Microstory 2476: Substrate Development Dome

< > Table of Contents

Generated by Google Gemini Pro text-to-video AI software, powered by Veo 3

It’s the opposite of Bot Farm! While that dome is all about mechs, perhaps with some skinning, this one is all about organic substrates, perhaps with some cybernetic components. This is one of the most important aspects of living on Castlebourne, and really, anywhere in the modern galaxy. Life is dangerous, and we’ve only made it more dangerous, because that’s how we like it. Back in the day, when you died, that was it. As far as we knew, there was nothing after that. Now that we’ve let go of our religious superstitions for the most part, we’re pretty certain that there’s no afterlife. So why let yourself die when there’s a better way? We’ve mastered consciousness transference and uploading, and it has given us so many options. You can backup your mind to a body that looks exactly like your own, but you don’t have to. Or it can look the same, but sport different characteristics. It can be stronger, faster, more resilient. You can fall asleep in seconds whenever you’re ready, and wake up feeling perfectly rested after only an hour. The possibilities truly are endless. You don’t even have to look human. You can become a unicorn, or an alien from your favorite media franchise. You can copy yourself, spread your mind into a hive of codependent insects. Be whatever you want, do whatever you want. Just remember, that whatever substrate you choose to move into next, it was built here. This place is really cool, but that’s probably because I was born in the 1960s. That’s right, it’s not a typo. I was barely young enough to reach the longevity escape velocity. Had I been born a few years earlier, I may have eventually died. So I know how vital it is to be able to get a second chance. A third. An umpteenth. And I think it’s so amazing that we have so many options. I know a guy who’s married to a sort of squid. She was human at one point, but now she identifies as a squid who can walk on land. That was designed and implemented here. You can even design your own, if you’re interested. You can make your new design private, unlisted, or fully open to the public. Bear in mind that every single design change has to be approved by the system, so don’t publish it until your ready. The laws are different here than they are in the stellar neighborhood, but they do have them. You can’t make a body that shoots deadly acid out of its hands, even though, theoretically, a victim could just switch themselves to a new body of their own. Come here, have fun with it. It’s available for all. Just don’t take it for granted. My brother died when he was an old man, and I never saw him again. You kids these days, you don’t know how good you have it.

Microstory 121: Cesare Mancini

Click here for the list of every Bellevue Profile.

Cesare Mancini was born in Italy just like any other baby. After several weeks, however, his parents noticed two bulges protruding from his shoulder blades. They were concerned that they were tumors, but they continued to grow into full tentacles throughout his formative years, eventually hanging mere centimeters from the floor while at relaxed position. He could stretch and extend them to reach more than twice as far, and held excellent control over their movements. Strangely, the family took the initiative to contact the government. They were relocated to the mutant island which had, by then, become a joint venture amongst a number of nations belonging to The Confederacy. Cesare’s mutations persisted as he grew older, and he began to take on other physical properties of octopi and squids. His skin became softer and more sensitive to changes in light. He developed an ability to change colors and blend in with his environment. His skeletal structure started being able to collapse and morph into a number of shapes, allowing him to fit through tight spaces. Small gills formed on the top of his shoulders that allowed him to not only breathe underwater, but also to propel himself through it via jet propulsion. His brain mass increases every year, giving him a slight intelligence advantage, but also risking his lifespan. He joined the Special Projects department of Bellevue in an attempt to halt his head’s expansion.

Image courtesy of Megan Highfill.