Ake Dolphin
90 Points Humans have long admired dolphins for their creativity and their intelligence, and they have played a significant role in human civilization since the ancient Minoans and Greeks. They were used for social projects and scientific ones, but far and away the most widespread use for dolphins was in the military. A number of early Interplanetary Period navies made use of both species of dolphin, the bottlenose and the common, for purposes that ranged from spying to rescuing lost seamen and deactivating mines. Their natural intelligence made them perfect for the role, but as the jobs became more complex, the various militaries of the world began looking into the potential of increasing the overall intelligence of the dolphin through experiments and uplifting. At the same time, several institutions involved in the study of cetacean cognition and metacognition were in the process of delving into the dolphin mind to learn more about it, so it could help humanity learn more about itself. The two wants collided, and various naval programs around the globe began sponsoring research into dolphin cognition. The first uplifted dolphins weren't military; they were tragedies that almost got the programs shut down by angry environmentalists and eco-terrorists. However, the agencies persisted, and soon they had a useable model - named the Ake Dolphin. The Ake Dolphin became relatively widespread by the late Interplanetary period, and by the Second Interstellar Period, and number of personality flaws and traits within the Ake genome had been ironed out. By this time, many of the world navies were already gone, and the Seed AIs were gradually moving in to take over human civilization. However, by this time the Ake had found a new lease - as starship co-captains. Their natural 3D sense of space and in the water allowed them to pilot starships and interplanetary vessels much better than humans could, especially if they were trained. In this sense, the Ake continues to operate, with a number of ships boasting that they have a "dolphin brain" as a result. Subtle eugenic alterations to the baseline dolphin, along with some limited exposure to artificial and transgenic chromosomes produced some minor changes in the dolphin's brain, with the goal of producing a language center so dolphin could comprehend and understand human languages. While in earlier generations this left broken dolphins with damaged psyches, as the scientists became better at the project, the number of broken dolphins became less and less until we reach the present, where the dolphins treat human language as just another part of their brain. They communicate through mechanical translators that can interpret the ultrasonic parts of their speech. While their behaviors no longer square with baseline dolphins - they are so fundamentally different that they can't get along - groups of Ake dolphins aboard starships have produced their own cultures, with many generations of Ake dolphins. There is an uplifted version of the Ake Dolphin with its own unique culture called the Delphi dolphin, which is found on Bluefall. Attribute Modifiers: ST+10 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%; Size -10%) [40]; DX+3 [60]; IQ-3 [-60]; HT+1 [10]. Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: SM +1; Per+2 [10]; Will+2 [10]. Advantages: 3D Spatial sense [10]; Acute Hearing +4 [8]; Doesn’t Breathe (Oxygen Storage x100, -30%) [14]; Enhanced Move 1 (Water) [20]; Enhanced Tracking 1 [5]; Injury Tolerance (No Neck) [5]; Intuition [15]; Nictitating Membrane 1 [1]; Peripheral Vision [15]; Pressure Support 2 [10]; Sonar (Reduced Range 1/5, -20%) [16]; Temperature Tolerance 1 [1]; Ultrasonic Speech [10]. Disadvantages: Cannot Speak (Mitigated by computer interpreter, -60%) [-6]; Distractible [-1]; Hidebound [-5]; Innumerate [-5]; No Legs (Aquatic) [0]; No Manipulators [-50]; No Sense of Smell or Taste (Can taste, -50%) [-2]; Short Lifespan 2 [-20]; Social Stigma (Valuable Property) [-10]; Stress Atavism (12; Mild) [-10]. Quirks: Sexually attracted humans as well as dolphins [-1]. Features: Most have Broken literacy. Availability: $140,000. LC4. Astropus
