Guide to genetics
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Ruth McVork says: "Welcome to genetics, brother! Are you feeling good? You SHOULD feel good! You are now like unto a tiny god! Are you prepared to be what you were born to be? Are you ready to save the station (or totally fuck it up)? Chin up, buddy. It's not that hard. But before you start grabbing those monkeys from the pen, you should know the basics." |
The Department
Welcome To Genetics. Just across the morgue lies a mystical realm where some of Nanotrasen's greatest minds entertain themselves by toying the Human Genome into knots.
The first thing you're going to see is that our department has two rooms. The first, the one you walk into as you enter from medbay, is the Cloning room. It has only one Cloning Console, one DNA Modifier, and one Cloning Pod. More on this later.
The second room is the one where you're going to spend the most of your time. This is where things get done, where people go to become hulking supermutants, where you are going to do. Your. Job. This room has two DNA Modifiers and two DNA Modifier Access Consoles, along with two diskette boxes and a few lockers. The medicine locker has a syringe box and anti-toxin bottles. This is quite useful, as any tampering with genetic code gives Toxin damage. The bio-hazard locker has pretty much what you expect it to have - a bio suit and bio hood. Useful if a disease breaks out. The diskettes are also extremely useful, as we will see later.
The third room has your test subjects! These monkeys are going to be your guinea pigs, you are going to experiment on them, and make the suffer quite a bit. It's pretty inhumane. But such is life, and after a few seconds, it will all be worth it. They actually have it pretty easy, it's better than getting gibbed and eaten.
This is going to be your home, buddy. Get used to it. It grows on ya!
Cloning
Alright! Time to bring some bitches back from the dead!
First of all, you have to know that, for all things cloning, the CMO has a final say. He is your boss on this side of genetics. If he tells you to clone someone and not some other guy, you do it. The only person with higher say than him on these matters is the Captain.
On to the specifics! How does cloning work, you ask? Well, it's quite simple! What you have to do first is make sure the person is stripped. This is important - abiotic items are not accepted in the DNA Modifier.
Now, just put a grab on him/her and stuff that puppy up in the DNA Modifier. If you want to remove someone from a DNA modifier, right-click it as you're next to it, and then select Eject. Unless the modifier is locked, the person/monkey inside is going to pop right out.
After the modifier is already occupied, interact with the console. You will see a few things. Now, the most important is the first. Click Scan to see if the person inside is actually not an empty husk! If there is no ghost inside the corpse, you will get a "Mental interface failure!" message, and you will not be able to clone that person. If that happens, just "speak" a few times (ghosts can hear globally). Attempting to scan their body will notify them via the chat log. If they still do not respond, however, take the corpse to the morgue and be done with it.
If there IS a ghost in that corpse, however, you will get a successful scan message. That means you now have that person's cloning data saved. You can use that at any time. But, after it's used, it's erased from the records. The only way you can save a person's genetic data is with a "Cloning Diskette", which is found in the DNA Modification room.
After you actually have DNA data from a person, click Check Records, and then select the person who you want to have cloned. You will see a list of their UI+UE and their SEs, which are quite irrelevant. Click Clone. You will notice that the Cloning Pod is now fully active, with a shadow inside. That is the new body. You can now place the old corpse in the morgue. You don't have to worry about it anymore.
The cloning process takes from 2 to 3 minutes. For whoever is getting cloned, it seems like a very long time. But it's not long for you. While the guy is getting his new body set up, take his belongings and stuff them all in the locker right by the cloning pod, so their stuff isn't scattered all over. Plus, cloning the captain and leaving his ID and other secure items on the floor sure is bad.
After the pod is empty, feel free to clone your next patient, and to let the old one out, since they most likely don't have clearance to open the door. By the way, clones might have different genetic code than their original bodies - I suggest sticking new clones with a clean SE injection. I will teach you how to do this in later chapters.
Hark! A Husk!
So theres a husk on your floor, which means you can't clone that poor sod. Before you go throwing that body in the morgue, they can still be helped.
