Editing Setting:Inn0cence: Lost Future (section)

===Salvagers===
[[Image:More_green.jpg|frame]]

Less a faction than a loose coalition, the Salvagers gather in small enclaves all over the wasteland, usually on the edges of cities or scrapyards.  
Salvagers originated from the better class of techie, the ones with practical skills in addition to downloading porn and pirating software.  When the dust settled after the loss, millions of internet junkies were left jonesing for a fix.  Engineers, programmers, mechanics, anyone with actual expertise in the production of technology, not just its consumption, sought to utilize their skills to scavenge what they could from the ruins of civilization.  As the rest of humanity gradually re-learned the basics of survival, the Salvagers were rigging up solar panels to recharge their iPods.  [[Image:Bargains.jpg|frame|Do you have the Blu-Ray of Blade Runner with the director's cut and commentary?  
Hey pal, what you see is what I got.]]

This way of life proved lucrative, and shantytowns grew into permanent camps, which grew into fortified trading posts.  Salvagers send expeditions out into the ruined cities, prospecting for tech, then bring it back to their enclave where it is repaired and either used to improve the settlement, or traded to visiting rubes.  They send out caravans, collecting broken salvage from those who lack the expertise to repair it.  They are tinkers and merchants, the stewards of a lost age's wisdom.  Salvagers maintain many pre-loss conveniences, like electrical lighting and running water.  They watch old films, play video games, and listen to alternative music, creating a half-understood, secondhand pop culture.  Among other humans, they have a reputation as being of low character, frivolous, and lacking in moral fiber.  They seek to uncover things that are best left buried, bandy about their comforts and useless book-learning, and lure sons and daughters away with their demonic devices.

But most damning of all are their Machines.  The Salvagers never abandoned their robots; they kept them around and taught them new skills.  When the first Free Machines arose, the Salvagers welcomed them into their enclaves.  Now, the two groups are inextricably linked; the Salvagers rely on the Machines to supplement their defenses and guide their expeditions, and the robots use the fortified camps as safe havens, places to restock and repair.  Some Machines have attached themselves to families, creating a sense of continuity as they outlive their human friends, creating an odd sort of inherited "uncle."