|
Before the turn of the century, the first cybernetics were made available to medical institutions and to those individuals who could afford the cost of the new and highly expensive technology. The cybernetics of the time were restricted to minor implants such as advanced pacesetters, muscle and skin grafts (for burn victims), and cybernetic arms and legs for limb-loss victims, although these were newly developed and of poor quality. The years to follow led to drastic improvements in the cyberware as newer versions were released and the modern technology was implemented to create new cybernetics altogether. A cybernetic arm soon became a much stronger alternative to a ‘meat’ arm, and a cybernetic eye could not only provide a much sharper image than it’s counterpart, but with a variety of options to choose from, it could provide imaging that was never before possible without extra equipment. Soon any part of the human body could be replaced with a cybernetic implant that was better, faster, or more efficient. Even major organs such as the heart, lungs and liver could be replaced with an untiring version.
Although the initial developments in cyberware represented a wealth of possibilities within the medical community, others saw the new technology as a terrific resource with a much different potential. In the company of the cyberware intended to improve and prolong human life came the cyberware intended to destroy it. Blades concealed in the hands and feet, poisoned needles and tasers in the fingertips, and incapacitating lasers in the eyes became available on the black market. Gangs formed around the new technology and the lethality of the streets skyrocketed.
It was the age of cybertechnology. Cybernetics that were once only available to the insanely rich soon became much more available as prices dropped dramatically. The cost of cyberware, however, was much greater than its worth in Eurodollars. With each new cybernetic implant, the body became less human and more machine, and the effects almost always passed unnoticed at first. The person became less emotional and less concerned as their demeanor turned fierce and cold. Eventually their mind would cease functioning as normal, unable to discern the mechanical implants from the rest of the body. Their mental resources were slowly torn down by their massive amounts of cyberware, and it was only a matter of time before they lost total control. It often caused the personality to fragment and take on one or more psychotic traits, the most common of which was either extreme paranoia of one form or another or a total wrath towards human life. Psychologists recognized this condition as an actual progressive disease and called it ‘cyberpsychosis.’
Cyberpsychosis was identified in the year 2014 by a psychologist by the name of Dr. Victor Eddings of Southern California University. He found that there was a steady increase in the number of reported psychotic cases since the introduction of cybernetics. He also discovered that, as a general rule, the more cyberware an individual possessed, the more likely they were to have psychotic tendencies. Research and experimentation led him to discover that cyberware and psychosis were in fact directly related, and some cyberware had more adverse affects on a person’s psyche than others. He learned that the more cyberware a person possessed, the more difficult it was for their mind to differentiate between the real parts of the body and the replacements. After a period of time, the mind would ‘slip’ and temporarily lose control from time to time from the tremendous amount of mental stress. The effects could be any within a wide range from developing totally irrational phobias, to the mind actually fragmenting and taking on multiple personalities. In one documented case, a man suffering from cyberpsychosis had developed over seventy-two separate personalities. After usually only a few months of lapses such as these, the person was in danger of permanently becoming neurotic and carrying out the often-violent acts that cyberpsychosis would drive them to.
It was possible for cyberpsychosis to be treated, but the procedure involved substantial amounts of money. Extensive therapy sessions had to be carried out for several months while the individual was kept in a stress-free environment. Cybernetics would be removed over a period of weeks to gradually ease the mind back into a comfortable state and allow the person to slowly regain their humanity. The combination of therapy and cyberware removal was highly successful in the earlier stages of cyberpsychosis, but once an individual was permanently in its grasp, therapy was only prosperous a small twelve percent of the time.
People continuously returned to hospitals and local ripperdocs or street doctors for more cybernetic implants. The necessary became a luxury as many people opted to have arms and legs removed in order to get cybernetic replacements. They became greedy for the sense of strength and power that cyberware gave them, and it cost them dearly. They were slowly consumed by the technology as they slid into the abyss where their humanity and their souls were lost forever. The beasts that they became were living nightmares, killing without thought or hesitation. Their enhancements made them virtually unstoppable, allowing them to walk free and often leaving terror and death in their wake.
Like a wild cancer, cyberpsychosis was spreading rapidly despite warnings, and medical personnel were unable to keep up with therapy programs despite the billions of dollars governments across the world were pouring into them. Many people became like walking time bombs, waiting to explode at any moment, and when it happened, it often resulted in many innocent lives being lost.
People across the world appealed to their governments to rid the streets of the cyberpsycho. The Germans were the first to successfully respond, pulling together their military’s finest and most ruthless soldiers and organizing them into four to six man teams. Thousands of dollars were spent on each soldier, training them specifically for the purpose of hunting down and neutralizing the cyberpsycho threat, and providing them with enough cybernetic enhancements to effectively deal with the dangerous task.
In less than five months after being activated, the new Vortex units (so named for their swiftness and ruthlessness) effectively eliminated 92% of all known threatening cyberpsychos and started thorough records to track others who had already purchased large amounts of cyberware.
With the alarming success of Germany’s "fighting fire with fire" strategy, the United States formed their own units, contracting with the elite military forces for training purposes. The C-SWAT (Cybernetic – Special Weapons and Tactics) units were assigned to police forces nationwide, and individual six-man SPAR (Special Purpose Assault and Rescue) teams began a major manhunt for cyberpsychos. With similar success to that in Germany and the cyberpsycho threat under control, C-SWAT units were relocated to precincts in major cities for permanent assignment.
|
