There are new innovations in development known as powered exoskeletons. These suits can be used for either medicinal or military purposes. With the medicinal applications, exoskeletons can be used to help patients who are physically impaired and have difficulty moving on their own. For military applications, exoskeletons can be used to augment a soldier’s durability and strength to the point in which they can lift about 700 pounds. There are rumors that machine guns, grenade launchers, or retractable blades can be fastened to them as well as body armor. With these factors, this kind of exoskeleton can turn one soldier into a one-man-army. Still, the current exoskeletons can only be controlled through the wearer’s muscle power, but if there was a neural interface that connects the suit to the wearer’s nervous system. That way the wearer’s movements would be so easy and seamless that it would be like the suit was a part of them. I will toy with this idea for my superhuman series. There will be a powered exoskeleton that will be homemade and created from salvaged or stolen technology.
As a devout science fiction fanatic, I have always been fascinated by the idea of combining man with machine. In many ways, cyborgs make me think of Kurzweil’s theory of transhumanism in which humans would eventually evolve into machines or transfer their consciousness into a computer system. When I developed Cyber Shadow’s character, I wanted to create my own cybernetic character. However, as advanced as this technology may sound, there are bound to be a few defects. One example would be that the organic components of the cyborg would reject the robotic parts just as a metal plate can be rejected by a person’s body. Another example is that there would be a chance that the cyborg’s only senses would be seeing and hearing while their remaining senses would be either gone or diluted. A third example would be that the cyborg may not require food because they may not have either a mouth or digestive system, but would have the subconscious need to feed, which would result in constant hunger that they could never satisfy. While depicting Cyber Shadow, I tried to illustrate on the psychological impact these defects can have on him. In Cyber Shadow’s case, the only organic component in him is his brain, so when his brain is implanted into his robotic body, his brain suffers considerable mental strain as it struggles to adapt to its new physical conditioning. Before he became a cyborg, Cyber Shadow was a sadistic school bully who was already mentally unstable and the defects of his cybernetics only exacerbates these traits. With these flaws in his psyche, I drew inspiration for Cyber Shadow’s personality from the bullies who harassed me throughout middle and high school and the disturbed android Roy Batty from Blade Runner, who was also a product of the inevitable mistakes that human technology would generate. Overall, whenever one is developing new technology, they should be cautious about the effects it would have on the people they are trying to sell it to otherwise the consequences would be disastrous.
Name: Brick Baxter
Alias: Cyber Shadow
Occupation: Former school bully, supervillain, and mass-murderer
Personality and Traits: Sadistic, arrogant, psychopathic, vengeful, and bloodthirsty
Goals: Seek revenge against Patrick Donovan and kill anyone or anything that gets in his way.
Powers and Abilities: Cybernetic body equipped with superhuman strength, durability, reflexes, flight, and advanced weaponry.
Vulnerabilities: If his brain is damaged or destroyed, he will die. In addition, the experimental technology that keeps him alive also drives him insane.
Superheroes – Autism – Fantasy – Science Fiction
Grady P Brown - Author 