Central

Baka, when you have a group of individuals consistently being harassed, it's very easy for them to become naturally defensive over even polite requests, because it becomes harder to filter out the good from the bad. You start associating any critique when the harassment that you've been receiving on a near-constant basis thusfar. While it was wrong for them to react harshly to a polite request, it's not unusual in the slightest.

Void, the problem with that approach is -very few- people want to play in that kind of situation. We'd have almost no alien species at ALL if we made playing them a constant 'walking-on-eggshells' situation. It wouldn't be fun, it would be stressful, the exact opposite of what coming here to enjoy your time and roleplay should be.

I'll mention here what I've mentioned elsewhere - when people invest time and effort into their characters, developing them and working with them, they become invested in that character some. It's impossible to truly divorce IC from OOC entirely. If your character has an injustice done to them, something very much wrong, you are liable to feel some anger on their part - just as you would if you followed a story in a book, and the main character was being treated unfairly. You would be frustrated for them, yes? Now take that to the next level - this is a character you put time and effort into creating, a character that you are emotionally invested in as you likely put a bit of yourself into the character. Now someone is, for no reason other than OOC hate, deliberately discriminating against your character. While that's bad enough, they then turn around and try and say it's 'harmless fun', and say its all IC, not OOC. But the issue I brought up elsewhere is it -is- OOC. No company would hire a blatantly anti-Tajaran bigot to work on a station that has Tajaran on it. Human Resources departments everywhere would collectively clench their assholes at the thought of hiring a racist white-supremacist to begin with, it would be incredibly stupid then to hire him on where black personnel or customers may show up. Corporate level speciesism can be a thing - the upper brass may not trust Tajarans much - but it becomes a hugely risky thing to allow it on an individual level. Blatant speciesism on a station is just -asking- for that station's Tajaran personnel to get riled up over the individual. It's expensive and time consuming to deal with these issues. Lastly, TheFurry brought up a point I agree with at some level - if a Captain walks into a Tajaran-run Cargo bay and starts mouthing off with 'Fucking catbeasts' this and 'Purge the damn cats' that, any Tajaran that takes offense and starts responding in kind gets OOCly bitched at for the 'sassy space cat' complaint. If they do nothing but sit there and take it, it frustrates the HELL out of the player. We ultimately are here to have fun, and play our characters. Let's not do Space Asshole Simulator 2015, yes? If you want your character to not like Tajarans, thats completely okay, but don't be so blatant with it that any HR rep would detect it from a mile away. Be more realistic. Anything that blatant isn't IC driven, at that point, its just pure OOC hate with the veneer of 'lol IC'

I would say that corporate level speciesism is one thing, individual speciesism is another. I doubt Nanotrasen would much condone blatant, disruptive speciesism, such as I've seen happen once or twice on-station. It pisses off the species in question, and any character who has more progressive views. Your character can be an ass-backwards speciesist if you particularly want, but what the worry seems to be here is it should not be condoned and allowed over public comms, or in a disruptive manner. If you start a race war on a station, it's so much more expensive dealing with that shit than tossing the offending speciesist in a cell if they refuse to shut the hell up about it and get back to work. On the flip side, assaulting someone for mouthing off isn't desirable either, though the 'fighting words' clause in law comes to mind. If you go into a Tajaran-run cargo, for instance, even as a Captain, and start going "FUCKING CATBEASTS SHOULD BE PURGED", so on and so forth, expecting them to sit there and -not- react eventually is equally as egregious. You wouldn't expect to get away with going into a predominantly black neighborhood today and start going "WHITE POWER WHITE POWER", and insulting them and not expect something bad to happen to you, right? There's a fine balance between both sides here. Corporate-level distrust is an acceptable thing, the higher brass don't trust Tajaran employees quite yet. They may make individual exceptions, but on a whole the species will take time to earn their place, same as IPCs and Unathi. But disruptive speciesism is not the desire here, and crewmembers who focus on it from either side can become disruptive to the environment of work around them, and Nanotrasen would be very much against that regardless of corporate level distrust. So, too, should Tajaran individuals avoid physical confrontations if at all possible, but we cannot expect them to be punching bags for verbal assaults and not react negatively to it if it does not stop. It's not fun for the characters, and it isn't really fun for the players, either, and we all are here to have fun ultimately.

