There are some of us running around with advanced DEIs in our heads which give us access to the computing power of a supercomputer, eidetic memory, and for the true geeks, a constant Net connection. Folks have cybernetic arms that can punch through brick walls and hands that let them execute surgical procedures with laser precision. You have artificial eyes that give firefighters thermographic vision undimmed by smoke and implanted ears that let the deaf hear birds chirping two kilometers away. Obviously, we don't have any problems making changes here and there. I think that comes from the reasons why we do it, though — injury, birth defects, to make us better at our jobs. OK, I'll admit, I'm thinking of getting a set of cybereyes just so I can look through women's clothing, but it's just another aspect of bettering ourselves.
— Mage: The Ascension — Convention Book: Iteration X (Revised)
"A bionic woman!" exclaimed Proton. For years scientists had been toying with the concept of Homo Artificialis — humans with bodies augmented by machine technology. Most practical applications had been in the sporting field, such as the famous tennis player Bjorn of Borg.
From fantastic machinations of Asimov and Gibson to crudely-fashioned appendages dating back to dynastic China, the marriage of man and machine has been a longtime dream of scientists and storytellers. Though widely regarded as science fiction even by the World of Darkness' diverse denizens, a select number among the Glass Walkers and Hakken know otherwise from firsthand experience, and distressing rumors abound regarding tragic DNA experimental subjects and sinister perversions wrought by Pentex technicians.
— Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Book of the Weaver
It was not true, as the wagging tongues at Princess Betsy's would have it, that the members of the Higher Branches, those who had ascended to the highest ranks of service in the Ministry, had eschewed Class III companion robots. In fact their experiments hidden from most of the world had been quietly advancing the art of robotic engineering, so much so that a new generation of Class IIIs had been born, as yet unknown to the project.
Alexei Alexandrovich's Class III, for example, was his Face. The cold sheath of metal that covered the right front portion of his skull, which people (including his wife) assumed existed for purely cosmetic reasons, was in fact a servomechanism of the most advanced technological achievement, with which he communed directly, using not his voice but the synapses of his brain. It was a Thinking Machine, quite literally, for Alexei Alexandrovich did not rely upon his Class III to pour him tea or carry his suitcases, but rather to help him reason out the problems that confronted him in his work — that is to say, the most crucial questions of Russian life.
Alexei Alexandrovich's Class III, for example, was his Face. The cold sheath of metal that covered the right front portion of his skull, which people (including his wife) assumed existed for purely cosmetic reasons, was in fact a servomechanism of the most advanced technological achievement, with which he communed directly, using not his voice but the synapses of his brain. It was a Thinking Machine, quite literally, for Alexei Alexandrovich did not rely upon his Class III to pour him tea or carry his suitcases, but rather to help him reason out the problems that confronted him in his work — that is to say, the most crucial questions of Russian life.
Remorseless, tireless — unstoppable. A full clip of ammo won't stop them — hell, a train won't stop them. I saw one lift a car and toss it; jump through a fourth-floor window and land on its feet; smash through a brick wall.
Cyborgs. The real thing: metal and circuits woven into the flesh under the surface. It sounds like pure fiction, but our own government made them. Well, some company the government hired, I guess. The point is, now they're out of control. The police can't stop them. The military can't stop them. The engineers who made them can't stop them.
And we don't know what they want.
Cyborgs. The real thing: metal and circuits woven into the flesh under the surface. It sounds like pure fiction, but our own government made them. Well, some company the government hired, I guess. The point is, now they're out of control. The police can't stop them. The military can't stop them. The engineers who made them can't stop them.
And we don't know what they want.
— "Logical Conclusions — Apocalypse," The End of the World: Revolt of the Machines
"[Zima] underwent radical biological procedures that enabled him to tolerate extreme environments without the burden of a protective suit. His eyes could see in any known spectrum. He no longer breathed oxygen. His skin was replaced with pressurized polymer and so he ventured forth to commune with the cosmos..."
— Claire, Love, Death & Robots: Zima Blue
Sooner or later, as their scientific knowledge progressed, they would get rid of the fragile, disease-and-accident prone bodies that Nature had given them, and which doomed them to inevitable death. They would replace their natural bodies as they wore out — or perhaps even before then — by constructions of metal and plastic and would thus achieve immortality. The brain might linger for a little while as the last remnant of the organic body directing its mechanical limbs and observing the universe through its electronic senses — senses far finer and subtler than those that blind evolution could ever develop.
Even on Earth, the first steps in this direction had already been taken. There were millions of men, doomed in earlier ages, who now lived active and happy lives thanks to artificial limbs, kidneys, lungs and hearts. To this process, there could be only one conclusion, however far off it might be.
And eventually, even the brain might go. As the seat of consciousness, it was not essential; the development of electronic intelligence had proved that. The conflict between mind and machine might be resolved at last in the eternal truce of complete symbiosis...
Even on Earth, the first steps in this direction had already been taken. There were millions of men, doomed in earlier ages, who now lived active and happy lives thanks to artificial limbs, kidneys, lungs and hearts. To this process, there could be only one conclusion, however far off it might be.
And eventually, even the brain might go. As the seat of consciousness, it was not essential; the development of electronic intelligence had proved that. The conflict between mind and machine might be resolved at last in the eternal truce of complete symbiosis...
It’s wrong to think of a construct as half bot, half human. It makes it sound like the two halves are discrete, like the bot half should want to obey orders and do its job and the human half should want to protect itself and get the hell out of there. As opposed to the reality, which was that I was one whole confused entity, with no idea of what I wanted to do.
— The Murderbot Diaries, "All Systems Red"
A handsome young cyborg named Ace
Wooed women at every base
But once ladies glanced at
His special enhancement
They vanished with nary a trace.
—Barracks graffiti, Sparta Command, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
