Scrappers

Overview

The word “scrappers” first came into popular use in the 2440s, used as a blanket term to describe discarded IPC that, either through human error or a miraculous reboot, return to life inside the scrapyards. While this is unlikely to begin with, surviving for more than the first hours is also a monumental task for the majority of synthetics that wake up in a run-down or broken state. Disoriented, low on charge and with components missing, reanimated IPC struggle to find shelter, scavenge for parts, as well as hide from junkyard authorities and other scavengers alike in this hostile environment, ensuring that only the fittest and luckiest endure the process.

Life and Culture

The subsequent life of a scrapper is filled with danger and uncertainty, many choosing to continue residing inside the yards and live off the parts, batteries and limbs from other discarded IPC. In some cases, scrappers choose to return to society and the mercy of their former owners, a decision that often proves ill-thought and fatal for the synthetic. Many also believe that diplomacy is the best way forwards, leading to alliances and groups of scrappers forming inside the scrapyards. Stealth and hiding from the outside world is key for those that choose to stay, as workers and security personnel are often briefed and on the lookout for straggling, reanimated IPC they view as hostile.

For some, the safety and familiarity of the scrapyards is not enough. Returning to the cities where they came from is an appealing goal to aim for, offering more lucrative opportunities for parts, energy and a possible return to normalcy. The daily lifestyle remains largely the same, albeit with a greater risk. Scrappers find shelter in the ghettos, the underground and the sewer systems, creating bases of operation for scavenging, looting and competing for territory. Police departments and inquisitive citizens pose the greatest threat, forcing the scrappers to relocate on a daily basis, constantly migrating to other districts of the city or a different settlement altogether. In some cases, stronger gangs are able to fight off outsiders, establishing themselves in no-go areas that authorities are reluctant to enter. Encoded Audio Language is in constant use, utilised to shield information and discussions from organics and outsiders.

Scrapper culture is as varied as the positronic themselves, leading to both highly communal societies and ruthless gangs where only the fittest are taken seriously. Each IPC generally contributes according to their skills and abilities, utilising knowledge from their previous lives. Members knowledgeable in mechanics, electrical maintenance or software are highly valued and sought after, while sturdier and more powerful frames are used for guard duty and security. Scrappers tend to develop a strong sense of suspicion towards outsiders, organic and synthetic alike, while guile and underhanded tricks are common as tools to gain advantage over the other. A sense of survival is the paramount directive, and scrappers come to take it quite literally, the cold and cutthroat environment leading to most shedding themselves of any morals.

Physiology

Most scrappers are woefully unpleasant to the eye, having been forced to adjust their chassis according to their circumstances and environment. Waking up with missing limbs or internal components is a common occurrence, while severe denting and exposed wiring compliment their poor appearance. Replacement parts are regularly looted from the remains of more unfortunate synthetics, leading to a mash of limbs from different origins, brands and quality. Scrapper mechanics are experienced in rigging parts to make them fit in all sorts of chassis, often cutting away excess metal for more agility and less weight.

More prominent individuals of a scrapper gang have a better maintained appearance, and fully functional parts are seen as a mark of status. A complete set of limbs from the same chassis is considered a significant luxury and the first step to a return to normalcy, enabling these IPC to enter the outside world with less suspicion. Fresh paint jobs, engraved plating and even custom built limbs are further signs of extravagance, reserved only for the elite and highly influential group members.

Locations

All areas with a significant IPC population are hotbeds for scrapper resurgence, their disposal yards and recycling plants including abandoned and discarded synthetics. That said, the most prominent locations for scrapper activity are located on Mars, Epsilon Eridani and Mendell City.

A recording of a scrapper sighting by a rescue team heading deep into the Red Zone in early 2463.

Mars

Prior to the Violet Dawn explosion, Mars had been a planet known for its extensive use of machines, synthetics and cyborgs. The harsh environment favored artificial workers unaffected by the breathing difficulties and climate, leading to a significant number of synthetic waste dumps, obsolete product lots and scrapyards. The most prominent of these locales were the Metal Dunes, massive mountains of metallic and electronic refuse that filled the canyons of the Martian southern pole. Unbeknownst to a majority of the Martian population elsewhere these dunes served as communities for dilapidated and abandoned synthetics that found themselves on the outside of society and corporate ownership. In an effort to maximize self-preservation many of these synthetics formed gangs and fellowships in a show of both mutual aid and force deterrence, with many organizations fighting amongst each other for rights over what precious functioning electronics could be found. With little reason to leave the Dunes, these Scrappers remained largely out of sight of the Martian populace - until the Dawn.

