Hero leaned closer to the screen. There was something wrong with his eyes, black and shiny and mechanical. “Are they…?”

“Cybernetic,” Norah said from the other side of the workbench, her eyes glued to another screen. “And they’re not the only greywork he has. If you plugged him into the planetary net, he could double as an AI.”

Implants inserted into the brain. Although primarily used to repair neural damage – such as that caused by birth defects or injury – it can also be used to enhance human intelligence and memory.

In the past, greywork (also known as greyware) allowed humans to interface directly with computers. While this is still possible, given the state of current AI technology (which hasn’t advanced much, if at all, in the last 300 years) it is cheaper and more efficient to do so manually.

Over the last several generations, there has been an increased incidence of rejection amongst greyware patients, where implants simply stop working.

Research suggests the increased rejection of neural implants is linked to the Pollen.