Shell (concept)

Shells are synthetic full-body prosthetic forms that serve as the main concept central the setting/story of ~/shell.

The bodies use technology originally developed for simplistic AI-powered robotics, until it was reasoned after the first digitised human mind that such technology could have health benefits for disabled people.

Overview

Shells have an inflatable-toy-like aesthetic — all of them are non-human in design, with a smooth exterior and are largely inflated with air. All of the technology is on the inside layer of the shell plastic through flex-circuit technology. Human-like designs are possible with a mannequin-like model that makes use of a holographic overlay, but these are not as popular.

To use a shell body, have to have your mind transferred to an electronic black box, making your whole body electronic and artificial. Such bodies can be swapped between by transferring the black box, and unused bodies can be deflated and stored away essentially like clothing.

Shells themselves are largely manufactured by Cyberdyne, but the flex-circuit supported technology is not exclusive to them. Use of self-made or third party bodies is simply not recommended, as all bodies manufactured for shell facilities are inspected for safety by the Ministry of Cybernetics.

Uploading Oneself

Having an entire body of shell form requires moving your consciousness from your brain to a black box that fits into the back of the shell head. This is done in shell clinics, which are public bodies like hospitals. Shell clinics also perform maintenance on shells. This process is kept largely secret, but as black box technology is constructed to resemble human brains, it could be surmised the brain is slowly replaced with black box "cells" while consciousness information is made to move into said cells.

This is naturally irreversible, however the black box can plug into any other shell, meaning you can now choose other bodies as you wish or for particular activities. It it impossible to move the black box yourself, because you are literally putting your brain in a different body. The body/brain must be shifted using a machine about the size of a walk-in wardrobe. This machine would also be the place to store deflated bodies.

Functionality

The shell clinics cannot create a generalised black box mind that works for everyone. Instead they must create an electronic replica of the physical brain based on the patient's, so that their mind can map itself out in the same way during the transfer. External senses and augmented reality features are separate to one's "brain", generally part of the shell hardware instead.

The shells have the best integration into the augmented reality technology compared to other available technology and accessories, and can connect to virtual reality worlds without the use of VR pods.

These beings no longer have any true bodily functions. Sexed and non-sexed bodies are both available. The former are available for those that wish to continue to engage in some kind of sexual activity. Bodily requirements like hunger are usually non-existent.

Security

A lot of technology by 2197 already has extreme security measures compared to the current year, however the shells are particularly technologically paranoid.

The shell firmware will reject external signals disguised as internal through keys and data pattern matching. Because of these checks, external invasion of the consciousness is literally impossible. This does not stop lighter levels of danger in the form of AR hallucination-based threats, though these generally also target AR accessories used by non-shells. Such security scares are followed by patches and blacklist updates.

Immortal and Inhuman

The composition of the shells is mostly impervious to damage, except to the high heat and pressure used in their manufacturing. The black boxes however have a much lower threshold, so have checks in place to make sure the environment is not likely to cause damage. The regularly maintained temperature of the arcologies avoids the potential dangers.

Due to the lack of many living-being functions and perceived immortality, a lot of post-upload people are shunned for forgoing their humanity. Additionally, due to having a hardware history with the basic AI robots used for labour, there is a second minority who perceive shells as being nothing more than simulations of once-humans. Cyberdyne intentionally designs the shells (or accepts such designs) as animals and mythical beings so as to avoid uncanny valley, and advocates for fair treatment and respect of those uploaded to shell bodies.

Okay but why inflatable-like aesthetic?

You know why.

More serious answer; the initial idea of shells was first drafted in 2013. The core concept was the creation of a transhumanist bend to an inflatable pooltoy setting. Inflatable toys for me have always had an element of self-actualisation — the idea of a self-constructed body to better serve oneself, especially due to physical disability. Hence here the setting is "what if cyborg bodies but they are pooltoys?"

I did not watch Ghost in the Shell until after the initial conceptualisation, some time in the mid-2010s, so any Ghost in the Shell-like inspiration or influence came after the fact.