Ah, this came up again. I posted a suggestion about this in an oldish CBM improvement thread in the suggestions forum. Here’s the slightly modified suggestion:
I would think it makes sense for bionics to be installed as they are now, but you would require some groundwork to be done first. Now, this groundwork would need to be of varying complexity depending on what you want to install. For purely passive bionics such as the ally plating or the integrated tool set you would only need a basic bionics container, basically preparing your relevant body part for implantation.
I think that no bionics groundwork should be possible to self-administer without machine help (or possibly NPC help in the mists of the future). The basic container groundwork could be performed by a fairly simple machine/robot found in hospitals, doctors offices, pharmacies and perhaps even more widespread places, like shopping malls and large offices perhaps. There could maybe even be a portable unit for this. I envision that the machine would target one body part of your choosing to install a container. Any given body part could then take a certain number of containers or slots, depending on its size, so that the torso could contain more slots than one of the hands. This potential slot amount could also possibly be reduced by certain mutations, but that’s for the future. A certain bionic would then take a certain amount of slots. E.g. the tool set would take one entire hand and the fusion blaster arm would take an entire hand and an entire arm while the blood filter would take one torso slot.
For bionics that need power you would need a central power routing system. This would be a one-time thing that could only be installed by slightly more complex machines, maybe restricted to hospitals, pharmacies and doctor’s offices.
The next step would be neurally activated bionics such as the blood filter or the alarm system. These would need a spinal neural interface, something that can only be done by fairly complicated machines, maybe restricted to the ones in hospitals. This category would include bionics that can’t reasonably be assumed to be possible to activate through some external button or specific normal muscle use.
Finally the offensive, experimental or otherwise military bionics would need a military grade neural interface/power routing system. These would only be installable in labs or high-security military installations. These bionics would be things like chain lightning, artificial night or teleporter.
The machines themselves could then use batteries as power and possibly need resources for the procedure, based on balancing. I’m thinking success should be guaranteed with the machines, having to endure random chance after actually finding one of them is a bit much, I think. Random injury with the CBM installation itself could still be there, I suppose, but with an underlying framework with built-in limitations I don’t really see the need.
Of course, this system could be implemented in whole or in parts. The slots per body part system could be thrown out based on personal preference, or you could have less/more tiers of groundwork needed.
I realise that coming here with suggestions without actually contributing myself is a bit sleazy, but take this for what it is: a suggestion for anyone that finds it interesting and is capable of implementing it to use and modify to their heart’s extent!
