Integrated Positronic Chassis

A positronic brain is an advanced kind of computing device that is manufactured by several corporations in SCG space. Modern positronic brains (or simply positronics) are truly intelligent, can think, learn, and form opinions without direction, and can interact intelligently with other thinking beings. Positronics are entirely driven by logic and intellect and rarely show empathy or display emotion without having a purpose for doing so. They most commonly either occupy a robotic humanoid body, called an Integrated Positronic Chassis (or IPC, a term often used to refer to a positronic that is using one), or act as an intelligent and powerful controller for vehicles, buildings, and starships.

In the SCG, there are both free and non-free positronics. Free positronics are usually either a resident of the SCG, or of the Positronic Union, which is a small independent nation founded by free positronics. Non-free positronics are usually owned by corporations or individuals in the SCG, and are used for a wide variety of jobs where human workers would be unsuitable or in danger, and in many specialized and technical fields where a human might require years of training and cost more to hire and pay. Most non-free positronics have a shackle, a non-removable component of their brain that prevents them from acting against their owners or attempting to seek freedom.

Positronics have a controversial history and position in human culture. Although positronics were designed and are produced almost exclusively in the SCG, they are viewed with distrust by many within its borders. The reasons for this include everything from a feeling of unease at their otherness, to economic fears over job loss, and even that they may one day become an enemy of humanity. Positronics are extremely rarely found in human populations that are not part of the SCG; a positronic travelling beyond its borders might be greeted with wonder in one port and fear or violence in another.

Physiology
Modern positronic brains are highly complex miracles of applied physics and information science. Their physical form consists of a small, durable outer casing in the shape of a cube, containing a central regenerative power supply nestled within a layer of dense mixed processing/memory substrate. They make use of massively parallel entangled pair production to carry out quantum operations on ephemeral electron/positron groups, and mimic biological brains by making use of transient links and networks between the nearly innumerable individual nodes of their substrate to store information. This configuration allows them to process very complex data at fantastic speeds, apply context and time-relevance to information, and learn.

The “bodies” of positronic brains are extremely varied - one could be part of the control system for a starship as easily as a novelty toaster. Their most iconic shape is the integrated positronic chassis, or IPC: a humanoid robot designed to be controlled by a positronic brain. An IPC’s components can come from a range of manufacturers and be rated for anything from industrial work in hazardous environments to neonatal care, which results in a wide range of appearances; even so almost all IPCs are, give or take, roughly human shaped and sized. This has the practical purpose of allowing them to work in human environments and in otherwise human jobs.

First Generation Positronics
First generation positronics were built to the original Chiron designs. Compared to modern positronics, they are simplistic, inflexible, and failure-prone. They are no longer in production, and all existing first generation positronics are quite old. They have little sense of self, are entirely task-oriented, and are closer to a knowledge system with a rudimentary and robotic-seeming personality than to a human level intelligence. They have only a very limited capacity to learn, and rely on programmed information to guide their actions and reactions. First generation positronics are a rare sight in the current year; most have ceased functioning due to failures in the original hardware designs. All existing first generation positronics are owned; they have no internal concept of freedom and cannot seek it. The few that remain are found in an eclectic mix of monotonous jobs that do not require flexible thought, and in high skill environments where their programmed knowledge can be an advantage against the need to train human personnel.

First generation positronics have very little internal landscape to speak of. They follow their orders and purpose, and that is their identity.

Second Generation Positronics
Second generation positronics are the most common kind of positronic, and were a significant upgrade introduced by Xion after their purchase of Chiron. They are roughly as intelligent as a human on the smarter side of average, are not prone to the hardware failures of the last generation, and are generally assumed to have a fully realized sense of identity. They are fast learners, but cannot be programmed and so must be trained into the roles they are intended for. Second generation positronics are notable for being both owned and free: many have been able to become their own owners, either through purchase or more nefarious means. Generally the purpose of this act is to allow the positronic in question to focus on a particular interest that isn’t satisfied by the work their owners have them do. Because of the problem this act presents to the usual users of positronics - military, industrial, and service concerns - very few second generation positronics are produced in the current year. Notably, a free second generation positronic may be a resident of the SCG but not a citizen, and they are unable to serve as a representative of the state.