First off, make sure its a husk. Throw the body into a DNA modifier scanner, if it says theres no genetic material, then you have yourself a husk, celebrate.
Take the body down to surgery, pester the CMO or a doctor to extract the brain, or do it yourself. Put that brain in the freezer, you'll need it soon. Run back to genetics and grab a humanized monkey, return to surgery and remove his brain too. Do whatever you want with that one, it isn't important. Now shove the husk brain into the monkeyman corpse and clone him.
If all goes well then your cadaver will be reborn, admittedly in a different body.
DNA Modification
The basics from Cloning also apply here. Abiotic items are not allowed inside the modifier, so the subject has to be naked. That part is easy enough.
Oh, also? Your boss here is no longer the CMO. Do not feel forced to listen to his orders. I only listen to direct orders regarding research, obviously, from the Research Director as well as the Captain. I allow NO ONE ELSE in the Modification room. Simple as that.
Let's get you your first test subject. Grab one of the monkeys from the pen. It doesn't matter which one, they are all genetically perfect, no disabilities. Much like cloning, Grab your intended monkey and stuff them in the DNA modifier of your choice. I always take the right one, but it doesn't matter, it's just personal preference.
Now, let's get you acquainted with the DNA Modifier Console. It has a few things of note. First of all, you're going to notice two clickable lines:
- Modify Unique Enzymes / Unique Identifiers
- Modify Structural Enzymes
You might ask yourself: What do they mean? Well, Unique Enzymes are just what identify who you are, your name. Even if you change them, it will have no effect. What does change stuff is you transfering them from one person to another, effectively changing their name. Unique Identifiers are merely your cosmetic details - eye color, skin color, hair style, hair color and gender. You don't really have to mess with any of these, and they are quite unimportant.
Structural Enzymes, however, are extremely important. They contain data relevant to your genetic structure. This governs your race, and messing with it carelessly might give you disabilities. For those that handle genes with care, however, great benefits are to be had.
Structural Enzymes - This is important!
The first thing you will notice is that there are exactly 42 characters in a single line. Those are your subject's SEs. This long string is divided in 14 sub-blocks, with 3 pieces each. Blocks 1 through 13 control disabilities or powers, and block 14 controls race. The string is in Hexadecimal - which means base 16 in math terms. It means a number can range from 0 - as normally, zero - to F - equivalent of 16 15. So, it can go like this, from lower to higher:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
That means that a result of F is higher than a result E. This is important, so remember this. If I say "keep this block below 8xx", it means you have to keep the first sub-block in a block below 8, and the subsequent sub-blocks don't matter. If I say "keep that block above DAC", it means that that block must have it's first sub-block equal to or higher than D, if it is equal, the second sub-block must be equal to or higher than A... and so forth.
The first number in each block is the most important one. It controls whether a disability is active or inactive, whether a power has a chance to activate or not, and the race of the subject.
Mutations and their consequences
Before we start splicing, you must know which blocks control what.
- Blocks 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 are ALL disabilities. These are minor disabilities, and can be discovered easily. These range from Tourette's Syndrome (swearing constantly) to Seizuring. Keep all these blocks BELOW 8xx before attempting to inject these SEs in someone.
- Blocks 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12 and 13 contain four powers and four disabilities. These are a bit more work, which I'll explain in a bit.
- Block 14, as said before, governs the race of the subject. Keep it below 800 for human, and above 800 for monkey.
Let's get started on what the odd blocks (1, 3, 5, 7 and 9) do. Remember, keep ALL of these below 800.
Block 1 is nearsightedness. That means your screen goes hazy at about halfway from the edge of the screen. It's not THAT bad, and can be temporarily fixed by using prescription glasses.
Block 3 is seizures. They make you fall down and keep shaking all the time. They're horrible, and there's no easy cure short of fixing the block.
Block 5 is coughing. It makes you drop small items you're holding, like syringes. Pretty harmless, but has potential to be annyoing.
Block 7 is Tourette's Syndrome. Swear all the time. You also may also experience paralysis, and that takes even longer than the seizures. Avoid.
Block 9 is nervousness. It makes you stammer. Annoying at best.
