root@Brave New Worlds [hr] If the beta-forks had not been running for a very long time, it would not be very likely, no. I imagine that even after the neural pruning, given enough time to continue to grow and develop, the beta will regain self-autonomy. Admittedly, I'm pushing an ideology of self-determination in any being with sentience and reason, which may be rather more generous than should be assumed. What fascinates me about the concept of a free beta-fork is exploring the snails-eye view of the Eclipse Phase universe that they would have. They would struggle and thrive in the cracks and shadows between the lives and machinations of the alpha-elites, and may find a curious calm similar to the waters a few meters under even the most horrible of storms. It is also much easier to write from a perspective closer to our current mental capabilities, looking in, rather than try to fathom the uncanny impulses of the immortal demigods that most transhumans are.

root@Brave New Worlds [hr]

Eclipse Phase p273 wrote:

A beta fork’s stats are determined as follows: Reduce all aptitudes by 5 (to a minimum of 1). This affects all skills as well. Likewise, this reduces LUC by 10 and INIT by 20. Active skills have a maximum value of 60. Moxie is reduced to 1. The Psi trait is removed. At the gamemaster’s discretion, other traits may no longer apply as well. Additional changes may apply as determined by the neural pruning test. Beta forks take 1 minute to generate.

Beta-forks have their memories pruned, and are hobbled as above. They have no legal rights, and are legal most places that aren't the Jovian Republic. Splicers have maximum Aptitudes of 25, and infomorphs have maximum Aptitudes of 40. AI are limited to max aptitude of 20, and max skill of 40 for Active skills, and 90 for Knowledge skills, cannot default, cannot learn, and are very, very bad at social interaction. Beta-forks are just the better skill-slavery option, if you can handle that pesky tendency to have a personality and a will.

root@Brave New Worlds [hr] A beta is an alpha with a few memories removed, perhaps some additional psychosurgery, and a bit of blunting on Aptitudes. If we start out with an alpha who lives as an infomorph and does nothing but work on Aptitudes until they are all at 40, then their beta fork is still a scary monster with Aptitudes of 35. This, however, seems to be an unlikely case. More reasonably, we have the "average" character at character generation with their points spread equally among Aptitudes to have them all at 15. When the beta fork is made of this character, their Aptitudes are reduced to 10 across the board, a 350 CP reduction. A given character at character generation has 1000 Customization Points, plus the 1050 CP worth of Aptitude points, 5 CP worth of money, 5 CP worth of Rep, 80 for Native Language, and something like 40 CP for Background, and 40 for Faction. 2220 CP total, so the Aptitude reduction is about 15% of their total. I guess that it would be overstating the case to say that they have a snails-eye view of the world. A 15% reduction in total ability accompanied with an arbitrary removal of memories should not be taken too lightly, though. In a society where expertise is the only defining characteristic, a 15% reduction completely removes the beta from the top of any field. They are stuck as second-class citizens, even beyond the legal restrictions they face. But even then, they still outperform AI quite handily, and would be the preferred tool for any thankless task that needs more skill and oversight than an automated program could provide. They would still be the most exploitable class of transhumanity.

root@Brave New Worlds [hr] Ignoring the legal status issues, a beta-fork has very little to differentiate it from an indenture. There is the neural pruning process, but the flensing of memories and skills is mostly a (much) more extreme version of what is used in psychotherapy. A standard beta is supposed to be time-limited (anti-trust laws forbid anything else on many habitats, but that's back to the legal issues), but there is nothing intrinsic to the beta-fork that enforces that time limit. For all intents and purposes, when removed from a social and legal framework, I would argue that betas are in no way different from any other slightly damaged ego. Given the widespread trauma most egos have suffered due to the Fall, I might even go so far as to say they do not necessarily have any differences from any other citizen. The reason I find them to be so interesting is precisely that. They have no defining features other than social norms and legal frameworks that declare them to be different or substandard. Inside of that social and legal framework, they are more valuable than indentures (as they have no rights), and do better work than AI's (which are equivalent to a delta-fork, I believe). They are beta-class by definition only. I consider this to be fertile grounds for making interesting stories where I might be able to come up with a sympathetic character (for once). Maybe that's just me though; there are plenty of fertile grounds for creativity in this setting.