Mechanical augmentation



"In an effort to secure freedom and liberty for those under their protection, many UNATCO agents have chosen to sacrifice social acceptance for mission performance by surgically replacing limbs and organs with mechanically or electronically enhanced equivalents."

- MedDirectorate

Mechanical augmentation involves the use of cybernetics in order to improve or replace certain human body parts. It is the progression from basic limb prosthetics with the distinguishing feature being that the machinery and robotics interface directly with the central nervous system as opposed to the ends of peripheral nerves. It was the first method of augmentation which allowed people to assume superhuman abilities, albeit not without limitations, the most salient downsides being the individuals suffering from extreme physical and mental pain, and reliance on the anti-rejection drug Neuropozyne and painkillers all their life. With research beginning as early as the 2000s, mechanical augmentations became widespread during the 2020s. It was the predecessor to physiopharmaceutical augmentation and the much more advanced nanotechnological augmentation.

Development
The main obstacle in mechanical augmentation was finding the perfect interface between man and machine. While external prosthetics can be made from hypoallergenic materials, there was no such luxury when implanting devices in the brain. Early augmentation projects addressed human diseases such as Parkinson's Disease, where patients had metal electrodes inserted into their brains to stop the tremors. While successful, the unfortunate side effect of using stiff metal electrodes was their vulnerability to impacts caused by bodily movements. This caused tissue injury and compromised the device's effectiveness.

Darrow Industries pioneered the PEDOT cluster array to create the machine-cell hybrid device known as the biochip that was made from organic materials. This was considered revolutionary at the time and was even published in prominent journals. The basis of the biochip was to use PEDOT, an organic conducting polymer, for the electrodes, which were attached to artificial neurons grown specifically for the device. The entire biochip would then be implanted in the host's brain and because of the PEDOT cluster's entirely organic construction and its neuron-neuron interface, would be less prone to side effects. One such device is the R7 biochip, designed by Sarif Industries. The only downside to the biochip is the issue of glial tissue build up around the PEDOT cluster, which is detectable by elevated levels of cytotoxic-M and DDS-Y enzymes in the matrix. Not only does this compromise the effectiveness of the biochip, it can lead to rejection, also known as Darrow Deficiency Syndrome. The only way to prevent rejection is to take Neuropozyne, which breaks down the build-up of glial tissue.

The X1 prototype biochip also designed by Sarif Industries would address the issue of glial tissue build up. The PEDOT cluster array used in the X1 biochip incorporates a mutagenic chemical that was isolated from the DNA strands of Patient X. The nature of this chemical is not explained but is apparently harmless, contrary to its description as a mutagen. When the mutagenic chemical is added to the PEDOT cluster of the biochip, within 24 hours, the PEDOT cluster is encapsulated in a thick coating of neural tissue that prevents the PEDOT cluster's ability to elicit the glial build-up response. Research on the X1 biochip was due to be presented in Washington DC in 2027 but the head researcher of Sarif Industries was killed prior to the conference. It was heavily implied in the research notes entitled Composite Study 07121969 - Final Test Results that the artificial neurons of future PEDOT clusters would be grown using segments of Patient X's DNA in an effort to naturally produce this mutagenic compound.

While many legitimate biotechnology firms worldwide, like Sarif Industries, exist to develop mechanical augmentations for different uses ranging from civilian to military applications, some companies such as Tai Yong Medical and Versalife conduct illegal and inhumane experimentation on detainees and civilians. Such secret developments have occurred at black sites such as Rifleman Bank Station and the Omega Ranch.

Socio-political
Despite the apparent benefits that augmentations could bring to humans, there was widespread belief that the technology could be abused. Having become commonplace in the 2020s, there was a social rift emerging between augmented and non-augmented human beings. Supporters of augmentation can be seen dressed in renaissance-inspired attire, while denouncers can be seen dressed in modern (2010s era) clothing. Prominent persons advocating against the use of augmentations in humans included William Taggart, the head of Humanity Front, and Ezekiel Sanders, the head of Purity First. While these two individuals had personal reasons for denouncing augmentations, many people felt that augmentations would usurp the social order, as the mechanically augmented can accomplish more than regular people, eliminating the need for natural skill or talent.

Early mechanical augmentation mostly took the form of prosthetics that completely replaced limbs, but by the 2050s many mechanical augmentations were small devices, such as implants that would release steroids or prosthetics that replaced small parts of limbs. By 2052, clinics still offered augmentation work, mostly performed by bots. Extensive mechanical augmentation, hinted to replace as much as 90% of the human body, had become rare, but also expensive in terms of maintainance. It is likely that the strong social and economic divide had restricted at least the advanced augmentations to the powerful and wealthy, further alienating augmented people from the general population. There are no mention of dedicated purist groups. But several revolutionaries tend to loath augmentations as tools for the oppressive governments they struggle against.

Neuropozyne is not a mentioned issue. But adding the Shifter mod to the game will unlock another conversation with Ford Schick. In this conversation he explains how he hopes that he can make peoples nerves stronger and accept prostethics with less danger of rejection.

In the 2050s, the emergence of the nano-augmented, most notably Paul Denton who was inaugurated by the United Nations as the "first nanotechnologically-augmented agent", began rendering mechanical augmentations obsolete. Despite central authorities trying to advocate that it was not obsolete, physicians - like Jaime Reyes, expressed otherwise. Similar to the inferiority complex experienced by non-augmented individuals in the 2020s in comparison to their mechanically-augmented brethren, a rift was forming between nanotechnologically-augmented and mechanically-augmented individuals based on the latter's inhuman appearance and rejection by society.

After 2052, nanotechnological augmentations started to become increasingly widespread and, by 2072, it had completely supplanted mechanical augmentation. Even the Knights Templar, a radical anti-augmentation activist group, never mention mechanical augmentations, confirming that it is no longer practiced.

Deus Ex

 * Anna Navarre
 * Gunther Hermann
 * Guy
 * JoJo Fine
 * Jordan Shea
 * Louis
 * Rock
 * Sam Carter
 * Smuggler
 * Two security guards of the club La Porte de l'Enfer

Deus Ex: Invisible War

 * No humans, as mechanical augmentation is considered impractical and obsolete since the advent of nano-augmentation. However, it is used on dogs to create cyberdogs and baboons to create rucks.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

 * Adam Jensen
 * Anna Kelso
 * Ben Saxon
 * David Sarif
 * Jaron Namir
 * Katrina Sutherland
 * Lawrence Barrett
 * Quincy Durant
 * Tong Si Hung
 * Yelena Fedorova
 * Many others, as mechanical augmentation is the only commercial form of augmentation in 2027