So you just finished a mission for Pallas Athena, and while you succeeded in averting the were-kangaroo apocalypse, it was at the cost of both arms at the elbow and both legs at the knee. In recognition of your valor and cleverness, God has directed Rhymer Enterprises to supply you with replacements at no cost. You may have either biological or bionic replacements.
If you choose biological replacements, the RhE medical team will use the marvelous tech at our disposal to regenerate the lost limbs from the stumps. This takes about about six weeks from start to finish, but there’s no danger of rejection (it’s your own flesh & bones here, after all). Unless you object, you’ll be kept under sedation the entire time, because that process hurts like a motherfucker. Afterwards you’ll have new limbs at the peak of health. Patients who undergo this procedure typically need another month or two of occupational therapy to accustom themselves to the new limbs.
If you choose bionic replacements, you will get mechanical arms and/or legs externally indistinguishable from the old ones. Getting these attached is actually quicker than the regeneration–it’s about a six-hour surgery per limb–but the rehab is longer–about six months total if you get all four limbs replaced bionically. Your new limbs, incidentally, will not necessarily give you super-strength and speed0–such abilities not ony require reinforcing your spine and skeleton, but also removing the upper arms and thighs you have left. Whether or not you take the general super-strength/speed/leaping option, your new hands will be much better than human–ten times stronger, more durable, and more dextrous than human prime. Also, the arms are modular. You can get one with a smartphone built in, or various electronic tools, or a phaser.
Oh, and if the above wasn’t clear, you don’t have to take four bionic limbs or for biological ones. Both legs must be the same type (for obvious reasons) but with the arms you can mix and match: two bionic, two biological, or one of each.
Do I get feeling with the bionic limbs as good as (or better) than the biological arms? Because it would be a hell of a thing to no longer be able to gently caress my wife or rock my infant son to sleep. Sure, I could go through the motions, but it’s not the same if I can’t feel it.
I’m going to say almost, but not quite. That is, the pseudo-flesh will be tactilely indistinguishable from bio flesh, but the bones underneath, being much stronger, won’t give quite the same way.
You get somewhat better than normal tactile sensation with the bionic hands. Also, the arm & hand structure has much greater tensile strength than human, but to exert greater-than-human external forces, you have to consciously turn on the super-strength. Elementary safety feature.
There’s little point in your asking that question, since if we were going to do that we’d obviously lie about it. But if we were going to do what you suggest, why would we bother giving you a choice? You’ve lost all four limbs; presumably you were unconscious during the amputation, and probably while fighting the were-kangaroos. If we were going to fuck you over, we could have done it THEN.
Anyway, we’re doing this on orders from God. I am a faithful Athenist and follow Her commands to the morpheme.
I also have a question about touch – do things feel the same to me with my bionic hands? Does it feel the same to caress the warm cheek of a babe in the sun?
EDIT: oops, I see that was answered a couple of posts ago. So hell yeah to super powers!
Yes, it feels the same. And assuming you mean “baby” rather than “hot chick,” you also needn’t worry about accidentally hurting her or him (unless you’re really careless); the super-strength is turned off by default, to avoid accidents.
ETA: Don’t any of you people want the built-in smartphone, or the tools, or other high-tech but non-superhero add-ons to the arms?
Since you specify that the bionics are capable of feeling things and assuming refuelling isn’t an issue, I’ll go with the bionic limbs and augmented skeleton.
Does “at the knee” mean that whatever replacement I choose gives me new knees? Because I’m in for the procedure just for that!
Given the tactile capabilities of the bionics, I’d choose three bionics and a biological. Give me back my meat right arm/hand. That one is for personal contact. The rest can be bionic, and the left arm is going to get some serious upgrades. I want to make Manny look like a piker! Phaser, electronics package (take that, R2D2!), the works.
We’re on Athena’s business here. Clearly she wants you happy, so if you need new knees, you’re getting new knees. Probably fix that left kidney of yours while we’re at it.
That’d call for multiple arms. Which isn’t a problem; that’s what I intended in specifying that the arms are modular. I’m gonna have to hold you to three bionic arms, though.
You’re going to seriously limit your super-strength feats if you have only one bionic arm, though.
Also, anyone who goes bionic WITHOUT getting the tool arm is a damn fool.
Is someone going to pay for the maintainance of the cyborg limbs? Living limbs are self repairing. If maintenance is free I’ll go for the cybernetic limbs, otherwise I’m going for the inferior-but-affordable organic limbs.