110 Points One of the few uplifted animals to attain true sapience, the Astropus is an Octosapiens with a beefed up IQ that is functionally sapient. It's as smart as a Neo-Octopus but because it doesn't have the hydrostatic alterations that the Neo-Octopus has, it's not as useful in a gravity well (in fact, it's next to useless in a gravity well; they either need to be underwater or they need to be in microgravity. Any sort of gravity at all for them is a hindrance). In addition to the overall increase in intelligence, engineers gave it the ability to breathe air as well as water, and can use their jets to propel themselves through an atmosphere in microgravity, by sucking in the air and then expelling it. The Astropus evolved as the result of spacers attempting to take an uplift that was already useful and increase its utility so it was more useful still. They hadn't originally intended to make the design sapient but they succeeded in doing that after experimenting with the neurons enough, and as a result, the Astropus has gone on to become one of a small club of elite animals that have made the leap to sapience without having to undergo the neo-animal route. There are small pods of Astropuses that can be found on almost any spacer habitat, but since they tend to be solitary creatures, they don't gather in any more than groups of five or six at a time. Attribute Modifiers: ST-2 [-20]; DX+3 [60]; IQ-2 [-40]; HT+2 [20]. Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: HP-2 [-4]; Per+3 [15]. Advantages: Chameleon 2 [10]; Constriction Attack [15]; Damage Resistance 1 (Can’t Wear Armor, -40%; Tough Skin, -40%) [1]; Doesn’t Breathe (Gills, -50%) [10]; Extra Arms (6; Extra-Flexible on all 8 arms, +50%) [100]; Flight (Costs Fatigue, 4 FP, -20%; Requires Low Gravity, 0G, -50%) [12]; Injury Tolerance (No Neck) [5]; Obscure 10 (Vision; Accessibility, Only in water or zero-G, -30%) [14]; Peripheral Vision [15]; Teeth (Sharp Beak) [1]. Perks: Sanitized Metabolism [1]. Disadvantages: Bad Grip 2 (-4 penalty) [-10]; Bad Sight (Nearsighted; Mitigator, -60%) [-10]; Cold-Blooded [-5]; Colorblindness [-10]; Fearfulness 1 [-2]; Hidebound [-5]; Incurious (9) [-7]; Invertebrate [-20]; Mute (Mitigator (computer interpreter), -60%) [-10]; Short Lifespan 1 [-10]; Stress Atavism (Mild) (12) [-10]; Social Stigma (Uplift) [-5]. Quirks: Uncongenial [-1]. Features: Home gravity 0 G. Availability: $136,000. LC3. Delphi Dolphins
87 Points Delphi dolphins are fully uplifted dolphins, native mostly to Bluefall but also found on Antigua and Nautilus, as well. Delphi dolphins are one of only three animal species to attain full sapience through uplifting (the other being the Astropus and the Ishmael, which are an uplifted octopus and uplifted gorilla, respectively). Delphi Dolphins can be seen as an improvement on the Ake Dolphin genotype, engineered by the Regency to help with the terraforming effort on Bluefall, although the Ake Dolphin is certainly stronger and larger than the Delphi is. The genotype is as smart as human but retains a number of dolphin-like characteristics, including the pod structure that shapes dolphin society. Since Delphi dolphins are fully sapient, they are awarded some human rights in the Regency. However, they generally don't participate in the greater society and have no real desire to interact with the government, preferring to swim in the seas of their new home. Human society often seems to complex and overbearing for them, and they prefer the traditional simplicity of pod-structures. The Delphi maintain its own culture and their own ideas about how the universe is organized that are separate from those of the humans around them. One of the biggest differences is that Delphi Dolphins don't exhibit the "conscious/unconscious" dichotomy that humanity does, and are superb at a variety of analytical tasks, brining a sort of "direct intuition" that humans can only manage with some difficulty. This allows them to intuit a piece of information or a course of action without adequately being able to explain themselves to humans, which humans find frustrating but which dolphins treat as a matter of course. Dolphins also have a different sense of self; their mind does not use the same subject-object classification system that the human brain does, or it uses that system in a different way: dolphins see themselves as an aspect of an individualized world, rather than a unique thing that is separate from other things. They are known to identify strongly with familiar places, prized possessions, and natural environments in a way that humans find incomprehensible. Dolphins may risk their lives to protect these things, identifying with them so strongly that the dolphin sees them as an extension of self. Attribute Modifiers: ST+4 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%; Size -10%) [20]; DX+3 (No fine Manipulators, -40%) [36]; IQ-1 [-20]; HT+1 [10]. Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: SM +1; Per+1 [5]; Will+1 [5]. Advantages: 3D Spatial Sense [10]; Acute Hearing +4 [8]; Doesn’t Breathe (Oxygen Storage x100, -30%) [14]; Enhanced Move 1 (Water) [20]; Enhanced Tracking 1 [5]; Injury Tolerance (No Neck) [5]; Intuition [15]; Nictitating Membrane 1 [1]; Peripheral Vision [15]; Pressure Support 2 [10]; Sonar (Reduced Range 1/5, -20%) [16]; Temperature Tolerance 1 [1]; Ultrasonic Speech [10]. Disadvantages: Cannot Speak (Mitigated by computer interpreter, -60%) [-6]; Hidebound [-5]; Increased Life Support (Massive) [-10]; No Legs (Aquatic) [0]; No Manipulators [-50]; No Sense of Smell or Taste (Can taste, -50%) [-2]; Short Lifespan 1 [-10]; Stress Atavism (Mild) (12) [-10];Social Stigma (Uplift) [-5]. Quirks: Distractible [-1]. Features: Most have Broken literacy. Availability: $101,000. LC4. Ganesh
