CYBERGANIC AU (Full details, not just cliff notes.)

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(To come: Dot points of at least MTMTE and LL changes. Probably do the whole continuity.)

BIOLOGY: GENERAL; EGGS/HATCHED; THE MADE; HAMMERSPACE (Armour); OUTLIERS
All timescales given, some of which can and do get ludicrously large, are human translations.


No-one knows for sure how old Cybertron is, only that it's Really, Really, Old. Most place it at about six to seven billion years old, while at least one Ignition Cult claims it's twelve billion years.

The current war has been officially going for close to 4,501,113 years. They officially, literally, ruined their planet some four thousand years ago thanks to Thunderwing's Second Coming resurgence and the Cult's resultant insanity.

Pre-war was a semi-stagnant place with a very much a class/caste based general society that basically relied on the bracelets for its form of Functionism, and the lowest of the lowest were the bestials (beastformers). Most of whom filled extremely menial or demeaning jobs or were outright owned as slaves. To say nothing of how else they managed to discriminate against each other.

The Matrix exists; Primus created it. It was also used to make trillions of artificial sparks that were then frozen and stored alongside harvested sparks. Some of which were subjected to radiation bombardment in an attempt to make artificial Outliers.

Unicron is a Thing. Basically, if the literal embodiment of the Death of the Universe awakens, you might as well kiss the Universe goodbye outside some exact circumstances that IDW probably will not replicate.

This guide does not, currently, take into account what ???/Thunderwing, and Mesothulas/Tarantulus have done. A lot of it is very body horror, even if it was done on (mostly) willing volunteers.

⭐ BIOLOGY: GENERAL

• Everyone is a "cyber-organic 'space elf' minus pointy ears", though they still have sparks and are able to reveal them for a short period of time- about thirty seconds, or long enough to spark-merge/complete the rites of Amica Endura or Conjunx Endura.


• Still rather hard to kill, but not as hard as canon, as they are rather resilient against most things unless it happens to be magic.


• According to Cyberganic biology, there are two types: harmless and dangerous, both of which Cyberganics are unable to wield or harness. They know the dangerous type to be toxic and even deadly because it basically causes rapid, irreversible oxidisation of the bio-metal from the inside out and turns them into a literal pile of Cyberganic goo. They only need to be hit with a bit of it to start the process, and depending on where they were they were hit, one can stop it- via removal of the entire limb. The 'harmless' type is typically harmless to them, though some of the species are noted to have allergic reactions that range from Mild to Will Die.


• Needless to say, any and all planets with Magic are treated with Caution.


• Still require energon to live, on top of normal food though this means their blood is toxic to organics. They can live on 250ml of it every fourish days, but it's highly unpleasant and basically slowly killing yourself because they use more energon than they consume, especially if they don't have a food/water intake. It is highly efficient method of prolonged torture.


• Due to the complex joining of organic-and-metal, they're stronger than an organic and the average Cyberganic could a car or break a motorbike in two with a single punch if they were trying.


• Because of the engeron intake, their blood is very much toxic to organics, and the physiology is adapted to dealing with it.


• They can survive in a vacuum/underwater without armour for up to about six hours before death happens. Certain others of the species can go much longer- up to days. Sadly, the drawback of being partly organic is needing oxygen.


• They possess a biomechanical immune response known as 'self-repair'. This works to rapidly seal any open wounds with basically a layer of fat/energon that's then incorporated into the actual healing of the wound. While it's rapid and keeps them from dying due to bleed out, it does nothing to speed up the actual process of healing.


• On suffering massive/traumatic damage, Cyberganics are capable of going into an 'infinite' trance-like state known as 'stasis lock'. Comparable to the sleep mode of a computer, stasis lock keeps Vos hovering between life and death with minimal internal resource expenditure, though any natural healing is sluggish and focused on the most life threating injuries first.


• This is provided she isn't moved before she comes out of it herself (which is basically like waking up, only worse because Everything Hurts).


• Move her and she'll come out of it, and could possibly end up dying. Stasis lock is not infinite, though it runs on the lowest possible power settings, it can keep a Cyberganic alive for thousands of years at a time before forcing them to wake up and, if they can, seek medical help. It will not last so long as to kill them.


• Intraveinously flooding them with energon works as a stopgap emergency response in that it'll re-trigger 'self repair'. Only, this one'll also act like morphine while proper first aid is applied. This lasts about an hour before the person starts to go into energon-shock. When that happens, the excess energon has to be drained otherwise they will start to die because their organic parts start to die, and there's about a half-hour window before death.


• 'Male', 'female', 'neuter' refer to body type only, with 'neuter' wholly androgynous. Males are the scarcest body type, with female and neuter both about equal, though some parts of Cybertron have more ladies, and some more neuters.