The other blocks, bar 14, contain four powers and four serious disabilities. They are:
Superpower: Telekinesis - This power allows you to control things with your mind, from far away. It is the most sought after power, since it allows for incredible deeds, and makes a strong robuster nearly immortal. It is easy to spot, because it creates a blue "blob" around the person's head. You will know you have Telekinesis if you get the "You feel smarter" message. Requires a block of DAC or higher to manifest.
Superpower: Hulk - This is pretty obvious. You become extremely strong, enough to punch through reinforced walls. You can also make people fly pretty far with those punches. It is easily spotted, because you, obviously, become green. The indicator is a "Your muscles ache!" message. Requires a block of DAC or higher to manifest.
Superpower: Cold Resistance Resistance - This makes you resistant to Cold, obviously, including the freezing depths of space (you still have to wear internals, however). This will not make you immune to fire. This is very easy to recognize. People with Cold Resistance have a pulsating orange "aura". The indicative message is "Your body feels warm". Requires a block of BEF or higher to manifest.
Superpower: X-Ray Vision - Also a very good power. Basically, it gives you the combined awesome of both Thermal Goggles and Meson Goggles, both at the same time. Without even having to use the eyeglasses slot! Awesome! This, combined with Telekinesis, is a deadly combination. It's the hardest superpower to spot. You have to use a flashlight on people's eyes to spot it, and even then, you'll only get a message saying their eyes "glow eerily". The message you get after acquiring X-Ray Vision is "The walls suddenly disappear!". Requires a block of BEF or higher to manifest.
-Quick addition here, from looking at the last set of code released, as said above, the value to trigger Cold res and X ray is BEF in hex, or 3050 in decimal, whereas Hulk and TK are DAC in hex, or 3500 in decimal. These, as well as all the other SE threshholds are subject to a random modifier chosen at the start of each round, which can be anywhere between -300 to 300. This modifier is global, so is the same for all SEs. So it could require as little as 2750 (ABD) or as much as 3350 (D16) for cold res and X ray. In the same way, it could be as low as 3200 (C80) or as high as 3800 (ED8) for TK and hulk. All of this is assuming that the code hasn't been changed since the last release of course - [Raphael Mysterio]
This covers the powers. Now, the bad stuff - Disabilities! These, much like the other disabilities, will manifest if the block is over 800 (Note: Still checking on that. If anyone knows where I can find Genetics stuff on the code, let me know).
Disability:Blindness - The most serious of disabilities. You go completely blind. The screen goes dark, and you can't interact with ANYTHING. You're pretty much helpless, you can't even apply clean SE's on yourself. Be VERY careful here. The message you get is "You can't see!" or something to that effect.
Disability:Deafness - Harmless at best, annoying at worst. Really, very easy to cure. You just don't hear anything, not even yourself. No problem - a simple application of a clean SE injection will fix you right up. The message is "It's quiet...".
Disability:Clumsiness - For those that have always wanted to be clowns. This gives you the clown's clumsiness. It makes you drop things you hold, it makes guns explode in your face. If makes you very clumsy! The message is "You feel lightheaded".
Disability:Strangeness - Very dangerous. It makes you randomly mutate. Definitely be careful with this one. The message is "You feel strange".
Manhandling Genes!
Now that you are acquainted with your friends, the genes, you have to learn just how to mess with them! It's pretty simple, thankfully. After you're in the "Modify Structural Enzymes" screen, just select the block and sub-block you want to radiate, and click Radiate! After a few seconds, the screen will pop back up, and you will see if your modification had any effect. If it didn't, well, blast the subject with deadly rays again! Harmless!
In all seriousness, let's use an example. Let's say you have the following SE on your test subject:
3F3 5B1 4A7 391 7FF 102 07E 7B9 130 230 4E0 552 7A4 715
That means your subject is genetically perfect - he has NO DISABILITY. That is great. From the round start, everyone (including the monkeys in the pen) is genetically perfect, so don't worry about that just yet. Select the block you want to play with. I suggest starting either from 2, then working your way up (2 -> 4 -> 6 -> 8 -> 10 -> 11 -> 12 -> 13) or starting from 13 and going the other way around. If you have a colleague, even better! Talk to him, and each take one. This will make progress go faster!
