Meet Gekko, older yet smaller sibling to Aiden and Rukh, made in the same research lab, however as a C-line model (C for conceptual).

Gekko is a genec guinea pig, sort of a prototype that things for the other lines of development used to be tested on. Despite being the "big brother" to Aiden and Rukh he lacks their size and build at somewhere a little below 5 feet. Gekkos doesn't really have a fixed role in the team, as a bit of a jack of all trades he will and can do a little bit of everything, except for maybe the really arduous physical tasks, considering his short stature. There's one thing he's really great at though: picking things out of vending machines by twisting his arm into the machine somehow. Gotta make a living somehow.

Species Information:

Amongst the various corporations researching and developing artificial creatures Orchid Research Labs started with their own line of research in 2277, though due to strict security policies more or less official reports only just started spreading about three years later in 2280. Orchid Research usually attempts to keep up a clean image of research in terraforming and genetic research in plants, so any idea of them tampering with military research or production was effectively held back with massive funding.

The G.E.C. (Genetically Engineered Creature) made by Orchid Research Labs resembles an upright, somewhat anthropomorphic lizard, with a long, prehensile tail and digitigrade legs ending in dextrous, prehensile feet. Despite the overall shape, however, they are not reptiles but rather warmblooded, bearing smooth yet hairless skin rather than scales, external genitalia and breasts for the female specimen. Colors vary amongst shades of green, brown and black, with black markings on most of them. G.E.C.s are rather short compared to the average human, which is partly due to the strong bend in their digitigrade leg design, ranging from 120cm to 160cm usually. G.E.C.s have the intelligence comparable to that of a human – being in vitro fertilized and grown they don’t have any own culture or tradition but completely adapt to the surroundings and people they grow up with and live around. They speak the language(s) they are taught.

Production Lines:

C (concept)

The C-line of G.E.C.s is what it all started out with. This is the only line that has a generation 0, the very vew prototypes – and starting with them the C-line are lab-rats, so to speak, to develop and test features and ideas that are supposed to be implemented in the other lines of production. C-line G.E.C.s vary the most amongst themselves, depending on which tests or development works have been done on them. They were never supposed to be publically available – or ever leave the lab facilities.

M (military)

Four years after the prototype G.E.C. Orchid Research started working on the first military line creature – which was a huge step towards their actual goal, providing strong, agile and easily to control soldiers for government and corporate armies and security services. The first generation of the M-line was sinple and sturdy, the first success Orchid aimed to achieve was an impressive strength coupled with fast reflexes, and although the production cost turned out higher than they anticipated (at least for the first two generations) due to quite a bit of artificial enhancements they started implementing into the G.E.C.s research team M1 surpassed the expectations by far. Starting with generation 3 the M-line started turning out more and more refined, with less bulk, more speed and more advanced technology and genetic engineering used to grow and enhance them.

H (hazard)

The H-line was an attempt to harden G.E.C.s against different sorts of harmful environmental influences like nuclear, biological and chemical agents in warfare as well as natural and industrial disaster. The h-line has not been released as of yet, as their development is (understandably so) an overly long and arduous task.

E (entertainment)

In 2285 Orchid Research Labs finally went public with an advance to open to a wider range of possible customers with the E-line of G.E.C.s. The entertainment production line was first built as athletes individuals with the necessary monetary assets could buy and own to have them compete in sports events, however, since they were the only line of G.E.C. publically available from Orchid Research other uses all the way to downright illegal things quickly started happening. E-line G.E.C.s are, depending on what the individual one was trained for, strong athletes, fast runners and capable swimmers, they will, however, not be able to match the military line.

Age & Development:

The G.E.C., being made “in vitro”, mature rather quickly as long as they are still “within glass” – in the lab’s development tubes. During this four year period one actual year equals roughly four years of regular growth and development, so when first released from the tube a G.E.C. has the body of a 16 year old. After that growth continues normally, so after 6 years a G.E.C. appears to be 18 years old, after 7 years it appears 19 and so on. The first prototypes left their tubes with a very basic almost animalistic intellect that needed to be filled with information after the process of incubation, more up to date models however receive more knowledge on the way to “hatching” already. As soon as they are realeased from the tube they will by any means receive a strict and in depth training inside the lab facilities, depending on the production line, customer and the purpose they are being made for – Orchid Research won’t risk getting in legal trouble with their products.

As soon as they are “out in the wild” G.E.C.s can’t naturally procreate on their own, the female needs a genetic “license key” Orchid Research Labs implemented to keep customers from just making their own rather than requiring further service from the corporation creating them. Depending on the license they are enabled to produce a certain number of eggs – including a limited warranty in case one or more of them won’t hatch. So far it is still hard yet not impossible to find reverse-engineered examples or hacked license keys – and free or rogue G.E.C.s go to great lengths to get their hands on those.

The current situation:

As of today (2299) the E-line of G.E.C.s is rather commonplace, although they still mostly belong to rich people. M-line is used amongst corporate and government owned militaries, mostly in small groups with human personnel in commanding positions, as it is usually prevented to deploy enough of them to let them pose more of a threat than intended. A lot of people see this as an unnecessary precaution, considering the strict training and discipline they experience before being released to service.