Roboticist

The robotics laboratory, prior to receiving a thick coating of blood and organs from gory surgery and repeated transplant failures.

The roboticist is a specialized medical department profession concerned with building, maintaining, upgrading, and overseeing the station's population of cyborgs and lesser robots. Due to the man-machine interface powering most cyborg units, however, roboticists are often just as much surgeons and medics as they are machinists. They are also expected to know how to augment human volunteers with improved limbs and organs. Roboticists start the shift in robotics proper (located inside medbay) alongside any players who are cyborgs from the start.

If there are any cyborgs present, they will often ask for basic upgrades such as enhancements to power cells, speed boosts, or propulsion capabilities. While it is ultimately your call, generally speaking, these requests should be met. Roboticists are equipped with a standard lab clothing and a medical headset that has a special communications channel available to it, which is intended for the coordination between the medical staff. To use it, simply type:

• say :h Please don't reclaim bodies immediately, I'd like to make buttbots.

Cyborgs

Available parts

See Cyborg.

Reinforcing

It is possible to reinforce heads and arms with extra metal to make them more heavy and durable. Cyborgs like having a reinforced head due to how much is at stake with it; if a cyborg's head is totaled, the cyborg is irrevocably dead and cannot be revived in any way. A reinforced head also looks much cooler than a normal head, and thus becomes something of a status symbol. Arms can also be reinforced, but whether it's worth the materials or not is entirely up to you, though some cyborgs like having limbs that can't be exploded off at the drop of a hat. To reinforce:

• Set your standard head/arm on the ground and pick up a stack of metal with at least 6 sheets in it. At the moment, steel is the only suitable material.
• Click on the head/arm with the metal stack. This will reinforce it to a sturdy head/arm, using 2 sheets.
• Click on the metal with the rods and make 2 reinforced sheets of metal. Again, use steel rods for this.
• Pick up the reinforced metal on the ground.
• Click on the head/arm with the reinforced metal stack. This will reinforce it to a heavy head/arm, using both sheets of reinforced metal.

The reinforcement level of parts is as follows: light, standard, sturdy, and heavy, in that order. Durability increases with heavier parts, but mobility decreases. Overweight cyborgs will also use slightly more power. However, all of these issues can be worked around with cyborg treads, an efficiency upgrade, a speed upgrade and a sprinkling of oil.

Note: Only standard cyborg heads and arms can be reinforced to begin with, not the lighter parts. Legs and other components cannot be modified in any way.

Construction

The roboticist, as stated above, is concerned with building and maintaining cyborgs and robots. The procedure is relatively simple. First, the roboticist must craft the cyborg shell. The parts can be made via metal loaded into the portable reclaimer next to the robotics fabricators. If you wish to use reinforced body parts (see above), make them first.

Required parts and tools:

• Cyborg frame
• Cyborg head (any type)
• Cyborg chest (any type)
• Cyborg arms, left and right (any type)
• Cyborg treads or cyborg legs, left and right (any type)
• Charged power cell
• Brain or AI interface board
• Cable coil
• Wrench

To build:

• Insert the power cell into the cyborg chest.
• Use the cable coil on the cyborg chest.
• Attach the cyborg chest to the frame.
• Attach the arms and legs (or treads) to the frame.
• Insert the brain or interface board into the cyborg head.
• Attach the cyborg head to the frame.
• Optionally, the wrench can be used to partially disassemble the frame before you activate it.
  • Remove limbs: use the wrench on the frame, then select the appropriate cyborg part.
  • Remove brain: detach the cyborg head first, then click on it with the wrench.
• To activate the cyborg, click on the finished frame with the wrench.

For the most part, the game will prevent you from inserting unsuitable (job-banned etc.) brains automatically. If you use an AI interface board instead of a brain, the AI will be able to assume control of the cyborg body at will. Cyborgs can be upgraded and fiddled with using the cyborg docking stations. Feel free to experiment with various upgrades and clothes, and apply them to the cyborgs.

