Gamedec – Zoenets Lore

The latest lore-focused article for Anshar Studios’ cyberpunk detective RPG Gamedec is dedicated to Zoenets, or people who’ve chosen to lead an entirely digital existence. We get to learn how this sort of thing happens in that particular universe, what the different Zoenet types are, and how much the whole thing costs. Here’s an excerpt and you take things from there:

Welcome to one of the many articles about Gamedecverse – they’re not entirely related to the game, but with the lore of the books, so you can understand more while playing the actual game later in 2021. Without further ado:

The story of prolonged life

In Gamedecverse, you’re not limited by the flesh. We’re here today to talk about the possibilities people can choose from, to prolong their existence. If you want to live in the Net – you’re welcome to do so. If you exist entirely in the Net and want to try how it is to have a physical body? We’ve got you covered!

But what’s a Zoenet?

A Zoenet is a person living online. They might be forced or choose it voluntarily and abandon the physical shell. Although there is a way to return to the physical world from the Net, these people have chosen digital life.

Before reading what follows, it is worth remembering that a person who becomes a zoenet, especially in a netrium, has a rapidly limited range of ways to earn a living. While you’re inside a Netrium, you can only make money online, and not everyone is competent to do so.

We distinguish several different types of being a “Zoenets”:

1. Zoenet with the body

The body of such a zoenet lies somewhere in the clinic. Still, it is not suitable for anything other than being a metabolic brain-nourishing machine. Those who have decided on such an existence think that their body will provide the brain with oxygen and nutrients and extract metabolites better than a netrium, which runs on algorithms. A body of a zoenet is simply a factory that nourishes the brain. The kidneys, liver, and heart must be in good shape. Lungs, gastrointestinal tract, skeletal, and muscular system all this can be in a total-failure state.

Sometimes there is no choice, but a necessity to become a Zoenet. These zoenets are desperately looking for a way to keep the body alive, to survive in general. They can’t afford a netrium, the money is running out, and they will soon be disconnected from the expensive equipment that combines life support and networking. When the money runs out, they will be transferred to an ordinary hospital ward, where they will be put into a pharmacological coma. Suppose the insurance does not even cover such therapy, and there are no relatives who will pay for the care. In that case, they will be disconnected and die after some time.

The annual cost for keeping your body alive when you’re a zoenet is about 100,000 credits. Most of the time, being a zoenet is meant to be temporary because sooner or later, you will decide to go entirely artificial or you can’t afford it, get disconnected, fall asleep and die.

What if you don’t have a body? Prepare to spend some extra credits…