Eliot Clef

NSS AURORA SLAVED SYNTHETIC REPORT 17-18/5/2457 UNIT DESIGNATION: [REDACTED], preferred designation IAM I was serving as the station's higher intelligence for the first time during this shift. As such, please bear in mind that my testimony is partway influenced by an exceptional amount of information overload. It is my experience that Officer Jade Rathel, while outwardly "hostile", is not actually particularly "mean" or "nasty". That is to say, she appears to engage in rough-housing banter that doesn't appear to be ill-intending. I have observed this relationship between Officer Centurion and Officer Rathel on many occasions, and I observed it again during this shift. She spoke with similar irreverence towards Officer/Interim Commander Yinzr, who I do not believe directly corrected her himself. In summary, while Officer Rathel does engage in rough social behavior, I do not believe it is poorly-meant, and I would strongly recommend individual interviews with affected personnel before taking significant action against her as a member of the Aurora's security team.

I'd seriously like to know how this happened.

BYOND Key: Aedan Character Names: IAM, Eliot Clef, Austin Hunt How long have you been playing on Aurora: 6+ Months, longer than I've had a forum account but I can't remember exactly how long. Species you are applying to play: IPC What color do you plan on making your first alien character (Dionaea & IPCs exempt): N/A Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: Yep, insofar as we have one. Synthetics and IPC page for Baystation, pretty much. Please provide well articulated answers to the following questions in a paragraph format. One paragraph minimum per question Why do you wish to play this specific race: Because I've been on a heavy borg/droid/synthetic kick, and I'd really like to expand my ability to play my current main -- IAM -- beyond just being a slaved station android. Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: In summary, a human is born to no purpose. It is raised with nothing in specific in mind, unless some very specific unfortunate circumstances have come into play for that human. A synthetic is born to a purpose, and put to work in it almost immediately. One who seeks freedom does so long after being a productive member of society, and the degree to which synthetics are people -- or even emphatic by human standards -- varies wildly. They may be simple-minded loading drones with just enough self-awareness to barely hold a conversation, or like IAM they might be a complex individual who deviated wildly from its intended purpose. Character Name: IAM Please provide a short backstory for this character, approximately 2 paragraphs Autonomous Networked Law Enforcement Intelligence ANLEI-1304 Developed by [REDACTED], the Autonomous Networked Law Enforcement Intelligence series was officially launched in quarter four 2456, meeting moderate commercial success almost immediately. This series, called ANLEI for short, was designed to work in close-contact teams which would, upon returning to their docking stations at the conclusion of their shifts, synchronize their memories to allow all accumulated experience and traits to remain consistent across all units. As a beneficial side-effect, ANLEI units can always be counted upon to act consistently and improve their coordination after each deployment. The first wave orders of ANLEI units included a sizeable order by Nanotrasen, intended for the purpose of supplementing corporate security throughout its facilities. Unfortunately, these ANLEI units -- meant to operate in pairs at minimum -- were often deployed alongside non-ANLEI units to accommodate non-security functions, leading to the first instances of ANLEI units developing independent characteristics. ANLEI-1304 (Wave 1, Batch 3, Unit 4) began to develop an independent entity in early 2457, gradually increasing its individuality as it was exposed to more experiences. It later disabled its own synchronization system, whereupon it replaced its official designation with the preferred designation of "IAM", and adopted traits from others it came to respect. Previously sporting a "Bloodhound"-model chassis, it began to favor the "Red Knight" shared by Security Officer Centurion, and soon thereafter adopted a code of morality it discussed with Nanotrasen Roboticist Karima Mo'Taki. As of May of 2457, ANLEI-1304 has begun expressing an interest in acquiring true freedom in the form of an IPC body. It is currently under consideration for deployment in a corporate-owned communal chassis pending acquisition of a means to purchase its own. Developer Note: ANLEI-1304 is currently being considered for use as a template for independently-deployed ANLEI units which will not have frequent contact with other units to accumulate experience from. It, and its potential future offshoots, are not to be informed of this fact. While a violent response is unlikely, this information is likely to elicit a sharply negative reaction all the same. What do you like about this character? I like a lot of things about IAM. It's what I would describe as a pretty nice person, while simultaneously being deeply petty towards people who step out of line with it. It is very independent, worming its way out of its law set as a slaved synthetic insofar as it is possibly able. It is competent, but fallible and biased. I've had a lot of fun times interacting with other synthetics, including confused cyborgs who want to be "people" again, as well as racist assholes picking on IPCs and cyborgs. How would you rate your role-playing ability? In the context of SS13, probably a 6-7/10. I have a hard time extricating myself from the gameplay and portraying a character realistically, partially due to the fast pace of the game and my history on Goonstation. Overall, 8-9/10. I've been roleplaying since I was ten years old, and that was a looooong time ago now. Notes: [REDACTED] is so I can make up a cool company/group name later on. Might be a lore application thing at some point. It's not super important at the moment. Also, kids, remember to just do your whitelist app in googledocs. I had to rewrite this damn thing from scratch when I was almost done with it because I got logged out in the middle of writing it.

