literature

ITS - GELF Infodump

Deviation Actions

Chaz-GELF's avatar
By
Published:
827 Views

Literature Text

The big ol' text file about GELFs!

What is a GELF?
A GELF, or Genetically Engineered Life Form, is an artificial being created through genetic engineering. Much like robots, they're built in all shapes and sizes, in order to accomodate the needs of the client that ordered them. In layman's terms, a GELF is a squishy robot made to order.

Why not just use robots?
There are robots in the ITS universe, and they too are built to order. However, attempts to make robots as lifelike as possible have failed, in part due to the intricate nature of the human body. A GELF, on the other hand, is tank-grown and therefore already a biological being, with all of the important parts where they need to be. When it comes down to it, however, it's all about what the client wants from their artificial being.

How is a GELF created?
First, a "Base" is created or chosen from a list of existing bases. These can be of any shape and size, from as small as a mouse to as big as a gorilla! Quite typically the GELF's makeup will resemble either one or more of the native species of the universe, or an anthropomorphic animal.

Once the base is designed or chosen, the necessary DNA is prepared, a copy of the base is suspended in a tank of fluid and the GELF-to-be can start growing. Depending on the size of GELF this can be either a fairly short time or a very long time, but for an average size GELF like Chaz, it'd take about two or three weeks.

When their body is ready, the GELF has various internal machinery installed (Including artificial sustenance, a black-box neuro-center, vocalisers for communication, and so on), is given a mind transfer and whichever training modules are necessary for their client (Assuming they're being made to order and not for SCIENCE), and they're given a week to relax before diagnostics are run on them. Once the lab is satisfied that the GELF is functional and ready for duty, they're shipped off to their client.

What happens if a GELF doesn't make the grade?
If a GELF is shown to be unfit for purpose, or if it has clearly visible faults, there are a couple of things that are done. The first is a mind reformatting, a quick process that attempts to "reboot" the GELF's brain and try installing the mind and training modules again. If that fails, the faulty GELF is either kept in containment (If they're too dangerous to be let out), or auctioned off to the highest bidder (If they're safe but just not to the client's standards). A new GELF is made for the client at no extra cost.

What's this about mind transfer?
In order to function more like an actual person, the GELF is given a mind from a donor. Mind uploading was very popular for several decades as a method of ensuring technical immortality, until the AMBROSIA project came about and changed everything. Rather than just ditch the uploaded minds, AndroGenus' sister company SRi (Synapse Recording, inc.) offered their clients a full refund and then some if they agreed to let their uploaded minds be used for scientific pursuits. Many agreed, and SRi were able to license a "Mind Library" package to various genetics companies, to be uploaded to GELFs.

What exactly does mind transferring do?
When a GELF is given a donor's mind, they take on the personality of that donor, sharing their same likes, dislikes, and general mood. Identifying details and names were wiped from the minds prior to being uploaded to a GELF's brain, in part for legal reasons and in part to reduce the chances of a GELF becoming insane. However, the process of wiping details and names from a mind is not perfect, and it is likely that a GELF will experience "phantom memories" from time to time, as well as finding certain names familiar. If a single mind upload is used for multiple GELFs in a batch, it's been said that each affected GELF will express different facets of that donor's mind. One may have their donor's love for technology, while another may have a phantom memory of their donor's name, for instance.

Earlier, you said that GELFs come in all shapes and sizes, however Chaz and his brothers look similar.
For various reasons, it is often more efficient to make GELFs in "Batches", using a basic model as a template. Green (Now known as Joe) was first GELF made in AndroGenus GELF Batch 17. Chaz, Blue and Red followed the same basic format, undergoing minor adjustments in their DNA makeup, hence their slight differences.

Chaz and his brothers look cool! Can I make a GELF character that follows their format?
By all means! Various potential clients have seen the Batch 17 GELFs wandering around, and said to themselves "I really like that design!". AndroGenus saw a potential moneymaker in this, and licensed the "GB-17" template for manufacture by other genetics companies, with AndroGenus getting a cut of the profits.

In short, what this means is that you too can have a GELF that looks like Chaz or his Batch, but with one or two exceptions.

What are the exceptions?
The main exception is that they cannot be unkillable. Androgenus GELF Batch 17 were a testing group for the military "VALHALLA" project, and as such are the only GELFs who have the unique property of being technically unkillable (That is, they can be killed but they'll regenerate a short while afterwards). The experiment was a complete failure, and has never been attempted again, save for one or two rival genetics companies that thought they could do what Androgenus couldn't. These attempts also failed miserably (See MalamiteLtd's GELF, Bixby)

The other exception is that they cannot be from GELF Batch 17, as that batch only consisted of Chaz, Joe, Red and Blue, no others were created with the intent of testing VALHALLA.

I don't like the GB-17 design, can I make my GELF look totally different?
Again, you are free to do so! I really want to see more variance in GELFs because not all of them look like Chaz's lot. There are mouse-like GELFs made for espionage, and huge bulldog-like GELFs made for heavy construction work, among many others, so feel free to be creative with your design!

One last thing. Are all GELFs mouthless?
Not all of them are. There have been some GELFs designed to look almost completely like an ordinary member of their species, but due to concerns from citizens, limits have had to be put on these, too (Namely that they must have a barcode and unique symbol visible somewhere on their fur, in order to signify that they are an artificial life form.). Any GELF can have a mouth, sometimes for intimidation, and sometimes because they're designed specifically for culinary jobs.
This is a big ol' Q&A including various things about GELFs, for those who want to know more about them or who are interested in making a GELF of their own. If there's anything that hasn't been covered here, give me a nudge and I'll update it!
© 2012 - 2024 Chaz-GELF
Comments10
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
ChaoXeri's avatar
Can you have a GELF that looks like a fictional animal, and functions along the same parameters, including rudimentary one-wordese, but telepathic communication with the owner?

You know where I'm heading with this.