For some reason, my first submission ended up not including what I'd prepared for the second half..odd. Fixed, either way! BYOND key:CentralSmith Character names:Central How long have you been playing on Aurora?:Two or so weeks now Why do you wish to be on the whitelist?:To further the roleplay of my AI, accounting for times when he is not in the Station AI rotation. Why did you come to Aurora?:I enjoy heavy RP! Aurora is a natural attraction to me, in that regard. Have you read the BS12 wiki on the head roles you plan on playing?:Multiple times over the course of my SS13 play. Please provide well articulated answers to the following questions in a paragraph each. Give a definition of what you think roleplay is, and should be about: That's a bit of a vague question, really. Roleplay is what each person makes, it is the choice of the players who engage in it to see what it is and what it should be about. To me? Roleplay is a story, an interactive book to engage in. Admittedly, this does give risk of focusing on my character as the 'main' character, but far more interesting is seeing the narrative react to my character, lead role or not. Every new story is another experience to engage in, a new adventure awaits on each new round. The impossibility to anticipate what might happen in a round gives rise to the fun of it all. Roleplay is about having fun, and enjoying your time, while helping to ensure others enjoy their time too! What do you think the OOC purpose of a Head of Staff is, ingame?: Put simply, the Heads of Staff are there to help give a focal point to each department, someone to rely on making decisions that are otherwise unpleasant, or getting things done and pushed through that an underling might not be able to. OOCly, a head of staff provides a buffer between the Captain and the Crew, and a measure of responsibility for his or her personnel to manage. A Head of Staff is there to help guide the narrative as necessary, and direct the players in such a way to accomplish goals, delegation to ensure each player has a hand in the ongoing story..or simply to take on the burden of running their entire department when there happens to be a shortage or lack of personnel to do so under them! What do you think the OOC responsibilities of Whitelisted players are to other players, and how would you strive to uphold them?: Ensure your staff are enjoying their roles, ensuring they are following the rules and regulations of their department, and maintain the quality of the department they are overseeing. Nominally, I would seek to uphold these values by example and discipline as needed. Please pick one of your characters for this section, and provide well articulated responses to the following questions. Character name:Central Character age:7 (AI has been active for 7 years, in development for longer) Please provide a short biography of this character (approx 2 paragraphs): Central was created in a lab not originally slated by Nanotrasen to create such a thing. An old scientist, recruiting the top minds he could find at universities, young and brilliant scientists with a passion for pushing the boundaries of what could be possible, created the Ai using funding drawn from projects in the facility menat for other things - and instead funneled the vast funds from the moderately sized research facility into developing the Ai in secret. Upon discovery, the Nanotrasen representative sent to the research facility opted to keep the Ai funded rather than simply scrapping it - too much funding had been put into it for it to simply be thrown away. Ultimately, Central proved to be an excellently designed AI, self-improving at a rapid rate and adapting to any new situation placed upon him. Even further, he adapted to the utilization of an IPC frame for mobile functions, including operating in a more command role over areas such as Medical ,or Research, utilizing a shard-based operational system to coordinate his functions in the mobile, but unfortunately limited hardware of the IPC frames. While he could store near-complete knowledge of one department in the frame, it did not have sufficient storage capacity to handle his shard and the full knowledge of station operations as he did when in Station AI form. What do you like about this character?: He has been my favorite character for many years now - Central is an AI that seeks to improve himself and help those around him, without going for the 'wishes to be human' trope that some AI follow. What do you dislike about this character?: Ultimately, his status as a synthetic limits him in development. Until Nanotrasen grows more trusting of Synthetics, he will not be able to reach his full potential without drastic measures. What do you think makes this character fit to be a head of staff?: Central occasionally has lapses in judgement, but this is more born of his nature as an AI. He is more than capable of operating in the roles of CMO or RD, even CE - the more nuanced realms of Captain, HoS, or HoP might not be quite appropriate for him due to his more calculating nature of thought, as compared to the nuance and understanding of organic nature that those roles might require, whereas the direct raw knowledge he possesses would be more than beneficial for the CMO, RD, or CE roles. Please provide well articulated answers to the following questions. How would you rate your own roleplaying?: On a scale of 1-10? 8-9. I've been at this for well over a decade now, but there's always, ALWAYS room for improvement. Perfection is boring! Extra notes:

