Neural implants

Everyone who is a racer on the planet of Offworld, and who has passed through the Reception Center at the start of the race, is outfitted with a special set of neural implants that give them special abilities above and beyond what's humanly possible. The same is true of all servants of the controllers who live on the planet. The implants are a side effect, and complementary system, to the nanite based nano-tech system that fills the body of everyone o the planet who is either a racer, or servant of the controllers.

The Core Implants

There are four basic implants given to every racer, or servant of the controllers, who live on the planet, each of which possesses a special ability.

• A universal translator that gives the user the ability to communicate unhindered with other racers, the controllers, and any one of their many agents found on the planet. However, there are key limitations to these translators. For example, they only work when communications are between any two or more people who also possess the same implants. So, anyone who does not possess one of these implants, such as a 2nd Generaltional, for example, cannot take advantage of the translation capabilities of these implants.

• A micro-mainframe. The advantages of this are increased cognitive abilities, an increased rate of learning and comprehension, and more. This allows newcomers to the planet, as well as seasoned racers, to learn new skills quickly, allowing them to come up to speed on a lot faster on things that will help them survive. It also helps create and facilitate advanced sentience and speech abilities in creatures, such as the biomechanoids, who otherwise would not naturally possess such things. One example of this would be the ability to take something, such as a dog, for example, that would otherwise be considered a "dumb animal", and give them the same level of intelligence, logic, reasoning, sentience, and ability to speak. as that of a normal adult human.

• A tracking device that constantly informs the controllers where a given racer is at any time. This can, if so desired, be turned off by the controllers themselves, should the need arise. However, normally this is left on at all times so that they can have up to the minute knowledge of where every single participant is on the course, and whether or not they are alive, or have died.

• A simple identifier chip, similar to an RFID chip. This is used exclusively for identifying qualified individuals and authenticating them on the network. The most common application where this is typically used is at the resource nodes for acquiring supplies. Although, they can be used in other places as needed. This device also gives access to special objects that are designed to hide information from anyone who does not have one of these identifier chips. Simply pass the chip over any restricted device or object, and if the user has permission to access that object, it will grant them such. This chip also doubles as a means to access the planetary holographic and information exchange and communications network. Simply tapping the identifier chip (a red dot located on the left wrist) and thinking about the person you wish to communicate with will initiate the connection. This, however, will only work if both parties possess an identifier chip.

These four implants are common to all servants, slaves, racers, and other creatures on Offworld who are loyal to the controllers. However, they are not the only implants available to those who wear the mark of service, or slavery, to the controllers. Below are a handful more of those that are given to those who live on the planet, partially based on need, and partially based on the ability of their bodies to contain and support them.

Other Implants

• Mass Manipulation Controller. This device has the ability to increase, or decrease the relative mass, and thus weight, of a given object. Some call it an antigravity device, given its ability to reduce the weight of an individual such that they weigh but little more than a few pounds, despite being several hundred pounds under the force of normal gravity. It literally reduces the total of an object in relation to, not just gravity, but the other forces of nature as well, including inertia. So, when someone engages this device, one that is used commonly by the dragons, were one to fly quickly, and then slam into a wall, the amount of energy transferred to the wall at the time of impact would be no more than what their approximate weight is in comparison to gravity. So, if you were to reduce your weight to no more than 20lbs, and were to hit a wall at 10mph, the force you would exert against that wall would be equal to no more than 20lbs of weight propelled at 10mph, rather than your full standing weight under normal gravity. This device can also be manipulated to allow localized changes in mass that is separate from the whole. For example, your foot can be made to weigh 50lbs, whereas your hand could be changed to weigh no more than an ounce.

• Transport Control Device. This tool, in short, acts like a remote control (just like most of the other implants do) for the wide and ubiquitous controller technology embedded into the planet, focusing specifically on the two forms of controller transportation tech that is in use there. Namely, the Flash Transporter and the Gateway Transporter. The only difference between which one of the two devices can be used by any single person on Offworld is the mass of the individual. One limitation of this technology is that, even if an individual should possess this implant, they are only able to make use of it should the controllers grant them permission to do so. If they do not have permission to access the planetary transporter systems, this implant is useless to them.

• Life Support and Maintenance Node. This system, when available provides the full nutritional, biological, and physical needs for any individual and creature who possesses it. Those who have it no longer need to eat, drink, or sleep to maintain and meet their body's health and nutritional needs. The system also takes care of the disposal of all waste, extenuates and increases natural healing, detoxification, and more. This leaves the individual possessing this with only needing to breath to maintain their full biological needs. However, in severe, and emergency situations, this system can, for brief periods of time, even provide all of the oxygenation needs of the body, long enough to allow the creature, or individual, time to escape to places with bountiful supplies of air. However, the implant is only capable of maintaining proper oxygenation levels for a maximum of 10 minutes before CO2 levels in the body exceed its ability to process these waste gasses and turn them back into usable oxygen.

• Healing and Recovery System. This implant is unique, and very rarely bestowed on anyone on Offworld, save only for the dragons, and the agents of Section 17, who possess this ability in ubiquity, and use it abilities often. This system allows a user to create special energies within their hands that can be pushed into a target body to initiate healing in the desired subject. This special implant does not actually heal the target subject, but rather uses the body's own abilities to speed up natural healing, and return the body to a health state very quickly. Therefore, if the body is beyond the point where it is able to be healed, the energies it produces will have no effect on them.

• Trans-biological nano-reproductivity system. This implant is less of an actual implant, and more of a decentralized, nanotech system designed and created as an extension of the core base implants given to all the servants and slaves of the controllers on offworld. What sets this system apart is that it not only assists the life support and maintenance systems in maintaining the health and well being of all those who have been granted its use, but in select cases, it also facilitates the transfer of native controller tech from parent to offspring such that initialization and installation of all core controller implants, as well as additionally granted implants, can be completed in a way that is completely hands off, and requires no outside intervention by anyone, allowing all biomechanoids, and any other creations of the controllers, to pass their implants and abilities along from generation to generation without outside intervention. It also helps an implanted creature, be they human or otherwise, to repair damaged implants should something happen to them. This is extremely important to all of the controllers, as it greatly reduces their workload, and helps ensure the proper maintenance, and operation, of all installed implants.

And these are only a taste of what is available to anyone who serves, or is enslaved to, the controllers. There are many more that exist out there. However, there are some that are so rarely granted that little to nothing is known of them, or of which are so secret, that their very existence is considered to be of either myth, or legend.