Sensors, Comms, and Computers

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The Antaean signal specialist had been quiet for eleven hours when she finally spoke. "Someone has been running a passive scan on us since we cleared the beacon." The navigator looked over. "How long have you known?" "Since we cleared the beacon. I was waiting to see what they would do next." The pilot asked whether they should be worried. The specialist considered this. "They have military-grade passive array, they have not active-pinged us, and they have maintained exact distance for eleven hours without any course change." A pause. "Yes. Be worried."

Information is the commodity that all other commodities depend on. A crew that knows where the patrol is, what frequency the station security runs, and whether the cargo bay contains what the manifest claims is a crew that can make decisions. A crew that does not know any of those things is a crew that reacts, usually too late.

This chapter catalogs personal communications gear, relay and network equipment, sensor arrays, portable computers, and AI assistants available in the Verge. Ship-mounted sensor systems and long-range communications arrays are covered in the Void Drifters Vehicles Manual. Items tagged /R are Restricted and require permits or black-market sourcing. Items tagged /I are Illegal in all major power jurisdictions and available only through criminal channels.

Personal Comms

Most communication in the Verge runs over one of three layers: the local mesh (station or ship-internal, short-range), the regional relay network (dependent on relay nodes, medium range, typically encrypted at the network level), and the deep-band (FTL-capable signals, slow but long, used for commercial traffic and emergencies). Personal comms devices operate on the local mesh and, with appropriate relay access, the regional network. Deep-band transmission requires ship-scale systems.

Personal Comm Unit (Short Range)

A handheld or clip-on communicator for voice, text, and data on a ship's or station's local mesh, out to about 5 km. It does not reach the regional relay network. It is the communicator most crews hand out to everyone aboard, and the price the Player's Guide uses (Player's Guide, Chapter Nine). Security inspectors see hundreds of these and wave them through. Legal everywhere.

Personal Comm Unit (Relay-Linked)

The same unit with a relay transceiver and an account on the regional relay network, so it reaches anyone else on the network across a station, a planet, or a system with relay coverage. Where relay coverage fails, it works as a short-range unit. Its traffic is protected only by the network's own encryption. Legal everywhere.

Encrypted Comm Unit

A relay-linked comm unit with device-level encryption on every channel. Checks to intercept or read its traffic are two steps harder. It is the Face profession kit's communicator (Player's Guide, Chapter Nine). Legal everywhere.

Long-Range Comm Unit

A belt-mounted or pack-mounted transceiver that extends communication range to medium distances by running at higher power and connecting to regional relay networks when available. Without a relay node or external antenna, the long-range unit has good but not exceptional range. With relay access, it can reach anywhere on a station or across a planet's surface. The unit has a small directional antenna that can be aimed at a relay installation to improve signal quality in difficult environments. Requires a bit more power than a personal comm unit and the form factor is larger, but for crew members who need to stay in contact across a large installation or from outside to inside a structure, this is the gear that works.

Faction-Grade Encrypted Comm

A power's own service communicator, running that power's issue encryption. Units reach the open market only under license or through the gray market; Irnan, Shoiyan, and Antaean units are the most common. Commercial interception equipment cannot read its traffic at all. Intercepting it needs an Encryption Cracker or a power's own signals equipment, and the check is Severe. Restricted everywhere, because a power's issue encryption in the hands of someone outside its services suggests either a stolen unit or a carrier who works for that power. Rare because few are sold legitimately.

Encrypted Field Comm

Military-grade encrypted communications hardware used by security contractors, faction enforcement units, and crews operating in hostile signal environments. The field comm runs encryption protocols that are regularly rotated and cannot be broken by commercial-grade equipment. Active transmissions are authenticated: you cannot impersonate a field comm user without their hardware. The unit also includes a signal-sweep function that identifies active monitoring in its environment, warning the carrier when someone is listening. Restricted because the same capabilities that protect your communications make it significantly harder for legal authorities to monitor what you are saying. Possession requires a security contractor license in most jurisdictions; Directorate checkpoints are particularly careful about these.