Let's say you took Block 2. Your block consists of 5B1. Now, personally, I always try to get a block above DAC - this ensures that I have a lock on said block, and that I am sure to find either a power or a disability. Since your block is 5B1, it means it's much below the threshold of DAC it needs to activate the strongest powers. Let's go about fixing that. Select the first sub-block, and radiate until you have D or up. It shouldn't take long. If you get an E, that's all you need. If not, however, move to the next sub-block. Don't ever bother with the third block, not even if you get an A on the second sub-block. Just keep radiating until you have B or higher, it's much faster.
All powers have a chance of manifesting. So even if the block is high enough, you still need to pray to the RNG gods to give it to you. If you know for sure a block is a super power, just keep changing one of the sub blocks until the power manifests. Disabilities, on the other hand, will always manifest.
Cleaning the Gene Pool
Ok, so you tampered with genes. You discovered a few powers, but it comes along with a few disabilities, and you have no idea why. Time to learn why that happens, how to fix it and what to do after you're done.
You see, after a certain threshold of radiation, your test subject starts mutating of it's own accord. This can only be avoided by injecting rejuvenators in them (every application injects 30 units, and the body can only take 90) and letting the subject "recover" for a while. In other words, this CANNOT BE AVOIDED! Screw recovering.
Work on a block until you are satisfied with it. When you're done, and you're ready to transfer the SE into an injector (see: IV. Buffers and Injectors - Handing Out Godhood), check the entire SE first, block by block. Go through the first sub-block of every block. Chances are you will find a few mutations that increase, say, block 3 to 9A7. This has to be removed. To clean a block, it's just like normal. Radiate the block until it goes below 8.
I cannot stress this enough. CLEAN YOUR SE BEFORE TESTING. It's a very big sign of an incompetent geneticist to hand out injectors that give you Telekinesis, but also make you stutter, swear all the time and have bad eyesight. Seriously people, this is a big one. CLEAN. YOUR. GENE. POOLS.
Buffers and Injectors - Handing Out Godhood
This is how you save your work. A very good geneticist once said: Save early, save often. His words are true. You have to save your every step in order to acquire a perfect serum. That means you have to be patient enough to bending the block to your will, dedicated enough to remove every disability, and responsable enough to save everything to make sure nothing goes wrong.
In the main DNA Modifier screen, click the third option (first if the pod is empty). This is your buffer screen. You will notice there are THREE buffers there. More than enough. Each buffer can save either an UI, or an UI+UE, or, more importantly, an SE. Generally speaking, you will only ever bother with the SE part.
To fill a buffer, once your pod is occupied, simply click what you want to save in the buffer screen, after the Save: part. For this example, save your subject's SE. What you saved is now backed up by the console, and, if not overwritten, is now safe. Good stuff. You can relabel the buffer to make sure of what it is. For instance, calling your original test subject's SE something like "Clean Backup - Stevenson, F.", or calling an SE that has Hulk isolated something like "Hulk". Simple, but very helpful to not get lost.
Note: you can transfer a buffer's content into the pod's occupant, making it easier to transfer research data between subjects. Just stick a new guinea pi - I mean, test subject, in there, click Buffers, as usual, then click "Occupant", right after "Transfer To:".
Make use of all three buffers. Assuming you have a human with clean SEs inside your pod, you can save his SE in the first buffer, and name it Clean Backup. I always do it. I use the last two buffers to find powers. Say, once you find your first power, you save it to the second buffer. Once you get your second power working with the first, save it to the third buffer. Once you get the third power working with the others, overwrite the second buffer, since it is now irrelevant. Same thing with fourth power.
That covers buffers. But what are injectors, you may ask yourself. Well, injectors are tiny one-shot needles, that contain buffer data, whatever it may be. That means you can now turn that sweet, sweet Hulk buffer into a small, awesome, orange/red injector! Good stuff. To turn a buffer into an injector, simply click Injector in the options below the buffer in question, after "Transfer To:". A small needle will spawn on top of the modifier. You can now stick his baby in anyone who stands around for enough time.
