Name: Cronos, CRI, Timewarper, Bodybreaker, Brain-Stopper Description: Cronos is a series of extensive and invasive implants going throughout the brain, brain-stem, and spinal column. When activated it allows an altered perception of time and vastly increased reaction time. Making users able to plan out their next move in less than a second. Additionally, some models allow for "hysterical strength" to be triggered during the altered perception, at the cost of extreme bodily harm. Abilities: Cronos allows a user to perceive time in an incredibly slowed manner. Giving them the chance to think things through, or provide more precision to certain actions. The exact ratio of perception is ten seconds to one. Provides a massively increased reaction time when active, possibly allowing a user to equal a Novakid's. Conditional Abilities: Some models disable a body's natural limiters, allowing them to surpass their normal speed and strength. Though doing so often causes terrible strain and damage, requiring a lengthy hospital visit even with only a brief amount of use. On average, the speed and strength increase is roughly 1.2x the base, with variations depending on species, fitness, etc. While Cronos can't be used to dodge bullets, it can be used to shift yourself slightly so a bullet might land somewhere that isn't as horrible. Say, your jaw instead of between your eyes. However, when a kinetic round is fired from within 20ft, a user will have practically no time to react. Limitations: While the standard models of Cronos don't physically harm the user's body, it is quite taxing mentally. Most beings weren't designed to view the world through that kind of time dilation, nor feel every sensation in slow motion. This of course, can be mitigated with practice or drugs. But it never truly goes away. While a user's perception of time is slowed, this doesn't mean they can react quickly enough or move with enough speed to, for example, dodge out of the way of certain things. The body's natural abilities - even while enhanced and prone to causing injury to the user - are what they are stuck with. One may be able to see a punch coming, but they still may not be physically capable of moving quickly enough to dodge it, and even then without hurting themselves in the process depending on how. As a safety limiter, the Cronos Implant can only be used once before requiring a two turn/eight second cool-down period. This can be disabled by a skilled surgeon or cyberneticsist - which will be detailed in Conditional limitations. Cronos is only active for one turn/four seconds before it shuts down as an additional safety limiter to prevent brain death. Alongside the previous limitation, this can be disabled with consequences. Conditional Limitations: More often than not, people are unable to get this augmentation. Primarily due to the fact that it has an incredibly high rejection rate due to most potential users not being able to handle the sensory overload, and secondarily that there are few places in the Fringe which have the people with the skill to implant this device- let alone manufacture one. Coming out of using Cronos often causes extreme nausea, due to the perception of time being swapped back and forth so fast. Most of the time, this results in vomiting in those who aren't prepared or used to the situation, and people who get motion sick. As stated above, using versions of Cronous with the body limiters removed can cause extreme damage to a person. While it can allow someone to dodge blows and make some bullets merely graze. The resulting cost is often more damaging than it would've been to take the hit in the first place. Rampant muscle tears, body strain, and nerve damage are examples of these consequences. Often requiring days if not weeks in a hospital to get them repaired, even with modern medicine. A small number of cybernetics exist that can stand up to this type of strain, even if only temporarily. Examples include prosthetics made with Anasi Spider Silk, and the STRONGMAN system. A skilled surgeon or cyberneticsist can disable the safety limiters on a Cronos Implant. Although this isn't recommend for obvious reasons. When the limiters are disabled, a user can activate Cronos back to back- viewing the world through shutters. This can only be used four times within five turns/twenty seconds, any attempt at a fifth use causes brain death from overheating, brain hemorrhaging, or other instantly lethal problems in the areas that have been implanted. Bodies aren't meant for that kind of strain. Additionally, after two or more consecutive uses, the user with the implant installed begins to suffer from heatstroke symptoms. Examples include vision turning white and profuse sweating. This twenty second limit-break begins after the second use before the standard cool-down period of two turns/eight seconds, and once the five turn/twenty second period is over, a four turn/sixteen second reboot is needed before the implant and limit break can be used again. Even if Cronos has only been used two times in that period, this reboot WILL happen. Only organics can use this implant, along with Glitch due to their unique biology. And those with more alien biology like Shifters, Remnants, and others require special care and research to adapt Cronos to their bodies. If the spinal cord region of a person implanted with Cronos is hit with a large amount of electricity, the device is disabled for three turns/twelve seconds while it reboots. Cronos is incompatible with many other types of neural and spinal implants. These are generally combat implants. Internal Nexus cybernetics will work, while things such as the Highlander will not. How does it work: The Cronos Implant operates by tweaking certain reactions in a user's brain, brain-stem, and spinal column to alter their sensory input and perception of time. Primarily this is done through invasive wiring, cybernetics, and augmentation into a person's nerves and grey matter to allow a person to not only use this device, but also to /survive/. As most creatures simply aren't designed to operate at that perception or feel sensations at that level. The implant itself runs off a dual-system of bio-electricity and a rechargeable, high-capacity battery located in the lower spine. And the entire system is layered in small panels of Cerulium to prevent electro-magnetic interference, as without this protection, certain phenomena and weapons could prove lethal as vital systems to keeping a user alive are disabled. Flavor text: The world paused as James activated Cronos. His thoughts raced as the three gunmen moved in slow motion, drawing their sidearms. He had to make this work. He had to. His thoughts went to his body, the commands starting his movement in slow motion- but it'd be fast enough. Especially with the strength the implant gave him, even as his body fell apart. Draw, cut the air to stop the bullets, rush and then slice. The vibroblade would cut through all of them easily. His time ran out as his commands went through. The Human drew the neutron sword at his side, slicing horizontally and blocking the shots from the handguns in a blur of motion. Then he lunged forward, visible damage appearing along his legs and arms as the tendons and muscles tore themselves to shreds. The shock on their faces was enough. Once slice. And all three fell to the ground, bisected. James had a moment where he could smile, he had survived. Before he began to scream as his nerves registered the extreme damage he had done to his own body. Moments later, he was unconscious on the ground. The Cronos Implant was developed by the Rayashi Corporation in Hylotl Civ-Space during the opening months of the Second Galactic War for military usage. While it saw great success, it ultimately proved too expensive and too damaging for the average soldier to use and it was discontinued... From mass production, at least. In reality, it was adapted to various spec-ops divisions- colloquially known by the slang-term "cybersamurai", by opposing forces. However, as most things do, the schematics eventually leaked to the Fringe where it saw a rapid growth in popularity, and not just in military sectors either. Many fields found the time-dilated highly valuable, including EOD teams, surgeons, and pilots... though, inevitably, it was used in tandem with Neutron Blades to create the frontier version of cybersamurai. This group was mainly made up of those obsessed with Hylotl culture, idiots, or the rare few who actually had the skill to use it properly alongside a sword. Referenced Technologies: https://galactic-citizen.com/threads/avalon-anasi-silk.1821/ https://galactic-citizen.com/threads/strongman-synthetic-musculoskeletal-system.2970/ https://galactic-citizen.com/threads/berserker-wiring.2996/ Attainability: Semi-Closed While the schematics for Cronos are widely available, the rejection rate is high due to sensory overload alongside mental and physical strain, causing few to be able to acquire the implant- even if they could find surgeons skilled enough to safely install it, and someone with the resources to produce it. For OOC reasons, though, due to the strength of the application. It will be restricted to those who can be trusted not to abuse it or use it poorly, and often staff will be consulted prior to a character being installed with Cronos to ensure there is approval. Tags: [Military] Category: Prosthetics
