Effective. Reliable. Humane. A Different Breed of Machine.
What began as a heavy manufacturing business in Germany over a hundred years ago, Haas Industrie transformed from automation process supplier for the European Union to the most profound technology conglomerate in human history. What Jürgen Haas didn't know when he started his production company was that his descendents would learn not only how to play God, but to sell his miracles at a competitive margin.
Cybernetics was always a passing fancy for heavy industry and tech start-ups alike, but what cybernetic interface research needed to truly flourish was a framework which could fully leverage automated intelligence. Anyone can build a tank or a crane or a side-arm, but can they create a self-diagnostic artifical leg which passes for the real thing? What about replacing a damaged central nervous system and making the lame man walk? Can they build a computer so nuanced, it sincerely believes it is human? These were questions which Haas Industrie began to ask after Jürgen's son, Dieter, took over the company after his father's passing.
Limb replacements and augmented implants stepped out of the medical field and into the cosmetic and security industries. Hand-held weapons which could think and see for their wielders became staples for UN peacekeepers in dangerous territory. Subdermal arrays helped not only to combat congenital defects but reinforce the perfection of celebrities' bodies and charisma. The market was always there, but until Haas Industrie entered the scene, it was dry and unanswered.
What solidified the Haas name as a global player, however, was the rise of Cynthia Haas just over thirty years ago. Her history with the company and the family is vague, and even today, the details are not entirely clear. Some say she is Dieter's illegitimate daughter (there is no record of his starting a family), a woman who has grown up in the shadows learning the ropes of the family business and the science behind it. Others theorize she may be Jürgen's daughter, brought out of cold storage as a fertilized egg related to early project work. Still others imagine her to be the ne plus ultra exemplar of Haas' legacy: a bioroid.
A small neuroscience company in North Carolina, the Rossum Group, was onto something just before Cynthia (she prefers "Director") acquired it in what looked like just another corporate merger. But Director Haas knew that what Rossum was working on was not just a better implant, it was a method by which the human brain could be mapped, modeled, and artificially reproduced with stunning accuracy. The method, known as neural channeling, allowed for the closest thing to true artificial intelligence the world would ethically allow, and the Director assigned the Rossum project to integrate fully with full-body prostheses, giving birth to the planet's first manufactured human, the bioroid. Bioroids began with the Mark-1 line, but quickly transitioned to the Mark-2 model, dozens of "Marks" were dispatched to disaster sites, fallout- or toxin-laden warzones, and other high-risk environments immiscible with human deployment. With this success, the Director phased out Haas Industrie, replacing it with Haas-Bioroid.
Haas-Bioroid stands as the singular monolith in robotics, arms, and future tech on Earth, and it's for no small reason. The Marks performed well, and soon a whole host of bioroids were manufactured in mass, the technology advancing so quickly that prohibitive lab prototypes were soon relatively inexpensive to manufacture and sell all over the world. Hailed as the perfect "labor solution," bioroids are now an entrenched feature of modern living. Whether functioning as cab driver, butler, research analyst, or police officer, bioroids fill every niche in society. The Director is pleased, but ask any common Jane or Joe and they'll tell you that bioroids scare them shitless.
What does Haas-Bioroid want?
- To devour any new tech startup, regardless of field
- To ensure everyone that bioroids are safe, reliable, and friendly
- To keep the weapons and robotics industries safely in their corner
What doesn't Haas-Bioroid want?
- To have a bioroid go rogue or break protocol
- To see bioroid popularity fall behind Jinteki clones
- To answer for the ethical ramifications of their projects
Haas-Bioroid NPCs:
Isabel McGuire, golf celeb
- Former athletic star turned parapelgic following a tragic accident, now "rebuilt" with Haas-Bioroid prostheses
- Foremost public advocate for the great work being done by Haas-Bioroid on behalf of the everyman
- Willing to become "more than human" and convice others to follow suit
Ash 2X3ZB9CY, bioroid
- Well-mannered and modeled after charming BBC television personalities from before the war
- Admin for internal personnel and digital security barriers across remote networks
- As strong as ten men, impervious to most weapons fire, and able to blend in with a crowd
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