REALIZACIÓN DE ENCUESTAS

The Second Republic was a time of wonders. Humanity had discovered the secrets of terraforming entire worlds, constructing nearly anything through nanotechnology, and blurring the boundary between life and death. True artificial intelligence was one of the pinnacle achievements of Second Republic inventors. Not only were their androids sophisti- cated enough to replicate human functions in nearly perfect detail, but they could emulate human thought processes with surprising authenticity.

Demonstrating such principles as intuition, imagination, strategic thinking, and (most importantly) self-aware- ness, the golems of this era possessed nearly every faculty humans did — except freedom and independence. Only a few worlds awarded robots basic human rights, and even then, they inevitably came into conflict with those that did not. Evidence remains of androids standing trial in defense of their inalienable rights, just as media footage survived of golems being convicted of crimes against humanity.

Although laws for recognizing robotic sentience varied from world to world, universal legislation limited these robots’ capacity to create other machines. By design, golems are only capable of manufacturing other golems that were much simpler than they are (in game terms, a golem can only create another golem that is at least two tech levels more primitive than it is). While the Second Republic was a time of excess, this safeguard ensured that a race of artificially Millennia of physical degeneration may even result in their

interpreting commands in unintended ways. Self-awareness is far beyond an Ogre’s capabilities, and

many are unaware when they are damaged or impaired … or when they are harming others. Despite this risk, when a simple robotic arm or sledge proves insufficient for a specific task, a construction crew on a high-tech world may send for one of these towering anthropo- morphic machines. When human labor proves insufficient, masters command golems to take on tasks too difficult, hazardous, or tedious for human laborers.

Clarkes

TL 5 Domestic Golem Body: Strength 3, Dexterity 5, Endurance 6

mind: Wits 1, Perception 3, Tech 3 natural Skills: Dodge 2, Observe 3, Sneak 1, Vigor 3

Learned Skills: Artisan (Cooking) 3, Drive 3, Performance (Dancing) 2, Search 3, Spacesuit 1, Think Machine 1

Blessings/Curses: Ambidextrous/Short Benefices/Afflictions: Obligation Cybertraits: None Weapons: None Armor: 6d vitality: –8|–6|–4|–2||||||

As a sharp contrast to the fearsome and lumbering Ogre, the Clarke was extensively marketed for use in the home. To assuage the fears of pampered consumers, most models were only about three feet tall. The external body resem- bles a sort of a spacesuit, rather like one a child might wear, and in most advertising brochures, children are delighted to play with them. All models are sealed water and vacuum tight. A Clarke’s face is incapable of expressing emotions, and its speakers do not produce speech. Fortunately, it can still communicate basic ideas with body language.

The development of the Clarke was as much a public rela- tion stunt as a technological experiment. In an attempt to humanize robotics, designers appealed to motherly instincts, the need for novelty, and overall human laziness. Although the Clarke required the same type of payment plan as a commercial automobile, its marketers showed it in situa- tions where it could be a companion to the elderly, a devoted servant to the lonely, an aid to the physically challenged, and a solution for the motivationally impaired. More precisely, the surviving media footage of this golem shows it as a cheerful alternative to low-wage human servants.

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intelligent life forms could not replicate endlessly. On all worlds, procreation was legally defined as a human privi- lege — a basic right denied artificial life forms.

A thousand years later, the technologically devout are struggling to create a truly intelligent, self-aware artifi- cial intelligence. Every golem of this era that is recovered offers scientists a chance to deduce how such devices were created. Thus, all of these golems are proscribed, and manu- facturing, smuggling, or redeeming them is considered a crime on worlds where the Church holds power. If a golem is aware of its sentience, it will soon become aware that it is hunted as a menace.

Recent discoveries intensified these crusades. While scientists are evaluating the physical and mental capabilities of these golems, spiritualists have recreated ancient debates over robotic rights. Some even offer arguments that such creations have spiritual insights, and as a matter of faith, insist that golems have souls. Overt theurgists and covert psychics even claim to find evidence supporting such beliefs, largely by watching golems’ reactions to certain occult disci- plines. The most advanced known golems, the Mediators, remain hidden on worlds that respect their rights, espe- cially when off-world enemies will only regard these highly advanced, self-aware sentients as wanted criminals.