Note: The DNA Modifier takes time to replicate an injector. Something like 90 seconds or close to it, I'm not sure. If anyone knows, do tell.
Because of injectors, geneticists are usually asked to give people superpowers. This is best judged by the geneticist, if you want to be like Marvel and give everyone superpowers, by all means, do so. But if you want to keep it to yourself and select others, go ahead, just be ready to say "No" a lot. Also, admins have confirmed that if people inject themselves with a needle they found lying around that says "Godhood" on it without even asking what is in it, you will NOT get punished by turning them into monkeys. Wink wink. Just make sure to answer truthfully if asked, and not to inject it yourself. If people are stupid enough to inject themselves with unknown content, let them.
Remember how I told you about diskettes? You can use them to backup your work as well! With one in your hand, click the DNA Modifier console. Now enter the Buffer screen. Click "Save To" in there to save the data to the diskette. If the diskette is not write-protected, the data is going in there! From the main screen, you can eject the disk from the console. You can also load data from a diskette much the same way. Except you click in "Load From" in the buffer screen, instead of "Save To". Easy peasy. I always like to leave the station with all four powers in an SE stored in a diskette. FOR THE GOOD OF MANKIND AND EVOLUTION!
All Together Now - A Practical Guide
Ok. So you know how to brew super-strength. You know how to turn Force Power into a needle. You know how to transform that annoying asshole into a monkey. But this is only theory. Now you want to know how to put it all together! This is what this chapter covers.
First switch your target from torso to eyes and turn on the penlight stored in your suit storage. The penlight is going to be very useful for your work to find blindness / X-Ray, so be warned. To test someone's eyes, click the Eyes in the target area, then use the penlight with the subject. If you get a "<subject's name here>'s pupils narrow!", this means their vision is perfect. An "eerie glow" means X-Ray Vision, and "has no reaction" or something means the subject is blind! Fix that ASAP!
At this point it may be a good idea to visit Chemistry and order some Hyronolin for your genetic testing. I usually order 2 pillboxes full of Hyronolin pills with ten units per pill. These are extremely useful as they lower radiation levels almost instantaneously unlike Anti-Toxin, which cures the toxins damage caused by radiation but does little to the rads themselves, or Rejuvinative Chemicals, which can be injected through the DNA scanner and slowly lowers radiation (also seems to make the patient's genome more resistant to change). This will help you keep your patients alive and allow you to use SE Syringes more often without the risk of getting Rad Poisoning and falling over due to weakness. Just eat a pill after every second or third syringe, or give it to your patients when their radiation levels are high (above 20%, due to how long it takes to just wait for it to go down) like when you have just applied a saved buffer to occupant. Use the two syringe rule when injecting other players, always have them eat a pill after every second syringe.
There are two methods of getting clean SEs, however. One is, of course, getting a player to be a test subject. This is surprisingly easy, but bewarned, the guy might VERY easily be a traitor just out for getting an easy Hulk + TK. If you get a player to help you, simply save his SE before doing anything.
The other method is the most common approach. Grab a monkey from the pen (I like to start with Washington), stuff him in the modifier, and change his 14th block until he becomes a human. Of course, run through all of the blocks to make sure it's definitely clean, and save it.
After you have a definitely clean backup, rename the label to say so, and make an injector out of it. You never know when you're going to need it. After getting the injector and sticking it in your pocket, you are clear for working on your subject. I assume you took a monkey from the pen from now on, and will work on that assumption.
Now, if you are working with a fellow geneticist, this is really simple. Decide which of you starts from block 2 and moves on and which of you starts from block 13 and moves down. If you are alone, however, I suggest starting with block 2, then moving to block 11, then following whatever pattern you wish. Why 2 and 11, you ask? Well, you will notice, with time, that these blocks always start with the second sub-block above A. Which means that, with a result of D on the first sub-block, you are guaranteed to find either a power or a disability, making your job easier. Also Remember not to focus on following an orderly pattern, If another untested block raises to a high level, test it out, remember to share data with your fellow geneticist. When working with a partner communication is key to efficient work.