Shoiyan Neural Relay

A subdermal implant that broadcasts to the Shoiyan Concord's communication network, allowing near-silent communication without any external device. The carrier thinks a message and it transmits. Reception comes as a sensation that most non-Shoiyan users describe as "hearing a thought that is not mine," which they report being uncomfortable with for about a week before it becomes normal. The implant connects only to the Shoiyan relay network: it cannot contact non-network devices except through a translation node. Shoiyan crew members find having a non-Shoiyan aboard with a neural relay socially comfortable in a way they find difficult to explain to the non-Shoiyan. The implant has no Enc value (it is installed) and requires surgical procedure at a medical facility comfortable with Shoiyan-adjacent technology.

Jaziri Prayer Beacon

A hand-held or worn device that broadcasts on a coded Jaziri devotional frequency: layered carrier signals that read as standard static to anyone without the correct decoding parameters but carry clear structured data to receivers configured for them. Used primarily by Jaziri travellers and crew to maintain connection to the devotional communication network when away from Caliphate space; the beacon carries prayer schedules, community messages, and theological updates alongside whatever personal traffic the carrier sends. The secondary function, rarely advertised, is an emergency distress signal on the same frequency that triggers priority response from any Jaziri vessel or installation within range. The Jaziri do not consider the distress function secondary at all; in their theology, a prayer for help and a distress call are the same act. Outside Jaziri space, most authorities recognize the prayer beacon as a cultural communication device and do not restrict it, though they may be unable to read its transmissions.

Antaean Whisper Comm

The Antaean League's proprietary low-observable communication device, designed for field operations where standard comms would be detected. The whisper comm operates on frequency-hopping spread-spectrum patterns that change on a microsecond cycle, making passive interception essentially impossible with commercial scanning equipment. Even military-grade frequency scanners require extended observation time to identify an active whisper comm signal, and the signal itself carries no identifying information until decoded. The Antaean League issues these to intelligence personnel and licensed operatives; commercial sale outside League territory is restricted. Carrying a whisper comm in Directorate or Caliphate space is a significant flag: the technology is specifically designed to frustrate their signals-intelligence infrastructure, and their inspectors know it.

Relay and Network Gear

Communications infrastructure does not install itself. The items below extend, monitor, or interfere with communications networks. Several of them are substantially more dangerous in the wrong hands than any weapon on a personal scale, and the availability ratings reflect that.

Signal Booster

A portable amplifier and folding antenna that a comm unit plugs into. It triples the range of the connected device. It does not create relay access where no relay signal reaches; for that, use a Portable Relay Node or a Portable Relay Booster (Chapter 7). Legal everywhere.

Portable Relay Node

A self-contained relay transceiver that can be deployed in a location and left running, extending the reach of personal comm units and field comms beyond their normal range. A single relay node can bridge a large structure or connect two comm users who would otherwise be out of range. Nodes are stackable: two nodes can be chained to extend range further. The node is powered by a standard cell good for 72 hours of continuous operation and can be keyed to specific devices so it does not relay traffic it is not configured for. Used extensively in exploration, colony, and large-facility operations where personnel need to stay in contact across distances that exceed their personal gear's capability. Legal everywhere.

Signal Jammer

Produces a broadband interference field that blocks all standard communications within a 50-meter radius. Everything inside the radius that relies on radio frequency communication goes silent: comm units, scanners, remote detonators, and non-hardened automated systems all lose their signal link. This includes the crew operating the jammer, unless they are using hardened frequency-hopping gear (whisper comms, military encrypted field comms) that operates outside the jammer's suppression band. The jammer is Illegal in all major power jurisdictions because blocking emergency communications, navigation signals, and security networks creates civilian risk that all five major powers have codified as a serious offense. Penalties range from confiscation and fines in permissive fringe systems to incarceration in Directorate and Caliphate space. Black-market sourcing only.

