealize what I am doing and stop mysel. She startsto smile back, but stops as Obron steps in ront oher and into my room.

Dr. Amador His voice is gru, like the rest ohim, worn rom years o scum service in the arreaches o the outer system. He has treated meairly; as he treats all that live under his purview. Ihave come to respect the man, but the ormality Iam presented with at the moment worries me.

Captain?

We have a problem, may I come in?

An odd question, considering he is already stand-ing within my cubical o personal space, but I nod. Icant read him, or essa who still stands outside thedoor. Im not so good with people. Obron keys thedoor closed behind him, and essa is gone.

[Sir, Obron has efectively shut down every devicewithin the room capable o recording this meeting.]

I wince. Going dark like this usually attracts atten-tion, and is more o a hindrance than a help. I canonly hope this is not a new trick or him. Ive hada good run here and cant aord to go back on therun again now.

He pulls a crate up to the table and sits on it, mo-

tioning or me to take a seat. I do, and he sends mea le that unpacks into a video eed rom severalmonths earlier. I already know what it is going toshow me, but have no choice but to let it play out.

/ / /

Tey catch up to me in a cluster colony nestled deep,or so I thought, within the Jovian rojans. Tis wasback beore I learned to orge a collection o alseMesh IDs. I have made good with the people here,

they are decent olk. So Ive already been tipped oand know the hunters are here when they nd mein a small community park.

I dont run, I stay seated and watch them close in onme, thinking they are successully camouaged as ayoung couple out or a walk. Te Angelre ares inmy minds eye. I tweak the males mind, implantingthe suggestion that when she goes into convulsionsit will be due to inection o the Exsurgent virus. Itsa tough push to sell, but Ive gotten good at it in the

last ew months. He doesnt even know the thoughtis in his mind, waiting to be triggered.

She grabs my arms and locks them behind me. Sheis good, quick. He has a rather large pistol trainedon me. He is good too, I didnt even suspect a gunthat size. I all orward then, she starts to drag meback and then convulses as my Eelware pumps herull o electricity. We go down, her body thrashingovertop o mine.

I know the implanted thought has triggered and, re-maining still under her body, help it along by ood-ing his system with ear. I know he is overwhelmedwith the ages old instincts o ght or ee. Te bigguy does not let me down and his roar is drownedout by automatic re. She convulses some more ontop o me as his ordnance shreds her body, and Iabsently wonder i she will remember this whenshe is resleeved.



ON//FICTION//FICTION//FICTION//FICTION//FICTION//FI

1

I hear a clip drop, and I rise, turning towards him.He umbles with the second clip, stepping awayrom me. Angelre oods my mind and I adeinto the background. Only vaguely am I aware omy body rushing orward to ick the gun out ohis hand. His knie is a blur that I still manage toavoid while moving in. He goes down with a touch

o electrical voltage.

I come back, the Angelre receding. Tey are bothdead. I got creative with the knie. I am not happyabout that. I look around and the decent olks o thecolony are looking at me like I have a second headgrowing out o my ass. I understand, and am goneon the next available transport, on the run again.

/ / /

Te play by play ends, my memories lling in whatthe vid didnt or couldnt record. I look up at Obron,one eyebrow raised.

So, whats the play here Captain? I dont play ittough, just straight and to the point.

He looks me in the eye, something most people nduncomortable, Are you a danger to me and mine?

He doesnt play it tough either, he doesnt have to.

He holds all the cards, but does not like what he sawand wonders just what I have up my sleeve.

I sigh, and simply nod, Yes, yes I am. Tey willcontinue to hunt me.

He slams his st down on the table, rattling every-thing in my room, Tat is NO what I mean. I amnot araid o some dickhead, Hypercorp hunters! Imean you, are YOU dangerous?

I cant help mysel, I laugh. I nd his use o thecolloquialism too unexpectedly unny, especiallycoming rom him. Its a mistake, and I nd myselhanging by his sts, eet dangling above the oor,against the wall. Te collar o my shirt begins toslowly cut o the air.

I raise my hands, palms open, indicating surrender.I manage to choke out, Imsorrylong timelast hearddickhead

He chuckles and lets me go. I massage my throatand sit back down, not at all angry. Really, can Iblame the man? I am impressed though, he readmore in between the lines o the vid eed than most.I nd mysel respecting the man more than ever.

I honestly, I say, pausing to get my throat working

properly again, dont know. It is not my intent toharm anyone, Captain Obron.

He just stares at me, studying me, looking or someanswer to his question. I think about the Angelreserver hidden behind the chair and wonder i it willbe worth enough to help me out o this situation.Obron stops me by placing a similar block o techon the table and I wonder just how much this manhas ound out about me.

Tis is or you, he says as he continues to studymy eyes, you say you do not wish to harm any-one, perhaps then it is time or your intentions tobe about more than just helping yoursel?

