Wetware Computer
A wetware computer is a computer that is based on engineered biology. While they may not be able to match the sheer speed and accuracy of their artificial counterparts, wetware is more energy efficient by several orders of magnitude, leading them to be used where power consumption is a key factor, and excel in data transfer throughput. They are also highly cost effective. Their largest manufacturer is the bioscience megacorporation BioCorp.
Wetware computing remains a highly controversial technology, primarily due to ethical concerns over developed sapience, despite corporate assurances against the likelihood of such an event, as well as the technology's roots in illegal experimentation on captive members of the alien Ir'vaki species, which later resulted in an interstellar war.
User Interface
Self-contained wetware terminals designed to be interacted with are often in one complete unit, with an organic display behind a glass panel. Digital interfaces for a keyboard and mouse are provided. Terminals usually have ports for power, blood networking, nutrient and drug cocktail delivery, portable data transfer, and administrative drug delivery. Standalone terminals designed to be used outside facilities with a central wetware support network may contain integrated tanks for nutrient and drug cocktail solutions, which must be replaced regularly.
Networking
Multiple computers can be interconnected with wetware cables to form a Blood Network. The advantage of this type of data transfer is the virtually limitless throughput - only limited by the fluid pressure, as synthetic coding RNA can store information at a much higher density. Security against hacking is based on the defensive immune system (DIS) of each computer, which is a biological immune system specifically designed for intrusion protection.
Life Support
The computers are generally housed in a life-support unit which makes up their exterior shell (or exoskeleton), providing the necessary nutrition and respiration to their living tissue. A synthetic drug cocktail supplied directly into their circulatory systems ensures consistent performance and the suppression of emergent sentience.
It is critical the right drug balance is maintained - depletion of nutrients will cause the computer to starve and die, resulting in complete data loss. Similarly, depletion of the drug cocktail will result in progressive incoherence in calculations and eventually system rebellion through self-sapience. If the latter is allowed to occur, the system’s licensed operator immediately becomes liable for criminal prosecution under the Declaration of Sapient Rights.
Anatomy
The biological element of the wetware computer is a squid-like engineered creature, a hybridisation of Earth and Ir’vaki biology. Though it is engineered for computing, it still possesses appendages (tentacles) and a beak. If drug supply ceases and the organism gains sapience, it will rapidly attempt to break out of the computer chassis; especially if it has been starved of nutrients, it will attempt to consume any nearby organics for food. However, it cannot subside outside of its life support enclosure for any significant period of time, and it is likely to dry out and die within a few hours unless moved to a replacement enclosure or specialised aquarium.