Name: Poirins, also known as gel-mechs. Their namesake derives from the naian words Poika, meaning single celled organism, and Narin, meaning flight. The latter part is mostly a misnomer however and is a play on the word “Hirin”. Description: Poirins are gelatinous, organic and synthetic beings built as an alternative to exo-suits or power armour, originally developed by the Dynasty, a naian faction. These range in size, from around 5 feet all the way up to 8 feet in height and vary greatly in shape depending on their make and purposed design. All poirins feature a central control circuit, made up of a carapace, battery pack, AI core and sensory faceplate. In its dormant state, the control circuit can fold the entire poirin into the carapace, the device retracting into a sphere between 12-40 inches in diameter depending on the maximum size of the poirin. These are made to be easily portable, and as such usually feature a strap or harness so that the device can be carried with the user. When a user activates a poirin it will attempt to envelop or otherwise pull its user into its mass. The user will be provided with a breathing kit, allowing them to breathe whilst inside the poirin, as well as an eye mask to avoid potential eye damage. Once inside the poirin is operated partially through mimicking the motions you want it to make, as well as a variety of holographic controls displayed inside of the poirin. Most menial actions however (such as basic movement) are handled by the poirin itself. Most poirins feature an AI core, sophisticated enough to fully react to, consider and plan around events. Although not nearly as capable as a fully sapient being, most poirins are intelligent enough to act independent of their user, and are able to follow most commands. Abilities: Gelatinous Exosuits: Poirins are able to act as a unique substitute to exosuits and power armours, affording great mobility and physical strength. Protocol Three: Poirins are nigh sapient, being able to operate separately to their user and being able to form social bonds. Customizability: Poirins are able to pick up to 2 traits from the list below. Conditional Abilities (Optional): Malleability: Poirins have a basic malleability inherent to their structure, allowing them to morph into different heights or alter things like limb length. Limitations: Fragile Constitution: What poirins gain in physical prowess they lack in durability and resistance, being vulnerable to most conventional forms of attack, as well as extreme environments. EMP Susceptibility: Although an EMP won’t disable a poirin, if hit with one they will be reduced to an immensely sluggish and slow state for 30 seconds. Conditional Limitations (Optional): Love Bond: In order to reach peak performance, a user must take time to learn the intricacies of how their poirin moves and acts, and the poirin must learn how the user behaves. How does it work: Poirins are actually a heavily gene-modded species of unicellular algae, supported by intense bionic enhancements and controlled by an AI core. What they lost in their ability to photosynthesize, following the extreme genetic altering, the algae gained in size, mobility and strength. The bionic enhancements applied to a poirin range from synthetic mitochondria, electric wires to stimulate cell movements and protective carapaces to help the poirin keep its shape. There are also a variety of nutrient and air exchange systems in place to help support the cells' increased size, as well as a reinforced polymer membrane to help it hold together. An AI core, usually inserted into the centre of the poirins back, maintains and controls all these processes, allowing it to use the algae cell as a body. Normally, poirins are not that resistant. Bullets tear straight through the cell with ease, and plasma or lasers completely evaporate and destroy large portions of the cell when they make contact. However poirins are physically surprisingly adept, being able to lift upwards of 1000 pounds and move at around 25 miles per hour in a full sprint. In addition, poirins have tremendous regenerative abilities. Provided they have access to nutrients (usually in the form of small sugar cells inserted into the carapace), a poirin can fully regenerate around a cubic foot of mass each day spent being dormant. To the touch, poirins are usually lukewarm, soft and slimy. Press your hand hard enough against the poirin and you can push it into its body. This is due to the main use case for poirins, their ability to be operated as a form of exosuit. A user, wanting to embark its poirin, will press themselves against the outer membrane and quickly be drawn into it, being suspended inside the poirins cytoplasm. They will be provided with a breathing kit and some kind of eye protection, allowing them to operate the poirin comfortably. Once inside, the poirin can be operated much like any other exosuit or power armour, though with a twist. A poirins AI core is almost always on the more sophisticated