By Quicksilver
Preface | Introduction | Technical Implementation | Upbringing | History | Uses of a Cyborg | "Private" Users | Society and the Cyborg
Something that has not been documented in the sourcebooks that make up the Shadowrun universe has been the "classic" cyborg; a human brain in a robot body. Conventionally, this has usually been thought of as a transfer on the central nervous system (and perhaps a few supporting organs) of an adult human being into a "mechanical" body. For reasons of massive essence loss (and perhaps loss of "sanity", although this is not a necessary premise), this has been considered impossible in the Shadowrun universe.

(Thanks to the following sources for inspiration: Anne McCaffrey's The Ship Who Sang and its sequels, Robert Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, the Cyberpunk 2020 Role-Playing game by R. Talsorian, and, of course, the Shadowrun RPG by FASA) 

>>>>>[Welcome again to the Shadowlands BBS.  The following article was
submitted to us in the normal fashion - ie, we don't know who wrote it, and
we wouldn't tell anyway, so frag off.  As usual, the article is set up for
annotation, so go to, chummers, and spread the wealth.]<<<<<
        - Captain CRUNCH (08-02-55/19:08:03)

>>>>>[A warning: the following document is full of misrepresentations,
exaggerations, and outright lies.  The amount of actual cyborgs in the world
is overestimated by a factor of ten at LEAST, and several lies are told
about how such beings are created and used.]<<<<<
        - Big Tick (08-05-55/03:00:27)

>>>>>[The Tick is a fixer who works exclusively for the big A]<<<<<
        - Pyramid Watcher (08-05-55/5:34:19)
One of the staples of current trideo "techno-thrillers" in the past few years has been the "recently developed" technology of full body conversion, or full cyborging. The main character or master villian of at least three current trid shows, two major simsense releases, a trid movie, and a score of cheap novel chips has been such a creation. Whether accidentally horribly maimed beyond even current medical technology to cure, or out of noble self-sacrifice to country or corp, or twisted magical process, these insanely powerful creations stand ready to lay waste to either mankind as we know it, or be humanity's last savior/protector. Alas, this kind of technological awakening is beyond what could be reasonably attempted today, or in the foreseeable future. 
>>>>>[Hey, I watch "Omega Man regularly, and the scientific basis of John
Masters is perfectly sound!]<<<<<<
        - Dean (08-19-55/23:58:00)

>>>>>[You admit to rotting your mind with that stuff???????]<<<<<
        - I-man (08-21-55/10:07:45)
Such a conversion is beyond the capabilities of the human mind and body to bear. The body's essense cannot be disrupted to such an extent. Experiments have proven that there is a limit to the manipulations that can be performed on the human body and mind. 
>>>>>[Notice the author cleverly avoids any mention of the aura, and the
fact that cyberware pollutes the aura, causing this so-called limit.  The
body has no limit, it is the spirit]<<<<<
        - Astral Annie (08-16-55/09:00:50)

>>>>>[Come off it with the mumbo-jumbo.  Magic is not the be-all and end-all
of creation!]<<<<<
        - Jason (08-17-55/00:53:22)

>>>>>[Granted]<<<<<
        - Astral Annie (08-17-55/10:07:37)

>>>>>[How little you know of the Universe then.....]<<<<<
        - Seeker (08-29-55/08:08:25)
There is another way, however. The state of the art in gengeneering and bioware offers this alternative: a subject whose physical body development was artificially limited and channeled in such a way as to force the body to remain at an immature - i.e. physically small - physical level, but allow the brain to develop relatively normally. This is done primarily by adjusting the pituitary gland (among others) shortly before or after "birth", when the fetus has fully developed.

Once the body has stabilized, it is fitted with neuroelectronic interfaces similar in concept to the vehicle control rig and skillwires, and placed in a life-support module, incorrectly termed "the braincase." The subject is then indoctrinated in whatever fashion the creator wishes. Tis can be everything from an attempt to raise the subject in a "normal" fashion by adoptive parents, changing bodies as the subject "grows up," and gradually introducing the subject to it's "cyborg-hood" - to a direct method of military-style instruction and direct training from as early an age as possible. 

