The “Orb of Disintegration”, or “Duster” is a self-destruct mechanism made by Iemochi Innovations & Sales. It is an implant that is injected into an individual. Once the implant does not detect a heartbeat, it activates and spreads a “grey goo” of nanites which eats and destroys everything it touches for 10 seconds. With the rate of expansion, this is tuned such that an average humanoid will be entirely consumed, along with their equipment. After this, it harmlessly deactivates and disintegrates.

The implant was designed in YE 44 by Iemochi Innovations & Sales. It was commissioned by Iemochi Feyani for TANTO teams in the case one of their number died in operations. After some early prototypes had vunerabilities to external hacking and corruption of the 10 second 'stop' signal. These were solved by removing any external connectability and each nanomachine requiring a correct checksum before activating, even after replication. After some successful tests on subsapient creatures, it was determined to be field usable.

The “Orb of Disintegration” is designed to be utilised by individuals who do not wish to leave any trace of their presence or equipment upon their death. This is useful for anyone who is carrying restricted technology of any sort, or who may cause backlash or a diplomatic incident if their body was found. While it is possible to remove the implant before activation, its density is so close to flesh that it would not appear on standard medical scans, and its metallic component is small enough to be considered trace amounts by most other scans. The device is powered by a generator that runs on body heat and will automatically activate once the body is about to become too cold as to not sustain it.

Here is the data regarding the entity which created and manufactures this item.

• Designer: Iemochi Innovations & Sales
• Manufacturer: Iemochi Innovations & Sales
• Name: IIS “Orb of Disintegration” Self-Destruct Implant
• Nomenclature: IIS-U7-44
• Type: Cybernetic
• Role: Evidence Removal

Before injection, the implant appears as a tiny orb shape, which is squishy and fleshlike. It comes with a provided injector, which compresses the implant through a solid needle so that when it comes out it changes into a shape that is least intrusive to the body. Unless it is injected close to the skin, there isn't a physical mark once the injection site heals.

Here is the information regarding the implant's marketing values.

• IIS “Orb of Disintegration” Implant: 300 KS

The user opens the provided packaging, which contains a single use autoinjector loaded with the implant orb. The needle is designed for solid injection, so is wide gauge and hurts upon usage. The injection site is chosen, which can be anywhere but is advised to be somewhere unlikely to be destroyed by combat. Suggested sites are the buttocks, small of the back or collarbone area. The needle is lined up with the injection site and pressed into it such that the internal spring activates. The orb is compressed through the needle and into the body. As it enters, it conforms with the available space and displaces blood, which hurts and may cause some bleeding. The injector is then discarded.

Once the implant detects a heartbeat, it will keep listening until either the heartbeat stops or the body is about to become too cold for the device to maintain function. In both cases, the implant activates and the nanomachines inside begin to replicate by consuming the body and any equipment attached to it. After 10 seconds of expansion, the nanomachines deactivate and self-destruct by eating themselves until there is nothing left.

See Damage Rating (Version 3) for an explanation of the damage system.

• Self-Destruction: Tier 4 (or higher)

ethereal created this article on 2022/10/22 16:07.

This was approved by Wes on a three-day timer on 2022/10/23. Checklist applied by Andrew on 2022/10/26.¹⁾