Diving is the common term in Underspire for what many cyberpunk-style games call 'decking' - the ability to enter an alternative virtual realm and interface with technological systems.
What sets diving apart is how it is viewed in Deshret - something closer to magic than simple technology. While a deck is indeed used to make it happen, divers don't have true insight into how the deck works. They understand its operation and the basics of its maintenance, but the actual inner workings are entirely obscured. As such, the process itself maintains an edge of the mystical.
The Abzu itself, as the 'Matrix' is called, is typically viewed as a data-driven spiritual realm overlaid atop the realm of the physical. Divers are almost more like astral projectionists, sending their consciousness out of their body to wander this alternative world. This perception doesn't come from nowhere. Those who have recently died after being splintered but before being resurrected in the flesh often manifest in the Abzu, for example.
Diving in Everyday Life
Most citizens of Deshret will dive at some point, and many fairly often on a day-to-day basis. There are interesting things to explore in the Abzu, as well as the simple appeal of being able to socialize in any 'physical' form you might like. Some might even enjoy diving as a religious practice, exploring the realm of the spiritual.
What makes someone a "diver" is not a hard and fast delineation; the term might be used for people who spend a great deal of time in the Abzu, or for those who have developed the skills to utilize it for more than just exploration or socialization.
Connecting to the Abzu
To interface with the Abzu, divers use dive rigs, padded chairs that support their body during the process. These chairs connect wirelessly to the user's brain, requiring no physical hardline to disconnect. It's possible to connect through portable hardware, but this provides only the most superficial glimpse into the world, not the full immersion of diving.
Most divers will likely jack in to Abzu from a public dive rig rental, located near the Cortex - one of two massive data centers the Abzu runs on. It's governed by the Abkal, the Abzu's primary custodians. (The other data center is owned by Symphony and located in Delos.)
Once a diver is jacked in, their body is unconscious and vulnerable in the physical world. If a diver's connection drops, they will deal with mild negative effects, like headaches. But if someone grapples them out of a dive rig you will get more serious effects, maybe some actual physical damage... and, of course, more serious harm is possible as well.
Interfacing with the Abzu
Beyond the body, a jacked-in diver's mind is conscious and awake within Abzu, with a different perspective of the world. They can take on any shape they choose as they are no longer bound by the limits of their physical body. Intelligence and knowledge replace strength.
'Rooms' are seen more as a network of routers and connected devices. A diver can enter into any matrix-connected device in the game. Entry is not conventional hacking in this sense. A diver isn't programming, but literally walking into the device and interacting with it physically. For example, stealing data manifests as taking a file that you need to actually carry with you.
Divers don't have to rely solely on their own two 'hands', though. They can also rely on sprites, entities that could be conceived as lesser spirits or familiars. Some have been constructed or rebuilt by those with the proper skills, but others seem to have spontaneously come into being. They are not sapient or capable of higher thought, but they do possess innate aptitudes and abilities, some being more suited for direct battle (governed by the Security skill) and others for tinkering or tuning (governed by Systems).
When divers conflict, combat typically operates via their relative sprites. But it can also touch the divers themselves, with potentially devastating effects. If a diver "dies" in Abzu, they will be expelled from the network back into their physical body to perish in reality as well.
Uses of Diving
While Underspire remains in alpha, the functionality of diving will likely see considerable improvement and revamping.
Some intended uses and abilities of diving include:
- Data exfiltration/spying
- Locating people via their connected devices
- Potentially disabling devices or equipment
- Controlling access to locked-down places
- Changing the weather in Deshret
- Hacking into Symphony's networks to change what is broadcast on television
Diving isn't intended to function as a combat skill in the physical world. For example, divers won't be able to do direct damage to people by frying their brains.
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