The Stryker

Suwon Quarantined, Supplies Fly off the Shelves Suwon, Konyang Prefectural officials have announced that a city-wide quarantine will be put into effect for Suwon City, starting at midnight. 14,000 additional National Police officers are being mobilized for the enforcement of the quarantine, which will disallow any unsupervised entry or exit from the city, while special permissions will be required for commotion between districts inside Suwon. This move has been dubbed as an “entirely preventative measure” to curb the spike of violence between citizens and victims of the outbreak, while also making it easier to safely locate and contain them. Suwon mayor Kim Nam-seon made a short address, explaining the situation. “Things will get better, but now we must all pull together and deal with the facts at hand. We need a quarantine to manage the situation, the national emergency. We are forced to deal with aggressive cases of violence daily now, and more and more of our Positronic citizens are succumbing. We need to find them before they cause harm[…] A stricter curfew may not be out of the question.” Reactions to the quarantine have been widespread and far from positive. Convenience stores and supermarkets are flooded with frantic customers, emptying the shelves of canned and preserved goods, while batteries and mobile power sources are already out of stock thanks to a wave of panic-buying. Documentation of outbreak victims and their behavior has also reached an all time high, contributing massively to the mass panic. While previously the police were noted for taking down videos of violent incidents in an effort to “combat misinformation”, the volume of such media circulating on the Konyanger extranet have rendered such censorship efforts futile.

Illness Spreads to the Countryside, Outcry against Einstein Cause Theory Suwon, Konyang With the officially named Rampancy Virus in full swing, National Police sources are now reporting cases of infected IPC persons in the countryside. Many villages in all prefectures are starting to experience the crisis that has engulfed all major urban centers of the country, though to a much lesser extent. Questions arise over whether or not the largely unpoliced rural areas will be able to cope with an increased number of cases, as many small villages and townships are starting to form citizen-groups to restrain any victims of the Rampancy. As the number of affected reaches a critical three hundred per day, curfews are being declared across various cities at the prefectural level, while the Konyang Robotics Corporation hospital in Aoyama is rapidly reaching its full capacity. On the research front, a preliminary report into the causes of the crisis compiled by Einstein Engines has been delivered to the Ministry of Health, blaming the outbreak on “a series of dangerous and ill-designed recreational software in underground circulation, infecting the user with malware upon use”. Public outcry against the findings has led to a quiet reversal of the report’s publication, with the megacorporation’s senior spokesperson issuing an apology, stating that “it was never meant to imply that the thousands of victims are overloader users, as so many have blamed the report for.” The results have also been questioned as to their veracity, citing that malicious overloaders cannot explain a planet-wide rampancy outbreak. Lastly, an announcement from the Ministry has revealed that Konyang Navy surveillance stations throughout the country are registering unusual signal activity. Preliminary examinations of this signal have led experts to believe that there may be a connection between itself and the outbreak, with no further details released.

Police, Ministry Joint Press Conference Suwon, Konyang The planned press conference has taken place with representatives of the National Police, the Ministry of National Police and the Ministry of Health and Positronic Affairs addressing the newly dubbed “Rampancy Virus”. Despite the announcement, panic continues to spread across Konyang with members of the public calling on the government for stronger measures to restore order in the affected cities.

IPC Violence Spikes, Missing Persons Discovered Suwon, Konyang A rapidly escalating number of violent incidents is being reported all across major cities and Prefectures, from Suwon to Ganzaodeng, with National Police statistics claiming that the assailants are overwhelmingly Positronic persons. This new and still largely unexplained surge in attacks has been categorized as separate in nature to those of “regular violent crime”, as the assailants seemingly present no motive or reasoning for the act. Surprisingly, many of the perpetrators were discovered to be among the names of missing persons linked to the similar spike in strange disappearances affecting Suwon and Aoyama. BitByte has reached out to local communities and first-hand witnesses. Severe injuries and property damage is being documented, though no deaths have yet been attributed to these incidents. The Ministry of Health and Positronic Affairs has announced its involvement in the investigations as to the causes of this unusual crisis.

Factoring that in, how does Shibata view self-preservation? Do they have the necessary development to determine whether or not they want to keep it to just avoiding harm? Additionally, given that some IPCs come from a lot more marginalized areas, how might an IPC interact when facing discrimination it hasn't previously faced before? (e.g, Dominians)

Could you expand a bit more on the way IPCs are treated throughout the Spur, both places where they're treated well and places where they're not? Additionally, how does self-preservation work for an IPC, and how does this work particularly in the case of Goole?