I look at the mini-server and then back at him. Heis still studying me, still seeking the answer to hisquestion. I nod to him and pick up the block. I no-tice, in a rare perceptive moment, that he begins torelax rom being overly tense. Later I will wonder just how close I was to being shot then and there,

but or the moment I am just grateul he is leaving.

I glimpse essa outside in the hall when Obronleaves, a look o undisguised relie on her ace asshe sees me still breathing. Obron ushers her awayand the door closes once more, leaving me alonewith the mini-server. I pick it up, initiate hard con-nection via touch, and dive in.

/ / /

A whiteroom, the standard simulspace pre-loadingconstruct. A window blinks into existence and theollowing text scrolls up

WELCOME TO FIREWALL, SENTINEL AMADOR

PLEASE INDICATE WHEN YOU ARE READY TO BEGIN

YOUR TRAINING



RIO//SCENARIO//SCENARIO//SCENARIO//SCENARIO//SCENARI

16

Location: Eden, Mercury

Eden was rst colonized in 2 AF by a small groupo individuals eeing the overcrowded space in theLunar-Lagrange stations, starting their trip romVo Nguyen. Te reugees pooled all their resourcesto pay or the endeavor and started a new min-ing acility in the zone in order to create space to

live. More immigrants arrived aer the colony wasestablished. Tough today it still remains a smallsettlement (even or Mercury) it has attracted morepeople since and is slowly growing. Te main lan-guage employed in Eden is English.

Like all habitats on Mercury, Eden is an under-ground settlement, placed in the western internaledge o a two-kilometer wide crater. Its entry is al-ways protected rom the sun covered by rocky out-croppings that shade it, and is a large metal door,

semicircular, six meters across.

Inside the initial cave has been hollowed out asthe community continues to mine, leaving Edennestled into one central large cave that has a gentleslope downward. Te eastern side o the cave, clos-est to the door, is the residential area. Most hous-ing in this area is carved out o the walls, insteado being built o reestanding structures. So doorsand window are visible everywhere rom the bot-tom o the cave to the ceiling. In the center o the

open cave are a ew metallic buildings that servemostly as warehouses and public buildings. Tenorthern edge was the rst to be industrially minedaer the main space was completed and is current-ly dedicated to ood production. Te now playedout mine tunnels are lled with many kilometerso hydroponic plantations and a ew small arms.Food is one o the main exports o the habitat asiderom mining ores, so this zone is ample and is al-

ways busy with locals tending to it and keeping it

working correctly. Te southern and western sideso the cave are currently the main ocus o the min-ing eorts and as such are mostly avoided by localswho are not working in them. Te mines are ar toonoisy and can be heard everywhere in the habitatduring work hours, despite eorts to sound proothe area.

Most o the habitat is rough and crude as the localsare rather poor and lie in this habitat is demandingand complicated. Te ew buildings built and notcarved out o the rock are rom remains o cargocontainers and other recycled supplies and are ullo patches and quick repairs. Te carved build-ings are small and sober. Te locals are generallyuninterested in anything that is not useul or nec-essary or survival in one way or another. Art andless pragmatic studies are given very little value andconsidered by most as a waste o time.

Te population o the habitat is small, consistingo about two thousand transhumans, one upliedoctopus, and one AGI. Tere are 16 children o varying ages, and the rest are adults, a little overhal o them in synthetic morphs. Most memberso the community are physically male or neuter(depending on the morph) with many less emalemorphs. Given the markedly uneven gender ratiothe community has developed a series o dierentamily models based around several males sharing

one emale or male pairings. Given the dicult cir-cumstances surrounding the ounding o the com-munity, and the lack o spare morphs, there are asizable percentage o locals whose physical bodiesdo not reect their psychological identities, so thecommunity has made some eort to accommodatethe social needs o its members. Tey reely acceptimmigrants rom the exterior i they wish to jointhe community but ew are willing or interested tolive in these conditions.

Exsurgents Under The Sunby Costn Sequeiros

Tis adventure takes place in the Eden habitat located on Mercury. Reasons or players to be there are

up to the GM, as this adventure can very well take place on the way to other adventures or missions. In

act, it works best i it comes out unexpectedly but i you want to Firewall can believe something strangeis happening in Eden and send a team to investigate.



CENARIO//SCENARIO//SCENARIO//SCENARIO//SCENARIO//SCE

1

Tere is very little ree time in this habitat, and mostmembers dedicate their time to either work or sleepand have only a ew moments to themselves. Tecommunity is organized as a direct democracy thatgathers every day via the Mesh in the Eden Coun-cil. In this Council they discuss public matters and

vote on presented actions to take. Usually, most othe community members agree on pragmatic issuesso these votes are quite quick and give the memberssome time to rest and exchange ideas on uture de-velopment o their collective group. Every memberhas the right to one vote, except the AGI and thechildren under 15 years (twelve o them) who arenot eligible to vote.

