(Homo sapiens mutare)
The ultimate meshing of the body and technology.
Avg. Height: M - 5'10" F - 5'7"
Avg. Weight: M - 175# F - 145#
Hair Color: Gray, white, silver
Eye Color: Gray, black, blue, pink
Blood Pressure: 120/80
Life Expectancy: 50 years
Dist. Marks: Gray, silvery or bluish skin, featureless face
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Morphs are on the bleeding edge of natural selection, capable of physical
mutations and technological integration far beyond other genotypes.
The children of a Beta GOTH mother and a human father, morphs are able to
actively control their own nervous system, and to use special nanites within
to alter the very shape of their bodies. While they certainly can't turn
into a puddle of goo, they can shift bone and muscle and manipulate skin to
do everything from changing their appearance, to creating weapons out of
their limbs, to easily slipping through bars and other relatively
inaccessible areas. Morphs can also incorporate bits of appropriate
technology into themselves with relative ease; while humans need surgery to
install most implants, the silvery-skinned morphs can do it merely by
thinking about it for a short while.
Because they are rejected by society en masse, and because many of them wind
up orphans at a young age, the 2 to 3,000 morphs alive today tend to be
loners, and can be quite cruel, amoral and heartless. Even other goths,
shifters and vampires tend to shy away from them, meaning that morphs cannot
even turn to their close cousins for employment or support. But although
society tends to shun them, morphs are far from the lonely, helpless
cripples many make them out to be--there are some things that only morphs
are capable of.
Like other Goth genotypes, all morphs possess a significantly enhanced
central nervous system (CNS), including wider nerve fibers (carrying
muscular and touch-related sensations up to 5 times faster than ordinary
human nerves), an enhanced spinal column and a secondary "brain stem" at the
base of their spine. Little more than an extension of their nervous system,
this "booster" is incapable of anything but reflexive reactions, but those
reflexes are still far superior to those of a normal human being. In short,
while a morph's mental capacity is not significantly enhanced, neural
activity devoted to nervous reactions, reflex arcs and muscular activity
happens at a greatly accelerated rate.
Morphs also possess significantly altered muscular, skeletal and immune
systems, which work in concert with their CNS to offer amazing capabilities:
muscles and organs can be shifted around as needed; skin can be stretched,
thickened or split; and bones can be reshaped and slid around. In all cases,
it is fairly easy for even younger morphs to make minor changes in facial
structure or stature, or rather broad and crude changes to limbs, but most
morphs lack good control over things requiring fine detail. While molding an
arm into a gleaming blade is no challenge for even an untrained morph, only
after much practice and patience could any morph perform such seemingly
simple tasks such as growing hair or changing skin color.
One thing all morphs are capable of doing, even without much focus, is
accelerated regeneration of damaged tissue. Acting much like breathing, in
that it can be done consciously or unconsciously, a morph's system is
constantly at work repairing damage, much of it caused by the morph's own
manipulation of flesh and bone. After all, when you break your arm in half,
fold it back on itself, and pull the soft tissues back to reveal a bony
shard, it takes more than platelets to fix the damage. In times of extreme
need, a morph can consciously boost this healing process, doing in minutes
what would normally take hours, and in days what would normally take months
to heal.
In part, it is this accelerated healing capability which makes morphs highly
capable of accepting augmentation from outside sources, be they symbiotes or
artificial implants. Whereas other genotypes need massive surgical
procedures and a lot of practice to fully recognize their adaptations, a
morph can often attach the new implant without surgery, allowing the augment
to actually become a living part of their body. Those procedures that
involve implantation deep within the body core or removal of a limb can
often be done with minimal loss of blood on an outpatient basis, and minor
cybernetic implants can be a simple matter of inserting tab A into slot B.
However, while morphs can make cybernetics more a part of them than any
other genotype, they don't always interface with it naturally; whereas
daemons can mentally interface with computers, a morph cannot. To draw a
more simple comparison: daemons do software, and morphs do hardware.
The secret to the morph's capabilities is actually a severe mutation in the
nanites they inherit from their mothers, thanks to the genetic inadequacies
of their fathers. These nanites are initially identical to the biological
nanites in a goth's bloodstream, but as the morph fetus gestates the nanites
become deformed and mutated. In a desperate effort to rebuild themselves,
the nanites begin to draw on elements within the growing morph's body to
augment their own structures. Iron, magnesium, zinc and other metals, in
particular, are literally sucked out of the body and into the nanites. Since
the growing fetus cannot sustain a steady supply of these minerals, the
nanites eventually begin to draw these materials from the mother's body
through the umbilical cord. This tends to leave the mother drained and weak,
causing most to require mega-doses of vitamin supplements to help their
bodies remain healthy through pregnancy. Once the morph is born, of course,
the mother eventually recovers, but these supplements must then be taken by
the morph for the rest of his or her life in order to maintain good health.
Because the morph's nanites draw so heavily on iron and other trace metals,
their structure tends to become highly metallic and partly inorganic, which
brings about not only a morph's unique capabilities but also their unique
appearance. The iron-rich nanites in the morph's skin, for example, give
morphs a gray or grayish-blue sheen, even tending towards silvery in some
cases. The strange skin coloring is not limited to skin either, but also
includes the whites of the eyes (a side effect being the fact that many
suffer from both nearsightedness and color-blindness), tongue, lips,
fingernails, gums and even hair, which may appear striated or striped as the
hair grows out with various levels of nanites present in different layers.
The tint of these areas changes based on the morph's diet and activity
level, and particularly active morphs will find that their skin becomes much
lighter, turning nearly white as nanites are purged from their systems and
their pigmentless skin shows through. During periods of extreme activity,
the normal process of skin flaking can even become hyper-accelerated, with
some morphs suffering from conditions that resemble everything from mere
wrinkles to psoriasis to leprosy.
As mentioned earlier, these nanites are present throughout the morph's
entire system, adhering to just about every structure in the body and
altering these structures as they eat away at the material and reprocess it.
During this process, some of the matter is inevitably converted into energy
to fuel the nanites, including materials like fibroblasts, collagen, elastin
and fibronectin. As morphs begin to suffer more extreme loss of these
materials, normally beneficial conditions like skin hyperelasticity and
joint hypermobility tend to worsen. Skin may become soft and vulnerable to
easy bruising or tearing, with wounds taking weeks or months to fully close,
and the skin may become partially translucent, revealing the veins and
organs beneath. Joints become even more loose and unstable, with accidental
dislocations a particular problem in the shoulders, knees, hips, and jaw.
Frequent dislocation can cause extreme pain and the onset of arthritis.
Internally, morphs may even suffer from blood clotting, collapsed lungs,
tendon and muscle tears, and arterial rupture, one of the major reasons for
the shortened life expectancy of morphs. Morphs also have to deal with the
inevitable onset of Porphyria, a genetic condition that plagues all the Goth
genotypes. In many cases, the morph's own regenerative capabilities tend to
keep most of the serious effects of this away most of the time, and the most
common ailments, like skin sensitivity and hyperpigmentation, are often
masked by the morph's own natural appearance.
To cover up what some perceive as physical deformities, many morphs take to
dying their skin and hair, or dressing in ways that conceal their skin tone.
In some cases, their propensity for such methods of disguise adds to their
value in career fields where such talents can be put to good use, including
everything from spying and infiltration to acting and performance art. In
other cases, particularly among older or more "experienced" morphs, years of
constant use and abuse leave them with little choice but to shave their
heads and cloak themselves in swathes of heavy clothing. Many come out only
at night, when the darkness can help hide their appearances, and the rare
appearance by day will almost certainly be covered up with long sleeves,
loose pants and hats. After all, it's far easier to wear disguises and skulk
around with your fellow morphs than to deal with stares and beatings.
Their lonesome professions and the tendency of society to push them aside
often leads many morphs to sink into bouts of depression, leading to alcohol
and drug abuse. This self-destructive behavior can trigger or worsen the
problems that all morphs possess at some level, leading to more severe
complications and even death. Of course, for a morph living in a world that
loathes them, death is too often a welcome end, despite the fact that most
morphs maintain an agnostic or atheistic outlook on life, believing that
nothing waits for them beyond but absence and nothingness. Such a nihilistic
view makes morphs dangerous and deadly foes; when pain and death are a part
of everyday life, what does one have left to fear? For this reason, some
morphs readily turn to crime and rank among the most-skilled and respected
assassins, spies and saboteurs, while others choose more legitimate
occupations and become skilled acrobats and stunt actors.
INSPIRATIONAL IDEAS
Music: Type O Negative, Rage Against the Machine
Stories: "T2," "Nightbreed"
Quote: "One completely overcomes only what one assimilates." --Andre Gide
Stats:
* Higher than average Physical Mutation.
* Below average Physical Endurance & Strength.
Pros:
* Easy incorporation of most technology into their bodies.
* Morphs can alter their appearance with a thought.
Cons:
* Morphs experience many physical problems after numerous alterations.
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