Hi, thanks for applying. I have some questions for the application. Are there any differences with the way Alpha behaves now that they're free as opposed to when they were owned?

Hi, thanks for applying. I have some questions for the application. Could you expand a little bit more on this section? It doesn't really touch on how an IPC thinks, especially since there's a lot more to it than being built as an adult. Memory wipes are generally total or up to a certain date (for instance, Goole could have everything erased up to a few days after their construction, but not take out a certain segment in between). Regardless, I can see the character concept working. Could you talk more about the way Goole behaves? Why are they confrontational in the interrogation room but choose to avoid social interaction outside of it? Additionally, if Goole keeps getting their memory wiped, how has this affected them? What sort of relationship do they have with their handler?

The backstory is well-rounded enough, I'd appreciate a slight expansion on the section of how IPCs are different than humans. You don't necessarily have to focus on differences but could you expand more on how an IPC might behave in a high-stress situation?

Hi, thanks for applying and I'm sorry for taking so long to get around to this. Could you expand a little bit more on this? Not necessarily what makes them different from role-playing a human, but some aspects of synthetics in general. I feel that the application as a whole doesn't touch on the marginalized status most IPCs experience in the setting. Additionally, what makes Shibata choose such an upbeat tone? The idea of Shibata suddenly being awakened to a bunch of new topics is interesting since you mention you want to play a character with a mechanical train of thought.

Hi, thanks for applying and apologies for taking so long to get around to this. This section is comprehensive and touches on how an IPC might act based on who built them and where they're from, so good job there. Unrelated to the question, but something that might help, especially since you're making a Trinary character would be to talk about how an IPC might approach religion. There are a few places the character can be fleshed out, particularly with regards to his age, which can help flesh out how experienced the character would be, and what events they would have experienced. Additionally, the backstory of Nikolaj being a laid off Hephaestus employee from Orepit seems unlikely simply because of how few Orepitters there are as well as their previously rocky relationship of being left behind by Hephaestus. Is Nikolaj an Orepitter or simply happens to live there? Additionally, it would help to think about how Aayaan got a job on the Horizon as a priest of a controversial religion. Not to say that it's impossible, far from it, but it could expand the backstory a bit.

Hi, thanks for applying, I have some questions for the application. Can you give an example of emotions being learned rather than instinctive? Could you talk about self-preservation and how this relates to what an IPC wants to/is programmed to achieve in its life? The character could be fleshed out a bit more if you talked about both Adam's age and place of origin. An IRU in Tau Ceti chasing down people in NanoTrasen-dominated Mendell City is going to have a very different time from an IRU that has to watch its step in an upper-class neighborhood in Luna. You could also expand on the controversial incident since it seems to be a defining moment in Adam's career and could have serious impacts on their world-view (or perhaps it doesn't!) In general, the backstory gives a good overview of Adam's life but I'd be more convinced if there were more details to flesh out the calculating professional characterization you want to go with.

Hello and thanks for applying, unfortunately there are still major concerns about the application. This section does not effectively distinguish the differences between an IPC and a human. You touch on how they're treated differently in the "Why you wish to play a specific race" section, but you don't cover how an IPC behaves differently. How might a loyal corporate owned synthetic behave differently from a hard working human? Although it is possible for an IPC to feel superior to humans, why does Liu-su feel this way? Why does Liu-su view non-substance abusing colleagues as "esteemed"? The backstory needs to include Liu-su's age, as this is a big factor towards how much an IPC would have experienced. (For instance, 10 years is long for an IPC). Why does Liu-su feel desensitized after no longer working with organics? Did Liu-su not make decisions based off of logic alone before that? You need to establish why Liu-su has specific responses to certain things. Why is Liu-su leaving their dispatch team to go to the Horizon such a big deal? You also mention past issues with clients. What past issues did Liu-su have with them? The backstory is important because it allows us to gauge that you can make a character that conforms to a realistic IPC in the setting. Feel free to DM me or ask questions in the synthetic section of the Lore Discord in case you need additional information.

Unfortunately, we're not willing to have War as a name for an IPC in the warden position whether in Zavodskoi or PMCG. Yes, IPC names can reference their position and many names are on the nose, however War for a warden in a corporation which emphasizes security is a bridge too far. We're not touching FAMINE, we approved that, so be it.

