SHADES

Not long after BR-05-99 made landfall in Neoasis, rumours spread about the potential technological advancements it brought with it. Conspiracies sprang up about black site laboratories experimenting with new-found elements and organisms, fusing them with Augments and human subjects. Splicers with intimate knowledge of the black market might know a guy or two dealing in Aspects, a fledgling technology said to have spawned from such experimentations. 

Aspects, or Spex, usually come in the form of a circuit board merged with some kind of foreign material, often an odd oil-slick alloy or pulsating fleshy membrane, and are inserted into the user’s brain. Interfacing directly with the neural pathways, Aspects grant physics-defying abilities by drawing energy from a power supply. Those with the proficiency to operate the Aspects have become known as Shades, the modern day wizards who wield immense power. They're often found plastered across the walls of their living room, turned inside out, or simply never seen again, as a result of pushing their abilities too far. 

Public sightings of Shades are incredibly rare, an urban legend to the ordinary civilian, but the word is getting around in certain circles of the elite. Wealthy businesses are hiring Shades as bodyguards, corporate sabotage and all manner of nefarious deeds. Useful though they may be, a Shade’s potentially limitless power poses a significant risk to even the most dominant companies. As such, several corporations have developed anti-Aspect technology in case Shades are in need of regulation.