Augs and the rogue AI policy
The customers who are not customers.
People carrying a rogue AI chip. Every faction on the station agrees on the policy, and the shopkeeper is the one holding the gun that enforces it.
Augs look like ordinary customers until they do not. Missing the signs, or misreading them, carries a price in both directions.
The rogue AI is the station’s one genuinely station-wide problem: a chip that takes its host, a population that cannot be told apart by looking, and a policy every faction has signed. The shopkeeper sits at the point where that policy is actually applied.
Mechanically it is a reading test. Signs, behaviour and a scanner turn a suspicion into a decision — and the run’s failure state exists to make the decision real.
Counter protocol
- The signs are the mechanic: appearance, behaviour and questions that do not fit.
- Scanners can confirm a suspicion, which is better than guessing.
- A starting disadvantage perk and a Challenge-tier risk both exist for players who want the encounter harder.
Related stock
Where this comes from
A rogue AI chip took its hosts with it, which is why the station watches for signs.
“A sentient AI chip went rogue and took its hosts with it.”
Recognising the signs is the mechanic, and misreading them has its own cost.
“Stay alert, pick up on the signs.”
Community guides point players at a dedicated scanner instead of guesswork.
“The AUG scanner can confirm a suspected”
Caption as spoken (verbatim)
The AUG scanner can confirm a suspected
Tier 1 is the developer or publisher speaking, tier 2 is a large structured reference, tier 3 is player-made material. Anything a player measured rather than read is labelled as community-reported on this page.