Common Core:Plasmamen
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Easily the most outlandish crewmembers aboard Nanotrasen's stations, the enigmatic Plasmamen confuse mycologists and anthropologists alike- not that the Plasmamen care, of course.
Invasion of the Bodysnatchers
Humanity first came into contact with Plasmamen on the moon of Indecipheres, Freyja, though not in the form we know today. Instead, they were first discovered in the pools of liquid plasma across the moon's surface. Researchers noticed that the plasma responded to electrical stimuli, and this prompted further study, which revealed the existence of small fungal lifeforms in the plasma, which were named Colonids. Already this was a major discovery of alien life, and so samples were taken to be delivered back to the Sol System for better analysis. Along the way, however, the true nature of Plasmamen would be revealed.
Marcel Delacroix, a researcher aboard the vessel carrying the plasma samples, was performing a routine analysis of Colonid content within several of the tanks. While leaning over one of the tanks, he lost his footing due to a wet floor and fell in. Marcel perished due to plasma exposure within seconds. As his crewmates prepared to recover his body from the tank, however, they were startled by the sound of banging on the tank wall- coming from the inside. Turning around to view the tank, they were met with a gruesome sight. There stood Marcel, skin and tissue sloughed to the bone, with a strange purple fuzz across the entire skeletal structure. The creature hissed and screeched as it hammered against the wall.
The tank was drained, save for a small quantity of plasma at the base, and an inert gas pumped in to prevent any risk of fire. This left the researchers with a dilemma- Marcel was obviously dead, and yet his skeleton had been reanimated, as if by some dark magic. The fuzz on his bones was of particular interest, and a sample was taken for analysis. Upon inspection, it was revealed to be a coalescence of Colonids, strung together into a membrane not dissimilar to muscle. Each individual organism seemed to retain some capacity for independent thought (however much independent thought a single mushroom micelle can possess, anyway), but were banded together in a way that seemed beneficial to all involved.
Next came testing the creature's intelligence, which yielded another remarkable discovery: that it possessed human-level intelligence, with the capacity for complex thought, and even some ability to mimic language with only the minor contact it was receiving each day. This led the researchers to the conclusion that the Colonids acted as a hive-mind of sorts, and that as more came together they increased their mental aptitude. Sadly, however, the "birth" of the first plasmaman would claim Marcel entirely- no traces of his previous personality remained. The fungal colony was a new being- or many beings, as the case may be- inhabiting his body. With the creature displaying no hostile intent, it was allowed to leave its holding cell, having been given an EVA suit filled with a mixture of plasma and argon to allow the Colonids to breathe, and to prevent any risk of fire. He happily assisted with work aboard the vessel until its arrival in Sol, seemingly being curious about the new world of opportunities it had been given.
Plasmamen in the Workforce
Initially, corporations were interested in the possibility for using Plasmamen as a weapon of war, given they could be used to quickly raise a force of expendable soldiers for deployment. However, this fell down as the corporations were introduced to initial test subjects, who showed little signs of aggression. In fact, more Plasmamen were interested in cooking, or cleaning, or even taking up law, than they were fighting on the front lines. Corporate interest waned, except for that of Nanotrasen, who instead saw an opportunity to fill out their workforce with Plasmamen- particularly given they had taken control of a large stake on Freyja itself. Plasmamen began showing up on spinward stations in the late 2550s, and are now an uncommon, but not unheard of, sight in the workforce, equipped with newly designed envirosuits to meet the rigourous requirements of the Colonids for survival.