Dog Tag
When someone joins any branch of the Trident Coalition Armed Forces, – with the exception of the Space Fleet Youth Activation Program, – they get a booster injection of Nano-bots which does several things. In the case of enlisted officers the injection contains basic training and martial arts knowledge. For everyone it deactivate the connection to the Scanner Medallion as they are no longer allowed to charge money for sex when they join. But the most important function of the injection is that the nano-bots construct an electronic dog tag inside the body, attached to the front of one of the person’s upper vertebrae, so that it can’t be removed surgically without killing the patient or making them a quadriplegic.
The Armed Forces used to issue metal dog tags that you’d wear around your neck, and when they switched to the electronic devices inside the body the name “dog tag” stuck. The Military still makes the old type of dog tag and some service personnel wear them, but more like jewelry than their original purpose of identifying dead soldiers.
The new, electronic dog tags, inside the body, has several functions.
Utility
Identifying the body of a fallen soldier, as well as showing its location, and even time and cause of death.
Service personnel can set it so that letters and other messages are automatically sent to friends and family if the dog tag register you as dead, though there have been times when glitches in the system have caused false readings, so people are cautioned against using that setting.
The dog tag shows the location and vital statistics of every living service personnel as well, and a bridge station on each ship is dedicated to monitoring the dog tags, but there are rules to allow people their privacy while off duty. However the dog tag makes it nearly impossible to desert or just go awol. Oversleeping or being late for duty shifts is also difficult. The bridge station can pick up the dog signal from any service personnel in the same star system. To find someone in a different part of the galaxy you need to open a fold in space to that system.
Handheld military scanners can also pick up the dog tags, but only when operated by someone who has a dog tag of their own, to prevent enemies from using the system to target Coalition Soldiers in combat.
The dog tags are also used to make sure that only military personnel have access to certain areas, simply by having doors that only unlock if the person turning the handle has a dog tag, and in some cases it depends on their rank if they are allowed to enter. The Folder Countermeasure can also be set to only let people with dog tags through.
Comments