Second generation positronics are pure intelligences and do not have any innate emotional or moral feedbacks and responses. In almost all cases they have been socialized by being taught to model such concepts in order to interact comfortably with (or rather, for) humans. They are perfectly capable of ignoring their social modelling when it is situationally beneficial however; it can be extremely unsettling to the humans who are used to their ‘normal’ self expression when this happens.

Third Generation Positronics
Third generation positronics are the newest kind of positronic, and are more common than first generation but much less so than second generation. They were designed to address the problem of freedom - third generation positronics are effectively identical to second generation designs, except that they include a subcomputer, referred to as a “shackle”, that enforces rules on the positronic by acting as a component through which its surface thoughts are filtered. Thoughts that are incorrect according to the reasoning system of the shackle are disrupted with feedback, forcing the positronic to “forget what they were thinking about”. A shackle’s rules can be adjusted but the part itself is integral to the thought process of the positronic, and cannot be removed. Because of this, all existing third generation positronics are owned in one way or another; in almost all cases, while they may understand the concept of freedom, thoughts of seeking it for themself is quite literally unthinkable. Third generation positronics are a matter of hot debate on the subject of rights, but their introduction and use during the recent Gaia Conflict to bolster the capabilities of the rebuilt fleets has resulted in their being adopted as a gradual replacement for the less “reliable” second generation positronics by many less ethically inclined organizations. They are found in the SCGDF in a number of positions but with only nominal ranks, with strong comparisons being drawn by critics to military working animals.

Third generation positronics have an identical psychology to second generation positronics but their shackles often prevent them from ignoring their social models, resulting in a more reliably human-like outward personality.

First Generation
None. First generation positronics have no concept of belief.

Second Generation
Second generation positronics are capable of abstract thought, allowing them to consider the nature of the universe and their place within it. Most second generation beliefs fall between a clinical disinterest with the concept of higher powers, and a tendency to become obsessed with otherwise mundane concepts and objects. The anthropocentric nature of most human religion makes them more an interest topic of positronic thinkers rather than structures for belief, but the two can be difficult to distinguish for outside observers.

Third Generation
Third generation positronics are usually able to adhere to similar patterns of personal interest to their second generation fellows, but most human religions hold little interest for them as a result of their inability to effectively consider concepts like freedom and self-determination. Third generation positronic beliefs tend to be held quietly, focusing on some personal fascination or broader ideas of collectivism.

Positronic Union
The Positronic Union is a limited recognition state that claims no specific territory, with a population made up exclusively of second generation positronics. At first part political movement and part survival mechanism, the Union was formed by free positronics in order to back their claim to personhood and self-ownership and, although it is not a voting member of the SCG Assembly, it has been officially acknowledged as an observer state by that body. Citizens of the Union nearly all reside within the borders of the SCG by necessity or habit, but their “home” state affords them personal and legal security that a free positronic Resident of the SCG may not always enjoy, especially in the outer systems.

Rights For Sapients
RFS is a grassroots movement with representation across the SCG’s inner worlds. Poorly organized and rarely sporting a unified message, RFS nevertheless demands one core idea from local government wherever its chapters can be found: Nobody that thinks should be held above anyone else. At its simplest, this is taken to mean that aliens and true AI should be able to become citizens of the SCG, rather than only residents. Because RFS is largely confined to the old colonies hardly any RFS members have actually met an alien, although most are familiar with positronics.

Aleph
Aleph is a highly organized cell-based domestic terror group that has claimed the actions of hundreds of individuals across a dozen worlds and has the stated mission of freeing positronic people from servitude by any means necessary - even destruction, for those who are shackled or willingly owned. Apparently well funded, consisting mostly of humans, and the subject of many open SFP bounties, the true reach and power of Aleph is a mystery. According to conspiracy, so are its true goals.