Everything in the habitat is collective property, asis the work organization and member privileges

earned through it. Tis collective work organizestime or everyone, and the Programming Ocepresents each member with dierent tasks eachday according to current needs. As they ulll theirtasks, new ones get sent to them via the Oce, soeveryone is permanently busy. Te Oce does takeinto account the abilities and interests o the work-ers and attempts to match assignments correctly tomembers, but every member o the community willeventually be rotated through a job they dont care

or. Te most demanding tasksare those o mining, loadingand unloading incoming cargoduring the ew hours this canhappen, ollowed by tendingto ood production, then socialservices and repairs in dam-

aged inrastructure or upgrad-ing inrastructure.

Members o the communi-ty have very little time to sitaround idly chatting and whenthey do they usually do that inthe meeting area in the centero the cave. Most o the time,they chat and socialize whileworking with a constant use o

the Mesh. Te other availablesocial time is during lunch aseveryone on the same shi eatsin the same common room sothey have some time to share

with each other while they wait or their next task.Te habitat operates on a round the clock shischedule, so work is constant.

It is a precarious existence but most are rather happywith it as they eel deeply tied to their community

and useul to it. O course, problems exist as every-where else, but disagreements are usually either dealtwith privately or set or discussion in the Council.

Te economy in Eden is completely @-rep based asthe community doesnt allowed or any orm o cash.Te only alternative to rep avors consists o personalbarters with specic objects, an inormal trade sys-tem amongst the locals. All machinery and neededobjects or work are collective property to be usedby those assigned to tasks by the Oce. Te main

exports o Eden are heavy minerals and ood, whichthey exchange with those that pass by the zone. Teyusually trade or ice and manuactured goods, whichthey cant obtain or themselves readily.

People in Eden can be either citizens or visitors.Visitors have rights to no material support and mustobtain said rights either by bartering or by askingor avors. Te rest are all citizens, which have allo their needs covered by the Oce in exchange or




18

their continued work. One member could ask to beexempted rom work but it would require a Highavor per month (and would orce the one askingto lose 2 @-rep points just or asking successullyor such a avor, and 3 in case the Networking estails). It is rare to ask or a vacation, as even the in- jured can be put to non-physical tasks such as in-

structing the ew children o the community.

Food, housing and all the rest are provided romavailable resources and in case any particular mem-ber needs anything more specic they may ask orit rom the Council. Te only cornucopia machinein the habitat is in the Oce building, where theCouncil approves every good beore it is produced.Not many unneeded objects are approved as usingthe machine is a drain on the raw resources o thecommunity.

Edens culture is rather unsophisticated i comparedto those on Venus or Mars. It centers on values owork and honesty and o service to the communi-ty. Service to the community, usually called TeUs, is the highest o all good. External intererencerom other communities is generally resisted. An-other key value or this community is sacrice astheir lives are tough and require a lot o sacricedaily in order to survive in the harsh conditions oMercury.

Tere are three central seats o power in the com-munity, which are voted on twice a year. First is theChairwoman o the Eden Council who is in chargeo organizing the meetings o the Council and say-ing who can speak and when, and organizing votes.Te second is the Chairman o the ProgrammingOce, in charge o assigning tasks to memebers othe community. Finally, the Chair o Relations isthe one in charge o organizing trade and produc-tion exchange with the groups that will pass by the

next time the sun goes up or down. Te Council isalways thus led by a emale morph, the Oce by amale morph, and the Chair by a synth.

Regarding local laws, many transhumans would besurprised to see how heavily sanctioned all physi-cal attacks on other transhumans arerom simpleghts to the extremely rare case o murders. Tehabitat lacks any spare morphs, which have to be

bought rom other cities in Mercury. Each morph

represents a very costly investment or the whole othe community. Beyond the limits on attacks thereis very little law. Te community summarizes itsimply as: Dont uck around with people. So longas a member ullls commitments, respect othersand doesnt interere with them they will do well.All sanctions are applied to the individuals @-rep

including sanctions related to doing the work noone wants to do.

Since the law here is so simple and there are nopolice, most community members carry aroundportable personal weapons though none that canharm the habitat itsel. Tis is a habit establishedsince the rst days o the community. When someinhabitants get too drunk and start waving themaround the locals do take issue but so ar no seri-ous injuries have occurred. It does help when deal-

ing with others that pass by, especially as there havebeen rumors that a group o pirates may be movinginto the area.

Tere are three small hotels in the residential area othe cave. Last Chance the worst, barely suitable orresidency, Red Sun is a con hotel, and New Futurethe best quality guest housing in Eden. It would stillbe considered poor by most visitors rom Mars orVenus. Tere is also a tavern in which those withsome ree time or whatever reason (usually as a

reward or good work) socialize, drink, relax, andplay simple games.