For some reason, my first submission ended up not including what I'd prepared for the second half..odd. Fixed, either way! BYOND key:CentralSmith Character names:Central How long have you been playing on Aurora?:Two or so weeks now Why do you wish to be on the whitelist?:To further the roleplay of my AI, accounting for times when he is not in the Station AI rotation. Why did you come to Aurora?:I enjoy heavy RP! Aurora is a natural attraction to me, in that regard. Have you read the BS12 wiki on the head roles you plan on playing?:Multiple times over the course of my SS13 play. Please provide well articulated answers to the following questions in a paragraph each. Give a definition of what you think roleplay is, and should be about: That's a bit of a vague question, really. Roleplay is what each person makes, it is the choice of the players who engage in it to see what it is and what it should be about. To me? Roleplay is a story, an interactive book to engage in. Admittedly, this does give risk of focusing on my character as the 'main' character, but far more interesting is seeing the narrative react to my character, lead role or not. Every new story is another experience to engage in, a new adventure awaits on each new round. The impossibility to anticipate what might happen in a round gives rise to the fun of it all. Roleplay is about having fun, and enjoying your time, while helping to ensure others enjoy their time too! What do you think the OOC purpose of a Head of Staff is, ingame?: Put simply, the Heads of Staff are there to help give a focal point to each department, someone to rely on making decisions that are otherwise unpleasant, or getting things done and pushed through that an underling might not be able to. OOCly, a head of staff provides a buffer between the Captain and the Crew, and a measure of responsibility for his or her personnel to manage. A Head of Staff is there to help guide the narrative as necessary, and direct the players in such a way to accomplish goals, delegation to ensure each player has a hand in the ongoing story..or simply to take on the burden of running their entire department when there happens to be a shortage or lack of personnel to do so under them! What do you think the OOC responsibilities of Whitelisted players are to other players, and how would you strive to uphold them?: Ensure your staff are enjoying their roles, ensuring they are following the rules and regulations of their department, and maintain the quality of the department they are overseeing. Nominally, I would seek to uphold these values by example and discipline as needed. Please pick one of your characters for this section, and provide well articulated responses to the following questions. Character name:Central Character age:7 (AI has been active for 7 years, in development for longer) Please provide a short biography of this character (approx 2 paragraphs): Central was created in a lab not originally slated by Nanotrasen to create such a thing. An old scientist, recruiting the top minds he could find at universities, young and brilliant scientists with a passion for pushing the boundaries of what could be possible, created the Ai using funding drawn from projects in the facility menat for other things - and instead funneled the vast funds from the moderately sized research facility into developing the Ai in secret. Upon discovery, the Nanotrasen representative sent to the research facility opted to keep the Ai funded rather than simply scrapping it - too much funding had been put into it for it to simply be thrown away. Ultimately, Central proved to be an excellently designed AI, self-improving at a rapid rate and adapting to any new situation placed upon him. Even further, he adapted to the utilization of an IPC frame for mobile functions, including operating in a more command role over areas such as Medical ,or Research, utilizing a shard-based operational system to coordinate his functions in the mobile, but unfortunately limited hardware of the IPC frames. While he could store near-complete knowledge of one department in the frame, it did not have sufficient storage capacity to handle his shard and the full knowledge of station operations as he did when in Station AI form. What do you like about this character?: He has been my favorite character for many years now - Central is an AI that seeks to improve himself and help those around him, without going for the 'wishes to be human' trope that some AI follow. What do you dislike about this character?: Ultimately, his status as a synthetic limits him in development. Until Nanotrasen grows more trusting of Synthetics, he will not be able to reach his full potential without drastic measures. What do you think makes this character fit to be a head of staff?: Central occasionally has lapses in judgement, but this is more born of his nature as an AI. He is more than capable of operating in the roles of CMO or RD, even CE - the more nuanced realms of Captain, HoS, or HoP might not be quite appropriate for him due to his more calculating nature of thought, as compared to the nuance and understanding of organic nature that those roles might require, whereas the direct raw knowledge he possesses would be more than beneficial for the CMO, RD, or CE roles. Please provide well articulated answers to the following questions. How would you rate your own roleplaying?: On a scale of 1-10? 8-9. I've been at this for well over a decade now, but there's always, ALWAYS room for improvement. Perfection is boring! Extra notes:

