Technology

Since the inception of the Crimson Regime there have been dramatic advances in technology fueled, and enhanced, by magic. While not all of these advances have been made available to the general public (the details of some remain secret to all but the upper echelons of the Regime) it is undeniable that significant progress has been made.

Registration chips

Perhaps the most significant advancement made since the dawn of the Crimson Regime, registration chips-- required by ALL citizens of the Empire regardless of race-- is at the forefront of public debate. Registration chips carry the history of each individual including education, criminal records, military service, government clearance levels, race, age, gender, medical history and owner in the cases of bound Shifters, Witches and Humans. Registration chips, working in accord with Government issued benefits cards allow for citizens of the Empire to attain free health care, and education should they be deemed worthy, as well as assuring that they receive their Government stipend each month. Registration chips are embedded in the bone of the upper arm.

Now, chips are embedded at birth, and updated at death in the case of vampires. There are however, still quite a few citizens who had to endure receiving the chips as adults.

Functioning, updated chips are required for ALL of the following:

- Receiving or utilizing government issued funds.
- Receiving Health Care.
- Obtaining Housing.
- Obtaining Employment.
- Continuing education.
- And for those who consume food, allotted rations at the local grocery store.

Less well known aspects of the Registration Chip:

Procreation

- Government issued chips also serve to monitor and regulate the procreative abilities of it's citizens. On the public face it is touted as a benefit to the citizens of the empire, just another advancement to assure their health and well being. In reality, the fertility blocker serves to control the numbers of the human (and unbeknownst to all but the highest echelons, the Shifter populations). When a request for offspring is approved, the fertility blocker is shut off by the local government run clinic.

Tracking

- Each chip monitors the vital statistics of the wearer allowing for rapid response times in the event of illness and injury. Within the domain of Imperial ran cities the chips also serve to act as a tracking device. (It is rumored that there are criminal organizations out there who know how to block, or redirect such tracking measures by the ISF)

- Criminal record. Unlike the modern day court system, records are not expunged with proven innocence. Accusations and suspicions remain on file in perpetuity

- Location. Keep in mind, the accuracy of the locator within the chip is impacted by distance. Outside of five miles it is reduced to a two block radius, outside of ten miles, it it is reduced to a one mile radius. It is rumored that the upper echelons of the Regime have the capability of tracking a rogue chip anywhere in a region. Granted, this could be propaganda. The Empire is certainly not telling.

IMPORTANT NOTE: ANY and ALL attempts to get around the chips MUST be overseen by a storyteller. Engaging in such activity automatically implies consent to consequences should such an attempt fail, or be found out.

Monitoring

Every Imperial City has scanners in place. The Scanners are not always apparent to the naked eye-- they can be housed in something as innocuous as a lampost, a credit machine, billboards and the like. In addition, each ISF agent is equipped with a handheld scanner. Handheld scanners MUST be powered up to detect chip information- it is not automatic. Imperial Regime scanners, however, are running intermittent scans on citizens.

IMPORTANT NOTE: ANY and ALL attempts to get around the chips MUST be overseen by a storyteller. Engaging in such activity automatically implies consent to consequences should such an attempt fail, or be found out.

Tampering with a Government chip

- Government chips are crafted and protected with Magitech by a cabal of high ranked Witches (Masters at the least). As such, it would require a ritual performed by at least five Master Technomancers to be removed without damaging the host. It is possible that a smaller number of Master Technomancers could alter information on the chips. However, failing to do so will result in ISF being alerted and the involved parties hunted down and 'dealt with'. (In most cases, this results in a public execution of the involved parties.)

Clean Energy (Magitech)

- Imperial Cities are powered by a combination of Magic and Technology 'fondly' refered to as Magitech. Since the Regime has taken over the world the pollution index has been reduced to 1/100th of what it had been prior. All technology, including the registration chips and government benefits cards are created using Magitech. Global warming has, at this point, been completely reversed.

Computers and Communication

- Every citizen of the Empire is issued a Magitech phone in the form of a smartwatch that is directly linked into their registration chip. These devices allow both for free communication and house the chip hosting the citizen's government stipend. Citizens are required to keep their phones with them at all times. The only exception to this is secured areas in the ISF bunker. It is safe to assume that communication of this type is monitored by the ISF. (Some criminal organizations have found a way to circumvent this)

- Since the advent of the Crimson Regime the Internet has been ran by Magitech. While hardware such as monitors and physical keyboards are still fashionable, they are no longer necessary-- Magitech holograms now fill the role each of these once had. It should be noted that questionable or subversive sites are heavily monitored by the ISF. Engaging in questionable behavior can, and has, resulted in access being denied to the citizen in question and often results in an arrest and detention by the ISF.

Travel and Transit

- Transportation, both private and public, is now powered by Magitech. It is both safer and considerably faster than what has gone before. In order to utilize public transportation, or own private transportation, one MUST be a Registered Citizen of the Empire. All travel is heavily monitored. Travel out of one's home city requires one to submit a request and proposed route to ISF for approval.

