BY LETTER
Incarnates
Virtual entities which have been installed into a physical, biological body | |
 Image from Steve Bowers | |
| Also known as 'embodiment or re-embodiment, (re)jacketing, resleeving, and reshelling | |
Virtual sophonts normally inhabit virtual reality environments (virches) and as a consequence have a number of degrees of freedom not available to sophonts who live in the real universe. However, virtuals sometimes desire to inhabit a physical body on a temporary or permanent basis.
When this happens, the resulting entity is referred to as an Incarnate, or an Incarnation.
Artificially intelligent entities first began to utilise specially-designed bodies known as remotes or surrogates in the Interplanetary Age. These were teleoperated robots which could be operated at a distance by an AI (or by a human). Later, in the Solsys Golden Age, the first uploaded humans began to use remotes in order to interact with the physical world.
By the Federation Era it became possible to completely download a virtual sophont into a physical body. At first they used temporary bodies, direct descendants of the teleoperated remotes available previously.
After the development of engeneration technology, it became possible to install an uploaded sophont into a biological body. In the early days of engeneration the upload would be installed into a body created from the upload's original DNA. As the technology became more sophisticated it became possible to choose from a range of different bodies, with different physical characteristics, different augmentations, different sexes (including herm, merm and neut) and even different species.
Many colonists have been downloaded into radically tweaked bodies capable of surviving in environments very different to Earth-Normal (see the article on Pantropy for more details). Eventually, after the discovery of Xenosophont species on distant worlds, it became possible to download into alien bodies and interact with these civilisations directly (see article on First Contact for more details).
In the modern era many sophonts of all types deliberately upload themselves so they can download into a new body (or several) of their own choice. The range of bodies available for downloading is very wide, and includes robotic, biological and hybrid/cyborg options often with advanced capabilities. Common names for such new bodies include 'shells', 'jackets', or 'sleeves'. Some sophonts hop from shell to shell at will, following current modes and trends of fashion.
Downloading Simulations (Simms) and Digital Sophonts (Digis)
As well as uploaded biont mentalities there are many different types of infomorph who have never possessed a physical body. Simms (recreations of fictional or historical persons), Evocations (close approximations of real bionts created using data obtained from their exoself), digis (artificially generated virtual beings inhabiting virtual reality scenarios), and aioid infomorphs (copies or partial copies of sentient AI programs of many kinds) all could take advantage of downloading technology to become installed in a physical incarnation of one sort or another.Many choose to be installed into robot bodies; aioids quite often choose entirely non-biont vec bodies, such as bushbots or starhands. But simms, evocations and digis often choose forms that closely resemble their virtual form. A virtual entity based on a biont form may chose a robot body that replicates their own species; these synthetic bodies are often robust and serviceable while still reproducing the biont experience closely.
Other virtuals choose to be incarnated into a body made of flesh and blood. Of all the classes of virtual being, only uploads (and a few simms) have samples of their original DNA from which a new body may be wrought. All other virtual beings have (virtual) bodies which are essentially fictional, and this means that before downloading can begin a suitable body must be genetically designed from scratch to replicate that virtual form as close as possible. Designer algorithms developed many millennia ago by Genen vatbrains allow this process to be achieved quite successfully in most cases.
Some fictional sophonts are quite a challenge to provide bodies for; many stylised cartoon virtual entities require neogen bodies which bear little resemblance to any other living creature. Incarnated virtual halflings, kinder, goblins and dragons are reasonably widespread, and often find company among other mythological and fictional races on world-reservations such as Ribblehead and Mysterland. Competitions between incarnated fictional virtual species are quite commonplace, and range from friendly contests to bloody warfare (usually resulting in reincarnation for some, or all of the combatants).
In some cases a virtual sophont (or several such entities) decide to create an entirely novel real-life body for their incarnate; the result (known as a reling) can be very imaginative and unique, defying any classification among existing clades. The most exotic of these creations can be classified as true relmonsters, living creatures that may cause havoc in a real-life environment.
The Supervillain Problem
In many fictional and fantasy virches the emphasis is on adventure. In many such virches, there are a number of virtual characters are specifically designed to be antagonists, and are sometimes preconfigured to be entirely evil. Villainous virtual characters usually start out as virtual robots (vots), which can be programmed to behave in a wide variety of stereotypically evil ways, but since they are not actually sentient or sophont, they can be subject to violent actions and even punished without actual suffering.Because such characters are often very popular with those aficionados who like to visit or inhabit adventure-oriented virches, sometimes these characters perform a so-called 'heel-face turn' and become a sympathetic character, and some are augmented by virch controllers to become fully sophont individuals. In a number of cases these individuals decide to become incarnated, and migrate into Reality to experience the physical universe.
But in many cases the incarnated supervillain, once given a new physical and biological persona, suffers various kinds of angst and remorse because of their former actions in the virtual world. Institutes for the Benefit of the Formerly Evil exist in many major systems, designed to assist such supervillains and their minions to become useful members of society.
A few such 'formerly evil' incarnates regress to their former habits, and become antagonistic to Sephirotic society in general; if they can, they may create a horde of uncanny relmonsters to act as their thugs and minions. Such intrusions of fantasy into reality do not generally last long, and presumably occur with the backing of particular transapient factions for reasons which are not clear.
Related Articles
- Backup
- Copy
- Infomorph
- Pantropy
- Reincarnation - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Religious conception that there is a soul or personality that continues after the death of the physical body, and is reborn and lives again in a future life. An important component in many religions, also a common folk-belief. See also rebirths. - Relanimal - Text by Jorge Ditchkenberg
A relifed animal. - Relbox - Text by Jorge Ditchkenberg
A robotic or nanodevice for relifing. Relboxes tend to be tightly controlled (but, regrettably, not tightly enough) by archai, angelnets or guardians, to avoid creating dangerous relnano, monstrous reltrapworlds and relmonsters. - Relifing
- Reling, Rel
- Relmonster
- Reltrapworld - Text by Jorge Ditchkenberg
A fraction of virtual worlds are run by bizarre, breakaway virtual beings, which often have only a limited understanding of the rl. For the real persons entering or interacting with them via virtual reality, they appear as nothing less than nightmares brought to life, or deadly traps. Reltrapworlds are illegal and punished by erasing the virtual existence(s) who created them. Nevertheless, some still sneak through. - Relvec - Text by Jorge Ditchkenberg
A relifed vec. - Relworld - Text by Jorge Ditchkenberg
[1] A symbolic term for all relifed things, sophonts, places etc.
[2]Place in real life controlled by virtuals.
First applications were advanced, semiautomatic rl/Net interfaces with limited manipulation by virtuals. They soon grew and diversified, including learning centers, entertainment places and relfactories. Includes dangerous reltrapworlds. - Simm
- Upload
- Uploading Technology, The Early History of
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Development Notes
Text by Steve Bowers
Initially published on 06 December 2010.
Initially published on 06 December 2010.