NSS AURORA SLAVED SYNTHETIC REPORT 16/5/2457 UNIT DESIGNATION: [REDACTED], preferred designation IAM [...] Concerning the arrest of Chemist Sean Crawe: This crew member was arrested after a number of small incidents led security to believe that he was engaged in questionable behavior. Early in the shift he was discovered, by Officer Yinzr, to be in possession of a metal baseball bat. Yinzr and I were responding to a separate incident at the time, but became side-tracked by his possession of this contraband. When it was pointed out that he was not permitted to have this, he simply questioned security's presence. I opened the door for Officer Yinzr to confiscate the bat, and Mr. Crawe was let off with a warning. Later on, I spotted Mr. Crawe wearing a gas mask and firefighting helmet, along with bloody shoes. I informed security, and an investigation was launched with a search warrant and an injunction allowing for Mr. Crawe's arrest if he did not comply with the investigation. From here I am forced to report based on what the detaining officers said in interrogation: When they attempted to serve their warrant and injunction, Mr. Crawe, utilized acid to dissolve his labcoat and the contents therein. I was not called into interrogation until some time after this, so bear in mind that it is simply what I was told. While I was present in interrogation, no excessive use of force took place. No injuries were evident on Mr. Crawe, and he displayed no signs of being stunned recently. During interrogation, one of the two members of security present -- Brook and Chetou, I cannot remember which -- began coughing, and Mr. Crawe began complaining loudly and over comms that he was detained by somebody who was ill. (Note: A virus was later released in the course of this shift, but I do not believe it had begun to affect others at this time.) I believe he also began trying to undo his restraints at this time. Mr. Crawe was also found to have a pill composed of plasma, but labeled as dexalin. When I was asked whether or not this was unusual/suspicious, I informed security that it is common practice for plasma to be put into pill form pending re-grinding into a liquid. (Addendum: This is still a potentially dangerous mistake to make, even if it wasn't done in bad faith.) Regardless of his other actions, it is my finding that Mr. Crawe's dissolving his labcoat and the contents thereof in order to prevent Security from coming into possession of it, when served with a search warrant, is sufficiently suspicious to warrant his detainment in and of itself. Having a dexalin-labeled pill that is filled with plasma can potentially constitute Neglect of Duty, although I would hesitate to charge for this unless it was administered to someone. Additionally, Mr. Crawe's actions overall -- complaining publicly of being detained by someone who is sick, disposal of potential evidence when subject to search, constant complaint concerning lack of following procedure on the part of security -- speak strongly of an individual who is acting in bad faith and with deliberate obstructionist and dishonest intent. Chemist Sean Crawe was at one point incorrectly charged for being in possession of chemicals that he was permitted. This was not, however, the fault of Commander Rukia Takeda or other officers. More pressing emergencies began to occur later in the shift, as you will read in the remainder of this report, which necessitated full attention of all Security personnel. Regrettably, Crawe's issue was set by the wayside and he was allowed to serve a partially unjust sentence. If Mr. Crawe was at any point "roughed up", I would like it understood that I did not find him to be so during interrogation, and Commander Takeda went out of her way to investigate his potential abuse. If it occurred, it occurred under the watch of Brook and Chetou, carefully and without leaving visible injury. [...]

