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Boomers are the slang name for Cyberdroids, the first of which were developed to aid development and colonization of space. The original Cyberdroids were developed by Dr. Katsuhito Stingray, a brilliant man who had devoted his life to merging biotechnology to "mechatronics", the technology of mecha. The first Cyberdroid was created after Dr. Stingray was able to manufacture an artificial analog to the human brain in 2020. Genom, seeking funding for space development, sank a lot of money into the lab developing the Cyberdroids, and in 2022, an "accident" stopped all research and development.

Of course, Genom and part of the USSD, who had originally requested the project, secretly restarted the Boomer projects and Genom quickly released civilian Boomers for projects and like construction and various public and private services. Genom also began releasing combat Boomers, released with the minimal artificial intelligence (brains cost money, dontcha know) required to operate the Boomer's body, beings which were heavily armed and armored, and totally illegal.

The public named these new beings "Boomers" because they have become integral to the economies of most of the world, and they have contributed to the welfare of mankind in the process. But many people wonder about the philosophical problems inherent to the Boomers. For if a Boomer is truly self-aware, then isn't the human race keeping the new Boomer race locked in slavery? And if not, has humanity become the slaves to their machines?

Technologically, Boomers are biotechnological life forms, constructed of organic and inorganic molecules, metals, near-metals, alloys, polymers, all combined into a body which can be made to resemble anything (a person or a dog, for example) and controlled by an artificial intelligence. Genom produces a huge range of Boomers, from pretty stupid servants to androids which require an MRI to distinguish them from a real human being. Labor boomers, like the workers seen in Bubblegum Crash, are utilitarian in shape and form and require regular recharging and repair. Others are humaniod, but with some obvious features which distinguish them from humans, such as blue skin. Android Boomers are nearly indistinguishable from humans, and some require dissection to determine thier true nature. Combat Boomers come in two varieties: obvious and stealth. Obvious combat Boomers are what we run into in Blow Up, on the outside of the Genom Tower: vaguely humanoid, heavily armored and armed, but obviously designed for combat. Stealth combat Boomers are like the blue Boomers which are introduced in Tinsel City: able to compress thier bodies into human form, covered with fake (or possibly real) skin, and able to pass as humans for a while. And of course, there's those Boomers which have fusion ability, or which are like Largo and are definately considered second-generation Boomers as well.

Fusion Technology

Fusion is a nanotechnology which allows a Boomer to "fuse", or become one, with inorganic material like concrete, steel, and plastics. In the process of doing so, the fused material literally becomes part of the Boomer, under it's control. If a Boomer was fusing with a steel girder, that girder could become animate, bend as if it was another arm, etc. For cases where the fused material is electronic, the Boomer is capable of controlling the electronics as well, causing cut wires to rejoin, etc. The first time we see fusion is actually the combat Boomer in the beginning of Tinsel City, when it gets it's arm blown off and fuses with one of the AD Police chopper's chaingun. Luckily, fusion is not yet possible with organic material, i.e. people, animals, and plants. Fusion of small amounts like a chain cannon is common in Boomers. The more advanced fusion of Dr. Miriam's HyperBoomers in Scoop Chase is much less common, and the unlimited fusion ability of F.G. Frederick in Tinsel City is not only extremely rare, but also extremely dangerous.

What follows is a brief description of most of the different types of Boomers that appear in the series. Unusual and/or important Boomers are covered in the characters section.

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Combat Boomers

BU-55C: The BU-55C is the first Boomer seen in Bubblegum Crisis - the big blue Boomer in Tinsel City that the AD Police are having such a hard time taking down. These combat Boomers are capable of compressing their large shape into a normal human sized frame. However, this compression makes most of the built-in weapons useless, and so the Boomer must "unpack" itself in order to use the weapons, or to use the back thrusters which allow the Boomer to fly. The BU-55C is extremely strong, immune to almost all small arms fire, and smart enough to simulate normal intelligence. They are equipped with a heat cannon in the chest, a laser cannon mounted in the mouth, and various melee weapons which sprout from the arms and hands. In addition, the BU-55C has limited fusion ability, enabling the Boomer to fuse with small objects, computers, and weapons. The Boomer in Tinsel City had fused with the AD Police cannon to replace the arm it had lost.

Doberman: This Boomer is very large and designed specifically for combat in space. Its armor is heavy enough to withstand most orbital weapons, such as high-energy lasers and partical weapons. However, its artificial intelligence is stupid, and it's pretty much programmed to attack anything that's not friendly. Because of this, the Dobermen Boomers seen in Midnight Rambler, aboard the Genaros space station, were released only after the escaping women were located, in order to minimize collateral damage. Doberman Boomers are armed with a laser cannon in the mouth and two rapid-fire lasers, one in each forearm. It maneuvers in space through use of ducted thrusters. The Doberman is incapable of compressing itself in to human form, and so qualifies an obvious combat Boomer.

BU-12B: Another obvious combat Boomer, the BU-12B is designed for use in combat on Earth, rather than in space. They are illegally mass-produced in Japan and shipped to anyone and everyone who can afford them, regardless of politics. They are apparently highly valued for the battlefield, equal to 2 or 3 tanks apeice, but in a city like MegaTokyo, where they are built and sometimes escape, they are a nightmare that the AD Police generally cannot handle without difficulty. BU-12B Boomers mount a 46mm railgun and a 4-barrel 12.7mm Gatling gun. In addition, the Boomer's armor is heavy and impervious to fusion. This last ability means that other, fusion-capable boomers are incapable of fusing with and controlling the BU-12B. This Boomer isn't necessarily intelligent, but it is very good at combat. The first BU-12B is seen in Blow Up.

