Un-men
Concept: uncanny valley “humans”
Description: look normal at a distance or in poor light, but up close the differences become apparent: dull eyes, subtly skewed proportions of face and body, manic grimaces, and graceless movements. They sometimes make strained vocal noises, as if attempting speech and failing. They tend to stare at people without blinking. They wear vacc-suits with feeding catheters protruding from the collars, and often slurp pink or green slime out of these plastic tubes without any apparent regard for etiquette.
CT stats (provisional)
DEX -1, END +1
INT and EDU unknown
SOC 1 among humans (may be dealt with, but no one likes them and many humans react with disgust and hostility)
notes:
The Un-men trade with humans for goods of various sorts, showing a strong preference for acquiring frozen human corpses. They pay with (I haven’t decided yet. Something valuable and exotic/alien origin). Unable to speak, they use gestures and numbers only to conduct trade. Meaningful intercourse beyond the level of “two of these, exchange for three of those’’ hasn’t been achieved to date.
They operate starships of inferior make that resemble old Terran designs.
Tests on captured Un-men have shown them to be biologically human with signs of cryogenic damage to tissue repaired by microsurgery, lower than normal body temperature, and abnormal brain activity. None have survived longer than 72 hours in captivity; their major body systems fail.
The most popular theory holds that the first Un-men must have been created by an as-yet-unknown alien species that found a sleeper ship in deep space and did something to the humans in low berth.
Un-men merchants never trade with non-humans, nor even attempt to communicate with them.
Although their ships carry crude armament, they have never been known to attack humans, not even in self-defense. Any Un-man will stand still and let a human hack him to death, his crazed smile never altering. If the droning sounds they make as they are cut up mean something, no one has proved what it is.
Concept: uncanny valley “humans”
Description: look normal at a distance or in poor light, but up close the differences become apparent: dull eyes, subtly skewed proportions of face and body, manic grimaces, and graceless movements. They sometimes make strained vocal noises, as if attempting speech and failing. They tend to stare at people without blinking. They wear vacc-suits with feeding catheters protruding from the collars, and often slurp pink or green slime out of these plastic tubes without any apparent regard for etiquette.
CT stats (provisional)
DEX -1, END +1
INT and EDU unknown
SOC 1 among humans (may be dealt with, but no one likes them and many humans react with disgust and hostility)
notes:
The Un-men trade with humans for goods of various sorts, showing a strong preference for acquiring frozen human corpses. They pay with (I haven’t decided yet. Something valuable and exotic/alien origin). Unable to speak, they use gestures and numbers only to conduct trade. Meaningful intercourse beyond the level of “two of these, exchange for three of those’’ hasn’t been achieved to date.
They operate starships of inferior make that resemble old Terran designs.
Tests on captured Un-men have shown them to be biologically human with signs of cryogenic damage to tissue repaired by microsurgery, lower than normal body temperature, and abnormal brain activity. None have survived longer than 72 hours in captivity; their major body systems fail.
The most popular theory holds that the first Un-men must have been created by an as-yet-unknown alien species that found a sleeper ship in deep space and did something to the humans in low berth.
Un-men merchants never trade with non-humans, nor even attempt to communicate with them.
Although their ships carry crude armament, they have never been known to attack humans, not even in self-defense. Any Un-man will stand still and let a human hack him to death, his crazed smile never altering. If the droning sounds they make as they are cut up mean something, no one has proved what it is.
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