70 Points The Ganesh is an uplifted elephant, derived from Asian Elephant stock. Since there has been a civilization in India elephants have been used as effective beasts of burden, and even as humanity achieved a more automated existence, elephants continued to not only captivate and fascinate on an intellectual level, but also as tools to help with forestry, land reclamation, and construction. In Bangladesh they saw use helping dredge dykes and defenses against the incoming flood waters brought about by climate change, and saw similar action throughout India and even into neighboring Pakistan, Myanmar, and Thailand. However, as the solutions to climate change became more complex, handlers began to realize that they were hitting a wall with their animal wards, and so turned to biotech companies to try and engineer them a smarter elephant. Since the project was limited in scope, engineers were able to select genes from thousands of different elephants and mapped the ones that would encourage intelligence and comprehension, and with some minor alterations to the brain, created the first generation of the Ganesh. The Ganesh has remained unchanged ever since, a testament to the solidness of the design. The Ganesh were fighting climate change with humanity, and after Florida flooded, India exported dozens of Ganesh to help the United States recover its lost state. They helped again in New Orleans and Louisiana, and soon were a common sight as far north as the Netherlands. It wouldn't be until the dawn of the first Interstellar Age that Ganesh would be shipped off Earth, however; as embryos aboard the ships in the Great Fleet, where they would be birthed and used to help construct new colony worlds. Their brains were scanned and used as software for numerous automated units, and of all the uplifts, even more so than the Ake dolphin, the Ganesh is likely the most successful in terms of raw presence throughout the Verge and Bleed. It's possible to find a Ganesh wherever there's a civilization that will facilitate them; Bluefall has thousands, all of them assisting in the forest effort. And while no attempts have been made to improve their intelligence any further, most view that as a good thing, since the Ganesh appear to be quite and content where they are. Ganesh use a voice translator to communicate, and generally have mastered between 8,000 to 10,000 unique words by the time they're adults and can make constructive use of those words in sentences. Genetic engineering has shrunk the tusks of the the male elephant do so they can no longer be used as strikers, while other eugenic and slight transgenic modifications included increasing the strength of the trunk slightly and boosting the IQ by one point. Engineers also succeeding in domesticating the animal. Unlike Ake dolphins, Ganesh don't typically have their own distinctive developing culture, although they are instinctive matriarchal, and when not working with humans, tend to follow a way of life that isn't too different from the way of life that elephants had long ago on Earth. Attribute Modifiers: ST+35 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%; Size, -30%) [105]; DX+2 [40]; IQ-3 [-60]; HT+2 [20]. Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: SM +3; Per+4 [20]; Basic Speed -2.00 [-40]. Advantages: Acute Hearing +1 [2]; Damage Resistance 4 (Tough Skin, -40%) [12]; Discriminatory Smell [15]; Enhanced Move 1 [20]; Extra Arm (Extra-Flexible +50%; Long +1 SM, +100%; Weak, 1/4 ST, -50%) [20]; Less Sleep 4 [8]; Peripheral Vision [15]; Subsonic Speech [10]. Perks: Penetrating Voice [1]. Disadvantages: Cannot Speak (Mitigated by computer interpreter, -60%) [-6]; Chummy [-5]; Increased Consumption 1 [-10]; Innumerate [-5]; No Depth Perception [-10]; Quadruped [-35]; Slow Eater [-10]; Social Stigma (Valuable property) [-10]; Stress Atavism (12; Mild) [-10]. Quirks: Dull; Staid [-2]. Taboo Traits: Cannot Jump. Availability: $91,000. LC4. Hayagriva
