Synthetic Sapien

Melee
RV 20
Coordination
RV 10
Brawn
RV 20
Fortitude
RV 10
Intellect
RV 30
Awareness
RV 4
Willpower
RV 20
Lifestyle
RV 40
Repute
RV +2

Health:
Fortune:
60
54

Origin:

Edgar Lockwood, the man calling himself the Synthetic Sapien, is a cyborg. Formerly a perfectly good human being, he feels that he should be a robot, the true child of mankind's genius. He is thus replacing himself, bit by bit, until nothing of his original meat remains.

Known Powers:

Believer Psionics (Superpsi Powers):

Self Control (s): acquired naturally through years of assisted introspection, this rank value 50 superpsionic substitutes its own for Edgar's Intellect where memory is concerned, his Awareness when determining initiative, and his Willpower for the purposes of resisting mind control.

Cybernetics:

Obsessed with becoming an artificial man, what he feels is the pinnacle of humanity's legacy, Edgar has been slowly replacing parts of himself with their synthetic equivalents. Thus far, he's managed the following implants with his own, amateur surgery:

Computer Link: a primitive link to modern computers, Edgar has a USB port built into his left arm. Through this, he can send signals directly to external devices plugged into him or, if he's using a Bluetooth or other wireless device, to those nearby him.

Cyber-arms: though swapping out his arms was fraught with peril, Edgar has managed this with relative ease - even if he could only manage one at a time. His new arms work just as well as their fleshy forebears, but have a higher inherent, built-in strength.

Accounting for his elevated Brawn, above, Edgar's cyber-arms also have numerous gadgets built in, all of which he can control just by thinking about it. This took him a while to sort out, since he had to learn how each bit worked individually, but it's all automatic now.

Cyber-ear: like his left eye, Edgar has replaced his left ear (or at the very least, the bits inside) with artificial enhancements. The benefit of Edgar's audio implant is that it lets him hear much more clearly than he ever could before.

In addition to the benefit of a rank value 30 sonar sense, Edgar can now benefit from unusual sensitivity at will. In other words, he can switch the sonic frequencies his robotic ear perceives sound at, to detect ultra high or ultra low frequency waves.

Cyber-eye: installed with the help of his body mod buddies, since he couldn't see what he was doing to make this procedure work, Edgar's replacement left eye is a marvel of modern camera technology - though cellular telephones will likely surpass its raw power soon.

While its resolution is impressive, however, what makes Edgar's artificial eye stand out is the staggering range of its visual acuity: the entire electromagnetic spectrum! It benefits from Infravision, Ultravision, and Radivision, all of which function at rank value 20.

Cyber-legs: Edgar replaced his legs one by one, which has led to him having a slightly mismatched pair, since the recovery time for each procedure was considerable. Of course, he's in the process of modifying the first to match up with the second's capabilities.

Contained in a shell made from m.v. 40 metals, Edgar's cybernetic leg replacements function as can their regular limb counterparts, though these add the power of Super Jumping to Edgar's capabilities, functioning at rank value 100.

Quills: all of Edgar's replacement limbs have aversive spike ports scattered across their surface, to prevent organ legging, or to simply serve as handy melee weapons in a pinch. He can use these to inflict Slashing damage when otherwise unarmed.

Replacement Skeleton: though this required considerable assistance from individuals in the body mod community, Edgar has now replaced almost his entire skeleton with a metallic alloy that still allows his marrow to function. His bones are now of m.v. 50.

Screened Senses: it's true that Edgar's fleshy bits are still subject to sensory overload, what with them still functioning 'as designed'. However, his artificial replacement sensory organs are engineered a little bit better in that regard.

In essence, Edgar installed an output cap in each of his sensory replacement bits, to keep them from a) burning out and needing a painful replacement, and b) causing him to be dazzled while going about his business. His senses are protected with rank value 50 ability.

Submachine Gun: built into his right arm, this weapon is invisible until deployed for action. When active, it can be fired to inflict rank value 6 Piercing damage in a single shot, raised +1 RS in a short burst of ammunition, or +2 RS in a sustained burst of fire.

Universal Digestion: while each step in the installation of this system could've easily killed Edgar, he was not daunted by the risk involved. Thanks to his daring and innovation, he now has a replacement digestive tract, letting him derive sustenance from almost anything.

Universal Respiration: one at a time, Edgar has replaced his lungs with vastly superior atmospheric filtration systems. Now lacking his original organs entirely, he can extract whatever gases from the air he needs with ease, regardless of how toxic the air happens to be.

Implant Psychosis Statistic: RV 19.

Limitations / Enhancements:

Implant Psychosis Statistic: as a cyborg, Edgar is subject to the problem of implant psychosis. Under duress, he must pass a Willpower ACT roll against his IPS, or will suffer from extreme mental instability for a time - usually until he next falls unconscious.

This instability can take almost any form, but usually amplifies his desire to further modify his body into an artificial monstrosity. When subject to IPS, Edgar must pass a Willpower ACT roll at -4 RS lest he surgically alter his few remaining tissues somehow.

Equipment:

(none)

Quirks:

Abnormal Attribute: Edgar looks freakish and doesn't go out of his way to hide it. Sure, he wears baggy clothes most of the time, since that's his 'thing', but it's not like he goes out of his way to hide his extensive cybernetics work. Or the racket they make.

High Pain Tolerance: it takes someone with an unbelievably high tolerance for pain to operate on themselves - much less regularly. Edgar almost treats the sensation as a curiosity, and can resist the effects of it, as well as Concuss results, at a +2 RS.

