The House of Doctor Abstinence Phoenix

What is Phoenix Labs?

Phoenix Labs is a small but cutting edge research accelerator based out of the Commonwealth of New England state of the Atlantic Federation. It is involved in plausible deniability and black budget items from governments and corporations that want no accountability. In this instance, Phoenix Labs is little different than many of the other 'boutique' labs. What makes it different is that the entire staff of the Lab is one woman, Abstinence Phoenix.

Agenda

Phoenix Labs is a normal facility, and has no formal agenda other than fulfilling its contracted research programs

Leader

The 'leader' of Pheonix Labs is a cyborg that goes by the moniker of Doctor Phoenix. The Doctor has a robust and masculine body, but a mechanical head, cybernetic brain, and an entirely artificial existence. The Doctor carries itself with the classic masculine bravado of a 1950s leading man, and the calculated charisma of a Southern Baptist preacher.

The Doctor is a purely artificial being. It's organic components were grown from Dr Abstinence Phoenix's own genetic materials, and was engineered to be male. The mechanical components connect the cybermek Doctor to the Lab AISC system, and the actual Dr Phoenix can use it as a surrogate. Most of the time, the actual Doctor allows her mechanical creation to be the sole 'front man' for the lab.

Founder

Abstinence Pheonix created and staffed Phoenix Lab literally out of her house, originally in the Providence Urban Zone. She is an Anglo-American woman with long brown hair and a deliberately modest form of dress and presents herself in a uniquely regressive fashion, as deeply religious. She was a world renowned geneticist and cyberneticist who cashed in her favors and debts owed and used this to leverage the building of her home lab.

The actual identity of Dr Abstinence Phoenix is an enigma, as there is no history of her under that name before a period in what looks like her late 40s.

Cipher - Phoenix is presented as a cipher so that in future settings and games, the actual background of the Doctor can be linked to a previous event. In this role, Phoenix and her lab can operate as patrons for a group of PCs and the work they do is undermining or exposing the Doctor's previous employers and their potential crimes and blasphemies.

Membership

Phoenix Labs is staffed by dozens of scientists, researchers, assistants, and support staff. The total number is close to 100. Technically there is only one person there. Abstinence Phoenix has accomplished this by several means.

Autons - a large percentage of the Lab support staff is composed of feminine autons. These machines have metallic skin the colors of flames, iridescent golds, ambers, reds, and so forth. This is strongly contrasted by the plain brown tunics they wear. The autons are programmed with the doctor's kakugram, so each is just an extension of her will.

Clones - the scientists and researchers are clones, typically beta level clones that have her fearsome intellect and skills, but a subservient personality and none of her memories. These clones are keenly aware of the fact that they are simulacra and expendable.

Organic Memory Cores - OMCs are made from human brains and operate as irrational data processing units. The Phoenix AISC is unique in that a large percentage of it's computational power is derived from banks of brains. Specifically, Dr Phoenix's brain. Replicated over and over, the Doctor has built the core of her AISC from her literal own flesh and blood.

Genome Computers - Genome computers differ from OMCs in that OMCs are made from blank or wiped brains. Genome computers are made from the still sentient minds of humans, willing or otherwise. Phoenix's genome computers, and their cyber-bodies are made from alpha-tier copies of her mind. Like the clones, they know they are artificial, but are subservient. These genome computers and their ability to proxy into an expy body allows them to download entire skillsets, and then use them. Anything the Doctor needs, one of her cyber-brains can do. This is how she has built the massive AISC system and other devices she needs for her research projects.

Resources

Phoenix Labs is a large self contained structure and is not part of an existing arcology or other megastructure. This encapsulation allows for high security, both physical and digital. The labs have cloning facilities, a fully functional med-lab, a cybernets bay, a dream tank facility large enough for 12 occupants, a host AISC, CogNet node, extensive security systems, and a self contained dimensional reactor.

Finances are extensive and multi-national, but kept very low key and spread thinly so that any breach or exposure only compromises a small amount of it. This is business as usual for boutique labs.

Defenses for the lab are low key, typically in the non-lethal and subdual range. In the case of shadowrunners and covert ops, men and women who have no nation, backer, or anyone else who will willingly take accountability for their actions, those make the best test subjects. In addition to concealed gas dispensers and pop-out guns, the facility has a number of skeletron defenders armed with more conventional and lethal weaponry.

In times where there is a high risk of attack, Phoenix Labs can bring in mercenaries for outside defense, and can in short order, produce IronCorps armor suits for security staff (cloned) to use. Being a high end research facility, the exotic weapons the armored clones can be armed with is nearly endless. Non-lethal means are still generally preferred, and when lethal means are used, the head is never a target. Even deceased, a brain can be salvaged and put to use as a processor or placed in the Doctor's Cohaagen apparatus for extraction.

Logo

An iridescent phoenix in profile

Use

Phoenix Labs, and Doctor Abstinence Phoenix are the sort of enterprise that can be the target of clandestine operations, or a patron to hire a group of PCs to work for them.