>>>>>[Guess which way most 'borgs grow up.... Yep.  These little guys, "from
their mothers womb untimely ripped," grow up in an environment that makes
the worst bits from a military reform school look like a picnic.  And that's
the government-funded ones.  The corp ones are worse!]<<<<<
        - ISPCMH (08-17-55/20:11:34)

>>>>>[ISPCMH???]<<<<<
        - Georg (08-17-55/21:09:54)

>>>>>[Interplanetary Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Meta-Humans!]<<<<<
        - ISPCMH (08-17-55/21:25:26)

>>>>>[I'm sorry I asked.  Fragging bleeding heart.]<<<<<
        - Georg (08-18-55/10:24:00)
For reasons of pyschology, socialization and economics, the subject is usually raised in a virtual reality environment designed to simulate the real world for as long as possible before actually controlling a real body. This is not usually the same as the VR environment that the so-called "children in the Matrix" were raised in (unless the subject is intended to be a decker), but a simsense world based on our own.

In most cases, this VR phase lasts from three to seven years. At this point, the subject is either inserted into a body or controls one remotely, and the indoctrination continues. Puberty is usually avoided completely or artificially induced early and sped up (depending on the indoctrination) and therefore the psycho-social problems of the "teenager" are avoided and the subject is, psychologially speaking, an "adult" in temperament at the end of the indoctrination period. 

>>>>>[And what's wrong with being a teenager?!?!?!?!]<<<<<
        - Dean (08-25-55/21:30:48)

>>>>>[Well, that explains it]<<<<<
        - I-Man (08-30-55/22:40:57)
The earliest projects were begun in the early 2040's (?) and therefore the current subjects "online," if any, have had an indoctrination period of no more that 15 years; probably less. Although psychologically speaking, the subjects are adult, they have very little "real-world" experience. They tend to be naive about a great many things, and their personalities usually are pretty simple. As they have been exposed from birth to whatever mental conditioning the creator wished, they tend to be extraordinarily loyal and driven.

The following organizations and entities are known to have programs in place to create cyborgs: The governments of the following nations: UCAS, CAS, Pueblo Corporate Council, both Tirs, and Aztlan. Other nations have ongoing programs, but either have not brought any units on-line, or have ended the programs after only a few "graduates."

The typical "recruits" of the governmental programs are fetuses with birth defects that would prevent normal growth or would be quickly fatal to the infant without lifelong medical care. Other recruits include fetuses that would normally be aborted.

There are also cases both documented and alledged, where host mothers were paid to conceive and gestate fetuses for these programs. The documented cases most often cite Aztlan (see Aztechnology entry below), but there are two documented cases in Tir Tairngire, and one each in the PCC, CAS, and UCAS. In the Tir Tairngire cases (documented by a scientist defecting to the UCAS), the apparent reason was a lack of "suitable" subjects for a test program. In the rest of the cases (excluding Aztlan, see Aztechnology entry) the reason seems to be the same, although the reasons are more completely given as the lack of suitable subject of a metatype (dwarven in the CAS, UCAS, and PCC, and either orc or troll in Tir na Nog, depending on the source.)

The following corporations: All of the AAA rated corporations, with the most noteable being Aztechnology, followed closely by Ares Macrotech. Lone Star has an active program, as do most AA rated corporations with interests in the bionetics field.

Aztechnology pioneered the field, conceiving the first program to create these units. It is also the most agressive in the field, "contracting" as many as 20+ units to organizations not affiliated with Aztechnology. This number is based on publicly available information, and is probably higher. This number does not include the (unknown, but thought to be at least 50-100) number of units in service with Aztechnology itself. To maintain such a high rate of production, Aztechnology actively "recruits" candidates both within Aztlan itself and in other nations. Most other corporate entities engage in "recruitment" practices as well, as they do not have access to the sources of candidates that governments do.

No non-governmental or -corporate entity has a full-time cyborg project, as the costs would be prohibitive. However, certain individuals or groups hire a corporation (or, rarely, work with a government) to create such a being, which they then indoctrinated. Usually, the entity is a rich family whose child is afflicted with some incurable birth defect. Very occasionally, a policlub is able to create one, with Alamos 20K rumored to have as many as 5. Such a being is always created in secret, as most governments take a dim view of private "ownership" of a cyborg.