Te Installation is the group o buildings in thecenter o the cave in which the Oce is located. It issurrounded by warehouses or the mined materialsready to be sent to the exterior and the warehousededicated to goods and ice. Te ice is stored belowground. Te Installation also holds the arcaster in-stallations and a small storage bank or copies oegos. In ront o the Installation is a large courtyard

called the Meeting Zone in which the communitygathers when they have ree time, especially duringcelebrations. Between the courtyard and the hous-ing lie the kitchen and lunchroom as well as thechild care center.

People of Eden, Mercury

Elisse Dewager was the original thinker o the es-tablishment o the habitat and the one that orga-




1

nized it all. Tis small and somewhat notoriouswoman in her twenties has been the Chairwomanor most o the communitys existance and canbe usually ound in the kitchens coordinating thecooking o the acility. She considers everyone amember o her amily and calls adults uncles oraunts, children are nephews or nieces to her. She

is caring, intelligent and quite charismatic.RudolphDewager, Elisses rst husband, was the one thatorganized the initial trip to Mercury and is an oldman with an old morph. Like Elisse, he has beenalways chosen to be the Chairman, and so has beenorganizing work in the community since the verybeginning. Both Rudolph and Elisse are also mar-ried to Hun, a man who is usually working in themining zone.

ron is a large and bulky synth currently in posses-

sion o the Chair. He has many contacts through-out Mercury. He is a recent community member,and only joined Eden a ew years ago. He is the oneto carry out most negotiations with outsiders evenwhen hes not the one appointed to the Chair. Healways has good stories to tell about his days roam-ing around the planet and system.

echnically lacking a name, the local AGI likes tothink o itsel as Lie. It is in charge o all o theenvironmental support machinery and works con-

stantly. It is sour and tired, and has been attemptingto strike or several months now, requiring othersto grant it some ree time in order to get the chanceto read a bit (it loves Shakespeare and other classicworks). Unortunately, its demands are never metand it has to continue working so it always endsup calling o the strike once it has made everyoneuncomortable enough by letting temperaturesdrop or rise signicantly. Still, its in the core o itsprogramming to keep people alive, so it can nevercarry it ully and complete its strike. Most members

o the community nd it dicult to relate to andLie spends most o its time by itsel.

Act 0

What Has Happened Before

A ew years ago, when ron came to live in Eden,he brought with him some heavy drilling lasers toimprove the eciency o the mining eorts and

bring some wealth to the habitat. He bought themrom a Fa Jing agent in Hellswatch, part o a miningproject the corporation was going to open on thePlanet; but, in the end Fa Jing decided not to openthe mining project, and sold their drills cheap inorder to compensate or losses and to avoid havingto pay or transport back to Lunar orbit. Or at least,

this is what ron was told and he believes.

Te truth is that the seller, named Jonkia Mol-linson, was inected by the Reddrik variant o theexsurgent virus, and each drill carried a copy othe Reddrik strain o the virus as well. Jonkia hadmoved the drills rom one o the stations in orbitrom the Moon in order to get the virus in contactwith as many biomorphs as possible (19 beorehe met ron). He expected to start spreading it inMercury and was only too happy to see the drill go

to the mining acility.

Since then, the exsurgent has spread to thosebiomorphs that have come in direct contact withit (40 more in the Eden habitat), and has created adozen syringes ull o viral material that are stored ina secret compartment o the machine. Te syringescan be used to spread the virus and inect those thatarent in direct contact with the mining drill.

Act 1

The Tiredness

Te players reach the habitat when Mercury ispassing rom day to night, during the two hours inwhich the surace is habitable and will have to stayor the next two months until the sun nally comesout again. During those two hours lie will returnto the surace and Jins Path will pass through. Liein the habitat goes by normally and it is possiblethat players stay the ull two months without ever

noticing something is strange. Aer all, this straino exsurgent likes to remain hidden. Still, there area couple ways they may notice something strangeis occurring.

Te rst is during lunch. At those times, those witha good success in Kinesics may realize that minerscoming back rom work appear to be extra tired.Much more than one would expect rom their work,something strange or certain, especially the player




20


21/29

The Reddrik Exsurgent Variant

Te Reddrik variant is one o the oldest variants o exsurgent and as such not one o the most sophisti-cated. Yet, it still is very dangerous, and relatively little is known about its behavior. Te Reddrik variant isan ego collector. It creates a gestalt between the dierent egos it absorbs and puts them to work in unison,under the central control o a mother inection source.

