Cybernetic Integration

AX.GAT.08.05 - Cybernetic Integration

Every augmentation on Astraeus Terminal has a rated function. A prosthetic limb provides grip strength and range of motion within manufacturer specifications. A neural processor handles concurrent information streams up to its designated throughput. Augmented sensory organs deliver enhanced input within their calibrated parameters. The equipment does what the equipment is designed to do, and it does it consistently, and a sufficiently competent engineer can look at the specifications and tell you exactly what to expect.

Cybernetic Integration is what happens when a practitioner stops treating that specification as a ceiling.

The tradition is not about having augmentation. It is about the relationship between a practitioner and their augmentation, the trained capability to actively push hardware beyond baseline function in-scene, to channel through integrated systems rather than simply operating them, to make the boundary between biological will and mechanical execution thin enough to disappear under pressure. A practitioner running a prosthetic limb at rated function is using equipment. A practitioner running the same limb through Integration is doing something else: overclocking the joint servos, rerouting neural control pathways, demanding output that the specifications explicitly advise against. The hardware survives this. Usually.

The Synthari do not learn this as a tradition. For them, the relationship between will and integrated system is the baseline condition; there is no biological/mechanical boundary to thin, because the architecture was never built with one. What the Synthari do when they actively channel through their systems is an expression of how they are made, not a technique imposed on top of it. The tradition, as a formal codified practice, was developed by and for non-Synthari practitioners who encountered Synthari capability and wanted to replicate the functional results through a different path. The Synthari contribution to this development was substantial, largely uncompensated, and a source of ongoing community tension that the tradition's current practitioners rarely discuss in contexts where Synthari can hear them.

On Astraeus Terminal, Cybernetic Integration practitioners range from Oryx Logistics field contractors with combat-relevant augmentation to Oblis Consortium information brokers with neural architecture that serves their professional needs to off-station operators passing through with histories that nobody has asked about carefully. The tradition is visible, practitioners who are actively using it are pushing hardware past rated specs, and there are physical tells, and station security is aware that Integration capability exists. Station Authority policy on augmented individuals is formally neutral. The Vigilants' approach to Integration practitioners in operational contexts is practically more cautious, and practitioners in sensitive areas of the station navigate this awareness as a routine part of operations.

System Integration

Cybernetic Integration as an Odd Talent

Cybernetic Integration functions as an Odd Talent per AX.C.04. Standard rules apply:

The roll is: Body or Wit + Cybernetic Integration (+ Focus if applicable)
Maximum Tradition rating: 5D. Maximum Focus rating: 3D
All three Expressions draw on the same Odd Talent pool
Cybernetic Integration is not available through Independent Study. Without the Synthari lineage or a qualifying Profession, a character has no path to this tradition.

Governing Attribute

The governing Attribute is chosen at character creation and is permanent.

Governing Attribute	Expression Character
Body	Physical integration. The practitioner channels Integration as output, enhanced physical capability, direct mechanical force, overclocked physical systems. Enhancement applications are the primary strength; Interface applications require deliberate routing through the body rather than cognitive systems.
Wit	Cognitive integration. The practitioner channels Integration as processing, accelerated data handling, precision system routing, simultaneous management of multiple augmented systems. Interface applications are the primary strength; Enhancement applications require routing cognitive architecture through mechanical output in ways that take deliberate training to develop.

Both choices access all three Expressions fully. The attribute shapes the character of the capability, not its availability.

Access

Synthari Lineage: Synthari begin with lineage-direct access to Cybernetic Integration at 1D. This die does not come from the Talent generation budget. Synthari do not require a qualifying implant, their entire physical architecture is the implant. A Profession that additionally grants CI access provides the 2D affinity upgrade.

All other lineages: Access via Profession only, with the following prerequisite: the character must have at least one qualifying implant. A qualifying implant is hardware that replaces or fundamentally augments a naturally occurring biological system. This means:

Qualifying: Prosthetic limb (replaces), neural processor (fundamentally augments cognitive architecture), augmented sensory organ (replaces or fundamentally augments sensory system), synthetic organ replacement (replaces), skeletal reinforcement integrated with nervous system feedback (fundamentally augments structural system).

Not qualifying: Subdermal communication implants (additive, no natural system altered), passive data storage chips, cosmetic augmentation, externally worn enhancement gear.

The prerequisite reflects the tradition's fundamental nature: Integration requires something to integrate with. A character whose augmentation adds to what their biology carries cannot channel through the augmentation the way a character whose augmentation has replaced part of what their biology is can. The difference is not cosmetic; it is the difference between operating a system and being the system.