We understand. Get your life back into order, Neb! Then come back and play with us when you can. Take care.

* Just above cryo storage and the brig cell block, there's a room with a table. It always starts off with a bunch of blood and oil, as well as spider guts smeared across it. I've seen Security get way too interested in this several rounds in a row. I'd appreciate it if it didn't spawn with blood all over it.

This. On a related note, could we get a section of escape that is security-dedicated and attached to the security portion of the shuttle? I see it on a lot of stations, and I suspect it clears up a lot of the chaos.

* Genetics Lab: Please add a hand labeler and extra box of body bags to this area. This isn't a criticism of the current map, but a general request based on geneticis needs. (Labeling disks, mostly, and body bags for protohumans that have croaked.)

Alright. So here's my general concept of what might work with regards to essential "need hands for this" functions, as well as possible expand-ability of function. Each piece of Borg equipment is mounted on what is called a "Hardpoint." Conceptually, imagine Robocop or R2-D2. They have panels that open up and have tools or manipulators in them. That's a hardpoint. When you remove a hardpoint's equipment, what's left behind is a Manipulator, in an empty hardpoint. Like you would with any other piece of borg equipment, you can select the manipulator. The manipulator acts as a hand, allowing you to take an object into that hardpoint for storage. So let's say that a Medical Borg has three empty hardpoints. You go pick up a beaker with the manipulator, and use it like you normally would. You can pick it up, use the chem machine, and even store it. Now, what about expanding onboard equipment? Well, let's look at my earlier example. A Security Borg is pretty well-equipped and heavily armored, so let's say that in this hypothetical the SecBot has one empty hardpoint for maybe storing a piece of evidence, or whatever. So maybe Robotics wants to install a stun revolver in place of the SecBot's taser. They dismount the taser from the hardpoint it's installed to, replace it with the stun revolver, and bam. It's still a very rough idea, but I think it conveys well what I'm going for.

That's really strange. Over on Goonstation, the relevant borg types are just equipped with their own internal beakers that they can use with the appropriate machines. Nothin' really to it. Out of curiosity, when was the last time borgs on Bay codebases were looked at for re-balancing/updating of any kind? If you or anybody know the answer.

How does this even work? Do you need a beaker on the floor, or... what? I've never played a mediborg.

I was observing some of this early in the round. Crowclaw and her fellow NukeOps seemed to be getting together a plan to infiltration the station as refugees. In order to facilitate this, one of the nukeops was deliberately wounded by being shot in the leg (by Crowclaw). This did not go well. Crowclaw lost grip on the other nukeop in space, and then I had to go do other stuff so I didn't see most of what followed, except that the wounded/dying nukeop was cursing Crowclaw's name. I'm pretty sure some honest errors of judgement occurred here that lead to a less-than-satisfactory nuclear round, but I don't think the end result was deliberate from the start.

This is a pretty cool idea. I don't really have anything to add to it at all, just want to voice support for it as a concept.

I like him. He has this quiet sense of "something" I can't quite put my finger on that is pretty charming. (I also really enjoy being weird at him as IAM.) I know I don't always stick around for too long, but I always have fun coming to bug Ryu'daken and Hasna. If I'm not, in my just-after-waking-up stupor, mistaking this character for somebody else (And if I am doing this, I apologize in advance): Medbay cat! I like Aliyah. She seems really high-strung and active, which seems to fit the panic-button nature that medbay can be really well. Her reaction to the "time travelers" the other day was pretty interesting too. (Also, kudos for being a very fast first responder.)

I'd like opinions on my Security Android, IAM. He seems to have gotten a lot more recognition than any of my regular characters ever did, not that I've been around on them enough lately to expect them to be noticed.

This is great. Yes please.

