Motoko Intro to Bioretics

Motoko arrived at the address she had been given.

There was a rather ... interesting? Take at urban design here.

A literal single storage shed looking building in the middle of a field. With a reluctant sigh, she stepped forward, the data shard simply causing an audible beep as several... cloaked? Visible cloak? Turrets, by the look of each, packing quad .50 cal's each, lowered into the ground. Eight... if she heard and saw right?

"That's some security..." She'd not seen them. It was certainly nearly upsetting. Whoever this was, security was tight. There were no hints of the battle turrets, they were about fifty feet off in a ring of eight around a single storage shed in the middle of this field. Everything felt off, however, the doors to the shed split, and then slid aside and down, revealing a single elevator doorway that dinged and opened for her, thus granting her entry.

To...? Well, apparently this person was such a security nut... Yep, quick hack literally saw and picked up nothing, even on the blatant cameras. Her scan knew it was there, what should be there, a data node that went nowhere, and yet... wiring and location indicated that the buried and hardened past anything she'd even thought possible, and yet... The single common theme she got here was basically turtle up, and even then, she'd never seen code that ran so seamlessly that it was like watching a river without being able to even so much as graze the surface. She could damn near get into anything, given time; well, first premise, it was at least expected to be interacted with in some way. This... all of this... it was quite simply not in her realm.

As she stepped rather carefully into the elevator, a simple text warning message arrived from the wireless cloud around her. Basically, it just read: "Please don't intrude. Strike One (1)." She decided to hold off; if she was right, this visit would pan out better if she didn't actually try anything further. The word alone had quite capably piqued her interest: Bioretics, or, Biological Cybernetics. The concept alone had her interest in at least finding out what it was able to do. Cyberware she knew she'd have to take her time; something that promised at least similar results from flesh and blood stuff, though... She'd never really given that angle any thought. Just the premise alone would be a literal game changer. And if the security and her went nowhere sniff attempt was seen as an intrusion attempt? Just that someone was able to at least mentally keep both up and ahead of her on the net, and they even had a wifi signal out here, that she quite literally could see and yet had no access to, as it was a secured signal to boot...

As she went over the entire process in her head, and what to at least maybe expect, she finished entering the elevator.

Turning, she found no buttons; so this kind? Basically the premise is it delivers one to the secure position as its default ride... Wait, so someone was actually logged INTO the wifi and network in here? Well, that changed things. Even if they had some kind of AI or even... Did they ... have a safe AI? Well, certainly could, or at least, they could piggyback operate off of it. That camera had some kind of AI right inside, and yet, it was so hardened she couldn't even see the IP point to even try anything with it. So by premise alone, if it was that hardened, and yet her little attempt to sniff around was simply taken as an attack? Yeah, this stuff just might be worth it. Premise of the night: If this person wanted to make a show of security, well, they did! And if this was simply par for the course, and they didn't use this to make a rather nifty presentation of how capable they were? This stuff must be so impressive it might even throw the entire cyberware scene for a loop...

As the elevator started subtly, and then slid down, picking up speed, she started to... just blink. Am I descending at least three thousand -ing feet here!?

After the elevator finally slowed and then stopped, rather nicely and quickly, she might add, the doors eased open silently, a soft hiss as the two atmospheres met.

Taking a quick look around, she then started out into the room. Seated in a chair was a female figure, rather curvy. Redhead, green eyes, about six feet, maybe an inch more, about 150 pounds, by the look of it. And... What, could this woman do standing backflip? She looked like the absolute most fit person Motoko had ever seen. She wore a simple black catsuit, cutoff below her bustline, with some kind of sports bra stylized top on over it. A few simple pieces completing the purple colored set, on her forearms and shins, covering her hands in fingerless gloves, while on her feet she might have booties, was it? Over them were simple martial arts looking shoes, basically black with purple piping between the various parts. If she was the rep, and this was her tech, ... the work she'd seen thus far was quite simply fine enough that she was interested. If... If this woman was what she could expect, then... well, numbers go BRRRRR... looks like she figured out how to train like Motoko was a kid still. And she was already getting the impression that she was if anything going to make a rather preem case.

"Hello." The two awkwardly said at the same time. Both smiled, and then Motoko extended her right hand in greeting.

"Mokoto." Her offered hand was shaken with the woman's right in greeting.