Companions

TL7 Intelligent Golem

Body: Strength 7, Dexterity 7, Endurance 7 mind: Wits 5, Perception 6, Tech 6

Spirit: Extrovert 1, Introvert 1, Calm 5, Ego 1

natural Skills: Dodge 6, Fight 3, Impress 3, Melee 3, Shoot 3, Vigor 5

Learned Skills: Drive (Landcraft) 5, Empathy 3, Read Urthish 6, Remedy 5, Redemption (Mech, High-Tech) 5, Science (any three) 5, Think Machine 5

Blessings/Curses: Professionals are Disciplined; Non-Professionals are Compassionate; nearly all are Pacifists

Benefices/Afflictions: Obligation/Dependent

Cybertraits: Advisor (optional), Cybersenses, Tool Implant Weapons: None

Armor: 6d

vitality: –8|–6|–4|–2|||||||

Companion golems have aesthetically pleasing appear- ances, but always appear inhuman. Disputes over robotic rights resulted in many appearing more like living sculp- tures than artificial humans. Many wore the same clothes and display the same affectations as the humans with whom they chose to interact. More elite varieties of companions were designed for professional explorers and adventurers. These specimens typically had a military bearing, despite their pacifistic programming. If these constructs are sophis- ticated enough to show remorse or pain in response to mistreatment, they are also stoic enough to hide such irra- tional and improper responses.

As roboticists progressed far enough to create androids with a range of emotions and opinions, some worlds responded by evolving laws to provide artificial intelligence with basic rights. Since these machines lacked the ability to reprogram themselves, however, they continued to serve humanity as best they could. Most merely gained the right to choose their masters, selling themselves to the highest or most esteemed bidders. Others had enough freedom to enlist in the service of governments, corporations, or para- military organizations. Advanced models even served as crew on spaceships, renowned for their skills as scouts and advisors. In any capacity, they exceeded the capability of think machines from this time, since they had far more “user friendly” interfaces, able to anticipate or intuit the informa- tion another sentient required.

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Explorers found these companions to be invaluable members of their mission teams. Although incapable of much more than self-defense, a scout companion could bring an entire library of information on any expedition into the field. Unfortunately, their search engines and retrieval routines were so sophisticated that getting a straight answer out of one required an equal amount of subtlety. Asking one to measure the level of background radiation, for instance, would be simple, but asking for a list of worlds with similar radiation signatures could lead to a ten-minute oration in exacting detail. No matter what their specialty, companions were valued more for their knowledge than martial abili- ties, since a highly sophisticated golem was typically too expensive to risk putting in harm’s way. Even then, human life was far cheaper.

Scout companions were found abandoned on distant worlds, but even with pygmallium circuitry, surviving spec- imens range from eccentric to insane. In many cases, a companion’s body ceased to function while its brain idled in self-deliberation for centuries. If a companion is not resur- rected properly, a simple request to measure background radiation might be answered by a long-forgotten limerick on the nature of the atom. In random moments of lucid- ity, however, companions have a habit of recalling obscure details from millennia ago. Such information can be priceless to a historian, academic, scavenger, or scoundrel interested in exploiting long-lost secrets and patient enough to sift through a ton of nonsensical, brain-breaking minutia.

Less than a hundred of these golems have been recovered. So rare are they that their redemption originally led to the term “resurrection.” A Companion’s past is typically so differ- ent than the age they find themselves in that they invariably lose their old personalities and gain new ones and many find it difficult to remember events from week to week.

Professional Companions sometimes retain enough of their scientific knowledge to do some routine work, but the threat of losing their identities again hampers their courage. Scout Companions find the adjustment to the modern world especially traumatic. After all, they dedicated their exis- tence to expanding human knowledge, but much of that knowledge has been lost through the millennia. Lacking independence, they must find living sentients to justify their activities.

No matter what their primary function, without a human companion, these golems can lapse into self- destructive depression or inert brooding.