Braindead cyborgs

Every roboticist runs into this at some point in their career. If you used a human brain, turn a cyborg on and its name is simply "Cyborg", the owner of the brain has a cause of what professionals call braindead. Being braindead means the player has left the game, because they got bored or had to go do the dishes or something. Wait a few minutes to see if the player comes back. When they do, the cyborg will get a real name, like Alpha-42 or something similar. If it does not seem like the player is going to return, follow this procedure:

• Unlock the cyborg's interface with your ID card.
• Open its head compartment with a screwdriver.
• Click on the cyborg with an empty hand to remove the brain.
• Insert the replacement brain.
• Close the head compartment with the screwdriver.
• When done, use the screwdriver and ID in that order to close up the cyborg.

Beware that a cyborg that do not have brains still drain power from its power cell, so it may be advisable to move the brainless cyborgs into a docking station, so that the next owner of the body will be fully charged.

Upgrades

See Cyborg.

Repairs and chassis changes

Occasionally, cyborgs will be seriously mangled and lose limbs, or perhaps they just ask you to replace their arms or legs with more capable extremities. Plain brute or burn damage can be fixed quickly and easily (see Cyborg for details), but chassis changes are a little more involved and the cyborgs will need you to replace these appendages. To do so:

• Use your ID on the cyborg to unlock its interface.
• Use a crowbar to open the cyborg's access panel.
• Use a screwdriver to expose the cyborg's wiring.
• Optionally, use a wrench to remove the legs or other limbs for upgrading.
• Pick up the part to be attached and click on the cyborg to attach it.
• When done, use the screwdriver, crowbar, and ID in that order to close up the cyborg.

Non-cyborg robots

AI shells

These are simple robots used by the AI for reconnaissance or interacting directly with certain pieces of machinery, e.g. pods or manufacturers. They are quite fragile, and replacements may be assembled in robotics:

Required parts and tools:

• AI shell frame
• AI shell or any other type of power cell
• AI interface board
• Metal sheets
• Cable coil
• Station bounced radio
• Wrench

To build:

• Add some metal to the shell frame.
• Insert wires.
• Insert the power cell.
• Install the interface board.
• Use the radio on the shell frame.
• Activate the robot with the wrench.

As mentioned before, cyborg bodies can also be remote-controlled by the AI when equipped with an interface board instead of human brain.

Repairs

See Cyborg.

Other

Main article: Robots

Aside from creating twisted combinations of metal and flesh, the roboticist can also create less sophisticated robots for specific tasks. He can produce these from the fabricators, and they can also be handmade through some simple recipes that often save time, effort, and materials anyway.

Augmentation

This is the more medical part of the roboticist job. Surgery is performed on the table located in the almost-center of the robotics lab. A patient is placed on the table and then slicing and dicing with the saws and scalpels provided begins. Please see Doctoring for further details on surgery on how to perform the operations.

Brain

While not an augmentation per se, the brain is the most important organ for any roboticist. After all, you can't make autonomous cyborgs without it.

Item	Image	Description
Brain (Normal)		The type of brain you're typically going to cut out of corpses in your laboratory.
Brain (Synth)		Made of some kind of plant material.
Brain (AI)		Also called the neural net processor. It functions as the AI's CPU and memory core, but you can stuff it into a corpse for cloning or a cyborg if the need arises.

Eyes

Generally speaking, ocular implants fulfill the same role as glasses with three important distinctions. Glasses are easily lost (people stripping you), eyes not so much. They're also more flexible in that you can have two different cybereye models and, with some exceptions, enjoy the benefits of both. Certain glasses can be worn on top of that for even more options to customize your vision, just don't expect every combination to work as expected or at all.

Item	Image	Description
Eye (Normal)		No advantages or drawbacks.
Eye (Synth)		Functionally identical to a normal eye.
Eye (Cyber)		Functionally identical to a normal eye.
Eye (Polarized)		Same as sunglasses.
Eye (Thermal)		Provides thermal vision. Implanting one of these will make you quite vulnerable to flashes, which cannot be offset by a polarized second eye.
Eye (Meson)		Same as meson scanners.
Eye (ProDoc)		Same as health goggles, though without the upgradeability.
Eye (Spectroscopic)		Same as spectroscopic goggles.
Eye (Camera)		Same as the helmet cam in the telescience lab.
Eye (Ecto)		Lets you see ghosts. Spooky!