"Rin." The two glanced as ... Did that chair appear? She hadn't seen it earlier... yet here it was. She silently sat in it, noticing that there was also now paperwork on the table.

"Quite the security you have here. Fearing something?" 'Toko asked quizzically, noting that the place seemed to be always full of surprises.

"No, just being careful. The last thing I need is some upstart Corp to think that I'm going to offer this to just anyone. I know what it's capable of, you've seen that I know who I am, what I'm doing, and by appearances alone, you seem the type to be interested. At least, once you're of age. Eighteen is quite required because simply put, I want to make sure you're fully prepared for the harsh and hard lessons this life tends to find for oneself. It's essentially a one way trip. As such, the simple offer and point of this meeting is to determine if you'd like to revisit this issue when you're able to agree, legally, to the fact that this is such." Rin seemed to be pretty calm. Wait, was that a tail...? She did look part tiger, or at least seemed to be...

"So you're ... are you or are you not associated with the Tyger Claws?" Motoko thought about being a catgirl. Hiromi would likely... well, Hiromi was... always a bit interesting towards Mo'...

"No, I'm not. However, there's other forms of tiger out there, so, simply put, it's a possible thing, especially if one learns to control oneself well enough, it can even be put away, sort of like flexing a muscle. Takes effort, the reward can be worth learning it, however."

"So what am I looking at? Sales pitch me."

"Are you sure?"

"... What? Yes."

"Okay, just making sure."

"So simply put Miss Motoko, what I have at my disposal and design is a form of biological cybernetics. It is, to spare you the tech talk which might sound like technobabble, the ability to sample, from you, and then using your base DNA strain, make the correct choices based upon other forms of life who exist in a different state as a part of the natural order and basically build off of your DNA as a scaffold and then incorporate the various animal traits you decide upon into you. It's like building a DNA cast that then turns into something of a graphene style cylinder. The DNA must be such that your body does not reject it, and then things like relatively normal levels of cybernetics can be yours without the normal loss of oneself, while also granting the, for a limited time, chance to double this performance envelope, to your maximum tolerance, as far as length of time." She watches Motoko very carefully, those nearly ... or actually? Feline eyes seemingly staying on her facial features to study and see how, and indeed, what at least apparent thoughts are going through the other woman's head here...

Motoko ... finally sat. So, in a single day of her life, Cybernetics were claimed to be inferior. Adding to that, this woman thought that she... well, from how she looked, it seemed more like she HAD the actual stuff inside of her... A Ripper Doc that would work on herself? Likely ... no, wait. Even though it sounded insane, the problem would be that any sufficiently skilled Ripper Doc who COULD, would only do so if they were at least 100% sure that it'd be safe.

"So basically, I'd be worse than Adam Smasher, and made of flesh. At least, at this doubling state that you mentioned."

"Potentially. The issue is that you'll likely find yourself more kind, nicer, and inclined to help out the little guy. I can see about setting it up so you don't have that issue, however, not everyone is ready to have their sense of self increase, let alone to the extent that it's possible with Bioretics."

"... Okay, how's that work? What are we talking here?"

"You simply don't lose Humanity. Or rather, more specifically, you simply instead increase it. The fact that Bioretics can aid your sense of self, or your base Humanity, is also a bit of something to maybe control, while I myself do, as you likely expect, have some, many, in fact, the issue for you would be that Chrome as it's so often called, can get in the way."

"So you've got an at least potential solution to going Cyberpsycho."

"Perhaps, that is up to the person."

"Where do I sign up?"

"Hm, not quite the answer I was hoping for."

"... How so?"

"While most tend to leap at the chance to improve, most are so usually inclined to question anything new, I am simply curious as to why you're interested."

"Are you saying no?"

"Nope, merely trying to identify why you aren't hesitating. Is it the chance to make sure your Humanity never goes down again, maybe even recover it with a replacement set of flesh arms?"

"YES!"

Rin holds up her right hand, knowing that Mokoto is genuinely interested, however, she also just seems to be thoughtful about something.

"All I'm making sure of is that your interest in genuine, and despite most normal people's reactions, you've heard of something and you want the deets, as it were?"

"... You're not very normal yourself, either."

