Red

**Epithets:** Isolates, Naturals, Monsters (derogatory)

 About the Red

You are who you are. Never let anyone, including yourself, deny you that. If you are not who you are, you are no one. If you abandon what makes you you, you are no one. Even the slightest compromise of your identity is unacceptable. The Red exist in their alien forms, using a bare minimum of Tech to keep themselves safe from Earth's toxic environment and interacting with humanity through both human and abductee proxies and remote-operated drones.

At their core, Red Xenos are based around a fundamental paradox; despite rejecting disguise Tech, there isn't actually any species in the universe humanlike enough to live in Earth's environment as easily as homo sapiens do without significant modification to their bodies and biochemistry-and more importantly, they cannot actually go out in public, having to use mindless clone bodies to puppeteer from their homes, at least. Wiser Naturals are aware of the hypocrisy; for all their chest beating about independence from needing Tech and being degraded by it, they're ultimately as dependent on it as anyone else-if not more so, because unlike their fellows, they can't slip up and cover it up later. Anyone who sees a Red in her true body instantly knows she is at least something unknown to the Earth, if not extraterrestrial altogether. Combine that with the fact that Reds are actually the best there is at understanding humans as a whole (they have to be, if they plan on being the manipulators and quiet chessmasters they are), and one has the ironic fact that the most true Xenos are the most prone to deception by necessity. Still, they're right about less mental degradation and more self-knowledge; Naturals remember the most about the Empire if they are of Celestial origin, and in the case of the rare Terrestrial enclave of Red, know enough of their own species biology and the culture they grew up in, has enough to make accurate educated guesses. *[Contributed by Leliel]*

## Boon

In order to exist on Earth, let alone in human society, each Red operates a human body called an Interface, and may switch between bodies as an instant action; inactive bodies are comatose. This body has many traits in common with him (after all, those traits are in fact those of the xeno himself), but some are tracked separately.

* The xeno has a separate set of Physical Attributes for each body.
* Each body has a different Health track. Damage applied to one Interface carries over to other Interfaces and the xeno's main body if and only if the damage is psychological in nature, such as a telepathic assault or heart-stopping terror.
* Physical Tilts and Conditions only affect the body that they are applied to. In addition, a Possessed (but not Claimed) Red may flee to any body, leaving the possessed one in the control of the possessing being.
* Certain Merits, generally those representing an intrinsic part of the body, only apply to one body. Candidates for this include: Fast Reflexes, Double Jointed, Fleet of Foot, Giant, Hardy, Iron Stamina, Small-Framed, Striking Looks, Extra Life, Transgenic.
* Experiences or free dots spent on a non-shared item are applied to each body separately. However, purchased dots may only be applied like this to non-shared traits, and only traits in the same category; and dots refunded from the loss of a non-shared Merit may only be spent on non-shared Merits.

The Red starts with one Interface. Additional Interfaces require one year to grow, 10 Experiences, and purchases with a total Resources value of 20.

## Frailty

Despite being able to switch between bodies, a Red must spend time in all bodies to avoid the effects of atrophy and starvation. Unless attended by a character with at least two dots in Medicine, a body that is not used to at least see to its biological needs (requiring one hour per day) suffers the effects of deprivation; and unless attended by a character with at least four dots in Medicine, suffers the Atrophied Condition after one week and places a tick on it for each week thereafter. Attempts to attend the "main" body require an Intelligence+Medicine roll, which is reduced to a chance die for any character that does not have a Specialty in that particular xeno's biology, and penalties from atrophy or wounds to the main body apply to all Interfaces.

In addition, Reds in their main bodies cannot pass as human. A Red who wishes to pass as human without using Interfaces must limit all interaction with the outside world to written or typed correspondence, or remain hidden when taking physical actions.

## Sample Instincts

* Even the slightest challenge to you infringes on your identity. Let no one exercise dominance over you.