Detachment Party
Idea for a short story (had on walk home from the shops this arvo)
He looked around at his friends and future colleagues. It's true - the eyes were the last to go.
He was on total life support now, not long to go.
At first it was viewed as the next evolutionary step - the detachment gene. It was going to be introduced into the general populace, but there were too many complications. One in a hundred developed random limb numbness very early on in the process. Some developed paralysis or other nerve disorders. So it was withdrawn from use. No easy step from flesh to metal.
To James' left were his friends and family, he was losing focus but he could make them out - mostly on colouration. To his right was the standard Policeman. They were really Geomen these days, but police was kept as being traditionally evokative of authority. He was about 8 feet tall, all metal and hard angles. Its boss was next to it (finding out a Policeman's sex involved a level of personal information that no civilians ever earn). The Inspector appeared to be male, mostly because of the Inspector's choice, but also as the male body models were the first built and it saves on material costs not to waste bodies still servicable. He wasn't as combat capable as a standard Policeman, and was more expensive - they'd gone for looks and tried to make them as natural appearing as possible. They almost managed to avoid the "Uncanny Valley" of cyborg designs with the bodies made for public relations, but then decided to keep them at the "just not quite human" level, for the effect, for a lack of ambiguity in role and purpose.
Rewritinng DNA is a slow and tricky process - not without its risks. But if you have cancer anyway and will live long enough for the Numbness to begin, and if you are keen on eternal (possibly) civic duty, it was an option. Eternal is subjective in this case, the Police in theory can live a long time, and in that time medical science may develop ways to regenerate neural damage. Nerve damage is the first stage to it, so the first Police are hopeful. Or at some stage the kinks in the detachment gene may be worked out, or the Police may be disbanded or wish to work in the colonies, in high risk areas not able to be handled by the AIs.
He was now blind, the Detachment Party concluded. James was immediately sedated again - too little stimulation for the brain had been known to cause madness. His brain and nerves no longer connected to his body. The cancerous host can be left for re-use of its organs, those still viable. The nicer side effect of the Numbness for James was the loss of pain.
Within a short time he'd wake up in the Police. A tenth of what he used to be, but then more...
He looked around at his friends and future colleagues. It's true - the eyes were the last to go.
He was on total life support now, not long to go.
At first it was viewed as the next evolutionary step - the detachment gene. It was going to be introduced into the general populace, but there were too many complications. One in a hundred developed random limb numbness very early on in the process. Some developed paralysis or other nerve disorders. So it was withdrawn from use. No easy step from flesh to metal.
To James' left were his friends and family, he was losing focus but he could make them out - mostly on colouration. To his right was the standard Policeman. They were really Geomen these days, but police was kept as being traditionally evokative of authority. He was about 8 feet tall, all metal and hard angles. Its boss was next to it (finding out a Policeman's sex involved a level of personal information that no civilians ever earn). The Inspector appeared to be male, mostly because of the Inspector's choice, but also as the male body models were the first built and it saves on material costs not to waste bodies still servicable. He wasn't as combat capable as a standard Policeman, and was more expensive - they'd gone for looks and tried to make them as natural appearing as possible. They almost managed to avoid the "Uncanny Valley" of cyborg designs with the bodies made for public relations, but then decided to keep them at the "just not quite human" level, for the effect, for a lack of ambiguity in role and purpose.
Rewritinng DNA is a slow and tricky process - not without its risks. But if you have cancer anyway and will live long enough for the Numbness to begin, and if you are keen on eternal (possibly) civic duty, it was an option. Eternal is subjective in this case, the Police in theory can live a long time, and in that time medical science may develop ways to regenerate neural damage. Nerve damage is the first stage to it, so the first Police are hopeful. Or at some stage the kinks in the detachment gene may be worked out, or the Police may be disbanded or wish to work in the colonies, in high risk areas not able to be handled by the AIs.
He was now blind, the Detachment Party concluded. James was immediately sedated again - too little stimulation for the brain had been known to cause madness. His brain and nerves no longer connected to his body. The cancerous host can be left for re-use of its organs, those still viable. The nicer side effect of the Numbness for James was the loss of pain.
Within a short time he'd wake up in the Police. A tenth of what he used to be, but then more...