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Miscelaneous Important Boomers

BU-99-CX1 SuperBoomer: This boomer was created under the control of Brian J. Mason, who incorporated the electronics necessary to control the USSD orbital weapons sattelites into the Boomer. It nearly qualifies as a second generation of Boomer, except that its mind is a little slow. It is more heavily armored than the BU-55C, but less well armed. It lacks the heat cannon, but makes up for it with superior speed and a full-auto tri-barrel laser cannon in its mouth. The cannon of the BU-55C is single shot only. However, the ability to interface and control the USSD's sattelite weapons more than compensates for it's relative lack of integral weaponry. The image above with the basic Boomer descriptions is of Linna destroying this Boomer, although this image never really occured in Born to Kill.

BU-33C (Boomer Women): These Boomers are not disguised as a BU-55C would be, an extra-large and powerful body temporarily packed into a human-sized disguise. Instead, Boomer Women are true androids, with an endoskeleton, designed to appear as women. They are used as spys, assassins, and bodyguards, and the first time that we encounter them is in Born to Kill, where they are both Mason's bodyguards and Irene Chang's assassin. While Boomer women are not as combat oriented as Combat Boomers, their speed, anti-laser and antiballistic skin, and razor fingernails make them quite dangerous. Thier high maneuverability made them a challenge for the Knight Sabers. Boomer women are also more intelligent than Combat Boomers, and most Boomers in general, and they actually have some sense of clothing style. After all, if they didn't, they couldn't perform thier functions.

BU-33S Sexaroids: These Boomers were made illegal because of their ability to interface easily with various superweapons. And having Boomers manufactured exclusivly for sex is also illegal, although this aspect of the BU-33S would just have driven up the price, had they not been discontinued because of the interfacing "problem". Sexaroids are endoskeletal, just like the C-Series Boomer Women, but they are so human that they can pass medical examinations. This, plus the highly advanced artificial intelligences, means that the Sexaroid's status as machines is the most open to question. Sexaroids, with an artificial blood supply, are maintenance-free, except when severly damaged. In this conditition, human blood can take the place of the artificial blood, but this forces the Sexaroid to kill in order to continue to live. However, while Sexaroids can be dangerous (they can also mesmerize people with whom they make eye-contact), they are not combat Boomers and are much less dangerous than Boomers designed for fighting, like the Boomer Women.

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HyperBoomers

These Boomers were designed and produced by Largo. They were designed for the express purpose of discrediting and then destroying the Knight Sabers in Red Eyes.

• Leader: As the leader of the HyperBoomers, this Boomer was given the most advanced artificial intelligence. It was so smart that it actually was able to play with its opponents, which included the tactical genius of Sylia. While it continued to attempt to discredit the Knight Sabers, it had packed itself into a version of Sylia's first Hardsuit. This HyperBoomer was optomized for melee combat, and was equipped with two tri-bladed sword arrays in its forearms, plus the standard mouth laser cannon. And, like most of the other combat Boomers, this Boomer is capable of flight using thrusters. It was also more heavily armored than any other non-expermental combat Boomer. Only the other HyperBoomers, the Boomer Giant, and the BU-99CX SuperBoomer have heavier armor.

• "Normal" HyberBoomer: Normal is something of a misnomer, as this HyperBoomer is more heavily armored than the Leader HyperBoomer, and it packs the heaviest firepower of the three HyperBoomers. It disguised itself as Priss' hardsuit while discrediting the Knight Sabers. It's armament includes a 4 barrel laser cannon built into its forehead rather than the mouth, plus a powerful heat cannon that, unlike most other heat cannons, is capable of tracking the target. This HyperBoomer is also capable of flight.

• Heavy HyperBoomer: The last HyperBoomer was the least intelligent of all the HyperBoomers, but the most heavily armored and, in some respect, the most dangerous as well. Unable to fly, it mounts jumpjets in its torso instead of flight thrusters. While the HyperBoomers were still attempting to discredit the Knight Sabers, it disguised itself as Linna's hardsuit. It is armed with the normal mouth laser cannon, but it also mounts a hugely destructive gravity cannon in it's torso.

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Miriam's Boomers

These Boomers were created by Dr. Miriam Yoshida, a highly arrogant Boomer designer working for a subsidiary of Genom. All of them except the Scout were created after Dr. Miriam analyzed the combat abilities of the Knight Sabers' hardsuits, and one was created to counteract each of the Hardsuits. In Scoop Chase, Dr. Miriam saw these Boomers as his way of moving up in the world, starting by destroying the Knight Sabers and the AD Police simultaneously.

• Scout Boomer: This moderately armed and armored Boomer was a generic Boomer boosted to become a combat Boomer, retrofitted with a mouth laser, and sent out to do battle exclusively with the Knight Sabers. Dr. Miriam used these Boomers to gather information on the combat abilities of the Hardsuits so that he could design new Boomers to destroy the Knight Sabers.

• Strike Boomer: This Boomer was a retrofitted version of generic Boomer that was designed specifically to counter Sylia. It is equipped with telescoping spikes on its head and shoulders for impaling its opponent or ramming them. It also has the standard mouth laser.

• Heavy Boomer: This nearly totally new Boomer was designed with destroying Priss specifically in mind. It was supposed to be stronger and more maneuverable than the Hardsuits, but wasn't. It's only armament is a mouth laser.

• Assault Boomer: This Boomer was designed to combat Linna's melee ability, and so was designed with agility in mind, but its only weapons were fused versions of a submachinegun, assault rifle, and a grenade launcher.

• Computer Boomer: This last Boomer was probably the most dangerous of all 4 Boomers, as it was designed to combat Nene in her element - computer systems. It was designed as female and it was able to take control of the AD Police building by fusing with the computer system. Its only weapons are it's fusion abilities and melee based razor tendrils.

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Webpage © 1997 - 2000 Brian Angliss
Revised - September 21, 2000

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