After you get your first block above DAC, MAKE SURE YOU CLEAN THE SE. Check every other block for mutations. If any, even the other possible power blocks, is above 800, remove it. After you are sure the SE is entirely clean, save your work. You have just isolated this block. Check to see if your subject is blind. If he is not, you can test the work on yourself. Simply make an injector, and use it on yourself.
Now, what happens is important. If you get absolutely no message, this means the block you just isolated and tested on yourself is a latent power! Should that be the case, you now have made your first step into greatness. If the injector gives you either deafness, strangeness or lightheadedness (you DID check for blindness, didn't you?), this means the injector (and, thus, the buffer) is bad. Scrap that buffer, remove that block from the SE and work from the next on the list. Rinse and repeat, keep on doing this until you have all four powers, and no disability. Congratulations, you have found the Superhuman Serum / OmniSE / Demigod Vaccine / Whatever the hell you want to call it.
I will say this again, though, so you really remember it.
CLEAN. THE. GENE. POOL.
This is VERY VERY IMPORTANT, never forget about doing it.
Congratulations. If you read everything is this guide, you should now be a full-fledged geneticist! Welcome to the club, friend, hope you enjoy it! Pass on the knowledge to those in need. If you have any questions, say so, and I will update the guide to reflect it.
The Gene Genie - The Traitorous Geneticist
Sorry for the bad chapter title. I wanted to use that for a very long time.
So, you learned how to do your job successfuly, and how to be a credit to the station. You learned how to manipulate genes. Now you want to learn what the hell to do when the syndicate is the one writing your checks! Well, fret not! I will give you some pointers. But these are mostly tips - traitorous objectives differ wildly, and change your actions way too much for me to write a real guide on it.
Rev head
Simple. Flash colleagues. If the RD or the CMO come check on you, say you have a good set of powers, but the replicator is offline. Ask for him / her to strip and get in the modifier. Lock him / her in, have your way with them, they can't leave nor can they talk. Let them enjoy their slow, painful death. If someone wants to clone the captain, that too is pretty simple. Just don't do it. As soon as the guy leaves, stuff the captain in a locker, take his stuff and call it a day. You could also eat until you get fat, transform people in monkeys and eat them. Fun for all.
Traitor
Depends on your objective. If it's a hard one, like stealing the AI... well, you're fucked. Keep working on those powers! As soon as you have Hulk + TK, go for it as you wish. No tips here.
If your objective is a simple one, though, like stealing the captain's jumpsuit, there are more approaches to this. As the above tip, you can just break the walls with TK Hulk, but that is rather crass. There's a more roundabout, but classier way to tackle this. I have done this myself, so I am proof that it works. Take a monkey from the pen, transform it in a human. Take it's UI+UEs, make an injector, stuff it in your pocket with a label like "Clean Backup - Alexa White".
Now get your own UI+UEs and name it "Clean Backup - Original" or something. Avoid using your name. Now, go hide somewhere close to the item's location, stick yourself with the monkey injector, spawn emag, stick ID and PDA in your backpack. For added stealth, get a different outfit. Emag your way to the captain's room, get his jumpsuit, RUN RUN RUN. The AI might see you, so it would also be good if you spawned an agent card so you can't be tracked. If anyone sees you, they're not going to see your actual name, only the humanized monkey's name. Hide, stick yourself with your own stuff, change clothes, walk away smoothly.
If you have to kill someone, same stuff from rev.
Also, never forget identity theft. Since you can take someone's complete identity, including looks, you can have some fun with that.
Wizard
Well... Stealth wizard? Several things you can do, mostly involving UI+UE stuff. Not worth it, really. One thing you can do is taking identities and belongings, but you have to expose yourself to mess with the console. Your choice.
Changeling
FUCKING REJOICE, your work is cut out for you! Have fun eating the lifeless corpses you clone.