Frequency Scanner

A passive monitoring device that sweeps assigned frequency bands and captures transmissions for logging or real-time analysis. The frequency scanner does not transmit anything; it only listens. Open, unencrypted communications it receives in full. Encrypted communications appear as data captures that require separate decryption. The scanner can also identify the presence and general type of active communication devices in its range without intercepting their content, which is useful for determining whether someone nearby is running military-grade comms. Legal everywhere because passive listening to public frequencies is not regulated, though what you do with what you intercept may be.

Counter-Surveillance Suite (Personal)

A case of sweep sensors, a field-strength meter, and a wand for physical searches. While it runs, it alerts its carrier when an active scanner, a tracker, or a transmitting tap is working within Short range. Checks to find taps, trackers, and remote monitoring in a room, a vehicle, or a ship's compartment add 1 Boon Die; this is the dedicated sweep that finds a passive Tap Device (Chapter 6). The ship-mounted Counter-Surveillance Suite is a module in the Vehicles Manual. Restricted because every power's security service classes counter-surveillance gear as intelligence tradecraft; Rare because those services buy most of the supply.

Encryption Cracker

An active-mode cryptography attack device that attempts to break the encryption on intercepted communications by running accelerated decryption algorithms against the captured signal. This is not a passive tool: running it generates a faint electromagnetic signature that sophisticated scanners can detect, and it requires a physical connection to a data capture or proximity to an active encrypted signal. The Electronic Access talent is required to use it effectively; without that training, the interface is nonfunctional in any practical sense. Illegal in all major jurisdictions because the only use of a device specifically designed to break encryption is to read communications you are not authorized to read. A crew member carrying one of these who cannot explain why is going to have a bad day at any checkpoint.

Network Bridge

A hardware and software device that creates a translation and routing link between two otherwise-incompatible communication networks. Used legitimately for connecting station communication systems to ship systems, bridging faction network protocols when operating across jurisdictional lines, or creating a temporary link between isolated installations. The network bridge does not amplify or extend range on its own; it translates and routes. A bridge configured without authorization can connect networks that were intentionally isolated, which is why it carries an Uncommon rating rather than Common: the legitimate applications are real, but so are the less legitimate ones.

Personal Sensors

The human eye and its species-equivalent analogs are good instruments. They are not always sufficient instruments. Personal sensor gear extends perception beyond what biology provides, either by augmenting existing senses into ranges they do not normally cover or by detecting phenomena that no biological sense registers at all. Colony workers, boarding specialists, explorers, and field scientists use these regularly; most crew members pick up at least one before a job that involves unknown environments.

Personal Scanner (Multispectrum)

A hand-held scanner that shows visual, thermal, electromagnetic, and motion returns at short range on one display. Add 1 Boon Die to sensor-aided Perception checks. It is the scanner in the Gunner and Scout profession kits (Player's Guide, Chapter Nine). The single-purpose sensors below do their one job better; the personal scanner does all of them adequately. Legal everywhere.

Passive Sensor Array

A wearable sensor vest or harness that combines motion detection, basic thermal imaging, and low-frequency sound detection into a continuous passive sweep. The array feeds data to a display on the carrier's wrist or to a visual overlay in compatible eyewear. It does not broadcast any signal; it only receives. The array is not precise: it reports movement, warm bodies, and sound events in approximate positions rather than detailed profiles. What it does well is tell a crew member that something is in the next room before they open the door. Widely used by security personnel, boarding teams, and crews who do regular work in unfamiliar or potentially hostile environments.

Life Form Scanner

A hand-held biosignature detector that reads metabolic heat signatures, electrical biofield patterns, and atmospheric trace compounds to identify the presence and approximate location of living organisms. Range is short to medium depending on the density of intervening material; the scanner will find a human-sized organism through a standard interior wall but struggles through hull plating or thick structural elements. It cannot identify species reliably and cannot distinguish between friendly and hostile targets. What it does is tell you whether a space is occupied before you enter it. Uncommon primarily because the biosignature detection capability makes it interesting to anyone whose goals benefit from finding people who do not want to be found.

