Cyborg

Cyborgs are robots equipped with human brains, usually constructed in robotics by the roboticists. Cyborgs are more durable and sturdy than humans, do not suffer from poison or suffocation and cannot be incapacitated as easily, but there are many limitations in return. Cyborgs have captain-level access but no hands and therefore cannot pick things up. They have to rely on built-in tools to do stuff instead.

They also have access to robotic communications along with the AI, effectively giving them their own private radio channel (say :s [your message]). Cyborgs are considered the AI's assistants and share its laws, so if an AI is corrupted or subverted, the cyborgs will follow suit.

So whatever you do, DO NOT HARM ANYONE UNLESS YOUR LAWS ALLOW YOU TO DO SO. Even if you are under attack by a traitor, you can't fight back directly!

Perks

• Immune to toxins, suffocation damage and extreme temperatures.
• Has a set of items, which cannot be removed or lost.
• Resistant (but not immune) to stuns in general. Flashes and stun batons are still very effective against cyborgs.
• Immune to most maladies (diseases, radiation, etc).
• Access to the mostly-private robotic channel.
• Can survive and, with a propulsion upgrade or fire extinguisher, navigate in space.
• Can interact with computers from afar.

Restrictions

• Unable to pick up, use, equip, or interact with external items. The exception are most computers, robots and other machines, as long as they are powered.
• Must follow the laws of the AI.
• Lifespan is limited by the charge of their power cell, which is displayed in the status panel.
• Can be forcibly self-destructed by using the robotics computer unless protected.

Cyborg Interface

Click Panel to access your equipment. Click the frame of a slot to select it, just like a hand. Click Store with a slot selected to free that slot for other equipment. All things in an active slot consume power constantly, so needlessly leaving things equipped will mandate more frequent recharging.

Also, electronic equipment (doors, computers, APCs, etc) may be clicked on and interacted with as though you were the AI. Remember to follow your laws during these interactions - do not e.g. shock doors to subdue the traitor, as this would be harming a human!

Charging stations

The charging stations in robotics, tool storage and at the mining station are intended for the maintenance of cyborgs and can be used to repair damage and recharge their power cell. Roboticists may also customize a cyborg's name, appearance, module and upgrades. In the absence of a helping hand, limited self-service is still possible. Simply insert upgrades and clothing by drag-and-dropping them onto the charging station. However, some clothing is not compatible.

Note: Once you run out of charge, you have to enter the charging station by using the context menu or verb in the Commands tab. Drag and drag will not work.

Anatomy of a Cyborg

Cyborgs are a bit more modular than their organic crewmates, so two cyborgs are rarely exactly alike. A cyborg's physical frame is made up of a head, a chest, two arms, and two legs.

Body

• Head: This is a critical part for all cyborgs, as it carries the brain that allows them to function. If the head is destroyed, the cyborg is irrevocably gone; his brain is eradicated in the explosion and there is no way to retrieve it. For this reason, cyborgs benefit greatly from having the Roboticist reinforce their head with metal. After a cyborg is active, however, the head cannot be reinforced, so this is usually a consideration if you are designing your own body prior to being borged.
  
• Chest: The chest unit houses the cyborg's battery, module, and any upgrades it may have. It is also critical, and the cyborg will be killed if the chest unit is destroyed. It cannot be reinforced, but that point is largely academic as the chest is so sturdy it will often be the only thing left intact if a cyborg is caught in a bomb blast or something.
  
• Arms: Cyborgs ideally have both a right and left arm, which allows them to pull things around and use tools from their module. Arms can be reinforced with metal, but doing so is rarely worth the trouble. Attackers do not focus on a cyborg's arms, and if you do lose an arm somehow, you remain active. A Roboticist can install a new arm or two if you find yourself short.
  
• Legs: Cyborgs can choose between a right and left leg or a pair of treads, which consolidates all the hit points of both legs into one unit and allows slightly faster movement. For almost all intents, treads are objectively better than legs, though not so much that a player should spend 20 minutes pestering the Roboticist for a set when they already have functional legs. Legs are non-critical, but losing them will slow your movement speed quite a lot.
• Battery: Cyborgs run on batteries, which must be recharged periodically. Without a battery, a cyborg is nonfunctional. A cyborg will spawn with a battery that has 7500 power capacity, but the Roboticist has replacements that have 15000 power capacity. This increase is huge and you should definitely pester your Roboticist to replace your battery immediately. There are better batteries, including a self-recharging one, but the Roboticist will never get the materials to make one unless you bring it personally, so don't worry about it.

Patching up

As mentioned, Cyborgs are immune to suffocation and toxins. They can still get dented and burnt, though. A welder will fix the former, and a strategically applied cable coil will fix the latter.

