APAGear II Archives Volume 4, Number 8 October, 2002

APAGear II

Bioengineering

Janne Kemppi

Biotechnology has greately advanced along other fields of technology in Terra Nova. It also remains controversial in people's minds following memories of prior supersoldier projects like Prime Knights and GRELs. Because of this the bioengineering work in Terra Nova is often shrouded in secrecy and euphenisms. Sensationalistic reporting, cheap political sound bytes and strict religious tenets increase this controversy even more making people more confused and less than ever. This shunning of bioengineering has caused serious backlash in Terra Nova on related fields, such as cybernetics, too.

Terra Novans tend to see grievous wounds resulting in permanent damage as final end of situation. It is generally seen as a fate. Privately many people see people who have gotten these wounds as not fit enough to survive in social darwinistic life in Terra Nova which they see as eternal struggle. The resistance and public pressure to avoid using cybernetic and bioengineered solutions has made many doctors to drop field and avoid giving council in these issues. Thus Terra Novan societies in general tend to try to avoid subject of handicapped and disabled people and public support to their rehabilitation tends to be spotted. This is probably not very strange in a society where physical enhancements and cybernetic parts are often seen as monstrosities.

Bioengineering has advanced slowly in Terra Nova as size of business field remains small and because the cost of entering field and staying there remains long. The extremely long lead times (and doubly so in bioengineering)to get approval to products hardly helps. Terra Novan biotechnological companies have thus slowly engaged in major bioengineering activities. Society's suspicion on field has forced many corporations to either limit their services to military or security organizations or avoid field alltogether.

Despite these barriers there are always people with money and connections to get the job done. Some use specialized personal doctor services who keep lists of potential treatments and solutions. Only very few of these services tend to be crooks, but all of them are secretive. However, when there is need and money, things will eventually get done, somewhere, somehow...

Riddle Wrapped Inside Enigma

A group of professionals have been hired to follow a prominent businessman who has lately been making several trips to Perth in Humanist Alliance. He seems to very secretive of some of his activities and appears to disappear for good once during every business trip. Characters are hired to shadow him to make sure what he is doing to businessman's employer. Characters should engage in shadowing and surveillance and collect evidence, all of which will eventually point towards a health care corporation's basic research facility. Everything looks completely normal but it seems funny a businessman employed in defense industry would have reason to meet health care businessmen, espewcially since shadowed businessman is engaged in mechanical engineering with prominent Perthian corporations. Perhaps some breaking and entring to this facility - which will soon prove to be a bioengineering laboratory - will give more answers on businessman's motives.

  1. He has infertility problem and is seeking help to it while trying to avoid attention.
  2. He wants to repair a defect in his body (such as kidney problem) with help of bioengineering.
  3. He wants to get himself some bioengineering to get himself extra edge and make him perform better in eyes of his family and friends.
  4. He wants to create a perfect child to his family.
  5. He wants to enhance his brain with experimental bioengineering to help him work better. However, there might be complications with his mind functionality or perhaps less than ethical methods in research involved...
  6. Facility is actually used to brainwash the businessman to work as spy by a group of foreign agents. They really don't want anyone to see how their perfect little operation is being run.

Back to APAGear II Archives

APAGear II Archives Volume 4, Number 8 October, 2002