-42 Points Horses have played a role in human culture and society for millennia, and have been among the most dependable work animals that humanity has ever had. Ownership of a horse was often a high-status symbol for much of human history, whether for actual work or for show as an equestrian. Like elephants, another work animal, no technology fully developed that allowed for the replacement of horses as work animals, whether it be for mounted work like police or cattle ranchers or search and rescue work in the wilds. They were also frequently used by park wardens and logging companies, since the use of horses in the latter helped prevent lasting damage to the soil. The primary goal of the Hayagriva wasn't to produce a smarter horse, although they ended up doing that. It was to produce a healthier, sturdier animal. One of the major problems with a horse was that it walked on one toe, being an odd-toed ungulate. For this reason, breaking its leg was catastrophic and almost always lead to the horse being put down. Through the application of engineering and transgenic, designers were able to work around it, redesigning horse limbs so they could move multiple toes, reducing the damage and stress that was put on the legs without reducing overall speed. It also meant that breaking a limb wasn't an immediate death sentence for the animal. They aren't sapient - nowhere near sapient - but they are roughly as intelligent as a baseline chimpanzee and are capable of doing everything horses in movies and InVids do, and then some. They can count, recognize objects, and be trained to memorize routes and to understand signs (although they don't understand what the signs mean; they associate the sign with the command given and thus develop the ability to preempt the command by seeing the sign). They also feature an augmented spleen, which produces disease fighting leukocytes. Hayagrivas aren't seen in too many places on the Verge and Bleed. They are usually found in the Monarchy and on places where there are planets and gravity, since horses do poorly in zero-G and in free fall (as with elephants, the best advice for transporting a Hayagriva in space is to tranquilize the horse and let it sleep the entire trip or put it in a habitat with rotation gravity. It won't enjoy that either, but at least then it won't break something as if flails about desperately). However, a fair number of them live on Bluefall, where, like the Ganesh, they assist in the terraforming effort, and are becoming popular companions throughout the Verge and Bleed (planetside companions, anyway). Attribute Modifiers: ST+11 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%; SM +1, -10%) [55]; IQ-5 [-100]; HT+1 [10]. Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: SM+1 (3 hex); Per+7 [35]; Will+6 [30]; Basic Move+1 [5]. Advantages: Claws (Hooves) [3]; Enhanced Move 1 (Ground Speed 12) [20]; Less Sleep 5 [10]; Peripheral Vision [15]; Resistant to Disease (+3) [3]. Perks: Fur [1]. Disadvantages: Domestic Animal [-30]; Quadruped [-35]; Short Lifespan 1 [-10]; Weak Bite [-2]. Availability: $10,000. LC4. Ishmael
74 Points The Ishmael is arguably the only true uplift on this list, if one considers an uplift to be an animal raised to human level sapience (as opposed to a animal/human splice that works around the basic limitations of an animal by simply redesigning it). A truly uplifted gorilla, as opposed to a new organism that blends human and gorilla DNA, the Ishmael is superficially similar to most other gorillas: semi-upright, walking primarily on their knuckles, although their cranium size is larger than a conventional gorilla and their bite is weaker, because they lack a pronounced sagittal crest that anchors stronger jaw muscles, making their faces look slightly younger. Most humans couldn't tell the difference between a standard Ishmael and a conventional gorilla unless placed side by side, and even then, it isn't easy. The only transgenic feature of the Ishmael is a voice box, engineered in from humans to help them articulate words and sounds. Their IQ has been raised to sapience levels, and they are roughly as intelligent as a conventional Neo-Gorilla is, and have the same intellectual and vocabulary range. Since their posture was not altered, they maintain the Gorilla's higher than average basic move. Eugenic engineering also helped improve hand shape, giving them better manipulation abilities. The Ishmael was developed as the only true effort into functionally uplifting an animal to human level intelligence; all of the other instances (except perhaps dolphins) have sought to create an organism that was just smart enough to do the complex tasks that humanity wanted them to do. Since gorillas never played a role in the human economy outside of wildlife to be poached, humanity had no basic task that it was trying to engineer them for, so designers tried to see if they could actually push a species over the edge and help it make that leap, and after they failed with the chimpanzee, they applied what they learned to the gorilla and the result was the Ishmael: a walking, talking gorilla capable of doing human-level tasks. Attribute Modifiers: ST+5 (SM +1, -10%) [45]; DX+2 [40]; IQ-2 [-40]; HT+2 [20]. Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: Per+2 [10]; Will+2 [10]; Base Move +1 [5]; SM +1. Advantages: Arm ST +3 (SM +1, -10%) [14]; Brachiator [5]; DR 1 [5]. Perks: Fur [1]. Disadvantages: Chummy [-5]; Innumerate [-5]; Short Lifespan 1 [-10]; Semi-Upright [-5]; Sleepy (1/2 of the time) [-8]; Stress Atavism (15; Mild) [-5]; Weak Bite [-2]. Quirks: Proud [-1]. Availability: $124,000. LC4. Guardian Bear
79 Points Guardian bears are uplifted bears; they are highly modified animals and originally saw use as guards for wealthy families or those who simply wanted an exotic pet that they knew could guard their home and their family. Most guardian bears are trained to act as effective but non-lethal guards, with most often having training in wrestling, and have been taught how to grapple and pin combatants. They are also taught to know the dangers of their own weight and strength, especially around their "family," and children. They tend to be highly affection towards their family and children in general, however. Despite being semi-sentient in most respects and having a transgenic voice box, they are not good conversationalists and have a working vocabulary of between 50 to 100 words. Most also have some sort of implanted radio communicator, which allows them to talk or chat with their handlers or with a house AI in the event of an emergency, or to call in support when they need to deal with intruders. The first use of guardian bears appears to be on Mars, although it may date back to the late Interplanetary period on Earth. They are often seen as an eccentric choice for guards, but the value of having a smart pet and a guard that is trained, competent, and intimidating is something that can't be overstated. Attribute Modifiers: ST+8 (Size, -10%) [72]; DX+2 [40]; IQ-4 [-80]; HT+3 [30]. Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: SM +1; Will+4 [20]; Per+5 [25]; Basic Move+1 [5]. Advantages: Blunt Claws [3]; Damage Resistance 2 (Flexible, -20%) [8]; Enhanced Move 1/2 (Ground) [10]; Mars-Adapted [9]; Sharp Teeth [1]; Temperature Tolerance 3 [3]. Perks: Fur. [1] Disadvantages: Bad Grip 3 [-15]; Dead Broke [-25]; Innumerate [-5]; Native Language reduced to Spoken (Broken)/Written (None) [-5]; Semi-Upright [-5]; Social Stigma (Valuable Property) [-10]. Quirks: Affectionate to “Family”; Broad-Minded; Dull. [-3] Features: Taboo Traits (Fixed IQ; Genetic Defects). Availability: $13,000. LC4. |
Kago Orcas
212 Points Kago Orcas are uplifted orcas, native to the same territories that their cousins, the uplifted dolphins are: Bluefall mostly, but also Antigua, Nautilus, and similar water worlds. The join the Astropus, the Ishmael, and the Delphi as being one of the few animals to ever attain full sapience via uplifting. Uplifted orcas often lack the cultural complexity that dolphins display; where dolphins are quick-witted and playful, orcas are methodical and careful. When they aren't working with a human they tend to follow a way of life that isn't all that dissimilar to their ancestors, with the majority of uplifted orcas being "resident" orcas by engineering (transient orcas are rare, since the engineers wanted to encourage the orca pods to work together). An elderly matriarch tends to oversee the entire pod, and on a whole they tend to be very social being. They stay mostly in warm waters to hunt, play, and socialize, and they often develop their own dialect of cetacean so strong that engineers on Bluefall and Antigua, two places here Kago orcas are the most common, can distinguish them by pod. The major difference between primal and uplifted orcas is that in primal orcas bringing up children was the job of females; among uplifted orcas, males have started to play a role in bringing up children, as well. While they tend to lack the poetic mindset of their uplifted cousins, Uplifted orcas tend to be very spiritual all the same, with a deep interior life. They follow a similar Dreamsong belief to their uplifted cousins, although orcas don't always describe the Dreamsong in the same way that dolphins do; where dolphins designate the Dreamsong as a product of every thing, from rocks and planets to people and stars, all of which produce and live in the Dreamsong, orcas tend to believe that the Dreamsong is more discrete, and that there are distinctions between living and non-living things. Dolphins may well agree, and convention interpretation is the result of their flare for the poetic. However, orcas for certain draw that distinction. Attribute Modifiers: ST +40 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%; SM -30%) [120]; DX +2 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%) [24]; IQ -1 [-20]; HT +4 [40]. Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: SM +3; FP +2 [6]; Per +2 [10]. Advantages: 3D Spatial Sense [10]; Acute Hearing +2 [6]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Doesn't Breathe (Oxygen Storage x100, -30%) [14]; Enhanced Move 2 (Water) [20]; Enhanced Tracking 1 [5]; Injury Tolerance (No Neck) [5]; Less Sleep 1 [2]; Nictitating Membrane 1 [1]; Peripheral Vision [15]; Pressure Tolerance 1 [5]; Sonar (Reduced Range 1/5, -20%) [16]; Temperature Tolerance 1 [1]; Ultrasonic Speech [10]. Disadvantages: Cannot Speak (Mitigated by computer interpreter, -60%) [-6]; Hidebound [-5]; Increased Life Support (Massive) [-10]; No Legs (Aquatic) [0]; No Manipulators [-50]; No Sense of Smell or Taste (Can taste, -50%); [-2]; Short Lifespan 1 [-10]; Stress Atavism (Mild) (12) [-10]; Social Stigma (Uplift) [-5]. Availability: $170,000. LC3. K-10
-43 Points Dogs have been part of humanity since before humanity had civilization; they predate alcohol, if that tells you anything about how important they are. The two species have co-evolved in a way that no other species on Earth have evolved; in fact, as far as humanity is aware, there are no other instances of an evolutionary relationship between two species like there is between humans and dogs, and given the galaxy is littered with the remnants of a lot of dead civilizations, one wouldn't be wrong to conclude that perhaps dogs have something to do with humanity's survival and success. Humanity has bread the dog for a number of various purposes, but direct intelligence was never one of them; often, intelligence was a byproduct of the dog being breed for complex tasks, such as herding or hunting. This is why many of the breeds seen as the most intelligent were often worker dogs and herders, with Border Collies topping the list, followed by hunting dogs like the Poodle (the actual breed, not the toy Poodle) and the Alsatian. And it's from these three breeds that humanity engineered the K-10 intelligent dog. As the society around humanity became more complex, humanity's desire to see it's life-long companion keep up grew, and so several biotech companies looked into making "smart dogs" that could be better adapted to the modern world. After several failures, they succeeded with the K-10 dog breed, and humanity hasn't looked back since. On every world that humanity has settled, the K-10 has been right there beside them (followed closely in tow by humanity's other two constant companions, rats and roaches). The creation of the K-10 actually revealed a great deal about dog psychology and the dog brain, and it spurned research into the dolphin brain, which would eventually lead to the Ake dolphin and the Ganesh. However, when engineers ended the project because there was no more room to be hand in the skull, a number of engineers rejected the idea that uplifting had to stop there and would go on to create the first Neo-Dog, sparking the rise of the neo-animals. K-10s resemble large wolfs or dogs, but with slightly larger skulls with higher craniums. Their voice boxes have been modified through eugenic and transgenic experimentation, allowing them to learn how to speak, although they have the same growling accent that Neo-Dogs and Neo-Bears have. Attribute Modifiers: ST-1 [-10]; DX+1 [20]; IQ-4 [-80]; HT+2 [20]. Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: Per+6 [30]; Will+4 [20]; Basic Move +5 [25]. Advantages: Claws (Blunt Claws) [3]; Discriminatory Smell (Emotion Sense, +50%) [23]; Extra Legs (Four legs) [5]; Teeth (Sharp Teeth) [1]; Ultrahearing [5]. Perks: Fur [1]. Disadvantages: Chummy [-5]; Colorblindness [-10]; Hidebound [-5]; Innumerate [-5]; Quadruped [-35]; Sense of Duty (Individual) [-2]; Short Lifespan 2 [-20]; Sleepy (1/2 of the time) [-8]; Stress Atavism (15) (Mild) [-5]; Stuttering [-10]. Quirks: Responsive [-1]. Features: Most have Broken literacy. Availability: $2,000. LC4 Monkey Plus