end, allowing them to operate independently to an extent. As such, piloting a poirin is often less of an independent act, and more like a cooperation between the user and the poirin itself. In addition, poirins have a tendency towards developing personalities and even attachments to their user. Some poirins even forgo the need for a user entirely, being fitted with an AI core on par with an organic brain. These “poisynths'' usually choose to mimic other species in appearance, to help them blend in with the rest of society. Poisynths are, however, usually made smaller and less powerful than normal poirins, having only around half the lifting capacity of normal poirins. This is because they must spend more energy maintaining the more advanced AI core. Poirins are often made with specific uses in mind, and their bionic enhancements reflect these applications. When a poirin is made, you can pick two traits from the list below to apply to it, which then reflect onto the final poirin and its abilities. Flavor text: “Poirins have a peculiar tendency towards developing odd quirks, social bonds and even entire personalities. These usually manifest in small mannerisms, such as the poirin learning to vocalise without its voicebox (usually in the form of growls, purrs and putterings), or by learning “tricks”. Experienced poirin users will often refuse to change poirins as they develop a “codependent bond”. The Dynasty Poirin RnD department highly discredits any thoughts that the poirins are sapient, let alone sentient. However there is an undeniable increase in user efficacy with a so-called “bonded poirin”. Assessment: Further research required.” - Declassified documents from Project Pakarat (Macroscopic) Poirins are a technology developed by the naian faction known as the Dynasty. As such, the technology is highly restricted, only being given to trained users, those with resources or connections, or through rare acts of Dynasty "generosity". Attainability: (SEMI-CLOSED) Tags: [INDUSTRIAL] [RACIAL] Category: {GENETIC} Poirin Traits: Armoured The poirin has various armour plates on its body, protecting it against most attacks. The poirin has average protection against blunt, slashing and thermal assaults, comparable to mid-grade body armour. As such all can pierce with enough strength or repeated strikes. Extremophile The poirin has a tough outer membrane providing it and its user with great environmental protection. The poirin can survive in the void of space, temperatures ranging from negative 50 degrees celsius (-58 fahrenheit) to 100 degrees celsius (212 fahrenheit) and pressures up to 90 bar. The poirin is also fully radiation proof. Flight The poirin has immense gliding surfaces as part of its structure and some form of thruster arrangement in its carapace. It is capable of flying for around a minute in regular, 1g environments as well as gliding for an extended period of time. Natural Climber The poirin has little issue sticking to- and subsequently scaling most surfaces. Non-Newtonian The poirins mass is made up of a non-newtonian fluid, allowing it to harden under stress. The poirin is effectively impenetrable towards regular, blunt trauma attacks and low calibre firearms such as pistols or even some rifles. Perfluorocarbon base The poirin has its internal fluids replaced with perfluorocarbon, allowing its user to breathe without the need for a breathing kit (comfort not guaranteed). Predation The poirin has a variable metabolism and stronger than average digestive enzymes. If provided with some nutrient-dense meal (such as a large quantity of fruit or even a corpse) the poirin can rapidly digest this and regain around a cubic foot of lost mass in less than a minute. WARNING: During the digestion process the internal structure becomes acidic enough to eat through most protective poirin suits, and this ability can only be used once per day as it exhausts the poirins enzyme storage. Shapeshifter The poirin has an advanced form of malleability, allowing it to take on almost any form beyond its pre-programmed one. This allows it to rapidly alter its physical appearance, even down to mimicking different textures, colours and shapes. Speedy The poirin has a variety of cybernetic enhancements granting it immense physical prowess. The poirin can move twice as fast as it normally would. Strong The poirin has a variety of cybernetic enhancements granting it immense physical prowess. The poirin can lift twice its normal capacity. Tandem Operations The poirin is built larger than most, allowing it to be operated by two users at the same time. Weaponry The poirin has a large built-in weapon. It can either be a gun of some form, or a melee weapon. Examples of weapons include; anti-tank rockets, anti-armour lasers or tail based vibroblades. A poirin can invest both of it's trait points into this trait, allowing them to have two mounted weapons. EDIT: A small edit, fixing a few odd contradictions, defining a few poorly defined areas etc.