Mediators

TL 8 Relic Superuser Golem

Body: Strength 8, Dexterity 6, Endurance 8 mind: Wits 6, Perception 8, Tech 8

Spirit: Extrovert 3, Introvert 3, Calm 5, Ego 3

natural Skills: Charm 4, Dodge 9, Fight 4, Impress 5, Melee 4, Observe 8, Shoot 4, Sneak 6, Vigor 7

Learned Skills: Academia 8, Bureaucracy 6, Empathy 2, Read Urthish 7, Redemption (High-Tech, Volt, Mech) 6, Redemption (Golem) 6, Redemption (Think Machine) 8, Science (Cybernetics) 5, Science (Engineering) 8, Science (Think Machine: Turing, Suprema, Link) 7, Search 6, Social (Leadership 4, Debate 7), Think Machine 7 Blessings/Curses: Grease Monkey, Curious/Clueless Benefices/Afflictions: Cloistered, Status (Robotics Expert), Refuge

Cybertraits: Automaintenance, Tool Implant Weapons: None

Armor: 2d

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Designed to interface with nearly any variety of think machines, these “super-users” resemble elderly humans in flowing robes. Their chiseled features are made of carefully crafted lightweight metals, giving them distinct sculpted appearances. As the most advanced examples of robot- ics, they were designed to last indefinitely with proper maintenance. Unfortunately, the means to maintain their artificially intelligent matrices has since been lost, lending the Mediators certain eccentricities that make them easily distinguishable from mere humans.

The more complex a golem’s programming, the more likely it is that it will degrade in any number of baffling ways, and in the case of Mediators, only half a dozen have survived the last thousand years. The incredibly sensitive nature of their pygmallium matrices is equaled only by their suscep- tibility to incredibly virulent strains of computer viruses. Brilliance and madness always contest within the Mediator’s ‘brain.’ Their primary function was as information brokers,

and they not only possess a staggeringly thorough knowl- edge of ancient think machines but also the ability to repair them. Nearly all of them find it difficult to remember human history, but when presented with ancient tech they have an uncanny ability to suddenly remember how it functioned.

The first resurrected Mediator, Professor Odysseus, has since gone senile from centuries of neglect. The chance of getting information from him is almost random, but he remains heavily protected on Leagueheim. The second resurrected Mediator reconstructed “her” own matrix long enough to steal an Imperial spacecraft and enter a jump- gate, never to be seen again.

It is rumored that other examples were recovered, but all of them were secretly shipped to highly defended loca- tions. It is believed that they are still interfacing with other resurrected machines, but whether they are able to rebuild them or merely infect them with their eccentricities remains another point of conjecture. The Church accused various Ur-Obun and Amaltheans of harboring such fugi- tives, but this crusade was repeatedly frustrated. Indeed, if these survivors of the Second Republic can find the means to maintain — or rebuild — themselves, they may very well pursue agendas antithetical to various anti-technological groups in the Known Worlds.

Predator

TL 7 Steel Legion Golem

Over the course of the Emperor Wars, sinners created more baneful contraptions than any sane person could imagine, to the Pancreator’s and my eternal dismay. I and a few of my faithful brothers took upon ourselves the grim duty of depicting and cataloging that damned technology, may it be seen for what it truly is.

My humble mission brought me to Malignatius, a small hamlet just south of the Di-Long fiefdom. There, an old man (old even by the standards of a tired, 60-year-old priest) told me a story of great magni- tude — the Battle of Lion Pass.

The battle took place just a week after the Decados’ initial strike on the planet. The Jakovian agents had already crippled the planetary defenses, so the attack went smoothly until the forces of the Mantis tried to take Eye of Leo, a stronghold in the middle of the Lion Pass. The narrow canyons of the terrain ruled out an air strike while the metal-plated mountain walls repelled artillery, so the infantry stepped in.

The defenders of the fortress, under the command of Count Lin-Bai Hsung Li Halan, repelled the Decados assault three times, and at first it looked like the Eye would hold its own for the fourth time. Alas, it was not so.

During the night after the third attempt, the Decados commander received permission to employ the Steel Legion. The Legion’s siege engineers, eager to use their newest toy, unleashed the TK-m11E. I believe the ‘E’ stood for “Exterminator.” The golem made it into the fortress unseen, easily avoiding patrols and security cameras.

Finally, it stormed the command center. The old man said that before the golem reached Lin-Bai, it slaughtered eight of the Li Halan elite guard, two command officers, and Kwanga, the count’s personal Vorox bodyguard. If this is what really happened, then there is no name for this monstrosity other than Predator, for it is a beast of unnatural, unholy power, capable of hunting down all that breathes.

By reports, the fight lasted for little more than a minute. In the end, only TK-m11E remained. If I under- stand correctly, what followed was an all-out-attack on the fortress, with the main assault force being the Steel Legion. The last survivors, fearing Decados retribution on those who resisted, chose to detonate all the explosives in their breached stronghold rather than surrender. This finally stopped the assault but at the cost of all the defenders.