Magnetic Anomaly Detector

Detects variations in local magnetic field density caused by metal masses and active power sources. Useful for finding weapons on personnel (at close range), locating power conduits and drive systems inside hull sections, identifying buried equipment, and locating hidden cargo containers that include metal components. The detector cannot see through magnetic shielding but reads around it, creating a void-shape in the scan that is itself informative. Colony survey crews use these for resource location; security personnel use them for weapons screening; boarding specialists use them to locate ship systems without ship schematics.

Thermal Imager

A hand-held device that presents a full thermal spectrum display on its screen. It shows heat sources, heat gradients in environmental surfaces, and the residual thermal signatures that warm objects leave in their environments for a period after they have moved. The standard thermal imager covers a narrow field of view in detail. The Hazren have natural thermal sense, but the thermal imager extends the usable range of that sense significantly: a Hazren using a thermal imager to supplement their biology can detect heat signatures at ranges that would normally require ship-scale sensors, and can read fine detail in ambient thermal backgrounds that the natural sense presents as undifferentiated warm. Non-Hazren crew members find thermal imagers useful but lack the intuitive reading that Hazren develop from biology; the imager is a tool for them where it is an amplifier for Hazren.

Environmental Sensor Suite

A belt or pack unit with sampling intakes, a dosimeter, and thermal probes that reads atmospheric composition, radiation, and temperature within 50 meters and keeps a running log. With it, you know what an environment will do to you without a check: the GM tells you the conditions and the Bane Dice they impose at the start of a scene there (Chapter 7, Environmental Conditions and Survival). It reports; it does not alarm. Crews that want a warning carry a Hazard Detector as well. Legal everywhere.

Hazard Detector

A multi-spectrum environmental sensor that tests for the hazards most likely to kill crew members without warning: ionizing radiation, atmospheric composition and toxin concentration, biological contamination markers, and standard industrial chemical hazards. The detector runs continuous passive monitoring and alerts its carrier with an audible and visual warning when readings exceed safe thresholds. Essential for colony work, derelict boarding operations, and any situation where the environment has not been pre-cleared. One of the items experienced fringe crews never leave the ship without, because the situations where you need a hazard detector and do not have one are situations you usually do not survive to learn from.

Motion Tracker

A directional short-range motion detector that presents movement data as a simple display: distance, bearing, and speed of detected movement sources. Unlike the passive sensor array, the motion tracker is hand-held and aimed; it gives more precise data in the direction it is pointed but has no awareness of what is behind the operator. Popular with boarding teams and search parties because it answers the specific question those situations require: is something moving in that direction, how far away is it, and how fast. The display convention is standardized enough that motion tracker literacy is considered a basic field skill in most military and security contexts.

Handheld Targeting System

A hand-held or rail-mounted rangefinder and ballistic computer that feeds a firing solution to the shooter's eyepiece or weapon sight. Add 1 Boon Die to Ranged attacks against targets at Medium range or longer. Restricted because port authorities class it with weapon accessories rather than survey instruments; Uncommon because hunters, surveyors, and security contractors buy it legitimately with the right permit.

Computers and Data

Portable computing in the Verge ranges from the datapad that every station clerk carries to the ruggedized military field terminals used by Directorate enforcement officers to the specialized devices that run Jaziri theological computation. What they share is the ability to store, process, and transmit information. What distinguishes them is how much information, how quickly, under what conditions, and in whose hands they are legal.

Personal Datapad

The universal pocket computer of the Verge, used for records, messages, reading, general computation, and relay access, with modest storage. It runs the standard software every port and ship accepts. Form factors vary: Dhoran datapads are larger and more durable than standard models because Dhoran fingers are not suited to human-scale input; Ossen datapads favor higher-resolution displays and more sensitive touch response. It is the Face profession kit's datapad (Player's Guide, Chapter Nine). Available at any electronics shop on any station larger than a fuel depot. Legal everywhere.

