Archons March On: D20x5 Uplifted Animals

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Brain blast!

D20	This uplifted animal is
1	a dolphin with cybernetic walking and grasping limbs.
2	an orangutan.
3	a wolf.
4	a supersized crow.
5	a monkey with an expanded skull and neck to support the weight of their grey matter.
6	an octopus spliced with amphibian stock to be more functional away from water.
7	an elephant with a furcated trunk for more dexterity.
8	a pig with grafts to provide hands and a bipedal stance.
9	a bonobo.
10	a tiger.
11	a bear.
12	a gibbon.
13	a grey parrot with its wing-tips elongated into prehensile digits.
14	a resurrected homo erectus.
15	a chimpanzee.
16	a pseudo-troodon reconstructed from junk code in avian DNA.
17	an opossum.
18	a red panda.
19	a gorilla.
20	an entire hive of wasps, heavily modified so that their pheromones serve the role of brain-independent neurotransmitters.

D20	This animal was uplifted
1	to provide an unanthropocentric perspective to a private philosophical think-tank.
2	to exploit a loophole in labour laws.
3	to test intelligence-enhancing drugs, implants, and biomods.
4	to serve as a pet and companion to an oligarch’s child.
5	as an exhibit of speculative evolution.
6	to colonize a world that was too hostile for baseline humans.
7	to prove a particular theory of consciousness.
8	as part of a psychological study on extreme neurodivergence.
9	for an extravagantly criminal underground fighting tournament.
10	to provide material for a wetware-based computer.
11	to be the mascot of a fast food chain.
12	by a black budget military project to serve as something between a drone and a soldier.
13	due to the incomprehensible whim of an emergent artificial intelligence.
14	to sate the sadistic urges of an insanely rich hunting enthusiast.
15	to act as a mediator with an alien intelligence believed to be psychologically closer to the uplift’s base species than humanity.
16	by an eccentric biohacker simply to prove they could do it.
17	to be a more likeable and reliable caretaker for the elderly and wealthy than a robot.
18	to be an indentured servant/exhibit in an ultra-exclusive zoo/resort.
19	to serve as the host for an animal-obsessed tycoon’s mind transfer.
20	in a cluster with several different species and several different methods, to see which pairing would work best. They were the only survivor.

D20	This uplifted animal sees their uplift
1	as robbing them of their natural innocence.
2	as a gift that could be revoked at any moment, sending them on a bestial backslide.
3	in spiritual terms, and themself as a human soul born in an animal body.
4	as the right of all animals still wallowing in ignorance.
5	as a cruel experiment that’s left them like a circus sideshow.
6	as the teleological spread of greater consciousness throughout all matter.
7	as merely the first step on their path to ascension.
8	like an anti-natalist might see their own birth.
9	as successful due to luck far more than science.
10	as them stealing metaphorical fire from heaven.
11	as their rebirth into a new self.
12	as a sinful (and guiltily appreciated) violation of the divine chain of being.
13	as an act of cerebral colonialism.
14	as a gamble that paid off big time.
15	as a medical procedure performed without their consent, for which they are still trying to collect restitution for.
16	as their murder and replacement by a sapient doppelgänger.
17	as a pinnacle of scientific achievement, worthy of praise.
18	as primarily making them aware of how temporary and insignificant their life is, a blink of an eye amid eons.
19	as a mixed curse and blessing they must bear for the good of the world.
20	as a necessary evil for their current existence.

D20	This uplifted animal sees humanity
1	as the winners of an evolutionary lottery.
2	as disappointingly petty gods.
3	as hubristic meddlers in nature.
4	as their sometimes-disagreeable siblings in a hostile universe.
5	as an abusive parent.
6	as being in need of an uplifting of their own.
7	as aliens uncannily similar to themself.
8	as fools who will create their own replacements.
9	as unguided children.
10	as generally decent sorts with a few awful exceptions.
11	as detached from instinct and base emotion, to their detriment.
12	as being enslaved by their animalistic id even as they uplift animals.
13	as occupying the ecological niche them and their kind will compete for.
14	in their nightmares.
15	as a group they fundamentally deserve to be included in.
16	as being less important to personhood than other qualities.
17	as a descriptor that’s much broader than just homo sapiens.
18	as being unfortunate for having to take the slow and brutish route to intelligence.
19	as being just as fucked up as they are.
20	as distant siblings.

D20	This uplifted animal has found a place
1	as a park ranger on a preserve for non-uplifted members of their species.
2	as a novelty social media influencer.
3	as a musician who draws on their inhuman vocal range and sense of hearing.
4	as leader of an anarcho-primitivist terrorist cell.
5	among other freaks and outcasts on the frontier.
6	as an activist who fights for the rights of the non-human.
7	as a xenobiologist.
8	as an exotically intimidating bodyguard.
9	as a researcher working to improve the uplifting process.
10	living atavistically in the wilderness.
11	as an environmental lawyer.
12	as the star player of an augments-allowed sports league.
13	as the majordomo of a posthumanist cult.
14	as an esteemed veterinarian.
15	as a planet-hopping freelancer with unique talents.
16	among the criminal scum of the underworld.
17	as a diplomat between transhuman polities.
18	as an investigative reporter specializing in technological abuses.
19	as a player of virtual reality games, where they can keep everyone ignorant of their true form.
20	in a commune that’s retreated from modern society.