OSR Commentary On The Hostile Rpg & The Shoulder of Orion Militery campaign - From Board Room to Battleground

 So today was a day where a bunch of us gamers got together to do a couple of quick oil changes, check spark plugs, and generally do some routine gear head stuff. And this blog entry picks up from here & especially here.   The question came up,'What would China do to level the corporate playing field in the Shoulder of Orion' campaign? What would happen if China had produced some incredibly bright & highly dangerous replicants that created to workover corporate board rooms. And so we're talking about something beyond the usual capabilities of Zozer Games Synthetics & Zaibatsu operatives here. 

And then the answer was one that was already on my hard drive and that's Tree of Life: Altrants in Clement Sector Third Edition By John Watts. Within Tree of Life is a specific style of what they call Altrants ie replicants or vat grown clones with special abilities. And the ideal candidate type of agent to field for this style of work would be the sirens. Sirens are created to be the ultimate sexual partner & plaything but they could also be the perfect spies or agents for a cyberpunk style corportation. According to the Tree of Life: Altrants in the Cement Sector's description; "Sirens are altrants created to be sexual partners for baseline humans. They were first created by adult entertainment corporations in the United States, Japan, and Indonesia. The name “Siren” stems from the corporation Pleasures Incorporated’s original name for the altrant. As with many altrants, the first name used for the type has, over time, become the standard term. Sirens have since been created by several corporations and are seen in Earth Sector and Clement Sector. Sirens are specifically designed to match the beauty standards of the culture for which they are intended. This can vary wildly as tastes are often different across many strata of society and thus there are a variety of appearances for Sirens. Sirens are often created with exaggerated features designed to entice members of the cultural group to which they are attractive." 

Imagine a small R&D cloning lab somewhere in the South China Sea which has cutting edge bio engineering  technology.  They develop the first of the Sirens as corporate agents able to read body language, have perfect memory, and the ability to seduce in mind or body. Since the Sirens have a limited lifespan they make the perfect agents for the state. And possibly one of the most extreme state secrets for it's time. And with the interstellar war going on in the Shoulder of Orion the Sirens are simply another agent on the field or in the board room. 

So what does any of this have to with John Brunner's Science Fiction?! Back in the alternative Science Fiction history of Shockwave Rider we get our first hints of clones such as the Sirens. Clones whose genetic makeup is pushed in the direction desired traits. Things don't work out for such creatures and I believe the shortened life spans of the Sirens are another example of this.