Here is the final¹ installment of a series begun years ago in “A Space Opera Setting” and continued in “The Less Evil Empire” and “The Not So Good Republic”.

This post details the Transhuman Commonwealth, a.k.a. The “Post-Human Dominion” as its critics call it. Its population are 100% artificial intelligences, and while they’re willing to trade with organics they feel uncomfortable mixing with them.

The Commonwealth’s most direct inspiration is Charles Stross’s Neptune’s Brood and the RPG Eclipse Phase. I’ll also borrow from my own “Theta Priori” setting somewhat, specifically the part about “side-loading” skills and direct brain-machine interfaces. (Except the brains in question are also a kind of machine …)

After the usual writeup, I’ll give rules for my current obsession, the RPG Faster Than Light: Nomad.

The Transhuman Commonwealth

At the anti-spinward edge of Confederation Space lies a sector entirely populated by artificial beings, the so-called Transhumans. Others call them “Post-Human”, whether as an insult or a belief that they represent the destiny of humanity. The planets of this sector are linked politically into a “Commonwealth” and culturally by a Hypernet that moves information between each star system in the sector. Often perceived as standoffish, the Transhumans mostly keep to themselves, but offer some products of their civilization – advanced ships, nanofabricators, and others – to those who can meet their exorbitant prices: not in gold or commodities but in rights of access, objects d’art, or entire planets.

This essay attempts to separate solid fact from holonovella fabrications.

Who Are The Transhumans?

Some might call them “artificial intelligences”, but they are far more complex, sapient, and “self aware” than the artificial intelligences produced by all other humanoid cultures.

While not strictly biological, the Transhumans mimic biological functions to an astonishing degree, while possessing abilities more commonly found in “robots”.

The Standard Form

Most Transhumans wear a standard body which looks like a sexless, ageless humanoid with metallic skin. Some Transhumans make cosmetic modifications to this form like differing skin tones, hair of whatever hue, and different facial and body sculpts drawn from various humanoid species.

Neither “android” nor synthoid, this body is composed of cells with a fusion of biological and mechanical organelles. The Standard Form can eat any organic food, and even a few things organics wouldn’t consider edible like plastics and wood shavings. That said, they prefer most of the same foods organics prefer. Unlike organics, Transhumans prefer a viscous liquid called Soma that contains all the nutrients their pseudo-biological bodies require to stay healthy; organics think it’s disgusting, partly metallic sludge. Transhumans can also derive energy (but not materials to heal damage) from electrical current or magnetic induction.

Their organs resemble those of humanoids, up to a point. Instead of a single heart they have multiple distributed hearts that keep their “blood” flowing in a continuous stream. Their digestive systems are smaller but more efficient at separating necessary molecules from unnecessary or dangerous ones. Transhumans can breathe oxygen or carbon dioxide, and can store it for hours before they begin to lose consciousness. And so on.

Variant “Shells”

Transhumans can switch bodies as easily as switching their brain from one body (or “shell”) to another. This is actually very difficult for a Transhuman to do alone; fortunately most Transhumans possess household devices to transfer the module for them. The new shell can be any body that has a motor-sensory system sufficient for a Transhuman, although a Transhuman can reluctantly “downgrade” with an adaptor module.

The Transhuman Brain

Physically, a Transhuman Brain resembles a roughly ovoid case about the size and shape of a human braincase. Where the human cerebellum would be lies the brain’s all-important “backup port” and a a few smaller ports, jacks, and chip slots. Where the spinal column would go is a huge port with an incomprehensible number of discrete wires.

Schematically, a Transhuman Brain consists of three parts:

• The quasi-organic neural net that acts much like an organic’s brain.
• An internal omnicomp, used as a machine-brain interface.
• The Lifelog that encodes the Transhuman’s personality and life experiences.

Note that all three components work together to create a functional Transhuman. Without the neural net, the Transhuman could not think. Without the Lifelog, the Transhuman would die forever if their neural net were powered off or destroyed. Without the internal omnicomp, the Transhuman would be cut off from the Omninet; they would have to rely on skills and knowledge acquired the hard way, through experience and study. That’s in-Transhuman.

Mind Uploads and Downloads

All three parts of the Transhuman Brain exist to enable downloading of “Expert Packages”, memories, or an entire personality.

Expert Packages are expert systems sideloaded into the Transhuman’s omnicomp. The experience is much like having someone over your shoulder telling you how to do a set of tasks. It cannot replace real experience, but in a pinch it can help a Transhuman perform a series of rote, repeatable tasks.

Transhumans can also share memories, either of information or experiences. A Transhuman will know which memories are theirs and which are downloaded. Despite this, some Transhumans lose themselves in the memories of others. In extreme circumstances, they may not be able to tell their own memories from ones they borrowed, and believe themselves to be someone else.