• That it happens to line up with she/they/he is solely a human translation, and they/she tends to be the default pronoun if one can't figure out the gender. Given they don't reproduce as organics do, there is very little taboo around any part of the body.


• Clothes are very much a choice, not because they need to, and most clothing is used to express personality or as trappings of wealth/rank. It's just as likely that one will wear clothes as it is one will make underwear out of the armour and be classed as dressed. Or walk around naked because they can. This means children/people running around naked is A Thing.


• They possess a triple helix made up of thirteen different Cybernucleic acids that produce the unimaginably complex building blocks for what they're made of, and the entire genome was mapped back in the Age of Tribes by 'Jalan of the Ninth Branch of the South-Eastern Nomads of the Darklands'.


• It can be 'hacked' up to a point, and a horrific process known as empurata does just that, basically replacing the eyes with something like this (it comes in many colours and sometimes other shapes!) and replaces the hands with honest to god claws ranging from pure metal to rather crude cyberganic stuff. How workable these are depends on the level of 'work' done.


• While it is reversible, reversing the head part requires understanding the genome, skill, and knowledge on how the procedure was done. It also requires facilities to grow replacements, not just for the head part, but the hands as well. It also requires time. It should be noted that this means they can technically regrow any part of the Cyberganic anatomy, and during the war, the facilities, along with the tech, came to be known as Cyber Repair Chambers. However, these things are basically Making a new part, so.


• These tanks can also be used as general fixing someone up, as it's faster to be in a repair tank than to heal naturally. It's also costly in resources.


• Empurata also takes the mask/helmet of the armour and replaces it (wholly or in part) with a 'black void' and a single 'optic'. Basically, the nano-tech is also modified to add insult to injury, including armour for the claws. It is very much a violation and mutilation of a person.


• Shadowplay -the act of forcibly 'adjusting' a personality- still exists and it's possibly more horrifying because of the change from machine to cyberganic. Those who do it-mnemosurgeons- are still very much trained in the 'art' and it is still a very long, very much eventual fatal occupation (though most die 'young') because it's also an addiction. It's also possible to keep the inner cyberbrain (the part that is more metal than flesh) alive outside the body, but it's rather Hard to do it long term.


• Point One Percenters are still sparks of incredible power and they come in various types, from load-bearers to powerhouses, and a third type known as '(pure) warbuilt'; these are are ridiculously rare sparks that emerge with a HSI that is purely for war (there is no other use for it no matter what the Functionists say). Sixshot, Black Shadow, Overlord are but three and probably the most well known.


• Warbuilt was coined because of a woman named 'Warmonger'.


• Megatron's spark is a warbuilt, but no-one actually knows the truth of this save for Bianca/Brainstorm. And then Megatron's spark was stuffed into a Made. Is it any wonder he added a fusion cannon to himself at the first chance?

⭐ BIOLOGY: EGGS/HATCHED

• They hatch from eggs. These are comprised of a rock hard shell with 'roots' dug deep into the ground and a translucent section, that can, with some difficulty be passed through. Ten minutes before hatching, it becomes impassable. Natural eggs are small, while artificial ones that create Made are big enough to house adult bodies while still retaining the characteristics of natural eggs.


• They appear on the general surface of the planet after a pulse wave from a thing known as Vector Sigma, that literally lives in the planet's core. (spoiler: It can be reached with some difficulty.)


• A race is typically started after the pulse wave to find the eggs and secure them. Yes, even in the war, but Warborn that survive to hatch are rare.


• It takes about one week for the cyberganic matter within to be reconfigured into a humanoid shape around the spark AKA the literal soul of the cyberganic, with the spark covered ten minutes before hatching.


• The physical age they hatch at is about three years old, and they come to physical maturity about ten years after they hatch. By their reckoning, this is the age of 'ten', which is about 25 years for us humans. Given MOST lifespans average 6,550,021 years give or take, this is basically a blink of an eye them. There are a number of cases of people living far, far longer, proving they can live a ridiculously long time, but these cases are typically only seen in Hatched.


• The new hatched are given to people of the appropriate caste/class to be raised, though once the war began in earnest, whoever found the eggs typically raised the hatchling.


• Sometimes, if a person touches an egg in the first few hours, it'll take on traits of the person who touched it, resulting in something of a biological 'parent' who then gets to raise them. Most of the time.


• It is thoroughly possible to harvest a spark up until the chest closes and the egg 'hardens'. In fact, there have been a number of cases where people have done so though it's not something that is taken lightly, as the now de-sparked Cyberganic cannot be re-sparked. The child within will typically be left to basically rot as it and the egg return to the ground over a handful of days.