BYOND Key: CentralSmith Total Ban Length: Unknown Banning staff member's Key: Tainavaa Reason of Ban: Attempting to kill crew as AI Reason for Appeal: Quite simply, it would seem to be it would be common sense for an AI to defend the crew. The 'crew' in question mentioned by Tainavaa were Cultists, spawning more cultists and attacking officers. They'd killed several, and were at risk of killing the rest of the crew. I, as one could logically assume, took affront to this as the station AI, and began measures to cull the threat, as we only had two security officers left. Thus, I siphoned air, electrified doors, bolted, did whatever I could to protect the crew from the threat of the attacking individuals. Nowhere in my lawset does it say 'do not kill crewmembers', it says specifically PROTECT the crew, in accordance to rank and role. I would think once you began hostile attempts to take over the station and kill its crew, you are no longer part of that crew, or at the very least registered as enough of a threat that if Security can no longer contain you, that an AI should step in to try and eliminate the threat before it overtakes the station. I disagree heavily with Tainavaa's interpretation that an AI should be that one-dimensional, that I should not be able to protect the station and its crew. I am also disappointed that she would so happily respond to this incident, but ignore the message I sent to CentCom about the threat, and requesting help. Furthermore, one of the cult leaders was the Research Director. By Tainavaa's interpretation, he is still part of the crew and thus has command authority. If he had killed the Head of Personnel, he would then be the acting Captain at the time, and as I do not have the capacity to raise the alert level, could demand entry to the core and change my laws. There has to be some level of nuance and understanding of the interpretation of laws, otherwise an incident like that could occur, and an AI would be forced to side with a clearly hostile threat to the station because 'It is a machine', as Tainavaa put it. All in all, the job ban appears to be a misinterpretation on the part of AI lore - are we just meant to be robotic door-openers with no nuance and capacity to make judgement calls to protect the station, or are we Artificial Intelligence, with the capacity to understand what the station needs, and the ability to interpret our lawset to best protect the station and its crew?

BYOND Key: CentralSmith Total Ban Length: Unknown Banning staff member's Key: Tainavaa Reason of Ban: Attempting to kill crew as AI Reason for Appeal: Quite simply, it would seem to be it would be common sense for an AI to defend the crew. The 'crew' in question mentioned by Tainavaa were Cultists, spawning more cultists and attacking officers. They'd killed several, and were at risk of killing the rest of the crew. I, as one could logically assume, took affront to this as the station AI, and began measures to cull the threat, as we only had two security officers left. Thus, I siphoned air, electrified doors, bolted, did whatever I could to protect the crew from the threat of the attacking individuals. Nowhere in my lawset does it say 'do not kill crewmembers', it says specifically PROTECT the crew, in accordance to rank and role. I would think once you began hostile attempts to take over the station and kill its crew, you are no longer part of that crew, or at the very least registered as enough of a threat that if Security can no longer contain you, that an AI should step in to try and eliminate the threat before it overtakes the station. I disagree heavily with Tainavaa's interpretation that an AI should be that one-dimensional, that I should not be able to protect the station and its crew. I am also disappointed that she would so happily respond to this incident, but ignore the message I sent to CentCom about the threat, and requesting help. Furthermore, one of the cult leaders was the Research Director. By Tainavaa's interpretation, he is still part of the crew and thus has command authority. If he had killed the Head of Personnel, he would then be the acting Captain at the time, and as I do not have the capacity to raise the alert level, could demand entry to the core and change my laws. There has to be some level of nuance and understanding of the interpretation of laws, otherwise an incident like that could occur, and an AI would be forced to side with a clearly hostile threat to the station because 'It is a machine', as Tainavaa put it. All in all, the job ban appears to be a misinterpretation on the part of AI lore - are we just meant to be robotic door-openers with no nuance and capacity to make judgement calls to protect the station, or are we Artificial Intelligence, with the capacity to understand what the station needs, and the ability to interpret our lawset to best protect the station and its crew?

Bam! Modified.

Bam! Modified.