-51 Points Monkeys have long been model organisms and pets, and in many instances, where trained to help those who were disabled or quadriplegics during the early Interstellar period, when that was a problem. The most common monkey for this was the Capuchin monkey, although Spider Monkeys also served similar roles. At about the same time that experiments into animal cognition began looking at chimpanzees and gorillas attention turned to monkeys as well, in an attempt to figure out how their cognition worked. This was boosted by the recently created K-10, with some specialized, niche businesses looking at the monkey as a potential uplift target. The monkey was formally uplifted at some point between the end of the Interplanetary period and the beginning of the Interstellar Period, and they have remained a popular animal choice for Spacers and certain individuals ever since. The current model of the Monkey Plus is a eugenically and lightly transgenic alteration of the Capuchin or Spider Monkey. They make suitable household companions, although they are very high maintenance and if they get bored, then they have a tendency to become destructive. Beyond that, there are few changes to the overall size and shape of the Monkey. Attribute Modifiers: ST-6 [-60]; DX+3 [60]; IQ-3 [-60]; HT+3 [30]. Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: SM -4; Per+3 [15]; Will+3 [15]; Basic Speed +0.50 [10]. Advantages: Acute Hearing 2 [4]; Brachiator [5]; Extra Arm (No physical attack, -50%; Short, -50%) [2]. Perks: Fur [1]. Disadvantages: Chummy [-5]; Innumerate [-5]; Semi-Upright [-5]; Short Arms [-10]; Short Lifespan 2 [-20]; Sleepy (1/2 of the time) [-8]; Social Stigma (Valuable Property) [-10]; Stuttering [-10]. Features: Temperature comfort zone 55°-120°F. Availability: $10,000. LC4. Octosapiens
38 Points Octopuses rank among the most intelligent invertebrates on Earth, and so it was only natural that humanity would want to study more into how such creatures achieved their intelligence, and what their cognition looked like. Octopuses were actually one of the last species to undergo an attempted uplift, owing to the odd nature of their brains. The first uplifted octopuses were surgically altered, not properly engineered, but as the utility of such creatures in space became apparent, several companies saw dollar signs and began experimenting with the prospect of low-G and free-fall octopuses, especially on the Moon and in the asteroid belt. The result of these experiments were the Octosapiens, a first generation uplift. The only major change to the octopus has been to increase the overall IQ, through attempted eugenic and light transgenic alterations, as well as include a voice box. While the end product isn't much brighter than a K-10, it should be said that K-10s are still pretty damn bright. The Octosapiens is capable of learning between 1,000 and 5,000 unique words, and constructing them in sentences that are grammatically correct. Octosapiens require specialized gear to operate out of the water, but given how comfortable they are in microgravity, it was worth the effort to make it. Most spacers see the octosapiens as their version of the K-10, which has a rough time operating in microgravity, and that isn't necessarily a bad way of looking at it. There are fully-uplifted versions of the Octosapiens - they're called Astropuses, and they exist in spacer communities. Don't confuse them with Neo-Octopuses. Attribute Modifiers: ST-4 [-40]; DX+3 [60]; IQ-4 [-80]; HT+2 [20]. Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: Per+3 [15]; Will+2 [10]. Advantages: Chameleon 2 [10]; Constriction Attack [15]; Damage Resistance 1 [5]; Doesn’t Breathe (Gills) [0]; Extra Arms (6; Extra-Flexible, +50%) [90]; No Neck [5]; Obscure 4 (Smell; Ink; Drifting, +20%; Limited Use, 4 per day, -20%; Link, Obscure Vision, +10%; Only in Water or Zero-G, -30%; Persistent, +40%) [10]; Obscure 10 (Vision; Ink; Drifting, +20%; Limited Use, 4 per day, -20%; Link, Obscure Smell, +10%; Only in Water or Zero-G, -30%; Persistent, +40%) [24]; Peripheral Vision [15]; Sharp Beak [1]. Disadvantages: Bad Grip 1 [-5]; Bad Sight [-25]; ColdBlooded [-5]; Fearfulness 1 [-2]; Hidebound [-5]; Incurious (12) [-5]; Innumerate [-5]; Invertebrate [-20]; Mute (Mitigated by computer interpreter, -60%) [-10]; No Legs (Aquatic) [0]; Short Lifespan 2 [-20]; Social Stigma (Valuable Property) [-10]; Stress Atavism (Mild; 12) [-10]. Availability: $88,000. LC4. SmartCat