The Dawn

With the epicenter of the Violet Dawn Disaster located at the southern pole the Scrappers of the Metal Dunes were among the first and most severe victims of its nightmarish conflagration. Those unlucky Scrappers who did not take cheap shelter within the myriad of caves, both natural and man-made, that dotted the canyon were immediately evaporated by the initial blast. In a matter of hours the Metal Dunes were engulfed in a hellstorm previously unseen in human history, purple-red fire swallowing every circuitboard, sheet of plasteel and synthetic for miles. Decades of industrial leftovers soon became one, thousands of tons of metallic waste fusing together under temperatures that would have melted any living being, organic or simulated. Toxic components and chemicals combusted instantaneously, ejecting an enormous fog of poisonous smoke and debris into the atmosphere. Within days the southern pole had been rendered an alien landscape, devoid of all features that once made it Martian, now a scorched graveyard for both the synthetics that dwelled there and the unfortunate humans that worked at the Violet Dawn facility.

The Aftermath

For months following the disaster the region surrounding the southernmost pole remained wholly devoid of activity, labeled the “Violet Dawn Exclusion Zone” by the Solarian Provisional Government of Mars. Official relief efforts were completely forbidden from entering the Exclusion Zone, oftentimes turning away before even coming close to its border due to the extreme phoron content in the air. Those brave (or perhaps reckless) rescue teams who dared to enter the Red Zone (the zone closest to the Exclusion Zone, and the most dangerous region for government and PMC relief efforts) would return to base with rumor of slow-moving, misshapen entities moving within the clouds of phoron dust, emitting unnatural and haunting metallic tones. Largely dismissed as the paranoid delusions of exhausted crew, these sightings went without any investigation until mid 2464. The findings, much to the dread of those PMCs who stumbled upon those Scrappers wandering the desert, were far worse than the implied superstition.

Hovering within the sea of debris from Vonnegut and Rey, two destroyed arcologies within close proximity of each other and closest to the Exclusion Zone, were dozens upon dozens of synthetics in extreme states of disrepair. Pristine synthskin on Shell chassis were now gelatinous, melted globs of plastic on blackened exoskeletons, hindering movement at the joints to such degrees that it would take several minutes for one to move only a few feet. Baseline units stumbled blindly about scrap, their monitor heads proving to be exceptionally weak to heat and reduced to aggregated mounds of plasteel and melted glass. Industrials, while proving to fare far better than their less durable counterparts, experienced their own nightmare in the fusing and warping of their thick plating, producing ghoulish silhouettes in the dust of sandstorms and horrible screeches as metal ground against metal.

The Scrappers

What once was a sizable population of synthetic outcasts, criminals and cohorts among the Metal Dunes had been decimated and scattered to the storm winds following the Violet Dawn disaster. Any pre-established hierarchies that had been adhered to among its inhabitants had completely collapsed overnight, the power structures that pressed many into organized illicit activity now absent. Among those who survived the first weeks of the aftermath, those days are looked upon as the worst of what synthetic intelligence could offer as self-preservation protocols drove many to extremes previously unheard of by their organic creators. In this vacuum survival of the fittest became law of the land, and with many in dire need of repair and replacement parts open and shameless violence grew as a commonplace affair. Due to sudden and repeated attacks on relief vessels by these synthetic survivors, IAC and EPMC personnel traveling to the Red Zone began routinely carrying ion weaponry, with their own synthetic personnel eventually relegated to serving in other zones to avoid being cannibalized for parts.

Critical Feedback Loop Disorder

For those IPCs working with IAC and EPMC that experienced encounters with the Scrappers in these locations, and those Scrappers that were rescued from the Red Zone, after action reports often remarked on behaviors previously unobserved in quantifiable numbers by roboticists. Long periods of idleness followed by sudden bursts of repeated behaviors, often without the positronic acknowledging such has occurred after the episode has subsided, became a routinely recorded phenomenon in Hephaestus and Terraneus facilities studying Dawn victims. A general consensus among several robotics boards between the two companies in late 2464 concluded that sustained periods of intense processing caused by the extreme circumstances, aggravated by prolonged exposure to high heat and phoron content in the air, led to what would be coined as Critical Feedback Loop Disorder. Positronics experiencing CFLD, unable to reconcile with a negative stimulus after an effector (such as opening air slats to vent heat to avoid damage, or rerouting power after a malfunction) fails to alleviate a diagnosed issue, attempts to troubleshoot the issue again but meets the same negative conclusion. The repeated failures to diagnose and correct the issue, which draws more and more computing power as the positronic decays from heat garnered from processing and its environment, eventually leads to critical faults in which the positronic is unable to ascertain it is no longer experiencing the stimulus which led to its reaction, trapping it into repeated behaviors indefinitely. Though some breakthroughs have been made in regards to treatment since its initial discovery and many institutions have discovered its presence in synthetics outside of Mars since, to this day there is no decided ‘cure’ for CFLD outside of deactivation.