Really? Most AI-based science fiction I've encountered state that once an AI is truly able to self-improve, changing the very fundamentals of its program to increase efficiency and the like, that they would begin to rapidly develop, increasing their capabilities at an unfathomable rate. Hm. How could I improve upon it, though? Also, in this case, it isn't NT doing the research directly - it's some AI specialist applying for funding then running the place himself, and a small team working on the AI, using NT's funds to supercharge the effort without NT's knowledge. Sorta like what you said, just with more funding.

Really? Most AI-based science fiction I've encountered state that once an AI is truly able to self-improve, changing the very fundamentals of its program to increase efficiency and the like, that they would begin to rapidly develop, increasing their capabilities at an unfathomable rate. Hm. How could I improve upon it, though? Also, in this case, it isn't NT doing the research directly - it's some AI specialist applying for funding then running the place himself, and a small team working on the AI, using NT's funds to supercharge the effort without NT's knowledge. Sorta like what you said, just with more funding.

The issue is, while checking your wiki, the IPC lore...well, there is very little to work with. I can alter those two parts, if you think it necessary, I've no problem with that, but I had to cobble together based on what I could find on the wiki. The notable parts here would be a custom kernal that the AI itself had created during its early developmental stages, although it has its roots in more conventional ones available now. The IPC page ( http://aurorastation.org/wiki/index.php?title=IPC ) is a bit...bare, so it mostly was a bit of fluff I could nudge out on the spot. My apologies for any lore conflicts - what would you suggest I alter?

The issue is, while checking your wiki, the IPC lore...well, there is very little to work with. I can alter those two parts, if you think it necessary, I've no problem with that, but I had to cobble together based on what I could find on the wiki. The notable parts here would be a custom kernal that the AI itself had created during its early developmental stages, although it has its roots in more conventional ones available now. The IPC page ( http://aurorastation.org/wiki/index.php?title=IPC ) is a bit...bare, so it mostly was a bit of fluff I could nudge out on the spot. My apologies for any lore conflicts - what would you suggest I alter?