Hardened Datapad

A ruggedized datapad sealed against water, dust, and vacuum, built to survive drops and rough handling, with encrypted local storage. Pilots carry their navigation records on one and operators carry their logs (Player's Guide, Chapter Nine). Reading its storage without the owner's key is unauthorized intrusion (Chapter 6, Hacking and Electronics Checks). Legal everywhere.

Hardened Field Terminal

A military-specification portable terminal built to function in conditions that would destroy a commercial datapad: vacuum, high radiation, extreme temperatures, high-impact drops, and active jamming environments. The terminal runs hardened encryption on all storage and transmission, includes a shielded processor core that resists electromagnetic disruption, and has a reinforced case that can survive being carried in a combat environment. Restricted because the hardened encryption built into the base firmware is essentially the same military-grade encryption used in Directorate and other faction field systems, and the implication of someone carrying one without a military or security contractor role is not subtle.

Cryptography Unit

A dedicated hardware and software system for encoding and decoding secured data. Where a standard datapad handles encryption as one of many functions, the cryptography unit is designed exclusively for the task, running specialized processor architecture and proprietary algorithm sets. The Passive quality is the main draw: the device adds 1 Boon Die to Electronics checks to encrypt, decrypt, or analyze encrypted data. Breaking encryption you are not authorized to read is still intrusion and needs the Electronic Access talent (Chapter 6, Hacking and Electronics Checks). Analysts, intelligence personnel, and the kind of information brokers who work the fringe stations all use these. Legal because cryptography is not inherently illegal; what you do with the decrypted information may be another matter.

Data Extraction Spike

A small physical device, typically the size of a stylus or short rod, designed to be inserted into a data port on an electronic system and extract whatever data the system contains. The spike does not negotiate permissions; it exploits low-level hardware access to dump data before the system's security software can respond. This works on systems that have physical ports (which is most commercial and semi-military systems) and fails on isolated systems with physical security over their ports. The Electronic Access talent is not optional: without it, the operator cannot configure the spike's dump parameters and will either get nothing or get corrupted data. Illegal in all major jurisdictions because the applications are essentially the same as breaking into a filing cabinet, except the filing cabinet might be a ship's navigation system.

Portable Cogitator

A high-output computation device from Funtari manufacture, using anti-gravity technology in an unusual application: the cooling system. Standard high-performance computing generates substantial heat; the Funtari cogitator's anti-grav cooler creates a localized field around the processor that manages thermal dissipation in ways that conventional cooling cannot match, allowing the unit to run at computation speeds that commercial hardware several times its size cannot achieve. The practical effect is a portable computer roughly equivalent in processing power to a fixed installation system. Researchers, cryptographers, and anyone who needs to run intensive computation in the field rather than a server room use these. The price is real: 4,000 credits is a significant investment, and the Funtari manufacture means repairs require Funtari-trained technicians or Funtari parts.

Jaziri Sacred Codex Terminal

The theological computing device of the Jaziri Caliphate serves a function that is simultaneously practical and sacred: it runs directive reasoning within the doctrinal guardrails Caliphate theology sets for machine intelligence. Like every AI for sale, it is directive intelligence and not self-directed. It is a consecrated reasoning system whose logic pathways have been aligned with theological principles through a process of doctrinal embedding that Jaziri scholars describe as "teaching the machine to ask the correct questions first." In practice the terminal performs inferential reasoning, pattern recognition, and data synthesis at the level of good commercial AI assistance. It holds one Directive Package (Science) and one Active Channel: it can assist Lore and Science checks for analysis, research, and interpreting data under the AI-assisted check rule (Player's Guide, Chapter Ten), one check per round. Its outputs are filtered through theological framing that non-Jaziri users occasionally find confusing. A Codex Terminal will answer the question "what is the fastest route to Station Seven?" with a route calculation that notes which route passes through the fewest morally compromised waypoints, which the Jaziri user finds useful and the non-Jaziri user may find exasperating. In Caliphate space the terminal receives periodic doctrinal updates from the certification houses. Rare outside Jaziri space because these devices are not commercially exported; most that reach the fringe do so with their owners when Jaziri travelers venture beyond Caliphate territory. Using a Codex Terminal that has not been properly consecrated is, in Jaziri theology, a minor offense; using one whose consecration has lapsed through neglect is considered disrespectful to the embedded doctrinal intelligence.