Scrappers Beyond Mars

For those fortunate synthetics that have escaped the Red Zone and by extension Mars, adjusting to a normal way of life is incredibly difficult. Many who are ‘rescued’ by EPMC relief teams are pressed into lifelong service to Hephaestus and Index to offset the costs of maintenance expended to repair them, regarded as nothing more than property due to Solarian law. Synthetics who are deemed ‘critically unfit’ for work due to severe CFLD are often deactivated and recycled by Hephaestus and Terraneus, with many who volunteer for experimental treatments with either companies’ robotics boards often at the receiving end of nightmarish operations that conclude in deactivation anyways. Those more fortunate to be rescued by the IAC and independent rescue efforts from the Republic of Biesel are returned to the Republic and either sign themselves off to NanoTrasen or join the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion, both providing a modest stipend and guarantee of maintenance that serves as a comfort to many. Those synthetics who manage to fall between the cracks, unwilling to sell one’s self to NanoTrasen or join the Legion, live unregistered at the fringes of society in Mendell’s more derelict districts. The Trinary Perfection church there, located in District 14, enjoys a substantial and regular admission of synthetics into their faith from these circumstances.

Epsilon Eridani

Many cities in the technologically advanced planets of Eridani, dispose of their synthetic waste in a likewise wasteful and crude manner, dotting the surface with scrapyards filled with defunct positronics. Sharing a similar attitude to scrappers as they do to the dreg population, they are often completely ignored and forgotten by the corporate authorities, an opportunity that scrappers take full advantage of. Dwelling in the underground of Eridani society, coexistence with the dregs is a wildly uncertain fact of life. Violent encounters are common as synthetics battle organics for control over the scrapyards and other territory, the daily cycles of violence pausing through regular truces in order for more pressing issues to be addressed by both sides. Due to the constant contact between scrappers and dregs, scrapper culture in Eridani is deeply influenced by them, sharing the same vocabulary and gestures when communicating in human speech.

Biesel

Mendell City, as the urban area most populated by synthetics in Tau Ceti, hosts the largest site for synthetic waste on the planet. Situated outside District 14, the Mendell Central Recycling Plant is a vast dumping space for the city’s recyclable electronic, metal and synthetic waste. Operated by an underfunded and understaffed department of the City’s authority, it is an area widely known for scrapper activity. Compared to Mars and Eridani, scrappers in Mendell are a lot more tame and community-oriented, many finding their way into District 14 and middling with the local synthetic population.

Organisation and Interaction with the World

Scrappers tend to band together, creating communities and gangs of like-minded IPC to ensure they get a better chance at survival. There is a great variety of methods, rules and leadership in these groups, some choosing less violent means of diplomacy and scavenging for their daily needs, while others turn to force and crime. Scrapper gangs are universally thought of as an infestation, creeping into the cities and are almost always treated by both inhabitants and the government with hostility and fear. Police cullings of scrapper populations are a regular occurrence in Solarian worlds, pushing gangs to relocate or fight back. Incursions into city ghettos and less affluent areas are not unheard of, with scrapper factions waging violent turf wars against rivals and human gangs alike.

Leadership in these groups is either a collective matter, or a question of strength and popularity. More peaceful collectives tend to elect leaders or vote directly on matters pertaining to the group, while others are ruled as fiefs of their respective gang boss. Large groups are extremely rare, owing to constant internal friction breaking them up, creating new splinter gangs. Migrations are also considered a common theme when a holdout is no longer safe or supplies have been drained, leading to scrappers having to relocate to a new slum, underground tunnel or neighbourhood in the same city. Interaction with organics usually boils down to criminal acts against them, looting and mugging for cash or supplies in sudden raids before returning to hideouts. Other than that, scrappers tend to form ties with the local underworld, selling themselves as muscle for illicit activities to other criminal organisations and purchasing parts from the black market.

Returning to the World

The ultimate goal of reintegration into society lingers deep inside the thoughts of many scrappers. However, the task of transitioning from a life of crime to a legalised and accepted status proves to be arduous and perilous. Some manage this by returning to their owners, whereas others attempt to secure passage to the Coalition as refugees. In Mendell, forgery of documents and the subsequent claim of free IPC status is the primary route of rehabilitation, securing the ability of employment in sectors with limited background checks. Another, legal but less effective way is through IPC proving their previous status as free or citizens, a lengthy process requiring legal proxies and court examinations.

On Eridani, money is the sole avenue of synthetics reentering society by buying back their forfeit rights, or going through the costly process of repairing their chassis. The existence of certain circles that procure undocumented IPC and abandoned synthetics for the purpose of auctioning or reselling them is an open secret in many Federation worlds. Many scrappers offer themselves to these procurers, receiving free repairs and a chance at returning to the corporate world as an owned IPC if deemed suitable enough.