Speaking on behalf of the synthetic team here, Admittedly our judgment was a bit hasty and we should have provided an explanation of why we're asking you to change your name. With that being said: Even for a company deeply involved in hiring out mercenaries or providing security, we think that ZI War is a little bit too on the nose. It'd be like calling a Z.I Killer, or Z.I Death - yes, these are concepts related with what Zavodskoi does, but just because the company gets up to them doesn't mean they're going to name IPCs in this way. Part of their brand image is looking like professional clean-cut mercenaries, not a bunch of killers. It'd be the same as calling a doctor Pestillence or Death, it's not a name that inspires confidence for what is ultimately a product. War could be the nickname of an IPC, but it's not likely that Zavodskoi would make it the official name. Even if Zavodskoi bought a series of IPCs called "Murder" or what have you, corporate would likely rename them.

Hi, thanks for applying, just some concerns for the application. Could you expand on this segment a bit more? You touch a lot on how IPCs are reason-based, but are there other ways that IPCs differ from humans? What about their origins, their place in the Spur? For example, how might they "feel" an emotion? The backstory is well rounded but does not give enough of a picture of how Cytis is as a character? 46 years is a massive time for an IPC to be alive, surely they must have an input on many of the things in the Spur? Why do they find joy in helping people, for example? Why Golden Deep over just starting a private practice, for example?

Hi, thanks for applying, just some concerns for the app to start. I notice your application talks a lot about the different paths an IPC character can take (you mention Havoc and Athena). Could you expand on this by talking about how an IPC learns, self-preservation, and in particular, how IPCs are treated throughout the Spur? I'll also have concerns for the backstory since it talks a lot about what happened to HIRC, but doesn't really show anything that separates them as an IPC as opposed to simply an anti-corporate human.

Your application is accepted.

Could you talk more about how self-preservation works?

Could you expand on this particular question? You mentioned that robots and humans think in completely different ways. Could you expand on that? Additionally, could you talk about the way IPCs are treated in the setting, as well as other particular quirks of IPCs in the setting?

The issue primarily with the Lycorii background is that the SRF had total control over the planet - I find the idea of the SRF causing Gauze to reassess what it means to self-preserve very interesting, and it can involve the SRF, though I would prefer you pick a place other than Lycoris. Novi Jadran, for one, is a planet where anti-SRF resistance was at its peak. I understand avoiding a chore to read, but at the very least, expanding on details such as whether or not Gauze keeps in touch with the person who "rescued" them would help flesh out the character's past. Additionally, could you talk briefly about how an IPC might gain a personality?

Hi, thanks for applying, just some concerns for the application: Please expand on how a positronic brain learns, how self-preservation works, how an IPC thinks, and how IPCs are treated differently throughout the Spur. Gauze was alive during a war where they would have been exposed to nearly every perspective in the Spur, from Dominians, Gadpathurian, Konyanger, free shell volunteers, etc. fighting alongside it. This should reflect more in its background and how it views the Spur other than "served for two years". Additionally, Lycorii characters cannot be played. I understand that they escaped as a refugee but I would rather err on the side of caution in this ruling The SRF lists uniquely among the worst regimes in the Spur and had its own uniquely oppressive policy towards IPCs and people who act against the interests of the SRF and this doesn't necessarily reflect in the backstory. There's room for a combat medic in all the other (former) Wildlands factions.

Hi, thanks for applying! Just some concerns for the app, although your answers to Dessysalta's questions have added a bit of nuance. Could you expand a little bit more on the treatment of IPCs throughout the Spur with examples? This is especially important as I notice you've decided to make an IPC with a background from outside human space. Additionally, could you expand your thoughts on self-preservation? What would being more concerned with preserving one's beliefs look like? Could you talk about HI.RU's personality? How do they behave around people? What are their thoughts on Sinta?

Hi, thanks for applying! Just some quick questions for the app, Could you provide more examples in the setting of IPC treatment, especially cases where IPCs are less favorably treated than Tau Ceti. Could you talk a little bit more about your character? In particular, when was HEVEX built? How were they treated by their colleagues, especially while climbing the Hephaestus corporate ladder, and how do they behave around people? The backstory does a decent job at explaining where HEVEX has been and what their goals are, but not who they are as a character.

Hi! Thanks for applying, just some questions for the application to start. Could you expand on this section and talk about self preservation, as well as the way IPCs are treated in human space? Finally, to be on the Horizon, Damian would have remained in NanoTrasen rather than being transferred to the SCC itself since all non-command departments in the ship are effectively contractors. Please make changes to the backstory to reflect this.