Mechanics Summary

Feature	Detail
Tradition	Cybernetic Integration
Category	Form, transformation and enhancement of integrated biological-mechanical systems
Governing Attribute	Body or Wit, chosen at creation, permanent
Roll	Body or Wit + Cybernetic Integration (+ Focus)
Flux	Clear (first use per scene) / Overloaded (subsequent uses; Disadvantage)
Action Type	Primary Action
Expressions	Enhance · Interface · Override
Foci	Optimized Hardware, Interface Rig, Surge Regulator
Lineage-direct	Synthari at 1D (no prerequisite)
Prerequisite (non-Synthari)	One qualifying implant, hardware that replaces or fundamentally augments a natural biological system
Backlash trigger	Roll while Overloaded + Wild Die shows 1 + total successes = 0

Expressions

Enhance

The practitioner pushes their augmented physical or cognitive systems past rated performance, achieving output that the hardware's specifications do not formally permit. Enhancement applications are the most immediately visible expression of the tradition and the one that non-practitioners most readily recognize as something beyond standard augmentation use.

Enhancement applications require that the practitioner has the relevant augmentation. A practitioner without an augmented sensory system cannot enhance their augmented senses. A practitioner whose relevant augmentation has been damaged or disabled loses access to applications dependent on that specific hardware until it is repaired.

Physical Overclock The practitioner drives augmented limbs, joints, or structural systems past rated output, achieving physical performance above what the hardware is designed to deliver under continuous use.

Threshold: 2
Range: Self
Duration: One scene
Effect: Choose one: +2D to one type of physical roll (Strength-based, Speed-based, or Endurance-based) that the augmented system supports. The bonus applies to all rolls of that type for the scene. On a Critical Success, choose two.
Notes: Requires an augmentation that physically supports the chosen roll type, prosthetic limbs for Strength/Speed, skeletal reinforcement for Endurance. At end of scene, the practitioner's relevant systems require a repair check or maintenance period; this is a narrative cost, not a mechanical penalty, unless the GM determines the scene's demands were exceptional.

Sensory Enhancement The practitioner pushes augmented sensory systems beyond calibrated parameters, achieving visual, auditory, or other enhanced input at ranges and resolutions that the hardware's standard operating mode does not provide.

Threshold: 2 (single sense, moderate enhancement) / 3 (multiple simultaneous senses, or extreme enhancement)
Range: Self, but the enhanced sense operates at extended range
Duration: One scene
Effect: The practitioner's enhanced senses operate at Far range for detailed resolution and can distinguish elements at Close range that normal augmentation would miss. Add +2D to Notice rolls while the enhancement is active.
Notes: Requires augmented sensory organs. The enhancement also increases sensitivity to sudden overwhelming input, a flash grenade or sonic weapon targets the enhanced practitioner as if they had no defense rating from the augmentation while the enhancement is active, as the pushed hardware cannot filter appropriately.

Cognitive Acceleration The practitioner pushes their neural processor or cognitive augmentation to handle simultaneous processing demands beyond rated throughput, accelerating reaction time, parallel processing of multiple data streams, or analytical capability in real time.

Threshold: 2
Range: Self
Duration: One scene
Effect: Add +2D to one of the following per use: Initiative rolls for the scene; Wit-based analysis or information processing rolls; the ability to maintain concentration on two simultaneous tasks without penalty.
Notes: Requires a neural processor or equivalent cognitive augmentation. While Cognitive Acceleration is active, the practitioner processes environmental information faster than they can consciously integrate it; this produces an advantage in information-dense situations and a specific vulnerability to information overload (psionic Disorientation applications have their Threshold reduced by 1 against an accelerated target, as the practitioner is already managing near-capacity cognitive load).

Interface

The practitioner uses their Integration to actively engage with external systems through their augmentation, not just operating a panel but channeling through it, routing their hardware's output into connected systems, or pulling system information directly into their augmented cognitive architecture. Interface is where the tradition has the most overlap with Arc Theory, and the boundary matters.

The CI/Arc Theory boundary: Arc Theory projects outward, it delivers electrical force to a system and the system responds to the physics of that charge. Cybernetic Integration routes inward, the practitioner channels through their own hardware to connect with an external system's data layer and information architecture. A practitioner using Arc Theory to activate a console delivers power and the console responds. A practitioner using CI Interface with the same console is inside the console's software, reading its logs and navigating its menus through their augmented architecture. Both can result in a powered console. The what is similar; the how is completely different.

Direct Access The practitioner connects their augmented architecture to a compatible external system, a terminal, a vehicle's control system, a network node, a weapon's targeting system, and accesses its data layer directly rather than through physical input methods.