The Lifelog records the Transhuman’s essential personality and life experiences into compressed, encoded data. One can then copy the data to a external Backup Cylinder or an equally capable storage device. (This requires more than a few data crystals or, horrors, a Late Atomic “thumb drive”.) Blank or spare Backup Cylinders are expensive, even for other Transhumans. Making a backup takes the better part of a day. Re-initializing a Transhuman brain from a backup likewise takes an day or so to restore basic identity, followed by a disorienting few days of loading memories piecemeal from the Lifelog.²

It’s also possible to upload a backup to a new brain and have two or more instances of the same person running around, but that is legally frowned upon.

Psychology

Contrary to popular belief, Transhumans have their own identities and personalities, sometimes even extreme personalities. That said, the ability to share memories and skills ameliorates the roughest edges. Transhumans therefore enjoy being able to commune with other minds, and avoid any actions which might disconnect them from their community.

Likewise, a Transhuman’s survival beyond the death of their bodies gives them a feeling of invincibility … especially if they keep their backups up-to-date. An independent service will restore a Transhuman from backup after their confirmed or presumed death, so Transhumans have little desire to create progeny.

The only new Transhumans “born” come from Transhumans who either want to see how differently their lives could have gone or have some ulterior motive in creating a new “mini-me”. Even then, the Transhuman Identity Board must approve any reproduction to make sure the Transhuman parent isn’t simply passing off an instance of themselves as “offspring”.

Imagine, then, immortal beings who can share each other’s innermost thoughts. The name “Transhuman” is more than deserved.

What Is The Commonwealth?

All known Transhuman planets belong to a single Commonwealth. Each planet has its own (perhaps more than one) government, but share a common Omninet, Hypernet, and monetary system independent of Confederation Space’s “credits”.

The Commonwealth of Planets

Despite the differing nature of Commonwealth governments – from personal monarchies to capitalist republics to socialist “utopias” – every government supports the same services:

• The Commonwealth Bank, the institution of record for all financial transactions and a lender of last resort.
• The Labor Exchange, where any Transhuman can find some work they can do to pay for food, clothing, and shelter.
• The Hypernet, a network that spans all the worlds in the Commonwealth using communications at FTL speeds (but lousy bandwidth).
• The Omninet, a universal network of omnicomps and omnicomms not so different, in principle, from those of human(oid) star systems.
• The Transhuman Identity Board, tasked with overseeing Transhuman brain backups, downloads, uploads, and reinstalls.

Because of the Omninet’s and Hypernet’s reach, any business or service can be made interstellar, but some jurisdictions restrict or block certain services according to local regulations and/or mores.

All in all, between their physical and mental advantages and the social services available to all Transhumans, most Transhumans live lives that the average human would envy.

The Commonwealth of Individuals

Transhumans reckon their own wealth in “Coins”, which despite their name are purely digital constructs recorded on each Transhuman’s Lifelog and in the accounts of one or more Commonwealth Banks. The algorithm resembles the “digital currency” of the Late Atomic era, but with much stronger encryption, cross-verification, and transactional integrity. Transactions involve an exchange of Coins for labor or property, or borrowing Coins from the Commonwealth Bank at interest.

In the Commonwealth, all wealth is personal, as is all responsibility. Corporate taxes and fees – whatever a government may collect – comes from the officers’ private accounts if they have not set up a corporate joint account. In most jurisdictions corporations have unlimited liability, and a company’s officers and employees are solely responsible for its actions³. Individuals can be fined into personal bankruptcy over a “corporation’s” mistakes.

That said, institutions like the Labor Exchange – and services on the Omninet – ensure that nobody stays bankrupt for very long. Theoretically.

The Common Wealth

While the Coin superficially resembles the “credit”, the conversion rate fluctuates wildly, with an average of about 1000 Cr per Coin.⁴ Yet Transhumans do not regularly exchange Coin or even milli-Coins, since technologies like nanofabricators make most commodity goods essentially free. Milli-Coin exchanges usually pay for services, e.g. cybernetic modification.

In the Commonwealth only the very large or the very rare cost real Coin. Space ships, large vehicles, and planets (or parts of planets, or rights to same) have value. So do exclusive information, blueprints of novel inventions, and unique artifacts. The price of such properties fluctuates depending on market demand and perceived (not always actual) rarity. Unfortunately, with the availability of information on the Omninet, anything that can be scanned and digitized will not be valuable for long.

Nevertheless, Transhumans still have some uses for the common Credit. When in humanoid sectors, Credits purchase items Transhumans can’t fabricate easily, and sometimes Credits grease the wheels of government and business.

Some Transhuman business folk pick up quick Credits by churning out products for lesser civilizations: common or military grade equipment, ground or air vehicles, lower tech space ships, etc. Usually such individuals are gathering funds to make small moves on lesser civilizations’ markets, or to gather local currency for a big purchase through a shell company. Both Transhuman and human authorities frown on this sort of thing.

What About Humanity?

Transhumans value humans as trading partners and markets for their goods, but prefer not to mingle beyond the signing of a contract.

Humans, humanoids, and even non-humanoid species feel a little inadequate compared to Transhumans. Some view them as humanity freed from many of its flaws – mortality, for example – and pursuing a life without many of the social ills that plague humanoid societies. Others worry that Transhumans will eradicate humans and replace them with their own kind; those who propose this dark future provide no evidence but advocate complete eradication of Transhumans nonetheless.