It inects only biomorphs since it travels in the blood stream and it can be introduced there by physicalcontact with the vessel the mother is in or by injection, blood or saliva contact. Once in the blood stream,the nanos that compose the Reddrik start to replicate themselves by absorbing blood and mimicking itsunction perectly, thus ullling the same unctions as the hosts original supply. Te body doesnt evenrealize it has been attacked and doesnt respond to it. I countermeasures are sent against it in the blood,it cannibalizes them and takes their shape, just as it does with the blood itsel.

Aer ull blood supply conversion, within a period o 24 hours, blood owing through the brain reshapesthe neural pattern o the le temporal lobe, the one in charge o superior reasoning, and adds new unc-tionality to this area o the brain. Te new unctions work in parallel with the usual work o the brain.

o a victim this eels like simple exhaustion (2 stress points). Tis activity shows on many brain scans asunusually high levels o activity and can alert those that know the specic details o this exsurgent as tothe nature o the inection.

Once ully active, it logs into whatever mesh nodes are available in the surroundings and starts sendingencrypted data in very small packages to all nodes around it. From these nodes the mother, the centralsource o the exsurgent collects inormation and edits the logs to erase all traces o access. Tis data is alarge le that usually takes 1 or 2 days to be ully sent, as it is a copy o the ego the exsurgent has inectedwhich then is added to the mothers gestalt. Since the virus is present in the emission/reception part othe victims Basic Mesh Inserts and since it is the victims own brain that issues the orders to send thatinormation, it usually is sent without the inected realizing anything is unusual. Te muse usually con-

siders it normal inormation sent by its owner. Since little inormation is sent to each node most monitor-ing systems consider the activity to be normal transactions, which are then erased rom the logs when theexsurgent connects to retrieve the data.

Aer this upload is complete the individual resumes his usual lie. Te only signs o inection are oc-casional data packages that are sent to the nodes when new inormation is added to the victims identity,such as important memories or things the exsurgent may want to know, and the heightened activity othe brain. Still, i the exsurgent thinks it is necessary, it can override control o the brain and seed ideas,which the victim then tries to ulll as best he can. Once the virus has gathered enough copies o egos todecide to spread itsel urther by creating a new mother. Te victim never remembers what happens dur-ing possession.

Even i morphs in the immediate area arent inected, they will become worn out i they come too close tothe gestalt due to data overload. Te area immediately surrounding the mother is thick with data transersignals. Te data is moved in both the Mesh and in more direct ways, since the brains o the inected area direct part o the gestalt. Tis causes all those that remain close to it or at least an hour to take 2 Stresspoints. Tough tiredness is always elt when near the gestalt, the Stress points are only taken on rstexposure, to represent the direct contact with the gestalt even i the victim doesnt know theyve come incontact with it.



The Reddrik Exsurgent Variant

Te Reddrik variant is one o the oldest variants o exsurgent and as such not one o the most sophisti-cated. Yet, it still is very dangerous, and relatively little is known about its behavior. Te Reddrik variant isan ego collector. It creates a gestalt between the dierent egos it absorbs and puts them to work in unison,under the central control o a mother inection source.

It inects only biomorphs since it travels in the blood stream and it can be introduced there by physicalcontact with the vessel the mother is in or by injection, blood or saliva contact. Once in the blood stream,the nanos that compose the Reddrik start to replicate themselves by absorbing blood and mimicking itsunction perectly, thus ullling the same unctions as the hosts original supply. Te body doesnt evenrealize it has been attacked and doesnt respond to it. I countermeasures are sent against it in the blood,it cannibalizes them and takes their shape, just as it does with the blood itsel.

Aer ull blood supply conversion, within a period o 24 hours, blood owing through the brain reshapesthe neural pattern o the le temporal lobe, the one in charge o superior reasoning, and adds new unc-tionality to this area o the brain. Te new unctions work in parallel with the usual work o the brain.

o a victim this eels like simple exhaustion (2 stress points). Tis activity shows on many brain scans asunusually high levels o activity and can alert those that know the specic details o this exsurgent as tothe nature o the inection.

Once ully active, it logs into whatever mesh nodes are available in the surroundings and starts sendingencrypted data in very small packages to all nodes around it. From these nodes the mother, the centralsource o the exsurgent collects inormation and edits the logs to erase all traces o access. Tis data is alarge le that usually takes 1 or 2 days to be ully sent, as it is a copy o the ego the exsurgent has inectedwhich then is added to the mothers gestalt. Since the virus is present in the emission/reception part othe victims Basic Mesh Inserts and since it is the victims own brain that issues the orders to send thatinormation, it usually is sent without the inected realizing anything is unusual. Te muse usually con-

siders it normal inormation sent by its owner. Since little inormation is sent to each node most monitor-ing systems consider the activity to be normal transactions, which are then erased rom the logs when theexsurgent connects to retrieve the data.

