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GEAR
"You are now connected to the Unity network. Welcome, [USERNAME]!
To facilitate your new and illustrious career as an Octave contractor, you have been fitted with your very own Gauntlet™! This state-of-the-art Octave technology provides everything an enterprising young mercenary needs to thrive in the multiverse: communication, armaments, and of course, entertainment.
Please review all instructions for your new Gauntlet™ carefully, as Octave is not responsible for any death or dismemberment that may arise from misuse—"
To facilitate your new and illustrious career as an Octave contractor, you have been fitted with your very own Gauntlet™! This state-of-the-art Octave technology provides everything an enterprising young mercenary needs to thrive in the multiverse: communication, armaments, and of course, entertainment.
Please review all instructions for your new Gauntlet™ carefully, as Octave is not responsible for any death or dismemberment that may arise from misuse—"
All personnel are issued a Gauntlet cuff at the start of service, courtesy of Octave. Formfitting gloves that mold to fit the user's upper arm, Gauntlets display information with the help of holographic GUIs when activated. These haptic screens allow users to type, click, and otherwise interact with all major Gauntlet applications.
At the Hub, the Gauntlet remains in Idle mode—it accesses Unity network and intranet, allowing characters to keep in touch. It also enables a number of apps and break time features, like popular games on the multiverse market.
During missions, Active mode kicks in automatically. Characters can use their Gauntlet to access all their chosen Functions—think of it as a catalyst for powers and abilities. Functions are equipped as rings that snap into the Gauntlet, like adding components to a circuit.
Additionally, Gauntlets can form hard holographic weapons of any shape, as long as the user can physically keep their hands on it. That means no projectiles, or weapons that require ammo, but most everything else is fair game.
In Active mode, games and apps for leisure are disabled, though employees have historically gone to great lengths to bypass this.
All characters are also equipped with a Lattice Lens. This sclera contact lens is fitted with ultra-fine wiring set on a soluble medium; it acts as a semi-permanent addition to the user’s eye upon contact, dissolving away and leaving the wiring augmentation on the subject’s iris. The Lattice is sensitive to even the finest electrical impulses from the brain as well as secured, outside channels, and will provide various mission and VR support by manipulating the user's vision to display various HUDs.
The Lattice allows devices to switch to stealth mode, changing holographic displays to augmented reality, visible only to the user. This is useful for sneaking, with the downside that typing on an invisible screen looks pretty dumb.
Lattice Lenses do not have to be shiny and visible at all times—we'll leave how flashy they are and the exact aesthetics up to player discretion.
Personal Modifications, colloquially known as 'mods,' are minor physical or VR adjustments. All Octave personnel are given one free mod during their initial physical at the medical staff's discretion. OOCly, players can come up with their own mods, or leave it to the whim of the mod team.
Mods are typically less powerful than Functions—some are even known to be entirely cosmetic (every member of Team 2 has a sunglasses mod). Some are personalized, some are genuinely helpful, and some are well-meaning, but terrible. One character may have a mod that affords them extra night vision, while another is stuck with mood ring hair.
Though mod surgery and VR patches can be bought on the free/black market, Octave issues a standard disclaimer: a poorly implemented mod can have dire consequences, from being outright rejected by the user's body, or malfunctioning at the worst possible moments. Octave mods are tuned specifically to a user's biorhythms and nervous system to avoid these issues, but shit happens.
 | At the Hub, there are larger, user-friendly kiosks to access the network, news, and polls. Polls were implemented to improve company-wide feedback and morale, which means they’re by-and-large useless and prone to vandalism. Surveys, polls, and petitions dictate the weather and other minor features around the Hub, as well as collect feedback from all eight guilds to maintain camaraderie and transparency. News contains mostly feel-good stories about cats or alien cat equivalents, but will sometimes include a smattering of other information. Want to see what's up with your own world? The News might just have a line or two. |
In case their original clothes come under duress, characters are also given a standard-issue Octave uniform. Though sturdy and waterproof, uniforms provide about as much protection as leather, so don't count on them to save you from any plasma bullets.
These uniforms also have various camouflage skin settings for missions—characters can switch between modes to better blend into their setting. At base, they revert to default to conserve energy.
Uniforms also have fiber optic accents that adjust to the proper team color as updated on the leaderboard. Their patches include team insignia that modifies as necessary, thanks to interacting with a user's Gauntlet.
With story mission successes, Team 8 members will all have more access to sweet loot to help them survive and kick ass—stay tuned!