Theobromos - Cyborg Anatomy

Cyborg Anatomy

All the bones in the human skeleton are replaced by "ferroceramic steel" in the cyborgs. Joints are replaced by "linkages", such as ball joints. The remaining tissues are pervaded by "nanobots" which use the original DNA of the human to regenerate any damaged organs. This is one of the reasons only young children can receive the treatment, since (according to the stories) DNA degrades beginning at birth.

Cybernetic implants in the brain give the cyborgs advanced abilities and senses, such as perfect memory, encyclopedic knowledge, instant learning, enhanced vision and hearing, multi-spectral scanning, and radio communication. Other implants tap into their senses and broadcast them to monitoring stations, so that Security Techs can always know what their charges are doing. The cyborgs can recognize, understand, and speak any known human language instantly, including local variants and dialects. Their lingua franca is called "Cinema Standard", presumably the English spoken in 20th century movies, with which most Company operatives are obsessed.

Special organs release chemicals such as "Pineal Tribrantine 3" or PT3, which confers youth and vigor. Cyborg muscles are much stronger than the human equivalent. Their bodies are also capable of "hyperfunction" which allows them to carry out actions at many times normal speed.

Unknown to most cyborgs, their bodies are also equipped to go into a "fight mode" where their hands become claws, their eyes gain protective covers, and their mouths sprout fangs. The skin drains of color in this mode, and they resemble a white demon. Normally psychological conditioning prevents them from entering a fight, but several stories, such as "The Hotel at Harlan's Landing" involve high-speed fights between rival cyborgs.

As is revealed in The Machine's Child the final line of defense for the Company's immortal agents is a "time-transcendence" field in the brain-case. With the brain "a split-second out of phase" with real time the brain case is, in effect, impenetrable. In addition the time field seems to be able to bend reality in order to preserve the brain, as Marco finds out when he tries to destroy some heads in a white-hot fire-pit, only to have them re-appear in the stores where he had previously kept them. This "time field" is probably also necessary for the cyborgs to perform their outrageous feats of speed.