Total Sensory Override Cortex
Archotech sensory processing unit that replaces the thalamic pain gateway with a quantum-state switch.
Rules Reference
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Capacity Cost | 4 |
| Category | wetware-neural |
| Rek Cost | 190000+ (Asset Realisation restricted programme; black-market copies are incomplete) |
Notes
Benefit: Archotech sensory processing unit that replaces the thalamic pain gateway with a quantum-state switch. Complete immunity to all pain effects -- the user perceives injury as data, not suffering. Can operate at full effectiveness regardless of wound penalties (ignore all penalties from damage, including those below 0 HP). Grants +4 to Fortitude saves vs any effect that operates through pain, shock, or sensory overload. Once per encounter, can trigger 'Sensory Lock' for 3 rounds: complete immunity to all mind-affecting effects, fear, intimidation, and sensory-based attacks; +3 to all attack rolls and Will saves. After the lock ends, the user must make a Fortitude save DC 18 or suffer 2d4 CON damage from deferred neural processing. The user can also selectively disable any sensory channel (sight, hearing, touch, etc.) at will.
Install Risk: Medicine DC 24 for thalamic gateway replacement. Recipient makes a Fortitude save DC 20 or suffers complete sensory dissociation (-6 to all physical skills, -4 to all mental saves for 1d4 weeks as the brain relearns how to interpret sensory data). 10% chance of permanent sensory aphasia -- the user cannot integrate sensory information into conscious experience, effectively rendering them blind, deaf, and numb despite fully functional sense organs.
Origin: Asset Realisation developed the system as an interrogation countermeasure. Day One channels claim a cell recovered a prototype from a captured operative and produced unstable copies; neither side publishes evidence, dates, or a reliable performance figure.
Signature: Ghost. Asset Realisation neural-warfare technology derived from interrogation-resistant architecture. Many Confederation jurisdictions classify an unlicensed sensory override as a neural weapon.
Strain: Severe. The quantum-state thalamic switch requires weekly neural recalibration -- missing a session causes sensory drift (increasing penalty to Perception checks, -1 per missed week). 2% monthly chance of thalamic decoherence: the user's sensory cortex loses all coherent input for 1d6 hours (effectively blind, deaf, and numb). The deferred pain from Sensory Lock accumulates in neural buffers and must be processed during rest -- if the user triggers Sensory Lock more than once between rests, the CON damage compounds. Long-term users experience progressive emotional blunting (roleplaying effect: GM may call for Will saves to experience strong emotions).