• Twins are complex and complicated. Typically the result of two eggs forming so as to share the same amniotic fluids, there are cases of one egg coming to house two sparks and therefore two Cyberganics. It gets hella complicated from there because sparks are Complicated.

⭐ BIOLOGY: THE MADE

• Basically Cold Constructed with a spark produced via tapping of the Matrix. In order for the spark to give life, they need an (artificial) egg, an infusion of DNA, and a photonic crystal to basically jumpstart things. Without the infusion of DNA, the best anyone will get are some very grotesque malformed things.


• While Cyberganics are very much infertile, sperm/ovum can be used to in the formation of a Made, who are also infertile.


• They're something that started in the earliest years before Nova Prime came to reign Cybertron. They are basically 'mass produced' people who are fast grown over about a month until they're forcibly hatched, something that is Seriously Taboo, but who the hell cares because they're Made, not Hatched.


• The eggs are artificial eggs with pre-programmed nano-matter and at least two/three donated DNA samples (most of which are only fragments of DNA), designed to fill roles in society due to an extremely unstable population growth rate, not helped by the fact the pulse waves are steadily decreasing.


• They can be de-sparked and re-sparked without ill-effect; the only known 'hybrid' of a Made and Hatched is Megatron, who's spark is Hatched, and body Made.


• Before the war, they were given names. After the war started, they were known as MTOs and by numbers, until they clawed out names for themselves/survived long enough to get a name.


• All Made are tattoo'd with an ID number on the back of the neck anyway.


• In the era of the Made, a sample of DNA is mandatory, with the bare minimum being saliva. These samples are fragmented, frozen, and stored in great vaults under the Thirteen Cities of greatness, Iacon being one vault of choice for storing them.

⭐ BIOLOGY: HAMMERSPACE ITEM (HSI)

• Subspace. Unspace. Call it what you want, but the most common name is HammerSpace. All because legends tell of Solus, the sixth of their race to be 'born' (and a 'child' of Primus), pulling a Forging Hammer out of nowhere.


• This is not magical. What it is a highly sophisticated and technological thing that bends space/time, with the 'pocket' unique to each person.


• Before the war, understanding how this worked was largely the preview of the (New) Institute. Suffice to say, it is at once really simple and really complicated: Summoning the HSI is done either as a reflexive action or direct intent. One must be conscious enough to do it; the only time it can involuntary summoned is by a blow to the back of the head. It also remains after death for up to an hour.


• After that, it turns into 'dust' (really inert nano-matter)


• After the war formally broke out, research into it was put on hold, and then a lot of it has been lost and now no-one quite understands how it works. Those that might are either very much Dead or... well. Dead. Look, a LOT of the species died in their war ok.


• Anyway. The cyberganic matter that makes up a Cyberganic also contains the nano-matter that forms into two 'bracelets' and what the HSI will be is determined by the etchings on the bracelet. These sit flush against the skin just above the wrists, and around about yay big all over. While people will tell you it's possible to tell where skin ends and 'true metals' starts, the truth is it's not. Wired into and throughout the very bones/nervous system of a person, these are impossible to remove. Chopping off arms simply sees the 'bracelets' retreat to the torso above the spark.


• While it's impossible to remove the bracelets, a part called the 't-cog'- that which allows them to summon both armour and HSI and thought to be one of the last organs of the body to mature-, located near the spark yet irrevocably linked to the bracelets, can be removed or replaced.


• It is possible to burn out the original 't-cog', and also possible to transplant one if a medic knows how. There are some people who don't have their orginal t-cog. It's also spoken as T-Cog by some, because it is thought to be that important.


• The nano-matter can be altered with some effort provided one knows what they are doing. The etching of the HSI on the bracelets will change to suit. The more distant from the hatching etching the new one is, the harder it is to achieve.


• People with 'two or more' HSI's are possible, but outside of Triple Changers (Armour + the two HSI), they're kind. Really damn rare, and thought to require a certian type of spark.


• The HammerSpace is something that is deeply personal and messing with it without explicit consent is considered one of the deepest violations of a person. Touching any HSI not one's own is intimate and seen as something likened to sex. Look, the feedback is typically very pleasureable and certian actions are kind to sending the owner into an overload/orgasm.


• While it's typically not recommended, a person can be up to ten to thirty metres away from it for up to two hours. After that, the HSI will be automatically dismissed back into HammerSpace.


• Now, the HSI itself falls in three extremely board (and ill-defined) categories: wearable, rideable, carriable.
  
