Science-gone-too-far in The Red Star (again and again):
Immortality Shock
Under the transnationalist system in the West, the Ironhold did not just see government organisation such as the BCI involved in spiritrealm operations, but also actors from the private sector. Following the fall of the URRS, these tendencies only increased. However, for the corporations invested in the spiritrealm, the changed political situation gave further impetus to the question of procuring their own immortal operatives. The strong loyalities and beliefs characteristic of the great ideological struggle of the Ironhold which had so easily persisted beyond death and had thus created the very foundation for the recruitment of immortal agents was starting to erode and it was becoming harder, too, to engineer the transfer of such loyalities from the state to a business. Money and ameneties with which a company would buy the loyality of mortals held no value in the afterlife. The problem was seen as so critical that staggering amounts were pumped into research with the goal of devising some sort of solution. The resulting programmes of different corporations may have their own official titles but under those in the know “immortality shock” has become a common name for all of them regardless of the slight differences between them.
The core idea of the immortality shock is to cause the selected candidates to experience a massive personal crisis which sees them suddenly losing all of their personal connections and bindings, leaving colleagues and superiors as the only people they can still turn to… …and then kill the candidates shortly thereafter. The emotional shock is meant to prevent the candidates from turning into shades and ensure they come out into the spiritrealm as full immortals, while the absence of any emotionally invested contacts but those from within the corporation are thought to induce an initial willingness to continue their work for the company, which can later on be supplemented or supplanted by other benefits.
The procedure has a high failure rate. However, at this point in time, it still remains the most promising approach to the issue in the eyes of the corporate policy makers.
The Red Star and all related characters are ™ and © Christian Gossett. Used with kind permission.
The Red Star Campaign Setting is © Green Ronin Publishing, LLC.
The Red Star und alle verwandten Charaktere sind ™ und © Christian Gossett. Verwendet mit freundlicher Genehmigung.
The Red Star Campaign Setting ist © Green Ronin Publishing, LLC.