Medical Tech (Pre Invasion)

The time between 2020 and 2030 is often referred to as the decade of plagues. biotic migration (human and all others), warmer and wetter weather, resistant strains, and far too little research in antibiotics came together in a single destructive cycle. Religious leaders were beginning to talk of the end times, and there were even some scientific minds that agreed.

Fortunately, a breakthrough in nano-technology stemmed the tide before more than 8 or 10 percent of the human population was wiped out. Now, many people have an artificial secondary immune system. Drugs are still an important part of the medical arsenal, however any scheduled higher than acetimetaphin are given in carefully managed regimens.

Nano immunities are rather simple by comparison. Most people are inclined to think of them in terms of a vaccination. They get injected with an IV of mercury colored sludge, and a booster shot every other year. From kidney stones to cancer can be solved with a two day treatment in a clinic. A modified RV visits the neighborhood every now and then to check up, and give boosters if necessary. Vital signs are tracked via the sphere, and sometimes the ambulance will show up before the heart attack is even underway if the proper warning signs show up at the central facility.

Doctors and scientists are inclined to allow the layman to live with this fantasy. In truth, the nano is no mere medicine, and requires quite a bit of interaction. To begin, the nanites are not sapient, or even sentient to any great degree. Anyone with the "vaccine" is monitored 24 hours a day because they have billions of hunter-killer robots swimming in their bloodstream. The malicious implications for a medical cabal that controls these devices - or the scale of the rioting should anyone find out, are best left to the imagination.

While nano is good for hunting down tumors, bacteria, and viruses - it generally can't work on a larger scale in the body. A broken bone cant be set by the robots, though they can assist the accretion of minerals to mend it after the emergency room visit. Major injuries still require trained doctors and surgery, though they have a few new options.

Cybernetics and bionics are available to replace damaged limbs and failing organs. These have become rather prevalent amongst the populace, despite some extremists who believe the procedure is dehumanizing or corrupts the soul. However, the accepted consensus is that anything that extends life and allows reintegration into society restores ones humanity if anything. Still, these are prosthetics, not fashion statements, and no one would flaunt having one. (Organs can be cloned - however, the process takes several months, and few people plan major injuries that far in advance.)

There are two common points of confusion about these technologies. First of all, a bionic replicates a biological process as faithfully as possible, while a cybernetic is simply designed around the end result. Bionic eyes have clear lenses flexed by artificial muscles, whereas a cyber-eye is just a digital camera. Secondly, the human frame has limits, and cybernetics alone can not make a super-human.

Gene therapy and in utero modifications are governed by the CSOL accord. The Common Sense Organ Law points out that a person would not volunteer for an invasive and dangerous internal surgery if they were healthy, but it is incumbent upon them to protect their lives. Hence, cosmetic alterations like gender, eye and hair color, height etc. are banned, but fixing downs syndrome and the like are. (Another part of this ruling finds that due to the parasitic nature of a fetus, it is just another organ of the mother for the first 10 weeks of pregnancy - then it is a separate entity.)

[I can just feel the flame wars brewing after that comment. However, as you find out in the post invasion chapter - that is part of the reason NB is the way it is.]