  
  • Wearable basically means it's big enough to engulf the wearer, encasing them like it's a secondary set of armour. IE: Orion/Optimus Prime, Starscream, Megatron, Whirl, Sixshot, Tarn. Many of the famous Transformers would likely fall under this. Typically, the wearer is in the armour while wearing the HSI, as the armour physically hooks interfaces with it and as a result, they can 'see' thanks to a slew of sensory input.
  
  
  • Rideable is basically anything that can't be worn, like say motorbikes, some boats, animals, and it can use both a hardline or wi-fi connection to the HSI. Technically, there are animals that would fall under the wearable category, like Deathsaurus's kaiju-dragon form, but for whatever reason, the person chooses instead to ride it. Most beastials have a beast that is rideable. Kaon of the DJD is considered a rideable, because of his Chair.
  
  
  • Carriable is typically anything that doesn't fall into the above and it always uses wi-fi interface. This can range from microscopes to guns to birds to small animals. It basically means the HSI can be carried around somehow by the person. Rewind is a notable example of a carriable, due to his HSI of a 'data stick'. Vos is another one due to her HSI of a rifle.
  
  

⭐ The Armour

• Deployed, this covers any and all clothes, etc. It fully encloses the wearer in a suit of futuristic armour designed to look like it could, with some effort, transform into the HSI of a person. Flight-capable people have a set of wings, and most will keep them out. The wings might as well be a third set of limbs, with joins between wing, armour, and flesh delicate. In Hatched, the synaptic connections are art in and of itself, with every flier different enough.


• The visual imput from the armour is much like that of a heads up display. Basically, it's vision and then some, and some people will go their whole lives without removing that part of the helmet.


• Beastials (AKA Beastformers) have more animalistic looking armour (including tails), and they also have animal HSIs.


• Outside of instinctive deployment, it's deployed with intent. One can, if they want, control how much of the armour is worn at any one time. In a sense, it really looks like they transform from organic-looking creatures to seemingly robots to say tanks or trucks or various flight-vehicles, leading to the nickname 'Transformers'.


• They preform what is known as 'Armour Art'- the current Tesarus of the DJD is a known practitioner of this. It can happen ridiculously fast- under a second in Danielle/Tarn's case. Most average about 6 seconds.


• It comes with an inbuilt oxygen intake tank and an oxygen scrubber -a lot of the armour 'kibble' forms part of this system. The scrubber lasts about an hour and is a last-ditch measure for survival in the case the intake tank can't be used or has been compromised, while the armour lasts until dismissed. It is fully possible to end up trapped within it due to damage.


• Monoformers are basically those who reject the HSI and or Armour to one degree or another. Most have the armour altered, so it looks like actual armour and not like a vague robot from a distance. Many will also change the HSI to either a shield, or a literal figurine of themselves. The most militant, who belong to the extremist group Militant Monoformer Movement, go on to remove the 't-cog', but doing so robs them of both armour and HSI, necessitating the use of non-summoned body armour and weapons. During the war, many Non-Triple M Mono's remodelled the HSI into a handgun.

⭐ BIOLOGY: OUTLIERS

• Outliers, thought to be exclusively Forged/Hatched, are basically 'psychics' who can do a lot of things, from Super Learning, to duplicating oneself, etc. It's wacky and weird and Outliers are called Outliers because they are so far out the normal. Also, none of what they can do ever relates to the (birth) HSI in anyway shape or form.


• Because of what they can do, they typically have not been accepted by society on a whole, with some going so far as to hunt them and brutally murder them simply because they exist.


• Places to hide were few and far between pre-war, and one such place, possibly the most famous, was known as the Jhiaxian Academy, which was eventually raided and burned down by Functionists acting through the Senate.


• It takes a bit for the initial Outlier talent to manifest, but it's always there before the person is five years old. Some gifts manifest earlier, such as 'Soundwave', who manifested at one year old.


• If one half of a Branch-spark twin is an Outlier, they both are, often with complimenting powers.

Comments

Random factiods that don't really fit anywhere?

[wearmyface]

-Freya used to play around the mountains of Vos as a child.
-She choose the codename 'Forestock'.
-She used to have a dress that was faded blue. Danielle gave it to her before the war when they were figuring out if Spouse or BFF.
-Freya's first sanctioned kill was to sniper an escaping prisoner (who they were supposed to take in alive, but her partner ordered a kill shot. So. You know.
-That facemask was only added after she became part of the DJD.
- Rampage from beastwars and he's a Mess. He's also in a ship with Transmutate.
- AU!Deathy's Hammerspace is a Dragon. He rides it and Esmeral refuses to make him a lance. Her husband is a bit of a GIANT DORK. IDW + Victory = EPICNESS

Names

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Cyberganic AU fic-ish things!

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MTMTE #7 Journal | Ao3 | FF Net