Already shaken, I decided to venture into the Lion Pass in search of any traces of this soulless construct. After days of seeking, the Pancreator granted me success. In the deepest ruins of the Eye of Leo, I found the remains of what seemed to be a predator. The defenders’ last attempt had buried the predator under a mountain, but even that had not destroyed it. Over the following months, and perhaps years, it had tried to dig its way out from under the rock. It had nearly reached the surface when it finally ran out of energy, and that is where I found it. I took the remains back with me, and for the next few months concluded a detailed analysis.

My worst nightmares pale in comparison to what I discovered. For the inner-workings of the Predators depend on biological components — specif- ically, human brains and neural nets. The use of those organs greatly increases the speed of data-transfer, and in consequence, the reaction speed of the golem. Also, the TK-m11E is more intelligent, without the need to rely on expensive pygmallium brains.

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Most horrific of all, the ‘patient’ is still alive at the time the organs are removed. I just pray for those poor souls. May they find comfort in the thought that there are those of us in Temple Avesti who will try to end their misery as quickly as possible.

— Excerpt from Baneful Progress by

Brother Mainard of Holy Terra

Traits

Body: Strength 10, Dexterity 10, Endurance 12

mind: Wits 6, Perception 7, Tech 4 Spirit*: none

* Sometimes the predator retains some characteristics of the ‘organ donor’. In that case he is also subject to cyber-psychosis and can become unstable. Those ‘malfunctioning’ golems are usually deactivated.

natural skills: Charm 3, Dodge 8, Fight 7, Impress 10, Melee 7, Observe 8, Shoot 8, Sneak 10, Vigor 10 Learned skills**: Acrobatics 7

** The predator sometime retains some of the skill of the ‘organ donor’

Special: Infra-red vision, Thermal vision: ignores visibility modifiers

Battery: A predator has a 50-charge fusion cel installed to run many of its functions. Each day it drains one charge but other functions also eat up its energy. If it runs out of energy, then it is inert until recharged and if not recharged in a week, it “dies”, and a new organ donor must be found for the shell.

Blur Coating: The same light deflection technology found in blur suits adds to the predator’s unsettling stealth abilities. When activated, the LDT gives the predator a +6 to its Sneak rolls when standing still and +2 to its sneak rolls when moving. Each turn of blur use eats one charge.

ECm: Predators have some electronic countermeasures built into them, though not much. When activated, all fusion cel-powered devices (other than the Predator’s) within two meters only activate on a roll of 13 or less.

mag Boots and Pads: These electromagnetic attachments allow the predator to climb a sheer metal wall with a Strength + Vigor roll, with each victory point allowing five meters of climbing. This costs one charge per minute of movement, and one charge per two minutes of ‘hanging’. Auto-repair: If a predator has not suffered damage that adds negative modifiers, the golem can repair one point per day at a cost of 10 charges. Otherwise, the predator cannot heal without the aid of a mechanic.

Full AI: the golem benefits from a full AI. It thinks and acts almost as a human being.

Failsafe: If the golem is damaged beyond repair in deep enemy territory without means of return or gets captured

or it is the only way to eliminate a specific target, it will self-destruct. Count the golem as a Blast Grenade (DMG 12d, RNG 10/20).

Cyber-psychosis: If a golem suffers damage that adds negative modifiers, there is a chance it will suffer from cyberpsychosis. Every time the golem takes damage, roll a d20. The golem develops cyber-psychosis on a roll of 19 or 20.

multi-tasking: It suffers no penalties for multiple actions. Attacks: (STR bonus: +2) The sword and the heavy autofeed gun are ‘built in’ and cannot be removed without Tech Redemption.

Special Attacks: Gas/Napalm container: The predator mounts a gas/napalm launcher installed in the lower part of the faceplate. There is enough gas/napalm for one continuous burst.

Armor: 10d

vitality: –10|–8|–6|–4|–2|||||||||||| ||

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it took considerably more time, the idea of the environment itself reshaping into the desired construction was wondrous. Some even thought of it as of a miracle.

As with all good things, the Nanobuilders fell prey to the Fall. The 41st century saw the decline and dissolution of each and every factory capable of creating the IC kits.

Ten centuries later, only a handful of the Nanobuilders exist. Some make mining facilities, some are schools and universities, some are even churches and cathedrals. There are even rumored to be a few starship construction kits still remaining. Since all Nanobuilder kits are single-shot