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In the beginning of season 2 of Netflix series Altered Carbon, we meet bounty hunter Trepp as she tracks down Takeshi Kovacs (presumably, still on Earth (?)). She manages to capture him and his mind is sent off-world, needlecast to another Harlan's World.

Later on, we see that Trepp has been transferred to Harlan's World, as well. There, she is wearing a sleeve that looks the same as the one from the opening scene on Earth.

How is that possible?

My impression was that sleeves are somewhat valuable. Custom sleeves, clones of one's own body, appeared to be somewhat of a priviledge only wealthy meths could afford (although Kovacs somehow procured a device that was capable of instant cloning once in season 1). In particular, Trepp's sleeve is not simply "grown", but also as cybernetic enhancements.

Is her getting that sleeve a favour by whoever paid her to track down Kovacs? Or is she using some kind of a "standard model" of a sleeve that is available on different worlds (but then, how is it that no-one else wears the same sleeve)?

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She is using a synthetic sleeve on the other planet, which provides a cheaper/easier way to get the same appearance. I assume the coils here are just for show.

When Trepp tastes her drink at the bar, she remarks on how poor her synth sleeve's taste buds are.

To Poe:

Trepp: It's not you. The nerve endings in this thing are for shit

Poe: You're wearing a synth

Trepp: More like a latex glove

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  • Ok, I suppose combined with the aspect that synthetic sleeves essentially make you a shapeshifter (which, I think, was not in the books, where - if I recall correctly - at least some synthetic sleeves would actually look distinctly synthetic) it somehow makes sense that we don't see plenty of people wearing this model of synthetic sleeve running around.
    – O. R. Mapper
    Apr 30, 2020 at 6:05
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    @O.R.Mapper Presumably you buy a custom future-latex skin for your synth in the shape you want, which is again presumably still much much quicker/cheaper than growing a clone. My memories of the books are a bit hazy, but I think that there were a range of qualities when it came to synths, and the cheap ones certainly looked obvious. Theres certainly a lot more handwaving of this stuff in the show.
    – Jack
    Apr 30, 2020 at 23:18

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