171: Cuidad

ENTRY 171: Cuidad

On the surface of Mars, at the edge of the Tharsis plateau, stands a monolith in the shape of a steeply-angled, flat-topped pyramid eight meters tall, and six meters on a side at the base. The surface appears to be granite, of shade just to the red of black, and in the right light parts of it seem to sparkle where metal filaments and piezoelectric crystals meet the surface. Its name is Cuidad, and they claim to be the first stonemorph in transhuman history.

While the details of the design remain proprietary, Cuidad claims that his morph is a single massive solid-state device, the product of a new discipline called geoelectronics, and that barring seismic cataclysm or accident his morph will last ten thousand years, until the hard shell is weathered away by the winds and waters of a terraformed Mars. The truth of that claim remains unproven, though visitors to Cuidad have noted sonar and x-ray scans do show that the structure appears almost entirely solid, and with a high degree of electrical activity.

What is known is that the Cuidad stonemorph is extremely limited in its abilities—immobile, with none of the typical transhuman senses, they perceive the world entirely through a refined electrical sense, judging distance, velocity, and even shape through varying capacitance between nearby objects and its stone skin. Cuidad’s only “natural” means of communication is the production of weak electrical signals, but these are boosted and converted by its Mesh inserts into something other transhumans can interpret. Hermitical by nature, Cuidad enjoys its isolation, both geographical and sensory. Most of its time is spent directing a handful of robots to sculpt the surrounding landscape, and interpreting the seismic data it receives.

COG	COO	INT	REF	SAV	SOM	WIL	MOX
18	15	15	5	14	-	20	-
INIT	SPD	LUC	TT	IR	DUR	WT	DR
4	1	40	8	60	1600	200	2400

Morph: Stonemorph (Unique)

Skills: Academics: Geography (Mars) 65, Academics: Geology (Mars) 70, Academics: Geophysics 70, Academics: Seismology 55, Art: Landscaping (Xenoscaping) 52, Hardware: Electronics (Geoelectronics) 64, Interests: Martian Vulcanism 56, Interests: Zen Gardens 34, Interfacing 45, Language: Native Portuguese 84, Language: English 73, Language: French 70, Language: Spanish 70, Networking: Martian Mining Hypercorps 60, Networking: Scientists 25, Profession: Seismologist 66, Scrounging 25

Implants: Access Jacks, Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical Stack, Electrical Sense, Seismograph

Armor: 30

Notes: Immobile, no hands, linked to five Dwarf robots (Eclipse Phase, p.345) which manipulate its environment when necessary.

Using Cuidad

Sometimes the NPCs come to the PCs, and sometimes the PCs have to go to the NPC—Cuidad is NPC and remote location all in one. A veritable sage on anything involving Martian volcanism, the stonemorph can be a valuable if eccentric asset, either helping the PCs out or hiring them to go on missions to investigate geological anomalies on Mars. Despite the isolated context, savvy players will probably realize that designing, building, and installing the “stonemorph” and expensive Dwarf robots suggests considerable resources on Cuidad’s part—and indeed, the monolith has a minority interest in several Martian mining corporations, and continues to act as a highly-paid consultant for several of them.

Seed

• In their last adventure, the PCs have stumbled upon a multicolored metal cube with bizarre electrical characteristics. Research into the artifact leads them to Cuidad, who recognizes it as a “geoelectronic” device, and realizes someone is pirating his designs. Cuidad will offer to hire the PCs to deal with the infringers…or, failing that, at least buy the artifact off them for a hefty sum.