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"Beyond a thousand years from now humans are not quite recognizably human, and I have trouble finding characters."
- Larry Niven
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| Haberman | ||
| Modified humans controlled by cybernetic implants. |
A human that have been modified from most sensory reception, while their bodily functions are controlled by cybernetic implants. Habermans are needed to crew spacecraft, since unmodified humans would not be able to withstand the "pain of space". The Pain is a side effect of interstellar travel, which causes a desire for death in living beings.
| "'And how, O Scanners, are habermans made?' "'They are made with the cuts. The brain is cut from the heart, the lungs. The brain is cut from the ears, the nose. The brain is cut from the mouth, the belly. The brain is cut from desire, and pain. The brain is cut from the world. Save for the eyes. Save for the control of the living flesh' "'And how...is flesh controlled?' "'By the boxes set in the flesh, the controls set in the chest, the signs made to rule the living body...'" |
| Technovelgy from Scanners Live in Vain,
by Cordwainer Smith. Published by Fantasy Publishing Co. Inc. in 1950 Additional resources -
|
The eponymous "Scanners" are volunteers who undergo the haberman creation process. Since Habermans tend to be robotic and disturbed as a result of their condition, they need constant supervision and adjustment. Scanners makes sure the habbermans survive, or if need be, kill them.
Thanks to Gatomon41 for submitting this item!
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'He was in a high-ceilinged windowless cell with walls of glittering white porcelain.'
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'The robant and the tiny old woman entered the control room slowly...'
'Guy named Otto Octavius winds up with eight limbs... What are the odds?'
'It is as you thought when you constructed the time crystal, my master Vaylan.'
'This was their world, their planet — this swift-traveling, yet seemingly moveless vessel.'