Threshold: 2 (cooperative or unsecured system) / 3 (standard security) / 4 (hardened security or actively defended system)
Range: Touch, physical contact with the system or a physical interface port
Duration: Sustained, the connection persists as long as the practitioner maintains it (no additional Flux cost per Turn, but losing contact ends the connection)
Effect: The practitioner can access, read, and interact with the connected system's information architecture as if operating a console, but faster, with less physical visibility, and without the need for standard interface hardware. Add +2D to any operation performed through the direct connection.
Notes: Requires a physical connection point, a data port, a control panel, a hardwire connection. Wireless Interface is a separate application. The practitioner's augmentation must be compatible with the target system's architecture; incompatible systems are Threshold 4 regardless of security level.

Wireless Interface The practitioner extends their augmented architecture to connect with nearby compatible systems without physical contact, establishing a short-range wireless data link that operates through their integrated hardware.

Threshold: 3 (open or low-security wireless systems) / 4 (secured wireless systems) / 5 (systems actively denying wireless connections)
Range: Close
Duration: Sustained
Effect: As Direct Access, without the physical contact requirement. The practitioner can interface with any compatible system within Close range that accepts wireless connections.
Notes: Wireless Interface is detectable, a system that logs connection attempts will record the attempt, and network security systems may flag the connection. Arc Theory Interface applications operate on the electrical layer and are harder to detect in system logs; CI Interface operates on the data layer and leaves more clearly identifiable traces.

Data Pull The practitioner extracts a specific dataset from a connected system and integrates it directly into their augmented cognitive architecture, receiving the information as direct cognitive input rather than through a display or printout.

Threshold: 2 (unrestricted data in an accessed system) / 3 (restricted data in an accessed system) / 4 (encrypted or deliberately concealed data)
Range: Requires an active Direct Access or Wireless Interface connection
Duration: Instant, the data is extracted and integrated
Effect: The practitioner receives the specified data as direct cognitive input. They retain this information with the reliability of augmented memory rather than organic memory, perfect recall for the scene, reliable recall thereafter. Add +2D to any roll made using the extracted data.
Notes: Data Pull does not decrypt data that the accessed system has encrypted. The practitioner receives the data in the form it is stored, encrypted files arrive encrypted.

Override

The practitioner pushes their Integration into territory that the tradition's formal training marks as high-demand: forcing augmented systems past hard limits, taking control of external systems with enough force to override their programmed responses, and applying Integration in ways that produce significant output at significant cost. Override applications are available in the tradition; they carry Backlash risk that the other Expressions do not.

System Commandeer The practitioner forces a connected external system to execute commands that its programmed responses would otherwise refuse, not finessing the system's architecture but pushing through it. Doors that are locked open. Weapons systems that are safetied fire. Environmental controls that are regulated change.

Threshold: 4 (standard system overrides) / 5 (hardened systems, safety-critical overrides, actively defended systems)
Range: Requires an active Interface connection
Duration: One command, the override executes one action. Sustained control requires a use per Turn.
Effect: The system executes one command that its programmed responses would otherwise refuse.
Notes: System Commandeer is the application that makes the CI/Arc Theory boundary practically important. Arc Theory can overload a locked door's electronics; CI Commandeer tells the door to open. The results may be similar. The method, and the trace evidence left in system logs, is different. A Commandeer attempt that fails still executes the Interface connection and may be logged.

Augmentation Surge The practitioner channels a burst of Integration through a specific augmented system, achieving momentary output dramatically beyond rated specs, a single action at a performance level that sustained Overclocking cannot reach.

Threshold: 3
Range: Self
Duration: One action, the Surge applies to a single roll
Effect: Add +3D to one physical or cognitive roll supported by the relevant augmentation. This is above and beyond any Enhancement bonus currently active.
Notes: Augmentation Surge stacks with Enhancement applications. A practitioner who has Physical Overclock active and then uses Augmentation Surge is pushing systems very hard. The hardware survives (for now). The post-scene repair requirement is significant, and the GM may call for a repair check during the scene if the same augmentation has taken damage.

Integration Burst The practitioner pushes their entire augmented architecture to operate in coordination for a single moment, all integrated systems running simultaneously at peak output, producing a brief window of exceptional unified performance.

Threshold: 4
Range: Self
Duration: One Turn
Effect: For one Turn, the practitioner treats all augmented systems as Enhanced (as if Physical Overclock, Sensory Enhancement, and Cognitive Acceleration were simultaneously active at their base effect level). All physical and cognitive rolls that involve augmented systems gain +2D for the Turn's duration.
Notes: Integration Burst moves the practitioner's Flux to Overloaded regardless of current state; it burns the Clear use and triggers Overloaded immediately. This is the application that most clearly illustrates the Flux mechanic: the burst is powerful, it costs the scene's sustainable output window, and everything after it runs hot.

