Rheinland vs. Core

[Sombs]

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December 18th, 824 - Omicron Kappa

The Wraith moved towards the Core fleet. Not only on the game table, but also as holograph above them. "Say, I always wondered to what degree you have been altered. You said you can download data. Something like a mind-link to the neural net or how do I have to imagine that? Pawn to C5." A Core snub moved towards the Rheinland fleet.

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[PKPower]

The Manta approached the lines of the Rheinland ships lined up on James' side of the board.

"All of the members of the Canaan project have access to a big chunk of the PRIME AI's database. We are permanently connected to it and can upload and download data from there. The data in there is pretty vast - probably almost as vast as all the little secrets you saved within your brain I believe."

James chuckled at the last part.

"Bishop B5."

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[Sombs]

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December 18th, 824 - Omicron Kappa

"And how does it work? Cyber-Implants or... that might sound dumb, but to what degree are you still human? I know that Empathy for example, I believe his name was Ethan, once was a human and turned into a ghost in the shell. You sure have some crazy things happening on Gammu." Eyeing the Donau-class Cruiser moving towards the Core fleet, Ezrael leaned forward after a short moment of thinking and use his gloved fingers on the table to move another Manta (or Marlin) towards the Wraith. "Pawn to E5."

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[PKPower]

James rested his head on his right hand and tapped his cheek with his middle finger while watching the blue piece move.

"Ya know, I sometimes ask that same question myself. I mean the simple answer is that my bloodstream has been injected with about 200 billion nanites and that both of my arms, as well as parts of my brain have been replaced.
I guess the real question is how much of your body can be replaced before you cease to be "human"? Is this threshold reached as soon as any part of your body is replaced? I anyone with a purely mechanical prothesis no longer considered "human"? Is the threshold replacing parts of the brain? It does not alter who you are, just the way your brain functions. Are increased functionalities of your brain no longer considered human? There are some cases of autism that allow to function the brain in a "superhuman" kind of way. Would those people no longer considered "human"?"

James sighed and took a sip from his milk.

"You are really asking some hard-hitting ethical questions today. Knight F3."

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[Sombs]

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December 18th, 824 - Omicron Kappa

Ezrael took his time to look at the chess board. The Rheinland Gunboat was moving into a position that would allow it to take care of the first pawn, however that would allow the Apahanta to react and destroy the gunboat, while the Rheinland Bismarck wouldn't be able to do anything about it as long as the Wraith was in the way. Core would lose a snub, Rheinland a gunboat. "Pawn to A6." He smirked when the Marlin was moving. "I was often confronted with the question of cybernetical replacements or upgrades. I mean, it is sort of part of th everyday living now, at least in upper classes. Or within the Core. When I joined the Core, I learned about the H+-Clinic. It is the place where Core pilots and marines get their cybernetical upgrades. To advance from a certain rank to the next one, one has to get at least one upgrade. You could see it as a symbol of dedication to the Core." Looking up, he glanced over to the big projection of the Rheinland Gunboat above them. "Later I had to make decisions about my own body. During the defection from the Core, I got shot. Plasma missed my head and instead burned major parts of my shoulder. It was the first time I was seriously injured. The only other thing that ever happened to me was a bar fight on Curacao that gave me the edgy scar at my eye. I decided to not remove that, but something had to be done about the heavy plasma burns at my shoulder. Thankfully, to a certain degree, biomatter can be synthetically replaced."

He sighed, shaking his head. "In the last few months, I escaped death three times. One time I had to shut down the Apahanta's energy core with my bare hands, burning my hands and arms entirely when pushing the sealing shafts into the core. Most of my hands and arms was treated with nanobots and synthetic bio replacements. It looks all like it is my own flesh, after all it was created with my DNA characteristics. The skin is even as pale as my normal skin is. Yet, it does make you question where the clear cut between losing head and losing body is. Probably the neck. There have been two other situations. One was during the Port Carthage siege in Omicron Delta, when the Apahanta sided with Core and Zoners against the Order and the Corsairs. We fought well, but the Apahanta was shot down and disabled. Fucking Corsairs, really. The third time was when I boarded a ship in Omicron Chi. I was underestimating the radiation sickness, so I lost consciousness on the other ship. If Commander Aguilar wouldn't have come to rescue me, I wouldn't sit here. I'd be a deformed carcass of meat like those guys we found on that said ship, grinded by radiation and alien bacteria. Not a nice view."

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[PKPower]

James watched the Marlin moving into action with a content smile.

"Ya journey seems to be quite an intensive one. The journey of yaself being cybernetically enhanced that is. It also shows that you promoted that commander of yers - Sherry her name was - for more than just good looks.
I guess the most imporant difference is being willing to have perfectly good body parts amputated to be replaced with cybernetic ones that do not belong into your body. And then there's also the part of accepting an artificial intelligence at least partially into your mind - which is in my oppinion the optimal way to use cybernetics. But I digress."

