346: Mr. Attercop

ENTRY 346: Mr. Attercop

"You wouldn't believe how much he enjoys being a giant spider."
- Sheena Brideswell, "Mrs. Attercop (I)"

An ancient Earth philosopher once wrote on the hierarchy of needs - a construct to help try to understand and express how transhumans prioritized their internal and external lives. At the base were physical needs - food, water, shelter - and progressed upwards in extraction to more intangible mental, spiritual, and emotional fulfillment. At the apex was self-actualization - which definition depended slightly on whom was talking about it, but was considered the goal of realizing one's own potential to its greatest extent. It was a goal that was not possible when mere physical needs were a concern, or even the needs of friends, employees, and dependents.

Synthmorphs, makers, and the post-scarcity economy rather shot a hole in the old hierarchy of needs. Most transhumans don't have to worry about things like breathable air, potable water, and basic nutrition or electricity. The Mesh provides near-infinite entertainment, all the games, porn, viral images of juvenile animals, and transhuman interaction that most people ever need. Most of transhumanity may not exactly be happy, but with their physical needs taken care of and plentiful of mental stimulation, all that is left - all that remains for the majority to seek and solve - is the fulfillment of their emotional needs, and self-actualization. Some find purpose in the defense of transhumanity, the pursuit of political power, or the creation of art. For Mr. Attercop, the first step was resleeving into an arachnoid morph.

Mr. Attercop has no greater purpose to his life than to be a giant spider. It is his bliss, his goal, and though his wives and children don't always understand it, they are supportive of him and love him. He doesn't consider resleeving to have even been a choice - simply a realization of who and what he always was.

COG	COO	INT	REF	SAV	SOM	WIL	MOX
12	12	15	20	15	25	20	-
INIT	SPD	LUC	TT	IR	DUR	WT	DR
6	1	40	8	80	40	8	60

Morph: Arachnoid

Skills: Academics: Arachnology 40, Academics: Mythology (Spiders) 40, Art: Storytelling 25, Fray 20, Free Fall 26, Infiltration 44, Interests: Arachnoid Morphs 50, Interests: Cooking 24, Interests: Web Design 23, Interfacing 26, Language: Native French 90, Language: English 80, Networking: Firewall 10, Networking: Media 20, Perception (Lidar) 36, Profession: Teacher 30, Profession: Tour Guide 30, Protocol 25, Unarmed Combat 40

Implants: Access Jacks, Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical Stack, Cyberbrain, Enhanced Vision, Extra Limbs (6 Arms/Legs), Lidar, Mnemonic Augmentation, Pneumatic Limbs, Radar

Mobility System: Walker (4/24), Thrust Vector (8/40)

Traits: Armor (8/8)

Using Mr. Attercop

Few transhumans are as comfortable in their own skin as Mr. Attercop. He has embraced being an arachnoid morph to a degree beyond most; there is a bubbly undercurrent to everything he does that shows he's having a great damn time, and it's almost infectious. Player characters will probably meet him as a colorful extra and/or a local Firewall contact; while he normally gets by as a tour guide, teacher, and odd-job man, having found his own blissful calling as a giant mechanical spider he likes to be helpful and interact with others. Left to his own devices he dotes on his two wives and their children, plans out low-gravity webs that he likes to spin using a variety of filaments, and strike up new friendships so he has someone to tell his stories to.

Seed

• Mr. Attercop has an early, damaged fork, split off before he resleeved into the arachnoid morph. Unable to resleeve himself due to a morphing disorder, this fork has become deranged. Calling himself the Wolfspider, he has begun to hunt and kill other transhumans on the habitat in the manner of a giant spider - with the suspicion and blame landing immediately on Mr. Attercop. The PCs may be asked to investigate by the habitat, Attercop's wives, or even Firewall.