Backlash

Backlash triggers when a Cybernetic Integration roll is made while Overloaded, the Wild Die shows 1, and total successes equal 0.

Threshold Attempted	Severity	Effect
Threshold 2 (Easy)	Minor	Thermal Spike, an augmented system overheats; one augmentation of the GM's choice is at reduced function (relevant rolls lose the +2D Enhancement bonus, if any) until repaired or the next scene
Threshold 3–4 (Standard/Difficult)	Moderate	System Cascade, multiple augmented systems spike simultaneously; Hindered condition (−2D to all physical actions) for the remainder of the scene; all active Enhancement applications end immediately
Threshold 5+ (Epic)	Severe	Architecture Failure, the Integration collapses back through the practitioner's own systems; take damage equal to the Threshold attempted; all augmented systems cease function until repaired (Synthari use their Integrated Architecture recovery rules; non-Synthari require a repair kit and a successful repair roll before augmented systems restore function); cannot use Cybernetic Integration for the remainder of the session

Foci

Optimized Hardware (Enhance Focus) The practitioner has developed their augmented systems specifically for pushed performance, either through custom modification of existing implants, installation of hardware with higher-rated specifications, or extended training that has calibrated their Integration specifically to push their own architecture. This Focus represents that optimization.

Benefit: Add Focus dice to Physical Overclock, Sensory Enhancement, and Cognitive Acceleration applications.
Form: The Focus is expressed in the augmentation itself, hardware that has been modified, replaced with higher-spec components, or extensively calibrated to the practitioner's Integration profile. This is noted in the character's equipment record. The specific modification is flavor; the mechanical benefit is the Focus.

Interface Rig (Interface Focus) A dedicated hardware component, typically a specialized data port array, a neural interface expansion module, or an external rig worn during operations, that extends and accelerates the practitioner's data architecture connection capability.

Benefit: Add Focus dice to Direct Access, Wireless Interface, and Data Pull applications. When using Wireless Interface with the Interface Rig, the effective range extends to Near.
Form: A physical device, worn or installed. The Interface Rig is a piece of equipment (AX.GAT.09 cross-reference) that can be damaged, confiscated, or destroyed separately from the practitioner's core augmentation. Losing the Rig removes the Focus benefit until replaced or repaired.

Surge Regulator (Override Focus) An internal or external regulation system designed to manage the heat and electrical load of pushed Integration, allowing the practitioner to sustain Override applications at the upper end of the tradition without the hardware running as hot as it otherwise would.

Benefit: Add Focus dice to System Commandeer, Augmentation Surge, and Integration Burst applications. When using Integration Burst with the Surge Regulator active, the automatic Overloaded trigger is suppressed, the practitioner's Flux state is not automatically driven to Overloaded by the Burst.
Form: An internal implant component (does not occupy an equipment slot but is noted in the character's augmentation record) or an external heat management system worn during operations. If the Surge Regulator is an external device, losing it removes the Flux suppression benefit of Integration Burst.

Access and Cross-Lineage Notes

Synthari practitioners carry Integration as identity, not technique. Their relationship to the tradition's applications is continuous rather than deliberate, they are always integrated with their own systems; the tradition represents choosing to push rather than running at steady state. Synthari practitioners who develop the tradition past 3D are in territory that the formal tradition documentation does not fully describe, because the documentation was written for non-Synthari. Community knowledge, accumulated through the Synthari's generational memory, carries that territory. What Tessavek knew about Integration at high ratings, what the community's oldest practitioner carried in their archive, is part of what his silence has cost.

Non-Synthari practitioners acquired the prerequisite implant at some point in their history. That history shapes how they present: a former military operator with a prosthetic combat arm has a different profile than an Oblis Consortium information broker with a neural processor and a data port array. The augmentation is visible, in most cases, and visible augmentation on Astraeus Terminal carries social meaning. The Vigilants notice. The Compact's labor contracts have varying language about augmented workers. The Solis League's operations in Violet Sector include several significant practitioners whose identities the Vigilants are aware of and have not moved on for reasons that reflect the ongoing tolerance calculation.

The Arc Theory boundary in play: A situation where both traditions are relevant is a situation where the GM should be explicit about which tradition a player is using and what the fictional difference is. Both traditions can interact with the same systems. Arc Theory leaves physical and electrical evidence. CI leaves data-layer evidence. Arc Theory cannot read a system's logs; CI cannot arc a current through a locked mechanism without a connected system to route through. The boundary is real and produces meaningfully different fictional outcomes. Enforce it; it creates interesting decisions.