MachineMan Interface
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The MachineMan Interface is an (even more) horrific development of the Direct Neural Interface. In it, the pilot is completely integrated to the cockpit, and can't get out. The only way to undo the procedure is death.
History[edit]
The Consortium felt that a "definitive solution" to the problem of employee rebellion should be designed. Where brute force failed, technology would triumph. However, AI drone units were found expensive and wanting, since they coudn't envision field repair on themselves or easily change locations and roles as human operators did. So the question was: How to combine the neurological versatility of a human pilot and the utter dependency of a drone? The MachineMan Interface was the answer.
Anatomy[edit]
A great deal of cables go directly into the subject's skull and through their brain, connecting with specialized implants in the cerebellum and bone marrow. The pilot moves the mech as if it was himself, and the myomers as his own muscles.
The electrical integration also prevents the pilot from sleeping on the job, thus increasing productivity. This is also useful in combat since the system won't allow the pilot to black out.
However, the pilot is hurt each time the 'mech is significantly damaged. While not explicitly intended, this was seen as another feature since it "Punished" the employee when they damaged company property Also, the cord is no more than 20-25 feet long, limiting their already bad mobility (the metallic cables are very heavy) to within the BattleMech and its immediate surroundings (useful for refit duty). This is only validated for "extreme circumstances", and most time will be passed inside of the cockpit. The physiological needs are all covered by the machine, by connecting tubes with the blood stream, urinary system, and digestive tract. Additional implants monitor and control heart rate and prevent muscular atrophy.
Limitations[edit]
Due to the limits of the human brain in adapting to control only roughly human anatomy, the MachineMan interface is only available for mechs, not for legless vehicles.
While DNI and VDNI have sanity thresholds of use that last several years or even decades until their drive their users into insanity, the MachineMan Interface in most cases does this in months, if not weeks. That most of the "users" didn't even volunteer doesn't help. Rapid loss of sanity leading to berserker, agressive and self-destructive psychotic fits led to the abandonment of the project, though it lasted much longer than anyone would have guessed. Most, even within the Consortium itself, weren't aware that the MachineMan Interface existed at all - let alone of the gruesome details.
Timeline[edit]
Prototyped: 3054 (Consortium)
Production: -
Common: -
Extinct: 3061
Rules[edit]
Only available for biped 'mechs.
The pilot gains a -2 bonus to all piloting rolls.
At the end of every phase, if the unit received 5 or more damage during that phase, the pilot also automatically receives a hit. However, they can't black out due to this or other causes. They are also shielded from all other hits.
The pilot also can't abandon the unit. The only ejection that technically works is Full Head Ejection. Even then, the pilot will become permanently Immobile as it can't move from the cockpit.