-32 Points Unlike Dogs, there is every sign that humans never fully domesticated cats. The first cats likely started living with humans shortly after humanity started establishing cities with granary stores; these stores attracted pests like mice and other vermin, which made them an ideal hunting grounds for cats. They moved in and set themselves up in human settlements, and since they killed the pests that humans didn't want around, they were left alone and gradually they began to domesticate themselves. Once dogs started getting the uplift treatment it was only a matter of time before cats did, as well, but unlike dogs, cats never got enough attention to warrant a neo-animal variation like dogs did. The smart cat first appeared on Mars, but they quickly spread from there, and have been a feature of human colonies ever since. There are some habitats run entirely by packs of smartcats that have an AGI overseer to guide them through complex tasks; the final devolution of the "crazy cat person" meme. Like the K-10, the smart cat features a slightly modified voice-box and a brain that has been tinkered slightly so it recognizes certain sounds and associates them with certain concepts. It does, however have a very limited vocabulary. More so than with dogs, the relatively small size of the cat brain places a hard limit on just how much can be done, and as noted, they never got the funding or attention to produce a neo-animal variant. Smartcats tend to derive much, if not all, of their genome from Abyssinian cats, which are widely regarded as one of the more intelligent breeds of housecat. While it's true they never got the press that Ake dolphins, Ganesh elephants, or K-10 dogs got, they became a popular household companion all the same, and by their most recent generations, are roughly comparable to K-10s in terms of overall intelligence. Attribute Modifiers: ST-6 [-60]; DX+4 [80]; IQ-4 [-80]. Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: SM -3; Per+6 [30]; Will+5 [25]; Basic Move+4 [20]. Advantages: Catfall [10]; Claws (Sharp Claws) [5]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Improved G-Tolerance (1G) [15]; Night Vision 5 [5]; Reduced Consumption 1 (Cast Iron Stomach, -50%) [1]; Resistant to Disease (+8) [5]; Silence 1 [5]; Teeth (Sharp Teeth) [1]; Ultrahearing [5]; Vibration Sense (Air) [10]. Perks: Fur [1]. Disadvantages: Curious (15) [-2]; Domestic Animal [-30]; Quadruped [-35]; Short Lifespan 3 [-30]; Sleepy (2/3 of the time) [-16]; Stress Atavism (12; Mild) [-10]. Quirks: Proud [-1]; Responsive [-1]. Availability: $1,500. LC4. SmartHawk
-40 Points Like most domesticated animals or semi-domesticated animals, humans have been using hawks since at least the dawn of civilization in the sport "falconry." Throughout the middle ages it became strongly associated with nobility, and reached its zenith on Earth in the 17th century before fading in the 18th and 19th centuries when firearms replaced birds as the tool of choice for hunting. It picked back up in popularity at the turn of the 20th century, but took on a whole new life for itself on in the large lunar habitats, where the birds could perform some spectacular dives and turns. It also became a safe way to hunt down pests on rotating habitats; while the habitat itself was too large to harm with a firearm, most banned private firearm ownership for safety reasons anyway, which brought falconry back into popularity. While still a niche hobby in many areas, it's especially common in the Monarchy, where it has once again become associated with nobility in the upper class. Like most individuals with pets, falconers wanted to benefit from the development of smart animals/uplifted animals as well, and so well into the Concordance Period, experiments on uplifting hawks began. Engineers didn't have much room to work with, although they were able to use transgenic engineering and high-end eugenic engineering to produce smarter than average hawks, eventually managing to make the hawk as smart as the average dog, and integrating a voice box borrowed from parrots. While never warranting the neo-animal treatment - there just wasn't enough interest - the production of smart hawks has hummed steadily onward into the present, where they remain a niche but popular pet and companion through the Verge and Bleed. Attribute Modifiers: ST-6 [-60]; DX+2 [40]; IQ-4 [-80]; HT+2 [20]. Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: SM -3; Will+4 [20]; Per+6 [30]; Basic Move-5 (Ground Only, -60%) [-10]. Advantages: Acute Vision 3 [6]; Damage Resistance 1 (Flexible, -20%) [4]; Enhanced Move 1/2 (Air) [10]; Flight (Winged, -25%) [30]; Mars-Adapted [9]; Sharp Beak [1]; Sharp Claws [5]; Temperature Tolerance 1 [1]. Perks: Feathers. [1] Disadvantages: Two “Arms” are Short Foot Manipulators [-16]; Dead Broke [-25]; Hidebound [-5]; Innumerate [-5]; Native Language reduced to Spoken (Broken)/Written (None) [-5]; Social Stigma (Valuable Property) [-10]. Quirks: Staid. [-1] Features: Taboo Traits (Fixed IQ; Genetic Defects). Availability: $3,400. LC4. |