Loner: though people come far and wide to benefit from Edgar's talents, the truth is he hates being around others altogether. He must pass a Willpower ACT at -2 RS to tolerate people for any length of time. Unless they're unconscious on his table, at least.

Strong Bones: having replaced all of his original, organically derived bones with artificial stand-ins, Edgar benefits from the effects of this quirk. Thus, his remnant fleshy bits possess 1 RS of damage reduction against Bashing attacks of rank value 50 power or less.

Skills:

Electronics 3: it's quite possible that Edgar is one of the leading electronics engineers on the planet. If his efforts weren't so focused on himself, he could possibly change the world. His Intellect in this area of expertise should be considered +3 RS in value.

Engineering: while he's not really a mechanical expert, Edgar has picked up the finer points of engineering for the purposes of simulating human bits - limbs in particular. He can make most bioengineering attempts as though his Intellect was +1 RS higher than is listed above.

Medicine 2: Edgar has also proven himself to be quite a competent practitioner of medicine - even if what he does could be considered highly unethical. His Intellect benefits from a +2 RS in areas of medical expertise, and he gains a like bonus when attempting surgery.

Contacts:

Edgar is popular in the body modification community, and has numerous people within he can consider reliable contacts - he's augmented their bodies, after all, and is their chief mechanic. As an Anthropist, he can also consider the Society something of a contact as well.

Costume:

Edgar typically wears baggy, loose-fitting clothing at all times, to cover what's left of the flesh he finds so embarrassing. Typically colored in darker hues, this clothing often includes sweat pants, sneakers, hoodies, sweaters, and (when he's feeling angry) an executioner's hood.

Personality:

Edgar dreams of becoming that which he feels is the ultimate punch line of humanity's existence: artificial life. Wishing to be synthetic more than anything else, he has worked his whole life to build himself into a new state of being, honing his skills year after year.

Something of a recluse, he would've toiled away in seclusion if not for the teachings of Alabaster Jackson-Jones and his Anthropy Society, who helped him to come to terms with what he is and his intense loathing of inefficient flesh, the result of highly random natural selection.

Thanks to his fellow Anthropists, he found the courage he needed to begin augmenting himself, and is well on his way to purging his existence of embarrassing meat. He just has to figure out how to build himself a replacement brain, and he's there!

Real Name: Edgar Lockwood
Occupation: body modification consultant
Legal Status: citizen of the United States with something of a criminal record
Marital Status: single
Alias(es), if any: none
Group Affiliation: the Anthropy Society

Height: 6' 2"
Hair: black, though usually dyed any number of neon colors
Eyes: blue (though his artificial eye looks like naught but a digital camera's CCD)
Weight: 303 lbs.
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: Edgar is mostly artificial at this point, and by his own hand, no less. His extremities and many of his major organs have been replaced with artificial stand-ins, and what's left of his flesh is covered in scars, piercings and tattoos.

Story:

Something of a futurist, Edgar has always wanted to elevate himself past the failings of flesh. He'd watched too many beloved relatives succumb to one illness or another, and refuses to let himself die due to a defect introduced in the process of highly randomized natural selection.

To this end, he has studied principles of biology and electronics his entire life, hoping to augment himself past the failings of evolution. This work quickly became an obsession of Edgar's, but he never really got past the theoretical stage - at least, until he became an Anthropist.

Having read up on Alabaster Jackson-Jones' pet philosophies while taking a momentary break from designing a new digestive tract, Edgar was intrigued. So much so, in fact, that he pulled himself out of seclusion in his basement laboratory to meet the curious man in person.

Fascinated with what he believed was Jackson-Jones' point, that the only thing holding people back, ultimately, are themselves, Edgar asked the man to work with him. Edgar needed the impetus to make a rather drastic change in himself, after all, and this seemed as good as any.

Working with Alabaster for quite some time, Edgar slowly began to realize that all of his previous body modifications, all of the changes he'd inflicted onto his body, were a rehearsal for the prime time. And that it was okay for him to loathe the flesh that made him be.

As long as he was true to his mind, it was all okay.

Thus, Edgar got serious. Perfecting the design for his first synthetic part, a leg, Edgar planned out the surgery required to install it in exquisite detail. After 'acquiring' a bunch of medical supplies, he then set to and operated on himself, replacing his original left leg!

Though recovery from this procedure took quite a while, what with Edgar being a lousy patient to his own medical skills, he nonetheless had successfully substituted his original, organic leg with this synthetic stand-in. And what was better was, the thing even worked!

Encouraged, Edgar eventually replaced his other leg, along with increasingly ornate bits of his body. Becoming a legend in the underground body mod community has only helped Edgar, for now and then he's needed a bit of help doing a replacement here and there. Eyes aren't easy!

What's more, some body modders are starting to emulate Edgar work. Whether designing their own replacement parts or just using Edgar's (freely shared) designs, many fans are becoming cyborgs on the sly thanks to him. After all, he hasn't died yet, so he must be on to something.

So, when not making lots of money doing a custom parts swap for some extreme body modder or another, Edgar is using the money they give him to research his final holy grail: an artificial brain. Once he can develop this, he can ascend to the perfect (to him) state of being.

Though admittedly, he's not even sure where to start. Yet.

Legal Hoopajoob:

I offer my Edition 13 work under the Creative Commons Attribution license.

What this means is that if you wish, you may use this Edition 13 material in any way you see fit, whether copying, distributing, or displaying all or part of this text, as long as you credit my work, in either your own derivative texts or products.

If you would like more information about me for attribution, you can contact me via e mail (DashApostrophe@gmail.com).

Extra Goodies:

Synthetic Sapien 4C System: Edition 13 Text File Download

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