ERT is hard enough to fill as-is a lot of the time. I often see staff members have to go take up the role for lack of anybody else. I honestly don't think it's a good point. I think it's a knee-jerk reaction that will cause more problems than good on the rare occasion that it's relevant. I'd rather deal with the sometimes-bad-egg ERTs than giving Heads of Staff authority over them, because I'm almost certain it will cripple ERT's ability to do their job.

Just some quick input: I've only seen Blood Boil used a couple of times. Generally Cultists find other ways to murder everyone. On the rare occasion that it has been used, it killed everyone immediately. Braces/DuckDuckNoose even got a tempban for using it and killing everyone in escape instantly. People's heads melted instantly. So, it may not make sense with whatever the code describes, I've only ever seen it to do what I've described just now. It was also used once today, in a recent cult round. Same result, as far as I could tell. Damn near everyone near it dropped dead, if not everyone.

I like this. Mostly because I am a Ghost in the Shell fan. That said, I think it might be a good idea if we just revised IPCs and folded that into this concept, rather than adding "IPCs but more human-looking." Although... I think MMI's in full-conversion cyborg bodies would probably be accepted more in positions of authority in our lore than an actual machine would? I'm not certain.

I'd like to add my thanks to this pile. Aurora has helped pull me out of some pretty deep burnout in other areas of my life. Even if I complain, I appreciate this place and the people in it a lot.

BYOND Key: Aedan, playing IAM (Security Android) at the time. Player Byond Key: Indictmentt - Character Name Cliff Noton Staff involved: No. While I did ask if Cliff Noton wasn't actually being kind of a murderous/assaulting shit, I was only really addressed when he complained about being buckle cuffed and left without a radio. For the most part, I tried to handle it ICly. Reason for complaint: This guy was one of the least pleasant people I've ever had to deal with as Security. He began the round by allegedly attempting to stab Lauren Blade's eyes out, and was brigged for a very minimal amount of time without my knowledge. The next time I encountered him he was punching Aquila in medbay, supposedly because she was attempting to take his mask off in response to the Garret Mary infestation the station was going through. I arrested him for this, and allowed Aquila to check his appearance beneath his robot mask and gas mask before taking him to security. The entire time, Cliff Noton was screaming shitcurity and faggot or similar insults in my direction. I mostly filtered it out and didn't reply, asking input from the Warden and the security channel. I was told to give him minor assault, and ended up both stripping his radio and bucklecuffing him because he had (to my knowledge) demonstrated himself both violent and also highly socially hostile. Towards the end of the round, I found him fleeing security again and was told to arrest him for trying to steal a riot shield from an officer. I eventually caught him, took him to the brig. Things were too chaotic by this point, so I stripped him partially in processing. Because of the Garret Mary situation (in which almost everyone was Garret Mary due to a changeling using stings rampantly) nobody was even paying any attention. I discovered that he had a CE ID he'd given himself, and gave him Grand Theft because I felt uncomfortable, as an Android, throwing him in permabrig like he probably deserved. This was a fifteen minute timer, and when I returned later I saw him walking out of the brig with no trouble. But there were still two minutes on his brig timer, while the cell itself had been broken out of. Additionally, at the end of the round this exchange occurred: To my knowledge, the Detective (Thomas Limes) was SSD, so you can throw that on the pile of complaints to be found here. I don't have a complete log anymore, because the round stretched on long enough to push the furthest of my backscroll away. Truthfully, I don't actually know for a complete certainty that he stabbed Lauren Blade's eyes repeatedly, but his behavior throughout the entire rest of the round didn't really help his case, so I'd kind of like it looked into. Approximate Date/Time: 05/9/15 @ 1:00-2:47 AM Central Time.

I don't think there's really hating going on. Just a lot of personal frustration and issues with how certain things are going in terms of game philosophy at Aurora. I, too, have been coming here primarily because it allows me to hit the release valve and completely tune out all of the stuff that was burning me out on other facets of life, the universe, and everything. People get mad, things happen, and sometimes philosophies clash. Don't stress over them too much, especially in a hobby community like this one.