Heart

A functional heart is of uttermost importance to the patient, as is making the proper preparations. Never attempt heart surgery without an ample stash of medical supplies within easy reach.

Item	Image	Description
Heart (Normal)		No advantages or drawbacks.
Heart (Synth)		Functionally identical to a normal heart.
Heart (Cyber)		The cyberheart has a number of notable benefits. It increases your total stamina and stamina regeneration rate by a significant margin, helps you to recover from stuns and paralysis more quickly, and attempts to normalize the heart rhythm automatically when it detects a cardiac failure or arrest. You can enhance the cyberheart's capabilities even more by disabling the safety limiter. Unfortunately, it is susceptible to electric shocks in general and electromagnetic pulses in particular and may cease to function immediately or after a short while. Whether or not the advantages outweigh this very real risk is up to you to consider.

Butt

You can't fart without a butt, naturally.

Item	Image	Description
Butt (Normal)		No advantages or drawbacks.
Butt (Synth)		Functionally identical to a normal butt.
Butt (Cyber)		Includes a high-tech fart synthesizer.

Arms

Arms are the quite diverse, featuring widely different restrictions and capabilities. What all have in common is that you can't pick up items, manipulate machinery resp. interact with your environment in general without them. People with one arm missing cannot be handcuffed.

Item	Image	Description
Arm (Normal)		No advantages or drawbacks.
Arm (Synth)		Functionally identical to a normal arm.
Arm (Cyborg light)		Functionally identical to a normal arm.
Arm (Cyborg standard)		Can destroy handcuffs in an instant.
Arm (Chainsaw)		Replaces your arm with a fixed weapon you can't lose or be disarmed of (great for traitor botanists), though you also sacrifice a functional hand. Don't forget to activate the chainsaw after the operation is finished.
Arm (Mutant)		Nasty looking, but does the same as a normal arm nonetheless.
Arm (Bear)		Lets you smash through windows and grills, and maul people with the very sharp claws. Lots of brute damage and blood. Good for fighting, not so much as as a regular arm given that you can't pick up items or operate machinery. Taken from a space bear.
Arm (Wendigo)		Another type of arm that is more suited for combat than everyday use. While you can handle items and use less-lethal (i.e. not harm) intents on people, neither is recommended because you may crush the object or accidentally mutilate the person you're trying to help. The wendigo arm can take down windows and grills, and pry open most doors. Taken from a wendigo critter as the name implies.
Arm (Predator)		The strong arm of a predator. With it, you punch for slightly more damage and have the ability to bust open most airlocks.
Arm (Werewolf)		Can smash through windows, grills and doors. Please also refer to Werewolf, the notes regarding the grab, disarm and harm intents apply here.
Arm (Abomination)		Ditto, please see Changeling for details.

Note: Cyborg parts require a pair. None of the listed effects will apply to you if you have only one arm. Additionally, reinforced arms (sturdy and heavy) are incompatible with the human physiology.

Legs

Legs dictate how fast you can run by default, that is before other modifiers come into play, such as environmental factors (like temperature), certain chemicals and drugs or your health status. Finding yourself one leg short will force you to move at walking speed, and having no legs at all means you have to crawl on the floor at a snail's pace...provided you have arms to pull you along.

Item	Image	Description
Leg (Normal)		No advantages or drawbacks.
Leg (Synth)		Functionally identical to a normal leg.
Leg (Cyborg light)		Can negate speed penalty from injuries and the like somewhat.
Leg (Cyborg standard)		Ditto. You can break shackles instantly.
Leg (Cyborg treads)		Rips apart shackles, increases your default movement speed. You're also extremely unlikely to be knocked over from segway impacts, slippery floors or some other common source. The stun itself will not be nullified, mind you.

Note: Cyborg parts require a pair. None of the listed effects will apply to you if you have only one leg.

