OOC: 7. Nanite Bros

Another side-topic thread regarding Hank's various situations. This time the nanite infections. Again, this is here so I can record some ideas so I personally don't forget them and unintentionally let Hank turn into a cyber-ape or something horrible like that.

Since Mercer is a fellow sufferer and since Mercer is the one that can make contacts, Hank will ask Mercer to start going through contact chains to try to find medical professionals that could help understand their condition. I suppose part of our payment for anyone interested in this would be as unfortunate test subjects, and that shouldn't be offered for free.

He will also try to compare notes with Mercer to figure out why they two were targeted, as opposed to anyone else. My initial theory is that Mercer and Hank were the only two not in sealed suits when getting up close and personal with not just one, but two cyber-apes. (Actually, Hank was sealed for the second one, but it was probably too late for him after the first.)

He will also ask the Professor for any of her contacts to follow up on this.

And, assuming we bring VIREN on-line, he will ask VIREN about this, too.

Gotta get this fixed before the nano-zombification process starts in earnest.

Can we move forward on this front now that that other conversation is winding down?

Sure. I am waiting for my "daily slot" and other players posts to put that on the main thread, in the appropriate moment.

If you need an inciting incident, once Maya seems settled, Hank will check with her for another scan, since he's gonna need to get regular check points while hopefully getting more info.

Sorry for being fatalistic, but we did almost certainly get this from those cyberapes, so Hank is absolutely convinced that is his fate if the nanites in his system are ever activate. He is also going through a very real existential crisis because he now fully comprehends the fact that his entire body is no longer his. He no longer "owns" his own body. Rather, he is now just a tenant that can and will be evicted at some point in the future.

In addition, I don't understand how he and Mercer can be allowed to continue on the ship. With the way Jil and Corbin reacted to VIREN and everything, they are literally just as dangerous. Everyone saw the cyberapes. Knowing that we will turn into them at some point can't possible be a reassuring presence.

Basically, we've know what the end result is if we can't remove the infection. And now we know there is no cure. We could end up killing everyone if we find the wrong artifact. At the very minimum, I can't see Jil not completely freaking out.

To deal with it for now, Hank will be reduced to relying on his Terminal Reflection. Once he reaches character level 5 and gains Precog-2, he will regularly (on non-adventuring days) look ahead the full length of his Oracle ability to see if the nanites have activated. If he sees that they have, he will ensure they never activate.

(Terminal Reflection should work because, while activation of the nanites might not outright kill his body, they will result in the "death of self", which should still count.)

Well, for Hank, he is very, very aware that they are not theoretical at all. However, now that he has been told they are benign, he's gonna run with that. It's either that or take a one-way space walk that ends with a single shot of a plasma pistol ...

So ... benign it is!