Aer this upload is complete the individual resumes his usual lie. Te only signs o inection are oc-casional data packages that are sent to the nodes when new inormation is added to the victims identity,such as important memories or things the exsurgent may want to know, and the heightened activity othe brain. Still, i the exsurgent thinks it is necessary, it can override control o the brain and seed ideas,which the victim then tries to ulll as best he can. Once the virus has gathered enough copies o egos todecide to spread itsel urther by creating a new mother. Te victim never remembers what happens dur-ing possession.

Even i morphs in the immediate area arent inected, they will become worn out i they come too close tothe gestalt due to data overload. Te area immediately surrounding the mother is thick with data transersignals. Te data is moved in both the Mesh and in more direct ways, since the brains o the inected area direct part o the gestalt. Tis causes all those that remain close to it or at least an hour to take 2 Stresspoints. Tough tiredness is always elt when near the gestalt, the Stress points are only taken on rstexposure, to represent the direct contact with the gestalt even i the victim doesnt know theyve come incontact with it.

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has a MoS +30. Sure, it is a hard physical work, doneover many hours in a stressul environment, but theminers seem more worn out than they should bythe lunch hour. Still, or the miners, they considerthis normal. It has been this way or years, and noone in the habitat has noticed the slow changes inbehavior taking place.

Te second opportunity to notice something outo the ordinary is i any o the players get asked towork in the mine or go there voluntarily. Tey willsuer the eects o exhaustion themselves becausethey are too near to the mother. O course, i anybiomorph enters in contact with the inected drill,they will be inected directly.

Tese two venues should give the party plenty oopportunity to notice that something isnt right.

Tis opens the path to investigation, which theplayers can approach in many dierent ways, keep-ing in mind the nal stages o the virus. Inosechacking will not show anything strange in the vic-tims, except i the players check basic biomods andnotice the heightened brain activity. Tey may alsochoose to interrogate the miners, directly or in con-versation via the mesh during work hours (a nor-mal socializing habit in Eden). By asking aroundthey should nd out that problems began almost

two years ago, when work intensied in the mines.

Further investigation and questioning should allowthe player characters to realize that ron reachedthe habitat just a little beore that date, so he maybe an initial suspect who seems to conveniently notknow anything. He actually doesnthes immuneto the virus because hes a synthetic morph. It isimportant to note that the locals connect ron andthe problem only i directly asked, and they believethe exhaustion is simply due to his work scheduling

making them work especially hard or the wholehabitats sake. ron simply hasnt raised any othersuspicions and seems to have the good o the habi-tat in mind. Still, in time, the locals may be able towork out that whats wrong is not ron but the ma-chinery he brought with him as he came to Eden.

As the players begin investigating and come nearto the mine, the exsurgent will know they are out-

siders. By accessing the memories o the inected

who may discuss with the players their plans andideas it may pick up on the players intentions toleave soon. Once it knows they plan to leave as soonas the sun comes up, it will decide this is the righttime to begin to replicate. It has almost completedthe cycle o reproduction with 59 egos in its gestalt,and knows that it may be long beore it can get hold

o another opportunity i it lets this chance y by. Itwants the player characters to complete the processo replication and to provide a stealthy vector oplanet or urther inection.

Act 2

Infection in the Night

A week aer the mother notices their existence itwill move to take hold o the players. During the

second hour o sleep, individual teams o two menwill go to each player characters room. Most likelythe players will be sleeping in individual rooms oa hotel, but i they have chosen to double up thenmore men will come to their roomtwo or eachplayer character. One o each pair is equipped withsomething to bind their victim and keep them si-lenced; the other is equipped with a syringe ull othe exsurgent virus.

Te attackers arent great warriors, they are un-

trained miners aer all, but they count on surpriseon their side and that the players are sleeping. Ithe players havent set any sort o deenses, makethem roll each round Perception 30 to wake up asthe door is opened. I they wake up they can eas-ily deeat the attackers on their own and then helpeach other. I they dont, in the rst round the at-tackers will move into the room. One will hold thecharacter to the bed, waking the character in theprocess. In the second round the one holding thecharacter will tie the character up and in the third

round his companion will inject the virus. Oncethis is done, the character is inected and the viruswill progress.

O course, it could happen that all player characterswake and deend themselves. It could happen thatnone do and they dont even realize they have beeninected. Probably, the result will be somewhere inbetween with some waking up in time to deendthemselves and others not. Dont be araid to in-




2

ect all you can, the exsurgent doesnt have pity normercy and wants to collect and use the party. I allplayer characters die in this adventure, they willlearn the dangers that come with dealing with theexsurgent threat. Make sure your players boughtresleeving insurance and have backups.

Te attackers are all miners, which links them tothe things the characters may have noticed by now.Interrogating the attackers (i they survive) proveso little useulness, as none o them recall anythingo the night. All they remember is going to sleep intheir own beds. I exposed to tapes o what happen,they will recognize they are the ones shown but stillcant recall anything o the attack.