He stared into the battlefied of ships above that represented the chess game Ezrael and him were playing below.

"Bishop C4. Ezrael, I'm curious. What would happen for yaself to be willing to have a part of yaself removed in favor of having it replaced with a cybernetic one that would have a significant advantage above the natural one?"

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[Sombs]

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December 18th, 824 - Omicron Kappa

It didn't take long for Ezrael to return a sceptical and refusing sound. "I am a biologist. The human body is in the focus of all my hobbies and interests, you know. I love sports, working out, sex and the aesthetics of the human body, regardless of the gender. I once tried to explain it to Maren, but all she got from it was the impression of me being bi-sexual," he said with a smirk. "I am not," he added. "Knight C6."

The Pleco moved ahead, backing up the Marlin while the Rheinland Cruiser had a clear line of attack towards the pawn in the line of defense. "I love the nature of the human body, and I highly appreciate it when people do care about their body. Put effort into it and you will get rewarded in multiple ways. People who don't eat well and never work out will feel weak, drive-less. People like me who have an athletic body are strong, have attractive reciprocators, both visual and in traits. I also know the very way of each body function and how to manipulate them for optimized living. When to eat, what to eat, when to drink, what to drink. When to sleep for how long, how to move, how to take care of my body. Similarly, I use that knowledge for optimal performance in bed." He smirked at James. "Easiest example is manipulating the taste and consistency of the moneyshot. I mostly eat fruits and avoid grease when I know I'll feed a woman. Eating iron-rich will also increase the, let's say, payload. Way more satisfying."

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[PKPower]

Upon Ezrael finishing his monologue, James replied with a heartly laugh.

"I expected a good, biological counter-argument, but that analogy exceeded all of my expectations. Ya know I could do all those things - working out, eating healthy and so on, but having the nanites take care of my physical health, while nourishing my body with the optimal amount of nutrients and focusing my energy on improving everything the nanites can't take care of is a good option as well."

He glanced at the Pleco moving ahead to defend the pawn before making his move.

"Pawn D3. And while the main purpose of the Nanites might be a different one, it is entirely within my capabilities to alter the taste of my 'moneyshot" - as ya put it. That has its social limitations though. Last time I did that I was met with quite a bit of confusion, when my partner that I had sex with remarked that 'it tastes like créme brulé'."

He chuckled at the memory.

"Ever since then I stuck with more believable flavours."

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[Sombs]

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December 18th, 824 - Omicron Kappa

Slowly but steady, the battlefield started to look more and more interesting. Thinkin two steps ahead was taking longer and longer, and Ezrael was not good at it, especially not while talking. "Well, I lost my train of thought. Thing is, as someone who is used to the non-altered human body, as all my knowledge, my entire profession as biology and physical education teacher, not that it is much, is about the natural body functions. I have big respect for cybernetics and bio-engineering und what not, and it is obvious that cybernetically enhanced people have advantages over the common folk, I think I would prefer to use my natural body as long as possible." Frowning at the chess board, Ezrael pointed at the Pleco in his defense lines, obviously thinking about the movement. "Knight F6. You know, it's sort of hilarious how people around me are in many cases altered and stronger. Maren, for example, is consuming Cardamine since she was a little teenager. Her body is fully depending on it, sadly, and she also seems to be less affected by the highs Cardamine gives to newcomers. She is pretty proud about how it, according to her, made her the intelligent woman she is now."

Sighing, he leaned back, wiggling his foot up and down. "I love it when I still can outsmart her. Her trust in her abilities makes her underestimate dumb, degenerate people like me." Once again he smirked at James, almost apologetically. "I might give cybernetics a second thought once I am older. Right now I am at the peak efficiency of my body. Although the ship's doctor, a grumpy old woman called Adrianna Carr, always reminds me about how not well my heart reacts to stress. She is a fan of cybernetics and nanobots, by the way. You'd probably like her."

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[PKPower]

Unlike the past times, James hesitated before deciding on what move to make. He was obviously playing out a multitude of scenarios in his head.

"The most important rule of dealing with non-altered people while being altered yerself is to not underestimate them. Yes, the enhancements usually give you capabilities that exceed the ones of the average human, but there are still some people that exceed the norm. Not underestimating a single unaltered person while - in theory - being superior to almost every one of them is not easy. Let's hope I won't underestimate you in this little game of ours. Pawn B3."

James looked up to see the pawn move once space ahead.

"Is that part of why ya spend so much time out here, away from Maren? I mean sure, ya carrying that Bustard out of that Nomad-ridden hole was quite the accomplishment and you helping to defend the Freeport was truely honorable, but what keeps ya out here? Is it that you feel like the enviroment ya used to live in for the majority of yer life is too safe? With how often ya escaped death out here in the Omicrons one could think that ya seek the danger, Ezrael."

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