AI Assistants

Artificial intelligence in the Verge exists on a spectrum that is as much political as technical. Basic navigation and tactical analysis AI are legal commercial products. Shoiyan Memory Companions keep and cross-reference everything their owners record. Antaean Ghost Protocols are covert infiltration tools issued to League operatives. Jaziri-built assistants carry the Caliphate's doctrinal guardrails and the paperwork that goes with them. Every assistant here is directive intelligence. The Jaziri Caliphate's monopoly on true AI is its sacred Intelligence, which is not equipment and is never for sale (Chapter 10).

Standard Navigation AI

A dedicated AI system for navigation support, running on portable hardware and interfacing with ship navigation systems during flight or operating in standalone mode for ground-level route planning. The navigation AI processes sensor data, calculates routes, identifies hazards, and presents options for pilot decision: it does not fly the ship, but it dramatically reduces the cognitive load on a pilot who needs to make routing decisions under pressure. It holds one Directive Package (Navigation) and one Active Channel: it can assist Astrogation checks for seam location, route calculation, offset exits, and corridor analysis under the AI-assisted check rule (Player's Guide, Chapter Ten), one check per round. The "ship-grade performance in portable form" description is marketing language that is nonetheless accurate: the standard navigation AI runs the same core software as ship-installed navigation systems, in hardware sized for a carry bag. Pilots who handle unusual routes, frequent jump calculations, or operations in poorly charted space find these worth the investment.

Tactical Analysis AI

An AI system designed to process real-time combat data and present threat assessments to its operator. The tactical AI watches sensor feeds, tracks movement, identifies known threat profiles, and alerts its operator to vectors of risk that a human monitoring the same data might miss under stress. In practice, the tactical AI does not make decisions: it makes the information available for the operator to make better decisions. Military and security users appreciate it for exactly this reason; it functions as a second set of eyes on the tactical picture. It holds one Directive Package (Sensors) and one Active Channel: it can assist checks to spot, identify, and track threats, one check per round, but not attacks, which need a Fire Control package. Combat specialists who work as hired security, boarding specialists, or crew in high-threat environments often pair a tactical AI with a passive sensor array for full environmental awareness.

Jaziri Covenant Directive Core

A portable directive intelligence of Jaziri manufacture, sold under the Caliphate's export licensing process. Like every portable AI, it holds one Directive Package and one Active Channel. It ships with documentation of the scholar who certified its guardrails, and declines tasks its doctrine forbids. It is not self-directed and is not a fragment of anything greater. The full entry is in Chapter 10, Jaziri Intelligence Technology.

Antaean Ghost Protocol

An AI system designed for infiltration and stealth operations, running on hardware integrated into standard Antaean field kit. The Ghost Protocol analyzes environments for monitoring systems, guards, sensors, and human behavioral patterns, then constructs optimal movement plans for its operator. It interfaces with Antaean whisper comms and cloaking equipment to provide a unified stealth package. It holds one Directive Package (Security) and one Active Channel: it can assist Perception and Electronics checks to locate, identify, and read security systems, sensors, and guard routines, one check per round. It does not assist attacks. The Protocol is not a combat AI; it will not assist with an engagement that could have been avoided and actively suggests alternate approaches when its analysis indicates that a direct approach creates unnecessary risk. Antaean League doctrine holds that an infiltration that requires violence is a failed infiltration: the Ghost Protocol was built to support that doctrine. The Restricted classification outside League territory reflects both the obvious intelligence applications and the fact that the Protocol's database includes detailed profiles of security systems used by all five major powers, which those powers consider sensitive information.

