A Word from your Geneticist

[Dions]

i have no qualms with geneticists ever since the cloner got taken off their inept statuesque hands. Now they're just green furniture to me. I like walking into genetics and putting hats on them while theyre in their trance state.

[Noah Buttes]

I wasn't around for the Port-a-Gene. What was so bad about it? It sounds like it'd actually be a good way to get genetics out and interacting more with the crew.

[Roomba]

It had exactly the opposite effect: geneticists would grab a few monkeys and the portagene, find a quiet room in maintenance, wall themselves away and boost themselves up to invincibility with no one seeing hide nor hair of them for the entire round. This was after the big genetics update and pre-stability too, so you had invisible TK-hulks immune to almost every damage type running around damn near every round.

[ISaidNo]

well fuck i coded it with exactly what noah said in mind
more fool me for thinking i can code anything other than total shit i guess

[Grek]

It didn't help that the porta-gene was incredibly easy to steal and there was a big genetics hate movement going on back then. Even if you DID try to use it for the intended purpose of going to the marketplace and activating random people's potential powers, some asshole would just toolbox you and then pull your portagene off to the crusher.

[Winklabom]

Yeah, I'd argue that the main reason Port-a-Genes were used that way was because of the -extremely- toxic attitude towards geneticists (moreso than today): they would bring the Port-a-genes to the bar in order to give people powers, only to have them stolen and crushed by angry staff assistants every single time.

The geneticists pretty much said "Screw you guys" and then hid in maintenance tunnels and other z-levels from that point on until the Port-a-genes were finally removed.

[Vitatroll]

"This is why we can't have nice things."

[Frank_Stein]

It didn't help that the porta-gene was incredibly easy to steal and there was a big genetics hate movement going on back then. Even if you DID try to use it for the intended purpose of going to the marketplace and activating random people's potential powers, some asshole would just toolbox you and then pull your portagene off to the crusher.

This combined with the fact that the port-a-gene replaced most of the stationary gene scanners already there.

To be honest though, the way activators work nowadays makes the port-a-gene irrelevant

[Noah Buttes]

Maybe a half-way point could be found.

My idea requires some retooling of the existing genetics DNA machinery, but I think it'd work.

First, separate the activator/injector vending and recycling into a third machine. It's kinda weird for a computer to be directly vending and recycling needles anyway.

Next, Re-purpose the little wash closet to the left of the morgue into a tiny genetics access booth, with two chairs, and two computers. Move the rightmost sleeper in the medical lobby over to where that small table by the north morgue entrance is now. Turn the walls into glass, and put two injector/activator units directly opposite the DNA computers. Flank the injector/activator units with DNA scanners.

Now you've got public access scanners and injector/activator vendors, but you still need the geneticists in order to actually do anything. The crew gets super powers, genetics quits being a bunch of recluses, and everyone's happy.

Hell, this even provides a justification for why geneticists have medbay access.

Related but optional idea: Make it so people can stick cash into the injector units in order get injectors of stored mutations without a geneticist's help. The geneticist does, however, have to designate which ones are for sale.

[Camnui]

Maybe a half-way point could be found.

My idea requires some retooling of the existing genetics DNA machinery, but I think it'd work.

First, separate the activator/injector vending and recycling into a third machine. It's kinda weird for a computer to be directly vending and recycling needles anyway.

Next, Re-purpose the little wash closet to the left of the morgue into a tiny genetics access booth, with two chairs, and two computers. Move the rightmost sleeper in the medical lobby over to where that small table by the north morgue entrance is now. Turn the walls into glass, and put two injector/activator units directly opposite the DNA computers. Flank the injector/activator units with DNA scanners.

Now you've got public access scanners and injector/activator vendors, but you still need the geneticists in order to actually do anything. The crew gets super powers, genetics quits being a bunch of recluses, and everyone's happy.

Hell, this even provides a justification for why geneticists have medbay access.

Related but optional idea: Make it so people can stick cash into the injector units in order get injectors of stored mutations without a geneticist's help.

giving injectors of stored mutations sounds like it's just asking for trouble, maybe have it so the geneticists can shove injectors into the machine, making it so said machine will produce injectors of it for cash for the rest of the round, meaning not only do the crew get powers, geneticists can save good injectors using the machine with a lot less hassle. 
It also means that some random chucklefuck can't just check the machine and get hulk-xray-thermal resist because a geneticist left it in their storage, whether or not it gets shared is up to the geneticist.

[Noah Buttes]

Maybe a half-way point could be found.

My idea requires some retooling of the existing genetics DNA machinery, but I think it'd work.

First, separate the activator/injector vending and recycling into a third machine. It's kinda weird for a computer to be directly vending and recycling needles anyway.

Next, Re-purpose the little wash closet to the left of the morgue into a tiny genetics access booth, with two chairs, and two computers. Move the rightmost sleeper in the medical lobby over to where that small table by the north morgue entrance is now. Turn the walls into glass, and put two injector/activator units directly opposite the DNA computers. Flank the injector/activator units with DNA scanners.

Now you've got public access scanners and injector/activator vendors, but you still need the geneticists in order to actually do anything. The crew gets super powers, genetics quits being a bunch of recluses, and everyone's happy.

Hell, this even provides a justification for why geneticists have medbay access.

Related but optional idea: Make it so people can stick cash into the injector units in order get injectors of stored mutations without a geneticist's help.

giving injectors of stored mutations sounds like it's just asking for trouble, maybe have it so the geneticists can shove injectors into the machine, making it so said machine will produce injectors of it for cash for the rest of the round, meaning not only do the crew get powers, geneticists can save good injectors using the machine with a lot less hassle. 
It also means that some random chucklefuck can't just check the machine and get hulk-xray-thermal resist because a geneticist left it in their storage, whether or not it gets shared is up to the geneticist.

I meant to include this in my original post, but WHOOPS.

The geneticist sets what mutations are for sale.

[ZeWaka]

~awesomesauce~

Great idea! I love every bit of it, I definitely feel like it would get more geneticist-crewmember interaction going.

[Totheark]

a bunch of stuff

Yes. All of it. With the additions of further comments. I'd love selling mutations and such

[Houka]

To elaborate on the 'injectors for cash' idea, how about they have to be slotted into a machine that sits outside of the cloner? Call it the Pay-To-Mutate, give it a basic computer interface that either requires slotting a base injector into it directly or connecting it to the archive already in the machines. That way, geneticists can maintain it by adding new mutations and gaining cash while maintaining their need to hide from the crew like slimy trolls.

[Camnui]

To elaborate on the 'injectors for cash' idea, how about they have to be slotted into a machine that sits outside of the cloner? Call it the Pay-To-Mutate, give it a basic computer interface that either requires slotting a base injector into it directly or connecting it to the archive already in the machines. That way, geneticists can maintain it by adding new mutations and gaining cash while maintaining their need to hide from the crew like slimy trolls.

I vote on the need to slot in injectors to build a library of genes for sale, because there's honestly some genes that you really don't wanna share with the general public sometimes, also, you could totally add a way for people to get their activators for a flat fee if the mutation has been researched. Meaning people don't have to pester genetics as much, and it avoids assistants barging in to get their activators, I mean, why bother annoying the people who can melt you with their eyes quite often, when you can get enough cash to safely acquire your genes by rummaging in a couch.