Instruments

An emerging technology among the Masses, BCI is a common tool among certain Awakened factions, especially the Virtual Adepts, Iteration X, the Syndicate, and the NWO. Microtechnology – usually a bush of carbon nanotube bundles spread throughout the brain – transmits electrical signals from the brain, interprets them through a computerized interface, and allows for physical manipulations or virtual functions through brain power alone.

Enlightened BCI lets the user tap into computerized systems through mere thoughts, manipulate cybernetic gear, access wireless Internet networks, and record or transmit impressions into or out of the brain. Essentially a technological synthesis of telekinesis and telepathy, BCI requires specialized equipment and training to employ. Electrical surges can damage or even destroy it; neurotoxins disrupt its functions; and radio transmissions can hack into the interface, cause it to go haywire, or override the primary user’s commands. As an instrument, it’s invisible to the human eye but discernible to electronic monitoring gear. And although it allows for a hands-free approach, its limitations become pretty obvious when the user tries to employ it in areas without advanced tech, regions with tech-hostile realities, or places without net access.

Because it literally messes with your brain, many mages consider BCI anathema. Even among allies, the debate about such technologies can get pretty heated. Does BCI turn its user into a tech-addled posthuman, or is it simply another step in human progress, like language, printing, or the Internet? Regardless of such objections, brain/ computer interface is a viable tool for the 21st-century technomancer – borderline coincidental so long as it’s used invisibly, and potentially game-changing for the future of humanity.