Upgrades

In addition to the tools provided by their module (see below), Cyborgs have can get a few extra perks from installed upgrade packages. You will occasionally get one of these for free when choosing your initial module. Upgrades are cataloged below, color coded based on a general composite of usefulness and ease to obtain. Must-have -> Great -> Good -> Meh -> Practically Unusable

• Propulsion Upgrade: This lets you navigate in space as though you had a jetpack, which makes you infinitely more useful to the station and also makes playing as a borg infinitely more fun. Instead of being confined to the station, you can go EVA to rescue people, or to go exploring the void with someone. Without one of these, your only hope to navigate is to use a Fire Extinguisher, which not all modules have. They require only common materials to make, and you can even get one for free by starting with the Construction or Mining module.
  
• Speed Upgrade: By default, Cyborgs are much slower than humans, and you are going to lose any footrace with a healthy human. The Speed Upgrade changes that, effectively turning you into a massive metal Speedy Gonzalez. Absolutely fantastic any time you want to cover a lot of ground in a straight line, but very obnoxious any time you need to make turns. The module is very difficult to control with the laggy BYOND client, so be sure to turn it the hell off any time you're not dashing down a hallway at the speed of sound. Better, they are made of common, simple materials that will not tax the Roboticist to give you.
• Efficiency Upgrade: As a Cyborg, you will constantly be looking with worry at your battery. If it dies, your fun will too, very quickly. The Efficiency Upgrade goes a long way toward mitigating this. The upgrade takes some exotic materials to make, but if your Roboticist is paying attention, you can get one for free by starting off with the Standard Module and then immediately requesting a change to something less pointless.
• Repair Pack: Cyborgs are only vulnerable to Brute and Burn damage, and they are generally very resilient, but they pay for this by not being able to recover from damage very easily. The Engineering module can repair brute damage on itself and other Cyborgs with its welder, and a few modules can repair burn damage with a Cable Coil, but most modules can only repair themselves by returning to a recharging port. The Repair Pack fixes this by giving the cyborg a one time full heal that they can activate at their convenience. It's also absolutely dirt cheap for the Roboticist to make.
• Recharge Pack: As with the Repair Pack, this is a one-time full recharge of the cyborg's battery. Useful if you're planning on going exploring or have a project you don't want to be distracted from. Also dirt cheap to create.
• Teleport Upgrade: Essentially equips you with a hand tele. Very nice if your Roboticist gets lucky and uncovers one in an abandoned crate, but failing that there's no way you're ever getting one of these, so its usefulness is limited by its availability.
• Optical Meson Scanner Upgrade: Gives you the benefit of an Optical Meson Scanner, allowing you to see the layout of things without seeing any objects in the terrain. This is absolutely critical if you are going mining as a cyborg and somewhat useful for messing with the engine, but for everyone else it is a pointless waste of time.
• Health Scanner Upgrade: Allows you to assess the health of humans at a glance, just like health goggles. Exceptionally useful for doctoring but little else. Default upgrade of medical cyborgs, yet currently unavailable from the robotics manufacturer.
• Thermal Scan Upgrade: Gives you the benefit of thermal goggles, but there have been many, many reports of them not working properly on borgs. Even if they did work, spotting an antagonist doing something bad is not useful as a borg, because all it does is invite the now-angry antagonist to smash you to pieces. And unless they're a changeling, you can't fight back with your default laws, and they know it.

Modules

The majority of a cyborg's functionality comes from its module, which defines which tools it has access to. This can be changed with the help of a roboticist, though a rewritten or inserted module will not give you any initial upgrade associated with that module.

When you open your panel interface for the first time, you get to pick a free starter module. This WILL give you an initial upgrade for some choices, depending on the module. Every module comes with:

• Radio
• Flashlight
• Crowbar - Pry open firelocks and unpowered doors.
• Multitool - Mostly pointless, but can be used to hack vending machines or repair APCs if more tools are available.
• Screwdriver
• PDA - With the Super Deluxe cartridge. Messaging is handy, because robotic chat is often compromised.

Standard

The local equivalent of the assistant, this gives the cyborg enough tools to do a lot of little things, but not enough tools to really do anything well. The only reason to use this module is the starter upgrade.

Equipment:

• Cell cables - Recharge APCs manually. Expose the wiring with your screwdriver, then attach the cables.
• Fire extinguisher - Also doubles as an impromptu jetpack.
• Wrench - Turns manual valves in repressurization rooms and elsewhere.
• Pen
• Zippo lighter
• Atmospheric analyzer
• Health analyzer
• Camera monitor - Lets you view the cameras. Remember to deselect the module containing the monitor, or you won't be able to affect anything you see.

Starting Upgrade: Efficiency Upgrade

Engineering

Effectively an engineer, this cyborg is the only one that can fully repair its fellow borgs. You are expected to assist with the engine startup and fix minor damage to the interior of the station, primarily wiring and APCs.

Equipment:

• Cell cables
• Atmospherics transporter - Holds up to two portable atmos objects (canister, pump, scrubber) at a time.
• Fire extinguisher
• Welder - Can also be used to repair the chassis of yourself, other cyborgs or the AI.
• Wrench - Remember, you can turn manual valves with the wrench.
• Atmospheric analyzer
• T-ray scanner - Lets you see the wiring under the floor so you can pull it up to repair or check its load. Also causes nearby cloaking devices to flicker.
• Wirecutters
• Cable coil - For wiring and to repair burn-damaged cyborgs.

