Most of what I write is Shadowrun, a speculative future roleplaying game that merges the aesthetics of corporate dystopia with the magic and multi-species glee of Dungeons and Dragons. The game is primarily concerned with how magic and science coexist in said dystopia.
The world I write in feels like it was built in William Gibson’s 80’s and is trying to still wear that punk rock world like a badly outdated suit. So, I’ve decided to update that world out of canon through a series of 10 minute posts. I’ve tried to update the world in-canon (moving to wireless web, etc.) and others have pushed the envelope even further with nanoware and the concept of monads (sentient non-biological parasites that use humans as hosts). Where I want to go next is geneware.
Biological manipulation has been very much in the spotlight since Crispr technology came into being. For those who don’t know about the tech, this is a really good article that explains how it works on a basic level. Crispr is still just a tool in a toolkit, however. In order to realize its potential, we have to consider what we want to and can do with the tools.
So, this first Shadowrun what if is about using bac-mod tech to influence the genome structures of attraction. In other words, draw biologicals to certain items/people/smells/etc. the way that bees are drawn to flowers. If this could be edited in, then all sorts of trickle down effects will follow. Gene-edit sheep to be compelled to a certain smell, and use that smell to humanely prepare them for slaughter? Gene-edit bees to only pollinate certain types of flowers, forcing weeds and other invasive plants to die out. Gene-edit plants to be responsive to specific soil types which otherwise have a low grow rate?
The possibilities of this are endless and I am just getting started thinking about what could be.