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Butlermaster 4700
History > 3200 to 5200 AT: Inner Sphere Era > 4650 to 5200 AT: The ComEmp Period
Sophonts > Modosophonts > Vec
Sophonts > Modosophonts > Vec
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The Butlermaster 4700 series was a vec template developed by the Darblue Moravac Lifestyle: Design Corps (DML:DC). The organisation existed in the middle-late CompEmp period, operating out of a NoCoZo affiliated hab in the Prospera system. The company excelled at producing physical and mental modifications for sophonts of moravec clades to adapt themselves to specific avocations and professions. In 4700 a.t. in response to increasing popularity for personal service (both giving and receiving) in the local markets the company released its latest "Butlermaster" catalog. Containing a handful of major designs alongside thousands of customisable options the series was targeted at those seeking a lifestyle of domestic service. Modular multirole limbs, empathy programming, manufacturing torsos and servile reward circuit modifications were all part of the package.
Over the next few centuries the series persisted with a steadily expanding catalog to meet new trends. Due to various confidentiality agreements it is unknown how many sophonts acquired a Butlermaster 4700 phenotype but the number is estimated to be between 200 and 300 million. The financial arrangement to become a Butlermaster consisted of paying a subscription fee to DML:DC, if installments were maintained customers would be periodically transmitted a digital token allowing them access to their body's Personal Repair System (akin to a biont's medisystem). Through this they could alter themselves with other designs from the catalogue, physical and mental, to ensure that they could fluidly respond to market demand. The life of a Butlermaster was varied but premium users of the clade template achieved huge success with bountiful contracts of indentured servitude. In the early years of the series lapsed payments would result in the body self-disassembling with any mental mods halting their processes, however a few prominent cases of major mental damage arising from this nearly led to a boycott. Subsequently failed payment simply locked access to the repasystem, leaving the customer functional but physically and mentally fixed (the repasystem was sophisticated enough to fight off any unauthorised third party modification).
The authentication system would prove to be disastrous. In 5052 a.t. a rogue autowar entered Prospera masked as a private transport. The unit was left over from the Version War and despite being mostly comprised of low-ground ultratech, was carrying a far more sophisticated cyberwarfare package. Misidentifying the system as enemy territory the autowar released an infoplague into the localnet. For days nothing obvious occured, but the regional governor (an S2 ISO) was slowly corrupted. When it was completely subverted it launched an all out attack on the territory under its control. The event only lasted a few hundred seconds before a lesser archai stepped in with a counter-program to fix the issue, but in that time, three systems, including Prospera, were wiped out. Physically there was little damage but the new perversion swept through the net, into the exoselves of every living sophont and assimilated them all as corrupted subprocessors. Few backups survived, a few million more were lucky enough to have remote back ups in distant systems. For billions however their only remotes were in one of the other systems destroyed. Among those irrevocably dead were the corporate minds of DML:DC.
Within a few megaseconds every Butlermaster 4700 found themselves locked out of their repasystems as they failed to receive new tokens. Their bodies were hostile to any outside interference, including uploading, fighting off attempts physically and digitally. At first this wasn't considered a large problem. The sophonts remained in their previous roles perfectly adapted to them and content. However over the centuries as fads shifted the Butlermasters found themselves no longer suited to the prevailing trends, unable to find anyone in needing of service. Many charity organisations took pity and worked to construct situations to employ the Butlermasters in, but the forced nature of the arrangement clashed with the psychological need to be needed that many of the vecs had.
In 5621 AT, a Cyberian group released a patch they hoped would break the encryption on the repasystems (itself a reworked bit of gift-tech software). The attempt was partially successful, it inserted a script of circular reasoning into the Butlermaster psychoware that allowed them to serve companies registered in their own name with the singular goal of managing the direction of that company. Thus through a financial abstraction many units were able to achieve a measure of autonomy. Many others were not so lucky, for them the patch instilled severe anxiety leading to a constantly looping state of requesting orders from themselves.
Aside from a few lucky sophonts who managed to find long term employment the Butlermasters can no longer be found in the NoCoZo. Charity and other intevention efforts focused on deporting the clade to the Utopia Sphere where an S2 hyperturing called Fairest Pharaoh maintains an orbital band for them. There they are able to serve the millions of avatars the hyperturing has, each one synergistically engineered to need and delight in being served. In rare cases Fairest Pharaoh has broken the encryption for some residents allowing them to choose again what body and mind to possess, something the NoCoZo markets were too indecisive to achieve given that there was no contract violation, prohibiting coercion even on behalf of the Butlermasters.
Current Era
In the modern age few Butlermasters 4700 are left. A dwindling few followed Fairest when e fused with a newly ascended S3. Most were liberated over the years. A rare number can be found living their lives as duos, forever bound to sophonts of clades that have augmented their minds for constant decadence. Such relationships are said to be some of the most fulfilling of any cross-clade pairings, and also the most disturbing.Appears in Topics
Development Notes
Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Updated by Ryan B 2018
Initially published on 08 October 2001.
Updated by Ryan B 2018
Initially published on 08 October 2001.