Medical

- It is assumed that, as with all other advancements put in place by the Crimson Regime, waste disposal is handled by Magitech. Waste disposal plants are secured areas requiring government clearance to enter. Pollution, and the need for dumps and landfills, however, have been rendered obsolete.

Waste Disposal

Weapons and Armor

- All of the weapons provided by the Crimson Regime to both ISF and Military personnel are powered by Magitech. These weapons no longer require ammunition to fire and have a significantly increased range and damage distribution. Use of such weaponry requires one to be a Registered Citizen, a member of the ISF, or military, and authorization to carry. Use of Magitech weapons requires all of the above.

- Armor provided to the ISF and Military allows for the repulsion, and in some cases, reflection of attacks made on personnel. Magitech has allowed for such armor to be woven into government issued uniforms and nearly undetectable. Government issued armor requires one to be a Registered Citizen, a member of the ISF, or military and authorization. Triggering Magitech armor is impossible without all of the above. Magitech armor reduces all damage by half and immediately reports the damage, location, and identity of the wearer.

MIN (Magitech Information Network)

- Is the System that creates, operates and controls ALL of the Regime's Magitech systems. The Min system is a network of Technomancers, willing and not, whose sole purpose and function is to keep the Empire running smoothly.

- Those who have wronged the empire in some way or have disappointed the wrong people. The technomancer can be wired up to the machines used to power and monitor the Magitech Information Network. Once the technomancer is inserted, they lose all agency of themselves and are placed into a coma-like state, unable to interact with the real world. They are kept in a stasis pod, monitored and fed through tubes. This does not mean that the technomancer is left completely unaware. They are somehow ‘awake’ and can see the information as it is filtered through them, and feel their own memories and thoughts slowly being replaced by the data of the MIN. The process is extremely tortuous, resulting in both physical and mental pain that only ceases when there is nothing left of the technomancer except the processor they have become. A technomancer can be removed from the MIN, but they must be removed before their mind is completely gone. They do not retain the data of the network, nor do they regain the memories that had been overwritten. Due to the pure torture of using a technomancer as a conduit, it is often used as a punishment to keep them in line, usually for about three days to a week, which results in minimal memory loss.More powerful technomancers can last longer before completely succumbing, and so they may be left hooked up longer as a lesson to others. Damage to the network generally results in technomancers being rounded up en masse to be connected, which keeps most technomancers in line and willing to support the system in ways that doesn’t end up with them as the conduits themselves. Those who have been forced to be a conduit for even as little as fifteen minutes find the experience quite traumatic and are generally quite willing to bend so that it does not occur again.

Magitech Operator - The technomancer can monitor, repair and direct the flow of energy in magitech devices, making them indispensable to the continuous running of the MIN. Very few Magitech Operators have control of more than a fraction of the network’s hardware, but with their gifts of analyzing, many theorize about how the web of it all works. Monitoring is innate, but everything else takes energy and ritual however the player sees fit. On a general work day, one should expect to be tired and drained by the end of it but not so much that one cannot function, as though working a physically intensive job.

Magitech Information Network Area Control Unit (MINACU)

Magitech Information Network Area Control Unit (MINACU) (Pronounced “min-ah-koo)- It is no secret that the Magitech is not only primarily made by vampire controlled technomancers, but large parts of it are ACTUALLY technomancers. Every five hundred miles or so, there is a core facility, highly guarded, that connects that part of the network to other parts. Information is gathered, collated and transferred to the appropriate people. Predictions are made and crime patterns are recognized. In the beginning, it was touted that it was because of a vast artificial intelligence that was created by the genius vampires that work as system administrators. In reality, Witches of Exceptional Talent in the art of Technomancy had been captured and wired into the system into a sort of hive consciousness, brainwashed and conditioned to be absolutely loyal to the Emperor and the Regime, but still possessing personality and intelligence.

These witches are hardwired into the system to a degree far more extreme than those who are used as conduits, their memories lost as they integrate into the program. It is their talent and capacity for magic and seeing patterns that makes them perfect for the job. Once in the system, they never leave it again. It is certainly a thing to be afraid of, and a reason why one does not see many technomancers at that level who are not in a permanent bond with a vampire, as the others tend to be whisked off in order to prepare for such a fate should one of the MINACU go offline or a core facility is sabotaged. All of the MINACU are bound to their facility’s administrator, giving the vampire a particular insight into what is happening upon the grid.

It is a thing that academy witches who have technomancy as their primary are told over and over again is a great honor. Those who are not ignorant agree with their instructors outwardly but fear the fate of becoming an immortal computer. Every witch seems to know someone who knows someone who was taken to become a control unit, but nobody seems to know who that witch was in particular. Some attribute this to high powered mind magic or vampiric powers at work causing everyone to forget their name. Whatever the case, most master technomancers think long and hard before trying to advance their magic beyond their current level.