Need a little 'lifestyle' help

Yeah, sorry, was kind of hoping someone would ask a lead-in question because I don't really want to impose but I really, really need a little extra help here. Especially if there happen to be any official transsapients that frequent this place. I, uh...

Remember how I said I was on medical? Well it's pretty serious medical. Pretty pretty serious medical.

I... underwent Relicae's. So I'm a tiny bit lost at the moment.

...High content cyborg here. Still have a little meat on my (remaining) bones, not that it does much. Anyway. What do you need help with?

I'm not an expert on Relicae's, but on the other hand, you won't need my vast experience on how to deal with chronic pain in the remaining meat.

Fire away.

Fascinating. I cannot say that was the sharpest move on your part. Then again, maybe it is. How long is your term, ten years? Twenty? Sounds like it might be a small price to pay for essentially eternal life. You will have to tell me all about your experience as what is essentially a brain in a jar.

I don't know, just... everything you can think of? It's really surreal looking down at my chest and seeing plastic and white muscle fibre and stuff. And everything's a little numb which I suppose might just be because it's still being calibrated and I'm still on recovery but I can barely type properly which is why I'm using speech-to-text which is also why I'm rambling.

And it's not the indentured servitude kind. It's more like, um... I kind of got hit with a shotgun. Twice. And then I took my helmet off because I was sure I was going to die and, you know, always wanted to do that. Turns out I got such catastrophic internal damage from the infection coupled with the buckshot wounds that I'd pretty much be in therapy for years if I didn't do this. And since it was kiiiinda the company I work for's fault I got hurt in the first place and it wasn't even supposed to be my job... yeah. It's... I'm... practically all paid off once I get out of recovery.

It's just kinda scary, you know? I've got plugs in my chest.

Amazing! Do you need to eat? What kind of platform is it?

Also: Make sure you can only connect to the extranet via wires; you do not want your body hacked.

Yeah, I still have to eat. Well, I get to eat. Real food, not nutripaste. The synthetic 'tastebuds' are a bit weird so it's not perfect but... yeah. It gets processed somewhere in the torso region as energy for the frame and my brain, but I eat. It's a medical thing, so everything's white and trying to look non-threatening, but as far as I can tell it's a really good reproduction of a quarian body.

... which is probably really easy since they must have had my old organic body still arough. No, no, not going to complete that thought, no.

The plugs aren't extranet connections or anything. I'm just using my OT for that. They're failsafes, monitoring the frame, making sure it's working okay while I adjust.

Regarding your previous limitations, do you consider your current state as improvement, or would you - if theoretically possible - chose your "old organic body" as you call it?

(Also what does breathing unfiltered air feel like?)

I can't really say 100% since I haven't been up and about yet - not really safe to be - but it feels a thousand times better than wearing an envirosuit ever did. I can look at my own face in the mirror. I can breathe without it being filtered three or four times. It feels... I dunno. Sweeter. Fresher. Not unlike going from nutripaste to real food. What I was used to was so dull and lifeless that I don't know how I ever got by with it.

In that case, congratulations! (If that is even appropriate to do to someone after he almost died.)
It sounds like you are about to make first of likely many sensational new experiences.

I have been informed it is customary to wish you to get well soon in this situation.

As a quarian who has undergone extreme body modification procedure, while for pressing medical issues, I am interested in inquiring about how you perceive yourself as you recover and grow more accustomated to your new synthetic body. Your cooperation would contribute towards my research on peaceful co-existence between the quarian and geth.

Well, best wishes for your ongoing recovery. I don't know that I'm really qualified to offer any more than that (but when has that ever stopped me) - I've had a few procedures done, but nothing that would really qualify me for 'transsapient' status, I feel. I'm fond of being called an 'augment', after an old textbook I read while I was at the academy, but really I'm no more different from 'standard' than any modern soldier who's had the modifications relevant to their profession; quite a bit less durable than them of course.

Anyway. I know that strangeness you describe, although I'm sure your experience is a lot more powerful than any of mine ever were. I did come to find some comfort in the feeling though, and if it's bothering you greatly, I hope you might too - I came to view that feeling as proof positive that my identity, my sapience if you like, remained mine, that I was still 'me'. Otherwise, if my identity had been altered as my body had been, what would be left unchanged to feel the strangeness of the situation? As I say the thought was a comfort, and made the process of becoming accustomed to my alterations quite a pleasant one. I have no doubt the extent of the procedure you've undergone (not to mention the distressing circumstances that resulted in it) would make it a far greater challenge, but I hope not a insurmountable one.

Look up some local support groups. Everyone think that "it's not for me", but you should give it a try I think.

do you at least have rocket fists or something cool like that?

So you still have to breathe and eat? That is inefficient. Why makes machine that still has all of the same needs as an organic when it could just run on batteries and plug directly into the wall.

Well, can you at least eat both levo and dextro food now?

Can you have sex? I mean once you get out of hospital?

Mmmyyyyeeessss? You rang?


Ahhhh. You know, frankly I feel somewhat inconsiderate that I didn't ask how exactly someone lost all their everything as you mentioned in passing. So here, allow me to make it up to you somewhat.

