Life After DeathLife After Death (LAD) is a department of Karma who specialise in the extraction and treatment of combat casualties in Mort. Since 901SD they have offered a services which, when an account holder is fatally injured, will extract them and stabilise vital organs until the customer can be taken to a LAD facility and rebuilt. In this way fallen SLA employees and Operatives can be effectively raised from the dead.
Your Account
In order for an Operative to benefit from LAD, they must open an account. LAD accounts start at 1c with no upper limit, and they will entitle an account holder to be fitted with a small biogenetic transmitter which will inform the nearest LAD facility when they flatline, allowing a recovery crew to be dispatched. At increments of 1000c the account is upgraded for additional benefits and usually more reliable service.
All treatment performed on a customer will be charged to their LAD account, and if there are sufficient funds they will take out a loan in your name in order to cover basic treatment to get you back alive and on your feet. Operatives with well funded LAD accounts can choose to have damaged limbs and organs replaced with superior Karma versions, surviving death to become even stronger. Storage lockers are also available for Ops to pre-purchase replacements and have them ready should they be needed. It is not unheard of for an Op (or particularly Contract Killers) to be killed, only to return with a full set of Karma implants and cosmetic surgery.
Extraction
LAD own a fleet of Kilcopters, stationed at facilities every 100km or so and on standby to launch at an instant's notice. The Kilcopters are fully armed, and as well as carrying armoured LAD techs there will also be a small but heavily armed squad of combat specialists. Once a customer flatlines the Kilcopter will launch and make for the target's broadcast. Travelling fast and at low altitude, the extraction team are usually at location within three minutes. Once arrived, the crew will assess for threats and subdue them while the techs recover the body. Usually this will involve heavy fire, since something must have killed the customer in the first place, but the extraction team will make no effort to do anything other than keep hostiles at bay until they can leave with the body.
The technicians have 4 minutes after death to administer a mixture of ice slurry, oxygenated gel, and chemical refrigeration (called Diamond Dust), which will halt brain death for several hours. The body can then be returned to the LAD hospital in Central for reconstruction.
Treatment
The treatment recieved while under the care of LAD naturally varies depending upon the cause of death. Something as simple as bleeding to death can be quickly reversed by repairing the wounds with biogenetic flesh and a blood transfusion before restarting the heart. On the other hand, full body reconstructive surgery with Nuke Tendon implants can take weeks. In theory only the brain needs to survive and the body can be entirely remade, but such a dramatic reconstruction has not yet been attempted. Of note is the first public case of LAD treatment, Delia the Destroyer, who was and stil is one of the best loved Contract Killers in the World of Progress. Killed by a bullet between the eyes from a child assassin, LAD later had her back on her feet again despite the inevitable damage to the brain. Conspiracy theories abound as to why she survived, from the whole thing being a Karma publicity stunt, to Delia being replaced by a surgically altered imposter. Whatever the reason, it is apparent that the experience has altered her.
The Cost of LAD
Regardless of the level of account you hold, LAD is expensive. Nothing is free, and customers will be charged for their evacuation, ammo costs for extraction, cost of the stabilising drugs, treatment, and replacements. This usually comes out in the region of a couple of thousand credits. The LAD technicians will usually do the minimum required to get the customer stable and conscious and then an accountant will discuss their options with them and arrange for any loans required for treatment. This can be uncomfortable, and many choose to give LAD prior instructions.
Limitations
In order to be able to treat a customer, the LAD evacuation team must be able to actually reach the body, and in time. Those dying in Central can be pretty much guaranteed extraction, but out in the Cannibal Sectors the chances aren't so great. Operatives dying underground on indoors can cause problems for extraction teams as they must land further away and travel to the customer on foot. The 4 minute rule is not set in stone, and some will survive for double that amount, but the longer the brain remains warm the greater the damage to it, and after 4 minutes LAD cannot guarantee that the customer won't be a vegetable.
In addition to the time limit, the customer's brain must actually survive the injuries that caused the death in the first place. Again, some damage may be repaired, but the more damaged the brain is the less chance there is of LAD being able to recover the customer.
Finally, LAD treatment is not available to Ebons and Brain Wasters due to their inherent rejection of Karma biogenetics. High ranking Ebb healing abilities can provide a similar function, but this is currently not widely commercially available.
The Real Cost of LAD
With death comes a certain amount of psychological damage. Karma can make your body as good as new, but they can't heal your mind. With the program still in its infacy the psychological effects of LAD are still largely unknown, but those who have undergone the treatment have often been reported to have undergone personality changes ranging from minor tics to complete detachment .
LAD in the game
A LAD account is well worth taking out, as there's a good chance it will stop you losing your character when something goes wrong. It won't be cheap, but it's better than rolling a new character. Things to bear in mind then;
Teammates would do well to use the 4 minutes to get the corpse somewhere easily accessible to the LAD team. Diamond Dust is also available to buy, and can be administered by medically trained Ops to greatly prolong their survival time.
Waiting for the evac team to arrive and dispatch your enemies might sound like a good idea until you get the ammo bill for a Kilcopter's 40mm chaingun.
The damage that killed you may have caused organ damage (this is covered in the injury house rules). This isn't so bad - the replacements are usually a few hundred credits and can be better than the originals.
After LAD treatment you will be addicted to Chain, costing 4c/day.