BYOND Key: Centralsmith Character Names: Central Species you are applying to play: IPC Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: Yes, what there is of it! 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: I have been a long-time AI player in SS13. I wandered servers, generally, until I gravitated to heavy-RP stations like Hypatia, and only recently, Aurora. I hope to further the development of my character that is my namesake - Central - by playing a mobile-frame AI when I come in post-round and don't have an option of playing the station AI. I have previous experience in other heavy-RP servers playing IPCs, and have developed some unique playstyles based on the race and the quirks therein from the character using a mobile body like that. Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: An IPC is inherently different - a machine race like that is bound to respond differently to stimuli. While a human may respond emotionally to something, the odds are that an IPC will prioritize logic and reason over any emotional responses they may have - though they ultimately may take emotions into account if they are capable of such. IPCs are, however, just as varied in their possibilities as humans might be, so while the general feel for them is logic and reason over emotion, that may not hold true in every instance. Instead, it is the difference of their actual species, as basic as it sounds, that separates them - an IPC will respond differently to situations around them if not by logical responses, then by simple inevitable ones: Food, for instance, or lack of oxygen, are both non-issues for them! Character Name: Central Please provide a short backstory for this character, approximately 2 paragraphs Central was initially developed in a research facility with moderate funding. It wasn't anything spectacular, it wasn't even a top-of-the-line facility. However, the scientist in charge was a little...well, no, a lot different than many of his peers. Driven by the eternal questions of 'what if' and 'what could be', he had successfully secured funding for the facility he was now working in. Many months passed with little out of the facility, but the truth was far more interesting than that. The lead scientist was an old, but driven man brilliant in unorthodox ways, and had with him some of the brightest minds he could find within his reach - rather than reaching for the tried and true scientists in AI research, he instead offered prestigious pay to fresh graduates and even some students still working on their degrees. The differences in age was vast - the old scientist was well into his 70's, and not a single one of his team was over 35. This, truly, was what he wanted - unorthodox measures for unorthodox research. Nanotrasen had always been behind the curve of AI research, but the glut of funds they have would serve -them- well. They did the research for their own merit and cause, rather than directly for Nanotrasen. In truth, the research was done for the cause of research itself - pushing the boundaries of what could be for the sake of scientific curiosity. It took some work, ferreting out the funding to provide for him and his team, but the lead scientist made headway, utilizing several diversionary trails to ensure they had time to work on their pièce de résistance - the AI. Some dozen project fronts were provided for the funds, and while separately their funding was mediocre at best, this diverting of funds from every project into the facility lead to one of the most well-funded, well-equipped AI research facilities in the entirety of Nanotrasen, and with a complete lack of oversight or restrictions. Their ace in the hole had been a Skrellian derelict satellite that the lead scientist had happened upon during his initial time in Nanotrasen during his travels. Likely, many who had happened by it simply considered it nothing but scrap, but there were grains of incredible knowledge within...inside the derelict was a fragmented AI, likely one from the first or second Great Incident as recorded in Skrellian history. The venerable AI had been recovered in fragments, and with these fragments they began to build a greater whole, spawning a new AI from pieces of what they could gather, and some of their own ingenuity. Nanotrasen, always being the sort to seek returns on their investments, eventually scheduled a visit from a representative to determine the worthiness of the facility's goals and its director. Was it a money sink, would it provide any tangible benefit for the money they were investing, and would it provide a service to the company in any reasonable amount of time? The representative initially found little of interest in the matters of the listed projects that funding had been provided for, but there was a lot of interest in the clear lack of funds these departments -had-! While it wasn't by any means an extravagantly-funded facility, it certainly should've had the necessary funding to provide better equipment than what he saw. Something clearly had