If you're in need of a support group, have technical questions, or simply an area in which you can talk and relate your experience to others who have undergone something similar: S+ maintains an emergency crisis chatline, a library of free use technical material (because understanding the ins and outs and capabilities of your body is somewhat helpful for easing that transitory period), and finally message forums. It's a lovely, little community and if you feel so inclined you're more than welcome to look me up there (I would be TenFoldShields). Monsoon is another wonderful organization, more of a think-tank and scholarly yet approachable articles with a side of practicality. They have keynote speakers from the community (including Sir Sellanian Callaigshai if you're a fan), streamed debates, and reports on breaking news relevant to the whole transhumanist scene.

Now let's see, some of the key parts in becoming accustomed to your augmentics (and good for you with the eating and breathing! I mean that unironically.) is, well the little things. The man who runs this GalaxyTube channel, Beastly_Says_Hi is a Mutasrita Imugi, basically the genetic equivalent of full body cybernetic conversion. There's been a few passes to take it down but last I checked it's still up. He does interviews with notable people in the community, showcases and reviews some of the latest augmentic modules, and does segments on transhumanist friendly planets, corporations, and organizations. Most of the appeal is that he's informative while being rather lighthearted about it and has an actual sense of humor (le gasp) if occasionally it gets a little biting.

And last but not least, if you've got the time and disposable income (or can wrangle it from your employers) I'd start making plans. Find custom options you like, face shields, inductor tattoos, mobility modules, aesthetic designs. Start sketching out trips and places to hit up when you're mobile. Beaches. Lagoons. Jungles. Mountains. Go HALO jumping, eat out at a restaurant, any restaurant. Push your body, test your limits, and enjoy yourself.

The whole existential argument is a fair bit of bullshit to be honest. A fair bit of boring bullshit no less. You're you. You know you're you. You didn't become a new person every time you tweaked your exo-suit and you're not any different just because now you have CNT instead of muscles. If meditation and contemplation legitimately help you then by all means go right ahead, but I'd argue that nothing helps with the process quite as much as simply taking a measure of pride in your body.

I mean, you're a quarian who can breath unfiltered air, go outside in a shirt and shorts if you'd like, and kiss someone without ending up in the ICU for three weeks.

How cool is that?

Okay, I don't mean this in a perverted way, but...

....frag it. Yes, yes I do. I mean this in a normal way and in a perverted way, in any way you used to use your old body.

Because that *is* your body now and you'd best make yourself at home in it. I suggest you close yourself in your room on a regular basis and do some exploring. Seriously, pretend you're a pre-teen again. You're learning all over again what you look like and feel like, what feels good and bad, how things work. Put in the time, get familiar and get comfortable.

The good news is, if you don't like those plugs in your chest, you can mod them. Cover them up, or, hells, light them up and rock them--if you're going to have plugs in your chest anyway, you don't need to go halfway. Take your time, think about it and realize you have options.

Don't let anyone make you feel bad or weird or whatever for doing this, either. If you're not hurting anyone, it's none of anyone else's business.

The injuries describe make it clear you had few other choices. I know that feeling, and honestly, there's a point where you decide to either spend the rest of your life crying for what you've lost, or you decide to take what you are now and own the shit out of it.

As for identity: I would say that it's going to evolve. Once again, it's like being a pre-teen. You aren't in a child's body any more, and your life experiences are going to change because of it - but you don't stop being "you" just because you grow to adulthood. Your identity evolves as you mature. The big difference here is that the change is literally overnight, so it takes more time for your psyche to "grow into" your new body and the experiences it gives you.

...oh. One more thing. Yes, there are idiots who will gawk at you, but there are also some really great people out there who think the whole cyborg thing is pretty hot.

I say flaunt the synthetic nature of your body! Learn it. Live it. Love it.

Oh. Um... okay. I mean, I haven't got much else to do at the moment. And, you know... should do something for my people one of these days.

No. I'm boring. It's also a medical platform so I think rocket fists were low on the priority list.


Yes. And I couldn't be happier to be 'inefficient'. Well, technically I think I could get by with glucose packets for quick energy but you know what I mean.

I... actually hadn't considered that. I mean, technically, the food isn't getting digested. I taste it, then it gets broken down and converted into energy by my new body. I might actually be able to. I'll get back to you on that.


... no.

My new body doesn't have the proper parts. Not like I knew what to do with them anyway.


Heh. I, um... thank you. That helps a lot. I'm just going to bookmark all of these for later but thank you.

Just... keelah this is a lot to wrap my head around. Closest thing to a 'body mod' I've been capable of was choosing which wrap to put on my helmet. And I actually have money now. And... and I'll have to wear clothes now. Get to wear clothes, I mean. I'm going to be the first quarian ever to walk around in a t-shirt and shorts with no helmet.

... okay maaaaaybe I'll just wear my envirosuit sans helmet first couple of trips. Baby steps.


Errrrrrrrr...

Um, first of all. Quarian. Never explored my body. Ever. Certainly not in the way you're thinking. The closest any of us can get is NerveStim and no I did not use that. I used to live in my suit I wasn't going to... egh. Anyway.

Second of all, like I told Diplomatic Immunity, I don't have those parts. I look like one of those anatomy models, you know, with no skin and stuff, only white. So... limit to the 'exploring' there.

Freak.