Quote:
Originally Posted by trechriron
I feel like some general social engineering would be in order. I agree with the above poster. An unknown species genetically altering people without permission is terrifying. Why is everyone OK with this?
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Darned if I or my PC know. We first figured out something was wrong when a PC sudden developed a much reduced need for sleep (he'd been running on stims for months during an emergency). That PC is thrilled about the adaption, as it lets him sleep less and earn tons more downtime study hours. (He did have to pay the points to buy the advantage). The other PCs are curiously blasé about it -- perhaps because it seems beneficial.
Mice studies on the substance (a silicone prion of sorts) let us know the scope of the problem, as did the first generation of babies -- 20% of which were born with either less sleep (exhausted parents aren't thrilled) or fine translucent body hair that reflects UV. The gov't put out a gag order to medical while we tried to figure it out. 2 years later, we have more clues, but no answers yet.
The scary part of this run is that the prion is only the second or third most scary thing we've faced.
Just in the past run argued the gov't into informing prospective parents of what we know and offering a choice to let it happen or not, or to prevent it.
Probably can't realistically isolate, and don't really want to.
I'm thinking that it is human nature to form cliques and group into us v. them. The serious problems, I think, come from ignorance of the "other" (who often speaks a different language or is otherwise isolated) and a fear that the "other" is somehow getting unfair benefits. First recommendation is for the gov't to start being as open as possible with the whole colony and have a solid tradition of truthfulness and public trust. Combine that with deliberate efforts at community building, mixing different groups together, and that might help.
For Psi, it's a point system. Psi is expensive and, to be honest, at TL10/11, the tech is nearly as good or even better for most purposes. Psi is mostly faster and can be more subtle. My psi doc is a bit obsessed with psi genetics mostly because the other sentient race is naturally psi and she wants to make sure we have a reasonable number of folks in each generation who know and understand how psi works. (And a few that can detect and counter it.)