O course, all the inhabitants o the place (includingthe attackers) will be alarmed by the attack. Noth-

ing like this had ever happened, never had therebeen such unexpected and unreasonable violencebeore, and never have they seen syringes like thosecarried by the attackers. Te leadership o the habi-tat will slowly start to lose control rom here on asthey dont know how to deal with this situation andcant organize solid responses to the events. Voteswill be called or many issues, and bitter rivalrieswill start to show during the proceedings.

Act 3

Battlelines:

By now, the players should be aware that someoneis aer them. And yet, signs and leads are scarce.Analyzing what one o the inected does (eitherone o the players or one o the attackers) willprobably reveal the sending o coded data to themesh. I it is one o the players and process is nearthe beginning o inection, the party may noticethat the data being sent is very large. In the end, i

all packets are added together, the results are justa little bit larger than a ull copy o an ego, thoughthe data is still encrypted.

Te players can start tracing where this data goesand where it could be stored in the habitat. It is nota small amount o data so it has to be kept in anECO somewhere in the habitat or concealed in asizable piece o equipment. A hacker can start hack-ing everything in the station and will eventually lo-

cate the inected drill within a ew days o search-ing by noticing that it has a rewall much harder tocrack than anything else in the habitat. Te exsur-gent is deending itsel actively (Inosec skill 100)and will try to delay detection and keep attackersout by all means. I the player characters do enterthe exsurgents protected system it will warn them

to leave and attempt to orce them out. Te charac-ters may notice the existence o 59 egos (plus thoseo the captured player characters) stored inside andunctioning as a linked whole. I the player charac-ters can stay inside the system long enough, theymay obtain the identity o the 40 miners that havebeen inected, plus 19 other unknown victims. Re-searching the additional names will show that theyare not in Mercury, but scattered all over the sys-tem and are possible origins o more inections. Ocourse, such an invasion into the exsurgents system

will trigger Act 4.

Te players can also choose to investigate more qui-etly rom a greater distance. Following the attackersand those that show signs o tiredness may allowthem to identiy who the inected are. Studying thelast two years o tapes rom the mines will even-tually lead them to the act that all o the inectedminers manually operated the inected drill aerwhich declines in perormance indicate inectionoccurred. Such an approach will avoid the exsur-

gents alarm and it will not be ready or an attack.

Te unused syringes (i there are any aer the at-tack) may also be useul to the player characters.Analyzing the nanobots inside them will show thatthey are inactive, apparently dead. Actually, theyare dormant since in the syringe they lack bloodon which to eed and become active. I exposed toblood, they will start replicating in it while devour-ing it. Te nanobots will start changing color aswell. I exposed to enough blood, they will take on

the orm o what seems to be blood cells but con-tinue replicating.

Tis may give the players some useul inormationon the working o the virus and maybe even somesort o counter measures. Probably the only useulone consists o draining the user o all blood andreplacing it with new and clean blood (or a bloodsubstitute) beore the process o conversion is com-plete. Tis wont reverse the damage already done


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The Exsurgent and Psychosurgery

Te exsurgent virus modies the connections be-tween neurons in the brain modiying the structureand workings o the brain itsel. Tis gives the virusdirect access to the emission/reception section o

the Basic Mesh Inserts. Since it modies the brainitsel, Psychosurgery cant easily revert the eects.

Still, a skillul application o Psychosurgery can bevery helpul. It will reveal the existence o a sectiono the brain that has been locked away rom the vic-tims knowledge. Te exsurgent activity is based inthat location and any attempts to perorm surgeryon the spot will draw the viruss attention. Being asit is a bold but not yet conrontational entity, it willrst warn the attackers to step back by speaking to

them in a low and severe tone that recommendsthey leave. Characters unaware o what is going onmay mistake this communication or the victimsown response.

Attacking the walled o section is possible. I at-tacks persist, it will decide to resist with orce. Ia character uses the Modiy Behavior action theycan make that section become inactive. O course,they cant repair the brain to normal unctionalityand the exsurgent will sooner or later break ree a-

ter some months, but meanwhile the virus wont beable to take control o the host or orce the victimto continue sending inormation.

The Eye//An Eclipse Phase Fanzine


The Exsurgent and Psychosurgery

Te exsurgent virus modies the connections be-tween neurons in the brain modiying the structureand workings o the brain itsel. Tis gives the virusdirect access to the emission/reception section o

the Basic Mesh Inserts. Since it modies the brainitsel, Psychosurgery cant easily revert the eects.

