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 Implants

There are four basic implants given to every racer on the planet by the controllers, 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 two key limitations to these translators.
  • They only work when communicating between either two racers, or a racer and a controller or one of their agents. So anyone who is a 2nd Generaltional or later cannot take advantage of them, nor can any racer wishing to communicate with them.
  • While translation occurs automatically, one or both users in a conversation may choose to not translate what is being said to them, or said by them, thus allowing communication in languages other than their own native tongue. This is very useful when wishing to conceal a conversation by means of another language that is unknown to one of the parties, or learning a new language that will be used with those who don't possess the advantage of the implanted universal translators.

• A micro-mainframe. The advantages of this are assisted, high speed learning and the quick grasping and comprehension of difficult tasks, ideas or concepts. 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 of things in a hurry to better help them survive.

• 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.

• The last device is 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.