comStar Firewall alert - PhaseThrough

siMsense and skillware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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eight-hour daily work for the entire week. Also, reversing reprogramming
can be interrupted and returned to later with no
penalty, though the subject will not remember their true memories
until the test is successfully completed.
The only additional modifier to this roll depends on the
PAB unit rating the therapist is using during the reversal process.
If the therapist’s PAB unit is rated higher than the one used in the
original reprogramming, the threshold is reduced by the difference.
If the original reprogramming used a higher rated PAB unit,
then the threshold is increased by the difference. Unlike event
reprogramming, it is possible to reverse reprogramming without
the aid of a PAB unit, but doing so means the therapist can only
use their Psychology dice on the roll and the rating of the PAB
unit used in the original reprogramming increases the threshold
by its full rating.
If the reverse reprogramming test is successful, the subject’s
memories are restored to their original, unaltered state, including
the memories of the actual reprogramming session. If the
test fails, no harm is done, but the altered memories remain in
place, even though the subject now knows they are not real. If
the reverse programming test fails due to a critical glitch, the side
effects can be the same as a botched reprogramming, including
amnesia or schizophrenia.
invoked prograMMing
Invoked programming is a variation of event reprogramming,
where implanted or concealed memories are inaccessible until a
pre-programmed trigger event occurs. Actual memories can be
blocked, leaving gaps in the subject’s memory that come rushing
back when the trigger event takes place. Alternately, false memories
can be programmed that are not invoked until the moment the
trigger event occurs, at which time they come flooding in.
The trigger event must be selected during the event reprogramming
process, but it can be virtually anything. It can be a
certain phrase, a particular date in time, or even a set of experiences
that must happen in order to trigger the memory. The rush
of memory that is invoked when the trigger event occurs is very
disorienting. Any test made within one Combat Turn of hidden
memories being invoked suffers a –2 dice pool modifier.
Like other event reprogramming, traditional interrogation
techniques will not uncover the hidden memories if the trigger
event has not occurred. Successful detection and reversal of
the event reprogramming will make hidden memories available
again or can remove hidden false memories. Hidden memories
can be invoked with 5 hits on a Mind Probe spell, assuming the
magician knows to look for them. Mind Probe can only reveal
hidden memories; it cannot remove false memories that had
been hidden.
Invoked programming is rarely used, but it has been
implanted in reprogrammed double agents or deep cover infiltrators.
It allows the asset to be inserted among his targets with no
knowledge of his mission or background until he is activated by
the trigger event.
BeHavior Modification
Programmable ASIST biofeedback can be used for more
than implanting or erasing specific memories and experiences. In
fact, the most common legal use of programmable ASIST bio-
feedback is in treating addiction or mental disorder. By targeting
memories associated with trauma or addiction, the behavior itself
can be modified. Unfortunately, even this medical miracle has
been perverted by those who would use it as a weapon. Just as
programmable ASIST biofeedback can be used to remove these
problems, it can also be used to force them onto people by creating
mental trauma or addiction.
The test for modifying a subject’s behavior using PAB is
similar to the test for Event Reprogramming; only the threshold
is different. The person attempting the behavior modification
engages in a Psychology + PAB Unit Rating (Quality BP cost, 1
week) Extended Test. The threshold is the build point cost associated
with the negative quality being treated or implanted. Positive
qualities cannot be removed or implanted using behavior modification.
The gamemaster determines whether a particular negative
quality can be treated or implanted this way, but examples of ones
that typically work include: Addiction, Codeblock, Combat
Paralysis, Elf Poser, Ork Poser, and Simsense Vertigo (pp. 80-83,
SR4). The Karma Cost for removing a Negative quality must still
be paid.
If the test fails, the subject’s behavior remains unmodified. If
the test suffers a critical glitch, unexpected side effects occur and the
negative quality is made worse or altered significantly in some way
determined by the gamemaster. Since behavior modification is not
hidden, no test is needed to detect it in the subject. Behavior modification
can be reversed with another behavior modification test.
SkiLLware: SkiLLS on deMand
Skillware is a spin-off technology from simsense, taking the
application of ASIST and going beyond the sensory regions of
the brain, stimulating and manipulating the cerebral cortex and
cerebellum in order to enable knowledge and skills the user does
not typically have. The spread of skillware has reshaped social approaches
to education and labor, unfortunately not always for the
better. There are three types of skillware recordings: linguasofts,
knowsofts, and activesofts.
LingUaSoftS
Linguasofts are ASIST recordings of language processing,
reading, and speech. The recordings focus on stimulating the left
hemisphere of the metahuman brain, where most understanding
and formation of language occurs. In essence, linguasofts are
real-time translation systems, intercepting activity in the language
centers of the brain and inserting new signals that allow a user to
understand, read, and speak in languages they otherwise do not
comprehend. The typical linguasoft is actually a mixed recording
of hundreds of polylingual speakers, which not only assists in
rounding out the breadth of a language the linguasoft covers, but
also allows users with different native language backgrounds to use
the same linguasoft.
knowSoftS
Knowsofts focus on the cerebral cortex, the complex
neural pathways that associate memory with learning and
knowledge. When knowsofts are recorded, skilled individuals
are deeply tested on a particular topic of knowledge and the
recording focuses on the information retrieved by their memories.
This information is recorded and encoded into “chunks,”
Unwired
Simon Wentworth (order #1132857) 9