Runner's Companion.pdf - Free

Simon Wentworth (order #1132857) 9adolescent” period of curiosity, identity formation, and, often, asense of wonder about both its own world and ours. During thisdevelopment, the metasapient spends between half and one thirdof its time in re-alignment, a process much akin to biological sleepingthat tends to cause the node in which it resides to freeze.Posthuman Artificial LifeThere have been too many reports of electronic ghosts, ore-ghosts, to discount the phenomenon. There are metasapientsin the world who not merely believe themselves to be metahuman,but specific metahumans. In every case, the metahuman inquestion is recently dead, rarely more than a few months to a yearbefore the emergence of the e-ghost. Regardless of the rumorsto the contrary, this office has found no credible evidence thate-ghosts are the actual souls of the people they claim to be.In legal terms, e-ghosts are treated as metasapients, but notas the people they claim to be. Most institutions report that themost effective way to handle a new e-ghost is to humor its beliefand help it transition into its “new life.”Estimated Population (Worldwide): 50,000 (metasapients)Population Centers: Unknown.Common Languages: All languagesInternational Status: Corporate Court precedent allows forcorporate citizenship but only on a case-by-case basis and only aftercareful review of the circumstances. Of the major corporations,Horizon, Evo, Saeder-Krupp, and NeoNET have all extendedcitizenship to interested AIs. In the Japanese Imperial State, lawshave been passed forbidding citizenship to digital entities, who areconsidered property of the company or individual who developedand copyrighted their software core. Pueblo is leading the chargein terms of nation states recognizing digital rights, though similarlegislation is under discussion in several industrialized nations.Free SpiritsIf synthetic intelligences are newcomersto our world, free spirits have visitedour world for decades. While thaumaturgictheory has advanced significantly in theyears since the Awakening, the fact is thatresearching this report we were forced toconclude that very little is actually knownabout them, their otherworldly origins,and why some seem to wish to immersethemselves in metahuman society. Thisfinal point is particularly important in definingrelationships between metahumansand free spirits. Too often in the recent pasthave metaplanar entities been revealed notto have mankind’s best interests at heart.Free spirits that exhibit human-likecharacter traits and behavior are usuallycalled anima. These exhibit a strong desireto remain on the physical plane andinteract with humanity. Some theoriessuggest that a free spirit seeks energies thatthe magically active may share with it orRunner’s Companionsimply to revel in the vibrant emotional output of metahumanity.Competing theories postulate that the desire to remain is merelyan echo of its bond to its original conjuror, or a parallel to humanity’sown curiosity about the metaplanes and their inhabitants.Whatever the reason, free spirits have been joining the restof modern civilization for many years and have even taken onimportant political roles in some countries (e.g. Amazonia andManchuria). However, there are reasons to suspect that a fargreater population has discreetly adopted less visible roles at alllevels of society (though overall populations are still minute bymetahuman demographics).> Now that’s fearmongering if I ever saw it. Anybody implying thatthere are free spirits by the boat load, like some sort of illegal immigrant,stealing people’s jobs and finagling themselves into positionsof power is just out to scare people. There are maybe a few hundredof them out there, to the 6 billion of us.> LyranFree Spirits and the Legal SystemSeveral studies by the Astral Preservation Society, DIMR,and MIT&T assert that most free spirits who stay on Earth try tointegrate with civilian life. They choose their own identities andusually assign themselves a gender. Those whose forms allow sometimesregister for a SIN with a government or corporate entity,maintaining their secret nature. Others simply settle for living onthe fringes of mainstream society in a variety of roles.Key issues surrounding spirit citizenship and rights includesuch difficult questions as: whether spirits should be allowed tomarry or own property (a serious issue given the prospect of accumulatedproperty and wealth and spirit’s apparent immunity toage), what constitutes cruel and unusual punishment for a spirit,and what kind of sanction might apply for law-breaking spirits.69alternative character concepts . . . . . . . . . . .