Yet those few humans who have interacted extensively with Transhumans still recognize human traits, good and bad, in their synthetic psyches. They are people, capable of generosity and greed, kindness and indifference, wisdom and folly, curiosity and willful ignorance. They simply want to live their indefinitely extensible, perpetually online lives.

Transhumans for Nomad

Technology Age: Late Galactic

Transhumans as Robots

For the Referee who doesn’t want a campaign to revolve around Transhumans, we present them using the rules for Robots. See Faster Than Light: Nomad, pp 124-132.

Upgrades: 2 Humaniform Manipulators; Electronic Interface, Humanoid, Self-Repair, Shells; Hardwired, Modular Brain.

Cost: not given; Transhumans are free, sovereign beings.

Transhumans as Aliens

Transhumans are quasi-organic artificial people. The “standard form” is sexless and genderless, but a starting Transhuman character may resculpt their bodies to reflect any sex or gender they wish. (After that, it costs; see “Cosmetic Modification”, FTLN p. 92.)

Create a Transhuman with 4 Skill Points, one Archetype, no Talents, Stamina (Durability) equal to 14 + Physical, and the following abilities:

Transhuman Abilities

• Aluminum Stomach: A Transhuman can eat any organic matter, even things inedible to most humanoids. They do, however, taste, so they prefer the same foods as humans, or even better Soma.

• Armor: Even without external armor Transhumans have 4 Armor (Protection) Points representing their metallic composition and superior internal organization.

• Expert Packages:⁶ A Transhuman may download an “Expert Package” from an Omninet in the Transhuman Commonwealth or a network connected to the Commonwealth’s Hypernet. The Expert Package functions like a Talent; iw: grants a +1D advantage to one type of activity, e.g. Guns, Administration, or Spaceship Operations.

  Each Transhuman may have only one Expert Package running at any one time, but may store up to their Knowledge skill in packages. They may swap running Expert Packages after concentrating for 1d3 combat rounds. They may purge a Expert Package as a free action, but must then re-download it if they want to use it again.

  Download speeds may vary, especially on the Hypernet. Assume 2D6 minutes if the package is readily available on the Omninet, 2D6 hours or more of searching if the package is extremely specialized or restricted, and 2D6 days if the package has to move across the Hypernet.

• Internal Omnicomm: All Transhumans have an Omnicomm implant.

• Internal Omnicomp: All Transhumans have an Omnicomp implant. Combined with the Omnicomm implant, they can connect wirelessly to any Omninet – the network for Omnicomms and Omnicomps – if the network is accessible from their current location.

• Neural Interface: All Transhumans have a Neural Interface (FTLN p. 94).

• Nigh-Immortality: If a Transhuman is killed, roll Physical +2D to see if the brain case is recoverable; if so, it can be transplanted to a suitable body, e.g. a standard body.

  If the braincase is not recoverable, the Transhuman can be revived from their latest backup. If revived from backup, the new version will possess only the Experience and Skills that the prior version possessed at the time of their backup.⁷ All downloaded Expert Packages and other external data will be lost.

• Resistant to Cybernetic Loss: Being cybernetic organisms, Transhumans do not suffer from Cybernetic Loss (FTLN p 90) the same way humans do. Instead, their Loss level cannot exceed 2 + Physical, due to sensory and somatic overload. If a Transhuman ignores the threshold, all actions are at -1D due to having too much “noise” in their head.

• Resleeving: A Transhuman’s braincase may be transferred to a robot body prepared to accept it, or to a new standard form.

Transhuman Weaknesses

• Nearly Sterile: Transhumans cannot reproduce like organic beings. A Transhuman must synthesize a standard body or a shell with a brain. The Transhuman then records their own engrams onto a Backup Cylinder, then edits them to pass the Identity Board’s criteria for a “new person”. Finally the new Transhuman awakens and spends their “adolescence” in an apprenticeship with their parent or another Transhuman. It’s a long, expensive process that few Transhumans pursue.

• Social Unease: A Transhuman is ill-at-ease with organic beings, due to their differing biology, lifespans, and mortality. The GM should impose a -1D penalty, or more if in the Referee’s opinion the form of “social encounter” runs outside or contrary to a Transhuman’s experience.

• Vulerable to Brain Hacking: A Transhuman’s brain has a perfectly serviceable firewall against simple malware. Nevertheless, those who delve in the dark places of the Omninet may wish to avoid using their Neural Link, since a hacker can follow a Neural Link back to the Transhuman’s head, and no one wants digital worms in their heads.

  Hacking a Transhuman’s onboard Omnicomp requires a contest between the hacker’s Technical skill and the Transhuman’s. Success does not give the hacker complete control over the Transhuman’s mind, but does allow the hacker to control the Transhuman’s perceptions and physical actions (-1D for the latter) like Descartes' “evil demon”. The Transhuman’s Persona Module is wholly inaccessible from the Omnicomp.