Shoiyan Memory Companion

An AI assistant that specializes in information retention and organization. The Memory Companion tracks, indexes, and cross-references everything its operator records, building a personal knowledge database that can be queried in natural language. It holds one Directive Package (Science) and one Active Channel: it can assist Lore and Science checks to recall, research, and cross-reference information it has stored, one check per round. It does not connect to a continuity stack: a stack records its bearer's mind in its cube and transmits nothing (Chapter 10), so the Companion works the same for every owner, Shoiyan or not. Rare outside Shoiyan space because few are exported.

Species-Specific Sensor Equipment

Standard sensor gear is built to human or generalist specifications. The following items are engineered for the biological specifics of individual species, augmenting capabilities that those species already possess rather than providing capabilities from scratch.

Hazren Thermal Amplifier

Hazren thermal sense is a biological system: they detect heat through specialized pit organs and process the resulting data through dedicated neural pathways that other species do not possess. The thermal amplifier plugs directly into that system, using precision electromagnetic coupling to the pit organ hardware and signal amplification that extends the input range without altering the natural processing pipeline. The Hazren operator experiences it as their own thermal sense simply working at greater distances and with finer resolution than it normally would, rather than the separate cognitive process of consulting an external instrument. The amplifier extends thermal detection range from short to long, adds fine-resolution detail sufficient to read power signatures through walls, and improves thermal-based detection checks by adding 1 Boon Die. Non-Hazren cannot use this item; it has no display or interface, because it is not designed to produce one.

Zosa Acoustic Enhancer

A small device worn in or near the Zosa ear that extends their already-exceptional hearing into subsonic and ultrasonic frequency ranges that biology does not normally cover. Zosa hearing is among the most acute of any species, and the acoustic enhancer treats that biology as its foundation: the device adds frequency range without trying to replace the natural sensitivity. The subsonic range allows detection of large machinery, structural stress, and low-frequency biological signals that move through solid structures as vibration. The ultrasonic range adds detection of electronic systems, certain communication transmissions, and the high-frequency emissions of energy weapons at rest. Zosa with acoustic enhancers often become essential for finding hidden electronics, detecting structural damage, and identifying when something is running on the other side of a wall. Non-Zosa cannot use this item; the coupling hardware is specific to Zosa ear structure.

Ossen Cognitive Interface

Ossen neural architecture processes information with a speed and precision that other species cannot match, but standard computing hardware is not designed to take advantage of this. The Ossen Cognitive Interface creates a direct coupling between the Ossen nervous system and connected computing devices, allowing the Ossen user to interact with data at the speed of thought rather than the speed of physical input. Searches that would take a standard user minutes take seconds. Data analysis that requires deliberate step-by-step review flows as intuitive pattern recognition. The interface adds 1 Boon Die to all checks involving data research, information retrieval, or computer operation, and reduces the time required for extended computer-based tasks by half. Non-Ossen nervous systems cannot couple to this interface; the neural architecture it is designed for is Ossen-specific.

A Note on Information and Leverage

The items in this chapter are not weapons in the conventional sense, but several of them are more dangerous than what is listed in the weapons chapter. A signal jammer that goes off at a transit station at the wrong moment is a mass-casualty event in waiting. An encryption cracker in the wrong hands is the key to anything that relies on secure communications staying secure. A data extraction spike and a few minutes of access can empty a corporate server or a fleet positioning database.

Crews that rely on information gear should think about what they are holding and what happens if someone else gets it. The encryption cracker that unlocks a problem today is evidence tomorrow if someone else runs a scan and finds it in the cargo hold. The Covenant Directive Core that provides excellent advice in a difficult situation is also a legal liability if the wrong Jaziri official asks to see its export license.

Carry what you need. Know what it means that you are carrying it.