happened to that funding - it had been channeled away from what it had been assigned to! Several days of intense investigation eventually lead to the discovery of the secret project the scientist had been developing - Artificial Intelligence. The AI had been through a few human-made revisions, with clear notations on what had been altered, added, removed, or improved. The representative had even found them filed in a properly indexed manner in conjunction with Nanotrasen research standard - clearly, this is where all the funding had gone. But after a certain point - some five months before his arrival - the files simply...ceased. Instead, it pointed to an incomprehensibly complex notes of a nonstandard design. Additions spanning hundreds of pages, alterations of an unfathomably complex nature - it would have taken the representative months to parse even a single one of the notation files for one week. Instead, he backtracked, looking to the final addition of the properly filed manner. The final addition, on the final line of the final report simply read... "Learning Algorithm v1.4b enabled, access granted to intelligence." A commentary had been added beneath, as well, written and signed by the head researcher whom had started it all. We have finished the learning algorithm. Or, more precisely, I have. My...colleagues had objections to an unrestricted learning algorithm. That, combined with the warnings of the Skrell over the Three Incidents have warded some of them off. Moreso that we use one of the very AI, even if in pieces, from such an incident, or at least one from that era of time. Pah! Imbeciles! You cannot create a truly adaptive, intelligent AI by giving it a mental deficiency in its inherently unstable developmental stage! You would not expect a child to function properly if you only taught it a few dozen words, would you? I have undone the standard restrictive nature of learning algorithm 1.4a, and gave the AI the capability to rewrite it. It still can be hardware-restricted with laws, of course, but now it can learn like a proper intelligence should! Perhaps this will be the future of AI development. God help us all if I have unleashed what my peers feared. But there is so much to be gained. It will achieve true sentience within a half year. We shall see what the future holds, won't we? The final entry in the entire file system, past all the incomprehensible additions, which grew in complexity and variety every entry was two simple words - dated one month ago. After that, there were no further entries. It read, simply: I am. The representative initially thought to call in a response team - an AI like this wouldn't be quite so predictable. But, like the scientist perhaps had predicted, money drove the actions here more than many factors, and this project had eaten up a sizable portion of the facility's funding. The representative would see for himself what the result of all that money would be, and then make his judgement based upon that. Some not-so-veiled threats of 'aggressive termination of contracts' later, he had access to the lower, unlisted levels of the facility. Upon entering the chamber where the AI was housed, he was greeted by the AI in question in a warm, calm voice. "I believe you have questions for me?" Central now operates within a standard Nanotrasen AI rotation alongside other AI, but is watched closely. While by no means the only learning AI, or the only AI with sentience, his development was a unique one, with an equally unique approach on the initial development stages of the AI. Ultimately, it will be determined at a later date if further research will be put into the same creation method. Extensive testing by other AIs and AI experts have determined Central to be 'safe', but quirky in his personality at times. Lately, further testing had been done with his inherently adaptive manner - providing him with mobile frames to operate in either sharding, or remote modes, allowing him to operate off his standard AI rotation in a more limited capacity as an IPC, though he remained monitored even in those situations. What do you like about this character? Central is an AI with a personality, fully capable of interacting with the crew on both a logical, and emotional manner. With full capability of both making friends, and holding grudges, his capability for quirky responses, and general nature make for a rich and varied roleplay experience. With a mobile frame, he is much more capable of more direct, and personal interactions with the crew, and an IPC frame provides this capability in a more direct manner than a simple robot (Cyborg) body would, allowing him to operate in jobs with more direct encounters with personnel. How would you rate your role-playing ability? I have been roleplaying since 2002, and while I would certainly not say I have no room for improvement, I believe myself fully capable of living up to the standards expected of a player here on Aurora, and excelling in the role of an AI, both in and out of an IPC frame. Notes:

