Plasmaman

PLASMAMAN
Plasmaman	Genus: Mortis Sapien Ignis Homeworld: N/A Central Authority: Sol Interplanetary Coalition Allowed Command Roles: Chief Engineer, Research Director Guides: This one is it

Plasmamen are the sapient remains of those who have died in plasma fires and then resurrected under mysterious circumstances. As walking, charred skeletons, they only hold onto glimpses of their previous lives, discombobulated with the memories of others who shared in their unfortunate, incendiary fate. After proper rescue and retrieval, most plasmamen often return to work under whichever company they served. In most cases, this ends up being the lead of plasma-based research: Nanotrasen.

Gameplay

Racial Benefits

• Plasmamen boast complete rad immunity.
• They have a strong resistance to cold temperatures.
• When wearing a fire suit, plasmamen can spacewalk.
• They can heal via drinking milk.
• Due to their inorganic nature, they have no blood.
• Additionally, due to being inorganic, they have little to no food requirements. Rarely on station does a plasmaman have to eat.
• Lastly due to being inorganic, they are mostly resistant to all diseases and viruses.

Racial Drawbacks

• Due to their lack of skin and skeletal nature, they take additional damage from brute force.
• Due to their bones being partly made of plasma, they take additional damage from heat and burn damage.
• They lack traditionally researched genetics. This means they cannot gain powers from the Genetics department.
• Oxygen is toxic to them, requiring each plasmaman to carry a plasma tank with them which may run out of plasma over time.
• Oxygen is also flammable to them, so if they are not wearing a helmet and a suit, they will burn up.

Diet

• Plasmamen do not need to eat like other organic races, but if they choose to eat, they have dislikes and likes.
• Plasmamen hate fruits, and strongly dislike them.
• Plasmamen love grilled foods and vegetables when they have to eat.
• Lastly, due to their skeletal nature, plasmamen love milk, which will also heal them.

Unique Mechanics

• When gibbed they drop plasma.
• Plasmamen are one of the least customizable races. This creates an abundance of visual homogeny.
• Plasmamen lack any signs of damage like bloodied clothes, due to their lack of blood.

Lore

History

The first reported encounter with a plasmaman dates to the year 2384, not one year after Nanotrasen probes brought back sizable portions of baroxuldium, the new Element 146, (quickly given the monicker of plasma) to Luna to be tested. The solidified ore was brought into orbit, onto a research ship designated NT.F Grey Voyager to be tested without endangering the rest of the lunar facility. Initial tests were successful. Plasma was found to bond with traditional metals such as iron with incredible ease in a liquid form to create the substance known as plasteel. However, it was noted that in a pressurized environment, exposure to oxygen and fire would cause the plasma to become an immensely efficient fuel for the ensuing fire. As a result, the synthesis of plasteel either had to be done in a vacuumed environment or in a safe protection chamber.

Approximately one month and seventeen days into testing, on October 24th, 2384, there was an incident that caused a plasma fire to erupt and burst through the pumping pipes to a chamber. Fire suppression systems failed as the massive heat capacity of plasma and its continuous pumping eventually melted and gnawed through the inner airlocks of the ship. Only the outer insulation to space prevented the plasma from leaking into the void. Once all the oxygen had been consumed, the plasma stopped but continued to fill the ship. The first responders to the incident were unable to hail the ship, and they presumed all crew aboard dead. However, biometric scanners picked up movement and activity on board. A burst of radioactive dusting revealed that there were moving skeletons aboard, and no traces of the crew’s bodies. After twenty-four hours of communication with CentCom Special Investigative Affairs and the Xenospecies Relationship Organization from the Sol Interplanetary Coalition, a boarding party was finally sent to make contact, being a mixture of government officials and corporate emergency responders. The communication made marks the first contact between humanity and another sapient species. Only eleven out of fifty-seven crew were successfully extracted, as the boarding party did not immediately realize that plasma had fused to the skeleton’s bones and that their existing organic structures required plasma in order to function. While their livers and lungs had seemingly attached to their bones, the heart was notably missing. There were attempts to keep the incident under wraps, which massively failed. As soon as media outlets and ethical organizations caught wind of the incident and the existence of the quickly dubbed “plasmamen”, public opinion in the SIC split into several, spread opinions, with some believing in excessive, divine violence, others in humane treatment, and a select minority in research.

For their first few months of rebirth, the eleven plasmamen were confined and kept in specialized cells filled entirely with gaseous plasma in a secret SIC facility. Nanotrasen, at the behest of legendary chairwoman Julianna Deimi, quickly developed and produced the first envirosuits, which were clunky but effective, a variation of the voidsuits that were far more resilient to environmental hazards, dubbed hardsuits. With reassurances that the plasmamen would be kept under a careful eye, as well as significant lobbying forcing the hands of SIC politicians, the remaining eleven crew of the NT.F Grey Voyager were transferred from SIC scientists into the hands of Nanotrasen.

Interrogation of the plasmamen revealed that they remembered only flashes of their previous lives. Strangely, they also recalled histories not fitting themselves. Eventually, cross-referencing of interviews revealed that snippets of memories from each of the subjects had somehow been shared among them all. Overall, confusion about the self and one's own history were paramount, which made identification difficult. When asked and given their names, most refused to accept their old names. Instead, they requested that their name were to be an element from the periodic table followed by a pre-existing roman numeral. When queried, all their justifications had to do with a feeling of an innate bond with the element. No further understanding has been reached on this subject. Most displayed a heightened sense of apathy or distance from common, deep anxieties, such as death, starvation, and affection. While they still displayed self-preservation instincts, panic was not a prevalent response among the subjects. They still retained knowledge and their capability to speak, and very rarely resisted their imprisonment. It was only after the suggestions of researchers that they began to feel ambition once more, wishing to continue their work with Nanotrasen. The final notable development was when in shared cells, the plasmamen communicated using vocal sounds and fluctuations that matched with no pre-existing human language. When queried, the subjects were confused, stating that they had known the method of communication ever since their “resurrection”.

Time went by and the Great Embarkment in 2400 saw humanity expand out into the rest of the Sol system, as well as colonizing the nearby Val system, which fueled them with significant portions of plasma to expand out at rapid paces. As the supply of plasma rose, so did the number of incidents. Not all plasma fires resulted in the creation of plasmamen, but as they became more common, so too did their life support become more stable. Creations of plasmamen groups and cultures began to spring out, and while most did not seek out their old lives, tribalistic desires increased as their numbers grew. In addition, the flickers of shared memories bequeathed a sense of intimacy between those who had died in the same fire; it was often these who grew the closest, seemingly undisturbed by the massive invasion of privacy.

In the present, plasmamen still see discrimination and horror from fellow organics, but they also find more fulfillment and independence in their existence. While Nanotrasen policy is to suggest and attempt to retain a fresh plasmaman as an NT worker, not all plasmamen work in NT facilities, due to the increasing availability of the resource, despite the corporation’s best efforts to keep it on lockdown. As a result, plasmamen, while still rare, exist in several branches of civilized life: wherever their attitude, skills, and physiology are accepted.

Naming Conventions

Plasmaman vary in their naming schemes. Rarely, they adopt their old names from their previous lives. More commonly others take on a name which consists of an element of the periodic table followed by a number in roman numerals. The element is often one that the plasmaman finds significant in their new existence, or feels a bonding with. Some report not knowing why they chose said name while being evasive on the topic. Regardless, scientists have noted that over time, the numeral associated with the chemical grows in size.

Culture

Plasmaman culture is little developed, due to the widespread apathy that tends to sweep through the species. However, plasmamen who display higher responsiveness and sensitivity to typical emotions tend to focus on gathering close with other plasmamen to discern some meaning for their new lives or to interrogate their newfound, intrusive memories. The creation of several "Lazarus groups" has spread through stations where plasmamen reside, acting as informative, philosophical communities.

While plasmamen have little need for housing or a sense of home, they do tend to collect belongings and assign value to them as most organics typically do, as petty as the worth can be.

The question of religion is a widely dismissed question, though some plasmamen take their newfound existence to be some kind of divine intervention or miracle. Others can view it as a curse, though many quickly lose interest in the topic unless it is actively returned to in discussion.

Celebration and holidays are scarce, with most tirelessly working toward whatever goal they set for themselves upon their re-life. For most, this ends up being hazardous work in vacuum that others are reluctant to take. However, plasmamen have contributed to the arts, most notably in the field of music, where they typically become classical composers and synthetic artists. Music is also the form of media they enjoy the most, with some reporting the vibrations of sound as therapeutic, even in those that typically show a muffled response to happiness-inducing stimuli.

Lifespan and Health

It is theorized that plasmamen can live up to 300 years after their revival, after which their body suffers rapid organ failure, beginning with the brain before transitioning into the lungs. They are also immensely susceptible to common brain afflictions found in humans such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, with the rate of affliction notably higher for plasmamen over humans with a family history of the condition before their transformation.

While distant and flat from emotional matters, plasmamen still possess expected and normal levels of self-preservation. Depression, PTSD, schizophrenia, RDS, and sociopathy are all significantly more prevalent in their psyches. The presence of alien memories can often lead to a conflicting impression of the self, which can be an immensely stressful experience.

Plasmamen shrink a few inches from their previous life, and their body mass is significantly lowered as a result of being a plasma-infused skeleton-carcass entity.

Roleplay Traits

• Often flat and direct, sometimes sarcastic
• Can vary from apathetic to hypersensitive in their general existence, often leaning toward the former
• Rarely interested in pleasantries or social relationships
• Sometimes disturbed by a variety of past memories, though most avoid conventional PTSD with a newfound distance from their existence
• May seek out hobbies, though limited in the number they can partake in
• Can live upwards of 300 years before their organic components fail from old age
• Mostly uninterested in religious questions or discussion
• Seemingly never tired, capable of working endlessly with little sustenance
• Possesses no need to sleep, though sleep can be artificially induced in them
• Sex indistinguishable, with gender self-reported