The acronym stands for "Compressed Heavy Infantry Troopers" (the Race, as is their wont, has many, more colorful acronyms). Fitted with an Intradermal Network (C.H.I.T.I.N.) of alteration spell chips and ocultech devices in a topo-chakric modality, "chits" (as the "volunteers" are called) can then be folded four dimensionally to the approximate size of a Core Earth credit card (or a Nippon Tech personal computer) and stored (almost) indefinitely. This not only reduces the need for supplies, scarce on tharkold, it also allows a single chit keeper to be a significant military force, yet project a divinational profile of a single being.
But while magic performs by the intent of the caster, and the Alteration spells used by other cosms are quite well developed (see the use of similar effects in Orrorshan Paper Tigers and Ayslish Page Cages), OccculTech is not as relaible. Early chits relied on the Folk AK, and were exclusive to Race slaves. (As is most Beta-test OccultWare.) The use of Living Forces allowed for Tharkoldu chits, but excessive cyberware tended to interfere in the reintegration process. The use of True Knowledge has made chits very reliable, but reliable chits quite rare. (Some OcculTechnicians still try to get by with the Light AK, which works for a while, but the failures are quite... dazzling).
| Cyberware | Surgery Difficulty | Surgery Effect | Cyber Rating | Cost (Value) | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C.H.I.T.I.N. | 15 | Mortal | +6 | $30,000(22) | Reduce Weight Value 15 to 0 |
Like most OccultWare, C.H.I.T.I.N. is designed for a Tharkoldu physiology, and even then not for comfort. If implanted in a non-daemon, increase the Surgery Effect to "Dead", which means that the patient will die on the table unless appropriate measures are taken during and after surgery. (The daemons don't mind the loss of a slave so much as to time neccessary to remove the implants. The network of implants is quite fragile, and cannot be simply ripped out like most OccultWare, but must be removed in a surgery taking as long as the first, and a recalibration period equally as long. The daemons find a little kindness -even to a monkey - not unbearable under these circumstances.)
The effect of C.H.I.T.I.N. is to reduce the Weight Value of it's user to a comfortable 1/10th Kg, and their size to roughly 100 mm by 50 mm by 5 mm. Note that while the user's weight and size change, the Alteration does not extend to their physical characteristics. OcculTechnicians early on realized that any alterations of the user's Stats reduced the effectiveness of the Law of Pain. (Assume that all chits have one free roll again, usable against any target, upon being "uncarded".) Though chits retain their full DEX and STR, they rarely are able to apply them in their new shape. But every chit "volunteer" is quite glad to know that they have their full TOU value at all times. (Unnatural rigidity is one sure way of detecting a chit in the field. Visual inpsections often fail - PER DV of 20 - since the monkey mind has difficulty tracing four dimensions.)
While it is possible for a chit to trigger their own C.H.I.T.I.N., and it is occasionally used as "retreat" of sorts on the battlefield (though usually only retrieved for the value of the 'Ware, not the wearer), most have an override switch tuned to the freqency of their current Dominant. (Retuning takes one hour and an OcculTech Total of 10.)
Treat C.H.I.T.I.N. like normal cyberware with regards to installation and use, except that systems failure (and disconection) can occur both actively on the initial alteration and on recovery, and passively during any scene that the chit is "carded". Failure is almost always fatal, and more than always messy, as the Chakric Manifold instantly degrades, returning the chit to more or less it's original three dimensions. Unless a higher AK than Living Forces is used, any cyber value greater than the cits SPI adds to the bonus generated for the Systems Failure Chart. The Light AK works, but failures explode in a OcculTech flourescence equal to the chit-ed beings TOU, and also destabilize any other chits in the area (forced cyber failure check, with any appropriate damage penalties). This is known to OcculTechnicians as "cascade failure", and in the field as "SNOFU".