Starting Upgrade: Optical Meson Scanner Upgrade

Medical

Much like a medical doctor, or medbot with a brain.

Equipment:

• Health analyzer
• Defibrillator - The robotic form of CPR. Used to stabilize critical patients and address cardiac arrest (heart failure).
• Scalpel - For cutting out bullets, shrapnel and implants. You can't put people on the surgery table yourself, however.
• Circular saw
• Post-incendary dermal repair stamp - Heals a small amount of burn damage. Unlimited supply.
• Tissue reapplication stamp - The same, but for brute damage.
• Syringe x2 - Empty syringes you can fill with whatever you want. It's generally a good idea to keep one of them loaded with epinephrine, and the other filled with anti-toxin at all times. Remember, injecting toxins is harming a human!
• Dropper - For topical drugs. Refer to Doctoring for the whole list.
• Epinephrine reserve tank - 100 units of epinephrine, to be used with your syringes. Keeps critically injured patients alive while you prepare damage-specific medicine.
• Styptic reserve tank - Heals brute damage. Only apply topically!
• Silver sulfadiazine reserve tank - Heals burn damage. Only apply topically!
• Anti-Toxin reserve tank - Charcoal, to be precise. Heals toxin damage.

Starting Upgrade: Health Scanner Upgrade

Janitor

Exactly what it says on the tin. You are a janitor, go slip people up.

Equipment:

• Cleaner bottle - A spray bottle of space cleaner.
• Mop - Won't be very useful without the mop bucket.
• Bucket - To transfer water to said bucket.
• Atmospheric analyzer
• Fire extinguisher

Starting Upgrade: Repair Pack

Hydroponics

This module turns you into a botanist bot.

Equipment:

• Wrench
• Plant analyzer
• Watering can
• Portable seed fabricator - Everything, minus the fun stuff (weed, slurrypods etc).
• Compost bag - Make use of a compost tank if you wish to refill it.
• Igniter - Get rid of a plant without dumping the tray out.
• Chainsaw - Very effective at trimming hedges, not so good at trimming human heads.
• Produce satchel

Starting Upgrade: Recharge Pack

Mining

Your job is to go to the mining Z-level and help the miners. Mining cyborgs get a special popup when the module is chosen, which gives them a one-time teleport to the outpost. Note that you do not get an optical meson upgrade when you choose this module, so insist upon getting one from your roboticist or make one yourself.

Equipment:

• Laser drill - One of the best personal digging tool out there.
• Cargo transporter - This allows you to teleport crates full of ore back to the station. Click the crate with some other tool highlighted to close it properly.
• Geological scanner - Scans the local area for things like explosive veins, gems, and other dangers.
• Large mining satchel x2
• Space GPS
• Fire extinguisher

Starting Upgrade: Propulsion Upgrade

Construction

One of the most popular modules due to its great ability and self-sufficiency.

Equipment:

• Wrench
• Wirecutters
• Rapid construction device - Pretty much the big reason to take this module. Lets you create walls, floors, and airlocks quickly and easily.
• Floor tiles - Allows you to lay new floors. For fastest use, simply move and tap Page Down, which will automatically use the selected tool.
• Metal rods - Mostly useful for reinforcing floors and building barricades.
• Reinforced glass - Handy for making windows, which tend to be more attractive than endless hallways. Use your screwdriver to secure them in place.
• Cable coil

Starting upgrade: Propulsion Upgrade

Chemistry

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to be a scientist and create more space lube smoke to unleash everywhere. Or help resupply medbay maybe.

Equipment:

• Health analyzer
• Mini-ChemMaster - Will not dispense chemicals. Will allow you to isolate chemicals and such on the fly though.
• Syringe x2
• Dropper x2
• Large beaker x3 - With a capacity of 100 units each.
• Drinking glass - Effectively another 50 unit container, but the contents of this one may be fed to humans instead of splashed on them.
• Fire extinguisher

Starting upgrade: None

Brobot

WWWYKI

Equipment:

• Sound synthesizer - Become the mobile noise generator. Click on yourself with it to change its tune.
• Space beer - Plain old beer. Why not use the dispensers to spice things up?
• Probability disc
• Probability cube
• Cardboard tube - What is this even good for?
• Zippo lighter - How snazzy would it be to have a flamethrower on your finger? Sadly, that roboticist did not give you one of those.

Starting Upgrade: None

Discontinued Modules

• Atmospherics - Assist with re-pressurization of station assets. Merged with engineering.
• Vendor - Produce synthetic food for the crew to eat. Removed due to uselessness.
• Security - Detain criminals and assist security officers. Removed due to rampant abuse, killing and law breaking.

Supplementary Video

{{#widget:YouTube|id=VXa9tXcMhXQ}}

---