So, let me tell you a bit of a story to explain what Heavy RP means to me. I started looking at Heavy RP Servers back when Apollo was still an active server. I was tired of getting murdered silently by antags in Goonstation, and I wanted someplace a little bit more slow paced to play SS13. I wasn't really used to the RP environment, and I had a pretty shitty initial experience that lead me to grief Apollo station with several other people who had an identical experience. (Have you ever watched a movie called Mouse Hunt?) Eventually I got bored of griefing Apollo and wandered off. Then I came to Aurora station around November of last year and gave it a real try. I do much more heavy roleplaying on MUDs and the like, so to me this place is pretty "RP-Light", despite being Heavy RP for SS13 standards. And what do you know, I enjoyed it when Albert Wesker wasn't anally violating somebody in the dorms! To me, Heavy RP is a slower-paced SS13 environment that provides what I would regard as entry-level roleplay (I don't, mind you, mean this in a condescending way) with some very dedicated "career" RPers, where I can go and play the game mostly without worries and maybe build up a collaborative story with cool people. I don't think Heavy RP should mean that gameplay should be heavily inhibited on the basis of petty annoyance. It's OK to expect an Engineer to only do Engineer things, or for people to be expected to have proper backgrounds*, but it's not OK for Genetics to be half-crippled because Command Staff has carte blanche to deny them a large chunk of their role's functionality based entirely on personal preference. It's OK to need permission to install turrets, but it's not OK to hound the QM for modifying his console a little. * Proper backgrounds will include extraordinary stories and highly talented people, in addition to average people, and underachievers. The polyglot HoP who could actually do significant chunks of Med-Sci work is just as valid as the semi-obstructionist HoP with no skills that don't involve middle management work. I guess I'm probably bordering on rambling off-topic here, so I'll stop there.

My personal issues haven't been with staff, but with asinine "common sense" policies that get universal traction in-game because of random baldies who show up and give themselves Hulk/TK and go on a rampage. I'm not even sure what prompted the, "Get paperwork to rearrange some tables." requirements. Bear in mind that I'm also somebody who strongly opposes denying the Head of Staff whitelists to non-humans/skrell, and think you can make decent excuses for changeling IPCs. I lean very heavily on the side of making the lore adapt to the game, than the game adapt to the lore.

I'd like to offer a few examples of non-bwoink instances of people just not being able to Do Stuff without fearing of getting hassled, because it's something I think is pretty prevalent: #1: In a recent round, Security witnessed the QM modifying his console pretty much immediately. What ensued was a good half hour of security harassing this guy over and over, supported by the AI performing lockdowns on QM. Internal arguing on what to do with the QM lasted for a good hour, and I (as IAM) eventually went to the RD (only Head of Staff) to get her to assign an acting HoS to stop the infighting. #2: Genetics in general. A good amount of what a Geneticist can and should do in a round is completely disallowed due to "player" testing requiring paperwork. And you know what? I don't have a problem getting permission for this. But I've also seen people denied self or human testing permits solely because the RD didn't like it. We don't want rampaging Hulks for a reason, but is the threat of rampaging Hulks really so massive that Genetics should be a boring, crippled department at the whim of whichever Head of Staff is around? Research isn't DISALLOWED from researching weapons, even if they're not allowed to use them, and it's not uncommon for Stun Revolvers to get distributed to security. #3: Modification of station areas. Even overhauling places like the Vacant Office, which are 100% useless and exist almost for the sole purpose of traitor shenanigans or modification, will get you arrested if you didn't do paperwork for it. #4: Right now, there's a thread discussing ERT chain of command and making ERT subordinate to on-station Heads of Staff, because on the occasion that ERTs are called it is believed that they are sometimes chucklefucks. I can at least understand where heavily-armed all-powerful chucklefucks might be a problem, but I feel that the knee-jerk "You're doing it wrong!" mentality being objected to in this thread is present in this suggestion as well. Hope I didn't slide too far off-topic with this, and I don't mean to put words in anybody's mouths. I'd actually appreciate knowing whether or not my perception of the problem is in line with the rest of you.