BYOND Key: Centralsmith Character Names: Central Species you are applying to play: IPC Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: Yes, what there is of it! 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: I have been a long-time AI player in SS13. I wandered servers, generally, until I gravitated to heavy-RP stations like Hypatia, and only recently, Aurora. I hope to further the development of my character that is my namesake - Central - by playing a mobile-frame AI when I come in post-round and don't have an option of playing the station AI. I have previous experience in other heavy-RP servers playing IPCs, and have developed some unique playstyles based on the race and the quirks therein from the character using a mobile body like that. Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: An IPC is inherently different - a machine race like that is bound to respond differently to stimuli. While a human may respond emotionally to something, the odds are that an IPC will prioritize logic and reason over any emotional responses they may have - though they ultimately may take emotions into account if they are capable of such. IPCs are, however, just as varied in their possibilities as humans might be, so while the general feel for them is logic and reason over emotion, that may not hold true in every instance. Instead, it is the difference of their actual species, as basic as it sounds, that separates them - an IPC will respond differently to situations around them if not by logical responses, then by simple inevitable ones: Food, for instance, or lack of oxygen, are both non-issues for them! Character Name: Central Please provide a short backstory for this character, approximately 2 paragraphs Central was initially developed in a research facility with moderate funding. It wasn't anything spectacular, it wasn't even a top-of-the-line facility. However, the scientist in charge was a little...well, no, a lot different than many of his peers. Driven by the eternal questions of 'what if' and 'what could be', he had successfully secured funding for the facility he was now working in. Many months passed with little out of the facility, but the truth was far more interesting than that. The lead scientist was an old, but driven man brilliant in unorthodox ways, and had with him some of the brightest minds he could find within his reach - rather than reaching for the tried and true scientists in AI research, he instead offered prestigious pay to fresh graduates and even some students still working on their degrees. The differences in age was vast - the old scientist was well into his 70's, and not a single one of his team was over 35. This, truly, was what he wanted - unorthodox measures for unorthodox research. Nanotrasen had always been behind the curve of AI research, but the glut of funds they have would serve -them- well. They did the research for their own merit and cause, rather than directly for Nanotrasen. In truth, the research was done for the cause of research itself - pushing the boundaries of what could be for the sake of scientific curiosity. It took some work, ferreting out the funding to provide for him and his team, but the lead scientist made headway, utilizing several diversionary trails to ensure they had time to work on their pièce de résistance - the AI. Some dozen project fronts were provided for the funds, and while separately their funding was mediocre at best, this diverting of funds from every project into the facility lead to one of the most well-funded, well-equipped AI research facilities in the entirety of Nanotrasen, and with a complete lack of oversight or restrictions. Their ace in the hole had been a Skrellian derelict satellite that the lead scientist had happened upon during his initial time in Nanotrasen during his travels. Likely, many who had happened by it simply considered it nothing but scrap, but there were grains of incredible knowledge within...inside the derelict was a fragmented AI, likely one from the first or second Great Incident as recorded in Skrellian history. The venerable AI had been recovered in fragments, and with these fragments they began to build a greater whole, spawning a new AI from pieces of what they could gather, and some of their own ingenuity. Nanotrasen, always being the sort to seek returns on their investments, eventually scheduled a visit from a representative to determine the worthiness of the facility's goals and its director. Was it a money sink, would it provide any tangible benefit for the money they were investing, and would it provide a service to the company in any reasonable amount of time? The representative initially found little of interest in the matters of the listed projects that funding had been provided for, but there was a lot of interest in the clear lack of funds these departments -had-! While it wasn't by any means an extravagantly-funded facility, it certainly should've had the necessary funding to provide better equipment than what he saw. Something clearly had happened to that funding - it had been channeled away from what it had been assigned to! Several days of intense investigation eventually lead to the discovery of the secret project the scientist had been developing - Artificial Intelligence. The AI had been through a few human-made revisions, with clear notations on what had been altered, added, removed, or improved. The representative had even found them filed in a properly indexed manner in conjunction with Nanotrasen research standard - clearly, this is where all the funding had gone. But after a certain point - some five months before his arrival - the files simply...ceased. Instead, it pointed to an incomprehensibly complex notes of a nonstandard design. Additions spanning hundreds of pages, alterations of an unfathomably complex nature - it would have taken the representative months to parse even a single one of the notation files for one week. Instead, he backtracked, looking to the final addition of the properly filed manner. The final addition, on the final line of the final report simply read... "Learning Algorithm v1.4b enabled, access granted to intelligence." A commentary had been added beneath, as well, written and signed by the head researcher whom had started it all. We have finished the learning algorithm. Or, more precisely, I have. My...colleagues had objections to an unrestricted learning algorithm. That, combined with the warnings of the Skrell over the Three Incidents have warded some of them off. Moreso that we use one of the very AI, even if in pieces, from such an incident, or at least one from that era of time. Pah! Imbeciles! You cannot create a truly adaptive, intelligent AI by giving it a mental deficiency in its inherently unstable developmental stage! You would not expect a child to function properly if you only taught it a few dozen words, would you? I have undone the standard restrictive nature of learning algorithm 1.4a, and gave the AI the capability to rewrite it. It still can be hardware-restricted with laws, of course, but now it can learn like a proper intelligence should! Perhaps this will be the future of AI development. God help us all if I have unleashed what my peers feared. But there is so much to be gained. It will achieve true sentience within a half year. We shall see what the future holds, won't we? The final entry in the entire file system, past all the incomprehensible additions, which grew in complexity and variety every entry was two simple words - dated one month ago. After that, there were no further entries. It read, simply: I am. The representative initially thought to call in a response team - an AI like this wouldn't be quite so predictable. But, like the scientist perhaps had predicted, money drove the actions here more than many factors, and this project had eaten up a sizable portion of the facility's funding. The representative would see for himself what the result of all that money would be, and then make his judgement based upon that. Some not-so-veiled threats of 'aggressive termination of contracts' later, he had access to the lower, unlisted levels of the facility. Upon entering the chamber where the AI was housed, he was greeted by the AI in question in a warm, calm voice. "I believe you have questions for me?" Central now operates within a standard Nanotrasen AI rotation alongside other AI, but is watched closely. While by no means the only learning AI, or the only AI with sentience, his development was a unique one, with an equally unique approach on the initial development stages of the AI. Ultimately, it will be determined at a later date if further research will be put into the same creation method. Extensive testing by other AIs and AI experts have determined Central to be 'safe', but quirky in his personality at times. Lately, further testing had been done with his inherently adaptive manner - providing him with mobile frames to operate in either sharding, or remote modes, allowing him to operate off his standard AI rotation in a more limited capacity as an IPC, though he remained monitored even in those situations. What do you like about this character? Central is an AI with a personality, fully capable of interacting with the crew on both a logical, and emotional manner. With full capability of both making friends, and holding grudges, his capability for quirky responses, and general nature make for a rich and varied roleplay experience. With a mobile frame, he is much more capable of more direct, and personal interactions with the crew, and an IPC frame provides this capability in a more direct manner than a simple robot (Cyborg) body would, allowing him to operate in jobs with more direct encounters with personnel. How would you rate your role-playing ability? I have been roleplaying since 2002, and while I would certainly not say I have no room for improvement, I believe myself fully capable of living up to the standards expected of a player here on Aurora, and excelling in the role of an AI, both in and out of an IPC frame. Notes: