Whiplash
Biomorph [Pod, Exotic/Xenogenic]
Another one of the alien-derived pods, the Whiplash pod emerged at about the same time that the Scurrier pod did, and used similar methods. The pod is without a doubt highly niche, serving mostly only as a curiosity for those who want an unusual experience, or those looking for an odd body that they want to say they own, although it's been around longer than most people give it credit for, first emerging shortly after the Battle of Storm in the public consciousness and sticking in the back of the public's mind after that.
The pod makes use of the planimal stock found on the planet Sunrise, but incorporates heavy reengineering and transgenic engineering, incorporating genes from other, related planimals while attempting to design the pod so it could fit something that resembled a baseline human norm. The primary modification made to the whiplash stock was to turn the entire organism upside down and orient the digestive portion of the organism horizontally, so that the whiplash’s trilobed orifice faces forward. The whiplash’s grasping roots were also converted into even more motile “walking tentacles” borrowed from other Sunrise planimals. Other adjustments include the addition of a pair of grasping limbs, each with four universally opposable digits; artificial sensing mods (providing human-standard sensing ability); and a general toughening of the internal structure for rigidity and support. The barrel-like body remains very similar to the original planimal stock and, reorientation notwithstanding, the digestive system remains mostly unchanged. The ability to extend and retract the whiplash’s feeding tendril was heavily enhanced, so now the tendril acts more like a 6-foot-long chameleon-like tongue than a hanging food-trap, and is completely prehensile.
The pod makes use of the planimal stock found on the planet Sunrise, but incorporates heavy reengineering and transgenic engineering, incorporating genes from other, related planimals while attempting to design the pod so it could fit something that resembled a baseline human norm. The primary modification made to the whiplash stock was to turn the entire organism upside down and orient the digestive portion of the organism horizontally, so that the whiplash’s trilobed orifice faces forward. The whiplash’s grasping roots were also converted into even more motile “walking tentacles” borrowed from other Sunrise planimals. Other adjustments include the addition of a pair of grasping limbs, each with four universally opposable digits; artificial sensing mods (providing human-standard sensing ability); and a general toughening of the internal structure for rigidity and support. The barrel-like body remains very similar to the original planimal stock and, reorientation notwithstanding, the digestive system remains mostly unchanged. The ability to extend and retract the whiplash’s feeding tendril was heavily enhanced, so now the tendril acts more like a 6-foot-long chameleon-like tongue than a hanging food-trap, and is completely prehensile.
Interesting Facts
- For obvious reasons, the pod contains more synthetic materials and components than it does biological ones, although engineers are working on reducing the amount of cybernetic materials that the pod requires in order to function. However, these groups are small, and lack much in the way of real funding, so progress is not only slow, it's scattershot, with the groups necessarily working with one another.
- The nervous system of the genotype obviously has a number of problem; the computer-alien nervous system interface isn't necessarily up to snuff, so a number of problems like Numb [-15], Ham-fisted [-5 to -10], and Klutz [-5 to -15], are relatively common as the pod has a hard time orienting itself and its current location.
- One of the best known whiplash pods was a founding member of the Worldtree Commons who would sleeved in a whiplash and would travel from world to world planting trees. He wen tby the name "Johnny Astroseed."
Whiplash 93 points
Advantages
Disadvantages Features Cost |
ST +4 [40]; HT -2 [-20].
Arm ST +3 [9]; Basic Biomods [30]; Basic Mesh Inserts [26]; Chameleon 2 [10]; Cortical Stack [6]; DR 1 (Flexible, -20%) [4]; Doesn't Breath (Oxygen Absorption, -25%) [15]; Double-Jointed [15]; Extra Arm (Extra Flexible, +50%) [15]; Striker (Crushing; 2x) [10]; Disturbing Voice [-10]; Numb (Except Tongue/Arm, -50%) [-10]; Odious Personal Habit (Digestive Issues) [-10]; Radical Pod Body [-12]; Restricted Diet (Very Common, Pod Food) [-10]; Social Stigma (Alien) [-5]; Social Stigma (Pod) [-10]. $25,000 + computer. LC 3. |