"No." Rin stood and then turned and walked, the table silently lowering into the floor, the paperwork... Wait, what? Motoko blinked, the paperwork was floating? Is... Is that a slight glow around them? Yes, it is... she reached out and picked them out of the air. Reading through things, she saw that at least every form of Cybernetic could be made with Bioretics, while the most impressive thing was not something she expected. Skeletal, and thus, under muscle, linear frames.

Wow, at least according to this, while they didn't boost the overall core stat as high as the metal ones, they were like having a reinforced and armored skeleton thrown in, and allowing natural muscles to grow to about half... no, wait, exactly halfway between the two extremes of normal human max and Cybered out max.

Well, that's certainly going to be a game changer. She'd also... WOW... Wow, okay, this is showing her... She stopped. The floor was still there, she just had to make sure. Yep, there's a boost ability, just like flexing a muscle. And she could double as many of her stats as she could improve, basically, 15 normally, up to 30 if she's pushing it. The workout routine even sounded like fun! Putting it quickly, it's like flexing a muscle. Using up her entire boost time to flex up, and then relax. Just do so multiple times, up, down, up, down... Rinse and repeat until she had enough left to do something later, or if she had the free time and nothing planned, use it all up to increase the overall total. Workout, sleep. She could do this at home! And get a killer bod to go with it! Well, Sexy Motoko voice could both have the figure and actually still be flesh and blood! She... Okay, this sounds super Preem.

"Just one question..."

"Yes?"

"Why the wait? And how could you tell?"

"Optics are far more involved than most would give oneself credit for. I have at least Eagle eyesight, and can zoom, as well as other options."

"The wait?"

"Just getting. I think and have always thought that given just how difficult in can be for normal life changes, and the fact that this is most often a one way transformation, because it can become addicting, I'd rather you have the chance to at least either mentally prepare, or maybe, if so inclined, talk yourself out of it."

"What is there to talk myself out of?"

"How well do you know yourself?"

"... I'd really rather not answer that."

"And that's the rub, as it were. To be able to answer is the entire point of getting ready before you go through with this in life. The secret to life is to learn, however, even if you do know yourself, and no matter what secrets you may have, there's always the fact that what is seen on the outside is going to be who people think you are, at least if they don't bother to ask first."

"How long have you been alive?"

"... Come now, Motoko, you don't normally ask a woman her age?"

"I thought it was alright for girls...?"

"Even if it is, here's a hint. If the span of time is more than one human lifetime, it tends to show up in and at least with a person who seems to be wiser than normal."
"So you've been around for what... centuries?"

"At least 400 trillion years, in terms of multiple lives, always my body, just as different people. The secret to losing one's Humanity, or going Cyberpsycho, is basically losing sight of one's own soul. While it's likely still there, no longer perceiving oneself is in a way a form of the death of one's soul, the concept of who the person inside the overly borged out body is, and despite this boost ability, or just flexing, it's time limited, shouldn't be in the hands of someone that views it as just another way to kill, however, denying everyone the right to at least see what's possible, is not right either."

"So why me?"

"You seem like one of the few people that takes your time to not push your Cybernetics and getting too many. Even if you were to ever want to go fully Borged out, while I could defeat you, the vastly more important question is, 'Why do we need to fight?' Far too many don't know how to control themselves, and Night City isn't exactly a place where people are raised to view normal lives as something to ... well, value. An Eddie is probably worth more than a fellow Night Citian's life to most, and you are an exception to that rule, albeit it may not be true. Not everyone might view a neighbor and an Eddie the same way."

"That's a lot to take in..."
"Thus the wait."

"So what am I going to see as possible?"
"All I'm going to do is walk you over to here," And a single person sized square appeared in a calming and healthy green on the floor.
"And if you desire it, you will get to expierence what Bioretics is like, without having to commit yet."
"Are you sure you shouldn't just use this to treat Cyberpsychosis?"
"If the Corps weren't going to try and steal it all for themselves, and then try to get good people killed because they can't tell the difference between 'No,' and, 'No, not yet,' then what should I do? Honestly."
"PffFFt... Yeah, that's a hard pass, I don't see the Corps doing anything but trying to... Wait, wouldn't they turn out more kind people? Then..." Motoko trails off.
"If, and it's likely they'll notice, then can just have normal people with all of the bonuses to themselves, and with no Humanity gains. All of the benefits, none of the Cyberpsychosis fixing. So, a powder keg waiting to happen."

After a few seconds of staring, Motoko stepped into the green square. Might as well see what she thought...