Most cyborgs on-line today do not occupy a hulking body bristling with weaponry and cyberware. Most cyborgs do not even occupy a body. They are usually hooked into some sort of computer system, doing jobs that require the computational resources and reaction speed of a computer, and the decision-making capabilities and thought patterns of human being.

For example, the UCAS has "brains" in service as master air-traffic controllers at Dulles international airport, Newark international Airport, and Chicago-O'Hare, with Sea-Tac scheduled to receive one within the next five years. The CIA is rumored to use several in intelligence applications, and the FBI has linked at least one into the NCIC, where it helps solve difficult cases for the FBI, as well as other (fee-paying) police departments.

Other UCAS government agencies thought to employ cyborgs include the IRS, all branches of the military, and the treasury department. The UCAS government has also contracted out at least 3 cyborgs to various research groups throughout the UCAS.

Most governmental uses of cyborgs fit the pattern of the UCAS, although the UCAS is the largest governmental user of cyborgs. Corporate use of cyborgs is much more varied.

Corporations use cyborg in many of the same roles as do governments, but they also use them in other ways. Cyborgs are used as factory controllers, research assistants, and other cases where computer control is desired, but human discretion is required. However, cyborgs are never the final decision-making level of authority. All cyborg decisions much be approved (in theory) by a human. The enforcement of this varies from corp to corp, but cyborgs are almost never completely unsupervised.

In addition to these uses, corporate cyborgs are used in two ways that are not seen in government usage. They are used to control security systems, as they themselves are immune to decker attack, and can detect decker attack much easier than can a computer of even an on-line decker or rigger.

They are also used in the "classic" cyborg application, i.e. that of the human brain in a mechanical body. These mobile cyborgs are used as bodyguards for the highest ranks of the corporation, hired out by security divisions, assembled into small units of soldiers, and, in the case of the most secure research facilities, used as security guards. They are also used in cases where the human body is too frail to survive. These mobile cyborgs are the least likely to be build along human lines, and are shielded and protected to incredible levels from their environment.

They are most often used in the following areas: space, with Ares Macrotech being the primary supplier of space-rated cyborgs, in hazmat (Hazardous Material) operations, both in transport and disposal, and in underwater operations, with Shiawase leading the hazmat field, and no single corp dominating the aquatic operations.

These mobile units would never be used in direct offensive action against another corp, as they are far too traceable. They do feature in Desert Wars and other "corporate wars" as elite units intended to infiltrate the rear areas of the "enemy" area. Units are not built primarily for this, as the cost is much too high per unit. Furthermore, most of the time, such units feature in "mock" combat, or combat that is deliberately designed not to damage the cyborg itself, either by not using full power weaponry, or remotely controlling the body rather than riding onboard. As such, these units are classified as military (special) - rather than security - assets by most corporations. Fewer than 10% of cyborgs are assigned to such mobile duties.

Private cyborgs, on the other hand, are almost all mobile units. Whether the afflicted son of an insanely rich couple, or the fanatic "child" of a policlub, or created for some other reason by a private individual or group of individuals, these cyborgs spend much of their time in a mobile configuration. These range from the human-appearing Roger Walthorpe III, to through the few "independent" bodyguard units, to the rumored battle chassis of whatever terrorist organization is in the news this week. Legally, all cyborgs in the UCAS are citizens of the UCAS, complete with SINs, with all the rights and priviledges of a citizen. This goes for the CAS as well. Other nations have different policies, ranging from retaining the cyborg as a ward of the state (the Tirs), to outright slavery, as in Aztlan (see Aztechnology entry). In reality, due to the heavy conditioning and continuing "therapy," most cyborgs are virtually slaves of the state.

The UCAS has, in theory, a program under which a cyborg can "buy" its way to "independant contractor status" by paying off its initial debt for "early care and maintenance," but none can possibly do so for at least 30 years - and this cost does not include current maintenance or upgrading.

Taken from the pages of Jens-Arthur Leirbakk