Other tips

• Roboticists have the means to procure butts, a fashionable item of headwear, among their many uses. There is no limit as to how many buttbots you could build!
• The docking station is very useful for upgrading and customizing cyborgs, but you can do most of it by hand too if you really want to.
• The docking station can also accept many exosuits, jumpsuits and hats for the cyborgs to wear. Fashion!
• Before you throw that power cell into a cyborg's chest, make sure it has some charge in it, even if it's only a small amount. You can charge up power cells with the cell charger next to the scalpels and saws. If you put an empty cell into a chest and activate the cyborg, they wont be able to do anything until they get charged up.
• There are a few ways to go above and beyond the basic call of duty for your cyborgs, such as performing chassis upgrades, replacing limbs when asked or procuring self-charging power cells, all of which is always appreciated by their players. Being an attentive roboticist will function as a decent layer of protection when (not if) the AI and cyborgs get a law that compels them to murder the entire station. These laws very rarely mandate when specific people must be killed, so the robots will leave their darling benefactor for last, giving you time to figure out another plan.
• Those oil cans are in your office for a reason. Applying some oil to cyborgs allows them to move slightly faster for a couple of minutes (scales with volume), and applying some oil onto the floor slips up people who want you ill, providing you with an opportunity to flash them when they're stunned momentarily.

Crew objectives

As a loyal crew member, you can sometimes be assigned some strictly optional objectives to keep yourself busy while you wait for something to happen. As a roboticist, you can expect to see the following:

Have at least five buttbots on the station level at the end of the round.
Harvest the asses of others and create buttbots. Genetics can sometimes help by giving you monkeys-turned-human to operate on, otherwise you will just have to make do with what you get from patients. An appropriate punishment for someone breaking in to your lab uninvited can also be to remove their ass, make a comment about how their ass is literally yours now, and throw them out with their butt chirping 'butt' back in your lab.

Have at least five medibots on the station level at the end of the round.
This can be done easily by taking all the blue O2 deprivation medkits you can find and then following the procedure to build a medbot. Extra proximity sensors can be obtained from the tool storage vending machine. You can also just build the medbots from the fabricator directly, but that is very resource-intensive.

Ensure that there are at least three living cyborgs at the end of the round.
This refers to cyborgs that are simply on, not necessarily active and controlled by a non-braindead player. It's entirely possible to achieve this goal with braindead cyborgs alone.

Syndicate roboticist

A roboticist makes a decent traitor due to his maintenance access and his immediate supply of flashes, which can be used to incapacitate anyone instantly.

• Use your maintenance access to find somewhere secluded to spawn your traitor gear or do your murdering. Note there's also a number of gas masks in maintenance that can be used as part of a disguise.
• Eccentricity is expected in a roboticist. No one will question you dragging a corpse through the hallways, both of you covered in blood, if you explain that you're bringing a volunteer back to the lab
• Some people will come to you asking to be made into a cyborg. Use this to your advantage. Who knows, your target may ask to be made into a cyborg even. Reviving someone as a cyborg counts as a successful assassination, so you don't need to incriminate yourself at all.
• Lobotomy is a stylish and relatively quick way of finishing off an unconscious opponent, presuming you can get them to the surgery table in time. Once you cut out their brain, dispose of their brain and body in the disposal chute in robotics.
• If someone catches you throwing a brain in disposal and is getting suspicious, telling them that the robot was braindead will usually get them off your tail.
• Syndicate cyborgs are one of the most powerful traitor items due to how powerful cyborgs can be in combat and because of their access to the whole station. Syndieborgs are expensive, so choose a brain for them wisely.
• Building robots and then emagging them en-mass is a great way to sow destruction and disorder throughout the station.
• Your cyborgs won't follow your command unquestioningly on the default law set, making a robot uprising somewhat tricky. Easy solution? Go and mess with the laws, create a personal robot army, and conquer the station with your mechanical army. Far more entertaining than just using a bunch of emagged drones, if less practical.
• Last but not least, you have access to medbay and all the supplies within it. It's entirely feasible to equip yourself with a couple of emagged hyposprays and off people with mean poisons, or whatever else you can come up with.

Supplementary video

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