Interlink System

Intro

Interlink data feeds.

Interlink is a name that is nearly impossible to escape within the major settled colonies. By a wide margin, it is easily the most pervasive piece of software ever created with an estimated 96% of all registered citizens utilizing it on at least one piece of computer hardware that they own.

Created by Cocoon Corp, Interlink System is a universal visual-data management and authentication system for all things cyberware, and biotech that can be installed on nearly any type of handheld, laptop, or neural-deck. From heart-rate monitoring, to power-levels, projectile trajectory and ammunition count for smart-linked weaponry, to skill-development indexing, SolCred management, and social credit tracking, Interlink handles it all.

Of course, this level of tracking and authentication would not be possible without integrated biotech.

Cocoon Corp x Heaven Inc

NSI databanks.

Though not considered a mega-corp due to their singular focus, Heaven Inc is no-less an industry leader in biotechnologies and a household name system-wide due to the unique services they offer. It is for those reasons that Cocoon Corp chose to enter into a partnership with Heaven Inc to develop the biotech component that is crucial to the functionality of Interlink, the IDNA (Identification and Natural Authorisation) chip.

Implanted with a direct connection to the user’s central nervous system, the IDNA chip gathers biometric and cyberware data to pass along to the Interlink OS through a secure NFC transfer protocol.

It was discovered that this compilation of data provides for such a unique signature that it is mathematically impossible for two IDNA signatures to be the same. This presented an opportunity that would change life for nearly all citizens of the solar system.

New Geneva, SolBank, and NSI

The proposal brought before the board at New Geneva was simple. Cocoon Corp and Heaven Inc suggested that the patented IDNA signature become the standard for identification and authorization for any and all registered citizens.

After a thorough analysis of IDNA signatures and in-depth planning around how this new system would be rolled out and integrated into society, the proposal was accepted.

SolBank, the central bank for the singular universally accepted solar-system credit known as the SolCred, would require that all current account holders be fitted with an IDNA chip or face having their assets frozen. Establishing a new SolBank account would also require an IDNA signature.

NSI, the central authority behind the holoNET, would require an IDNA signature for holoNET access.

New Geneva, would utilize IDNA signatures to begin tracking the social credit of individuals. Using a very basic number system, individuals would be awarded points and titles depending on their behavior. Upstanding denizens with high social credit would have an easier time securing citizenship to prominent colonies, passing through security checkpoints, securing loans from SolBank, and also receive discounts on goods and services through select vendors, as well as access to exclusive products, to name a few benefits. Conversely, underworld figures could also potentially utilize this same system to offer their own reward structure and celebrate the most infamous among them.

Distribution and Integration

With the terms agreed upon by the New Geneva board, mass production, distribution, and integration of the IDNA chip began. Shipments went out to every registered hospital and ripper clinic in the system. Pop-up clinics were created in areas with high population density to accommodate what would be a massive demand.

Every human, mutant and alpha/beta synthetic that had a want, or need to continue to be a recognized member of society, needed to be chipped. IDNA chips for every registered newborn would be compulsory. Refuse the procedure and one would be locked out of SolBank, lose access to the holoNET, be unable to register new assets, or forfeit any registered assets.

Tampering with the IDNA chip, or unauthorized removal would result in an immediate freezing of all accounts, assets, and social credit associated with one's IDNA signature until such a time as they could make their way into the nearest Heaven Inc office to re-verify.

Black Market

A market district with blackmarket tech.

With many members of society being averse to the inherent tracking and control capabilities of the IDNA chip, a thriving black market would soon arise in the way of jailbroken copies of Interlink and other lesser-known operating systems.

These illicit pieces of software would allow for the obfuscation of a user’s true identity, typically by masking a true IDNA signature, with that of someone who has been recently deceased, or had their signature hijacked. Referred to as ‘Burner Signatures’ or ‘B-sigs’, these are often short-term or single use signatures that tend to be flagged quickly. They are however inexpensive, and remain the most common for masking illicit activities. Less common, but far more robust and far more expensive, are what are referred to as ‘Alternative signatures’, ‘Alt-sigs’, or ‘A-sigs’ . This method often utilizes the creation and registration of a new Replicant life, or the birth and registration of a new human life. The Replicant or human would then be kept alive in some form of captivity to ensure their signature would not be flagged by a cessation of life/function, or report of suspicious activity. Given the difficulty involved and costs associated, Alternative signatures are rare and typically only utilized by high-ranking members of the criminal underworld.

Despite the options available for masking one’s IDNA signature, it is known to the underworld that no method is completely airtight. Draw enough attention, cause enough problems, and NSI may decide it is worth the time and effort to find you.