Cloned Meat in the Sixth World, Why bother with all the soy and krill? Options Track this topic Email this topic Print this topic Download this topic Subscribe to this forum Display Modes Outline Switch to: Standard Switch to: Linear+

[JanessaVR]

I know it’s a staple conceit of the “dark cyberpunk future” that real food (and especially meat) is all but unavailable save for the rich, and Shadowrun embraces that to a considerable degree (though not as much as some settings). That said, I have increasing difficulty buying this one.

It was a few years ago that I read about the first successful cow muscle cloning. The researchers grew it in their lab, then decanted it, tossed it on the stove, grilled it and ate it. They said the flavor was rather bland, but otherwise it wasn’t bad; they speculated it was likely the total lack of any fatty tissue and the lab-nutrient “diet” the tissue was fed.

That said, it works. This is no longer speculative science fiction as of now. Now fast-forward 60 years to the current Sixth World, where they have a lot of highly-advanced biotechnology that’s used every day. There’s no way that factory meat-cloning isn’t a fully-mature technology at this point. And as a matter fact, it’s probably replaced traditional farming almost completely, at least in first world nations. Think about it. You can either:

A) Buy up lots and lots of land for your cows, feed and water them, give them veterinary care, watch over them, drive them to the slaughterhouse when mature, chop them up, package them, and then ship them to market.

Or…

B) Grow just the tissue you want in controlled conditions, decant it when mature, then chop it up, package it, and ship it to market.

Option B is not only easier and way cheaper, it can also all be done in single location. Heck, you could probably fully automate the factory (I refuse to believe in a lot of dumb manual labor in the Sixth World – drones would be doing all that). So why would anyone bother with anything else in the 2070’s? Cheap meat of all varieties should be readily available unless you live the Barrens or something.

And while we’re at it, this really ought to change the picture for ghouls. Nothing says you can’t grow human muscle tissue in these factories while you’re at it. Yeah, I know, I know, they supposedly need that “residual Essence” or whatnot that just has to come from real metahuman flesh, but that strikes me as a cop-out rule. When vampires drain Essence, they need a live donor, not a corpse. The dead have an Essence score of 0, so I don’t really see the difference between a dead real metahuman and dead cloned metahuman tissue.

And keep in mind, I’m saying this as someone who thinks the Infected should be strictly NPCs and used for target practice. I’m not all bleeding-heart-liberal-let’s-hug-the-poor-misunderstood-Infected, but even I think this approach should be viable.