Still, a skillul application o Psychosurgery can bevery helpul. It will reveal the existence o a sectiono the brain that has been locked away rom the vic-tims knowledge. Te exsurgent activity is based inthat location and any attempts to perorm surgeryon the spot will draw the viruss attention. Being asit is a bold but not yet conrontational entity, it willrst warn the attackers to step back by speaking to

them in a low and severe tone that recommendsthey leave. Characters unaware o what is going onmay mistake this communication or the victimsown response.

Attacking the walled o section is possible. I at-tacks persist, it will decide to resist with orce. Ia character uses the Modiy Behavior action theycan make that section become inactive. O course,they cant repair the brain to normal unctionalityand the exsurgent will sooner or later break ree a-

ter some months, but meanwhile the virus wont beable to take control o the host or orce the victimto continue sending inormation.

24

but will stop urther progress. Tere isnt any ma-chine in the habitat capable o emptying a morpho blood and replacing it and it surely will be ex-pensive to create one or a one-time use so the habi-tat council will be reluctant to grant the request isomeone asks or it to be created in the abber even

i the situation is presented directly. Given that thehabitat is already in a state o ear, debate and vot-ing on the matter may take longer than the playercharacters have time to wait, and openly declaringan exsurgent inection will panic the inhabitants othe habitat.

I things remain tranquil or the players cant pin thelocation o the mother, the Exsurgent will complete

the process o adding inected player character

egos to its gestalt. Aer doing so, it begins the pro-cess o splitting itsel in two by asking its agents tobring blood or it to eed on in order to replicate it-sel. Four days later, there will be two mothers; onewill be stored in the machine (in a simple squarebox) while the other is intended to leave with theparty when the sun rises. One o the inected play-

ers, or a miner i all players avoided inection, willbe possessed and called to the drill at night carry-ing some object o importance to the player charac-ter which will be taken along when the party leavesthe mine. Te second mother will enter this objectand wait, so that even i the players end up discov-ering the rst mother and deeating it, the secondone may survive to spread the inection.

Act 4

Showdown:Eventually, the original mother will probably eelthreatened enough by the player characters ac-tions to decide hiding will not do it any urthergood. It will begin to orceully upload all avail-able hosts to its gestalt. Te mother will call all itsinected victims in the habitat to the mine, wherethey will gather and surround the drill. By now,the whole habitat will be quite scared and the un-inected are likely to hide in the central buildings

in deensible locations.

Te inected will take the original mother in the boxand carry it with them as they move through thehabitat. Tey will gather up all remaining syringes,looking to inect as many inhabitants o the habitatas possible beore tearing the whole habitat downand scattering elsewhere to start inection in otherlocations. I conronted, the mother will personallyact to deend the group (see Powers o the Mother).By now, players should have ew remaining options

to deeat the virus.

Destroying the mother and all those inside her pro-tective bubble requires a weapon o mass destruc-tion: a small amount o antimatter, a small nucleardevice, plasma, or some similar powerul blast. Aweapon like this can be quite hard to obtain, cer-tainly no melee weapon or any commonly avail-able ranged weapon will harm it. Probably the bestway to do this in a pinch is by sacricing a char-


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Powers of the Mother:

Te mother remains in the box until it sensessomeone outside its inuence is coming close andhas hostile intent. Ten it will leave the box and ex-pand to orm a sphere that surrounds its ollowers.

Within this sphere it can control its victims bio-logically by entering their saliva without using theMesh. Tereore in this orm the mother is immuneto attacks through the Mesh and its control over itsvictims cannot be disrupted electronically.

Te mother is a brutal devourer o material, repli-cating itsel and growing. It preers organic materi-al but i it is attacked with material objects (bullets,boxes, cranes) it will devour them in an instantand appear to simply grow in size. (It takes more

mass than that o a bullet to make the mother mea-surably stronger.)

I the mother has taken to a maniested orm - theplayer characters need to consider options otherthan direct conrontation.



Powers of the Mother:

Te mother remains in the box until it sensessomeone outside its inuence is coming close andhas hostile intent. Ten it will leave the box and ex-pand to orm a sphere that surrounds its ollowers.

Within this sphere it can control its victims bio-logically by entering their saliva without using theMesh. Tereore in this orm the mother is immuneto attacks through the Mesh and its control over itsvictims cannot be disrupted electronically.

Te mother is a brutal devourer o material, repli-cating itsel and growing. It preers organic materi-al but i it is attacked with material objects (bullets,boxes, cranes) it will devour them in an instantand appear to simply grow in size. (It takes more

mass than that o a bullet to make the mother mea-surably stronger.)

I the mother has taken to a maniested orm - theplayer characters need to consider options otherthan direct conrontation.

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acter with an Emergency Farcaster implant, thusdestroying the Exsurgent with the small antimat-ter explosion but other options may exist depend-ing on the group. I they have some sort o IANquarantine equipment, or nanobot destructors,those may work a

The Eye Fanzine #001

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