Culture

Synths, strictly speaking, don't have a culture entirely for themselves, but rather see themselves as culturally intertwined with the society that surrounds them. For the most part this would be the culture of the Outer Rim, although smaller Synth populations exist within other civilizations as well. However, even though they blend into the society that surrounds hem, their synthetic origin and way of living differs from the organics around them.

Energy Consumption

Synths are entirely synthetic and have ways of powering their bodies that differ greatly from that of organics. Organics have to consume food to gain nutrition, which their bodies convert into energy to power the body's processes, from movement to cognition. Without this energy, a body will die. Synths require regular charging of their battery tissue to keep them alive. This has led to charging points being a common thing all throughout the Outer Rim. Just as organics like having sources of food around, Synths feel comfortable knowing that they can sit on a bench nearby to recharge their batteries a bit when they feel tired. The ubiquity of charging points often leads to Synths forgetting that they require energy to live, since they so often enter places or use furniture that charges them without them even noticing. Battery extensions and modules that generate power themselves make the need to charge even less noticable.

Energy is seen as a basic right for Synths throughout the Outer Rim and is therefor available for free. Places that don't have a ubiquitous energy supply are often considered wild or underdeveloped. One of the first thing that happens when a new planet is colonized within the outer Rim is that a charging network for Synths is set up to allow movement throughout the colony and reduce the threat of a Synth being stranded somewhere without a chance to charge.

It is seen as fashionable for Synths to wear modules that do the charging for them, by generating power or amplifying the power transmitted through charging points. Typical modules of that sort would be skin plating covered in solar sells, crests and fins that act as solar panels as well as, in rare cases, miniature nuclear reactor modules built into the Synth's frame. Due to the ubiquity of charging points such modules are usually not really necessary, but tend to be used as fashion items and as a display of independence and style.

Food and Drink

While Synths do not require food or drink for sustenance or to generate energy, it is instead used to provide their bodies with materials required for maintenance as well as the change of their frame size. Since the bodies of Synths are made of entirely different materials than those of organics, the substances they consume are also entirely different. Whereas organics will eat food based on carbohydrates, fats and protein, Synths will prefer foods heavy in minerals and metals.

While synths can theoretically eat and digest organic food, it does not appeal to them in either taste, smell or looks. It also tends to give them slight indigestion, since organic food does not contain the nutrition they require for their internal chemical processes.

Since the majority of a Synth's body consists of carbon based materials, the majority of their diet is also carbon. Popular carbon based food items include carbon crisps, graphite bars and graphene flakes. Carbon can come in many different shapes, including fullerene based drinks, or in form of polymers. Polymer noodles and polymüsli are popular as well.

It is not uncommon for Synths to season their food with materials that would be a bit risky for organics, such as bismuth, rust or (for those who like it very spicy) uranium. Food items that could be dangerous to organics around Synths are marked with danger indicators to remind Synths not to put others in danger and to please make sure not to leave too many uranium crumbs all over the place.

Synths can have very varied diets, with many of them only consuming very little food to begin with. Since food consumption is only necessary to maintain a Synth's body or to re-shape it and Synths generally don't use food for energy generation, they typically only eat regular meals during times of extensive physical change. An example of a daily diet of a growing Synth could look the following way: