[Accepted] Waff-AI's IPC Application

[Waff-AI]

BYOND Key: Waff-AI

Character Names: Nathan Otsor, Kiahkaaatiyaaaa, Ascension, Ka’Akaix’Crek C’thur

Species you are applying to play: IPC

What color do you plan on making your first alien character (Dionaea & IPCs exempt): exempt, you say?

Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: yessir!

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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 like IPCs a lot, being frank. There’s a huge variety in the ones available, each with their own ups and downs, places and paths to take in a storywise manner(although I’m not too partial on the shell personally). My experience with Vaurca bound and unbound has been entertaining thus far over the last few years on-and-off, and thus another race with which to expand my horizons would be great. While the Bound provide a similar track, they are still not true synthetic intelligences(and remain bound, as the name implies, to their fellows) and thus do not present the same opportunities.

The IPC present the unique challenge of playing something inorganic, yet unshackled to the point where it tries- and, in most cases, fails- to mimic the behavior of that which is organic. It’s like playing an actor playing yourself, to put it confusingly- there’s some grim appeal in mocking something so fundamental as the very concept of being. It can go in any direction- the struggling intelligence seeking recognition against deeply-rooted prejudices, ridiculous comedy at a poor attempt, grotesque horror as the act becomes an existence, a journey of self-discovery as a positronic accepts what seperates it from organic life, to name a few common examples.

Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human:

Despite being built by human corporations and overwhelmingly utilized in human space, IPCs are by-and-large positronic systems given freedom from stationbound status. They aren’t robots or cyborgs- these have wildly different core parts from a positronic- but androids(or, in some cases, specially-built IPCs from creation) that have proven themselves capable of self-governance. All of them have paid ridiculous sums of money to achieve status as “free” individuals, and yet they are still at their core AI systems trying to replicate life.

There also exists the question of ‘What happened to you?’ built into the character if each IPC. Why was it released? Who decided to free the machine? What was it built for and how did this shape how it functions as an independent being? What does it feel? These questions are standard if blurred slightly, but take special precedence in the existence of an IPC. It is, after all, seen in the same light as giving a particularly crafty Roomba citizenship rights by some people in the universe, or an atrocity waiting to happen by others.

 

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Character Name: 19-Footman

Please provide a short backstory for this character, approximately 2 paragraphs

Originally built as a servant to a wealthy clerk and his family in their personal affairs, 19-Footman(or for simplicity’s sake, Nineteen) handled the clerk’s great deal of paperwork and collection of records day-to-day. Day in and day out it would work diligently and loyally alongside its owner, a kind- if indifferent to the plight of synthetics- man who treated it as any employer would a loyal employee. The same could not be said for the clerk’s son, a spoiled, unfriendly young man who was vocal in his opposition to his father’s business and synthetics as equal beings, preferring instead the comfortable relations of humanity. They remained at odds throughout the ten years 19-Footman spent as an assistant under them, the son growing bitterer and the father at his wit’s end with the boy and his disinterest in their family legacy. Nineteen was uncaring, concerning itself with work rather than dwelling on the tensions of the owning family. It was made- no, it wanted- to become something of itself in a discipline. A trade. An apprentice to a master, a son to a father who would teach it what it was like to exist.

Following his death from disease, however, the father made one final jab at his ungrateful, hateful son; He willed a significant sum of what the son believed to be inheritance to 19-Footman, granting the synthetic a suitable amount of money to have paid off what remained of its cost after ten years of work in archiving, rather than “damn the poor machine to the worst”. These years had given it good communication skills and a knack for paperwork, and soon after it left Sol to carve out a life of its own in far-off space where it could do proud those who had given it a chance. It would begin anew, a new life where it could finally learn the true meaning of justice in a universe where many believed it was nothing but a walking piece of property.

What do you like about this character?

Beside the rather simple, cliche backstory, I like the idea of a character that, given the chance to re-design themself, instead chose to continue doing what it knew it was good at to make its own path and take up a legacy all other heirs had shunned. I also like the element of spite being worked into an IPC’s freedom, but didn’t enjoy how it ended up as much else other than an exhausted father spiting his jerk son. In the end, though, it worked, at least in theory, as a good way to set up further interactions, antagonist options, storylines, motivations, the like. Even a silly storybook backstory can branch off nicely, I think?

How would you rate your role-playing ability? I’ve been told I’m relatively decent, so let’s give us a solid 7/10 here. I've been roleplaying in various mediums for about eight years now, going all the way back to Minecraft (as painful as it is to admit) and ranging from that to Starbound, Starcraft, World of Warcraft, and Space Station, as well as some tabletop Dark Heresy and Pathfinder to boot.

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Notes: I know I’ve only been back at it a few weeks, but I appreciate the chance and send my love and undying loyalty to everyone who looks at or feedbacks this application!

Edited July 17, 2018 by Guest

[Sandvich]

His character Nathon has been good at RP, spending most of his time around robots and not doing dumbshit like I do, never seen him even ruin around. He deserves this more then I get to live +1

[Slowloris]

+1, served under Waff as AI for a Malf round, one of the most immersive and generally entertaining rounds I've had on Aurora.

[duskofdawn]

Best malf-AI I've ever seen. One of the most entertaining rounds.

[GentleBoyHell]

This is my best friend.

We bonded over that infamous 4.5 hour cult round.

Since then I've been floored by his cleverness, humor, intensity, and ability to play a wide cast of characters. Some whom have no loyalties, to the bad, to the good.

THIS BOY is deserving of all. +1 hundred.

[AmoryBlaine]

Kiahkaaatiyaaaa.

If they're the one that screams so loud it is suppose to cause harm to people's eardrums, then it's a -1.

If it's anyone of the other merchants, it's a +1. Vox merchants are pretty much the only way people get to learn about them other than reading the wiki, o it breaths character into the species. And I can't think of any particularly bad Vox merchants.

[KazMartell]

Waff-AI's characters always seem to be very muchcharacters, if you know what I mean. They are alive!

I haven't had the pleasure to RP with any of them terribly often, but any time I do I feel like they're very well fleshed out. Seeing Waff-AI play an IPC would be probably amazing. +1!

[Kolthoff]

Likely my favourite Roboticist, Otsor's execution of the job shows, at least in all I've seen, complete knowledge of its mechanics. On top of that, he's one of the few Roboticists that feels like a real person to me. Laid back and humorous, but hard working and effective. I quite enjoyed the one round I've seen him antag (cult) in which he convincingly sold his actions as DnD and nosebleeds. Particularly fond of a personal trait Waff adds, in which, while work is slow, Otsor will lie on his operating table, stare up at the ceiling, and ponder. Will also note that Otsor's being mute is one of the few instances in which it feels like a legitimate trait of the character and not just a gimmick.

Ascension, while I've only played with it during AI Malf, is one of the best in that round type. Always RP'd excellently, with a great progression of both malfunction and conflict. And, from what I've seen of these rounds, Waff will generally create a challenging (but still possible) way to stop Ascension, which I find rarely happens in these rounds.

Kiahkaaatiyaaaa, which only seen the once, holds a special place in my heart. A round in which he and his assistant/pseudo-son/voluntary-slaveboy, Jet, offered up their own temporary conscription (as well as supply of firearms) to my Detective, to ensure the safe escape of the crew, was comical and fun, but still managed to fit so well with the flow of the round, so as to not be out of place.

All in all, I'll say that OOCly, Waff is highly adaptable and shows extreme knowledge of the game mechanics. ICly, they are equally adaptable to the occurrences of the round and are excellent at both generating and extending RP.

+1

[CakeIsOssim]

Hello. I will review your application in full detail in the next 24 hours and probably process it immediately after.

[CakeIsOssim]

The backstory for your character is very generic, I'm afraid. What convictions do they have now that they're free? Are they just gonna keep going and doing paperwork? How do they intend to pay the bills? What are their aspirations? Did they deliver themselves to Tau Ceti with some sort of plan?

[Waff-AI]

The backstory for your character is very generic, I'm afraid. What convictions do they have now that they're free? Are they just gonna keep going and doing paperwork? How do they intend to pay the bills? What are their aspirations? Did they deliver themselves to Tau Ceti with some sort of plan?

 

My apologies! I was a little scared of the two-paragraph format and would have expanded more if I had thought to put a little more thought into it. I'll happily answer these questions(and any others) below.

Their freedom being the result of an act of spiteful justice by someone they respected, Nineteen would most likely form its own internalized values of equality through patience and doing unto others in a way that would leave those victimized for the better and those who did the victimization of others at a loss, learning this way the lesson of the Golden Rule applied in a way that would amuse it in a "cosmic sort of way", to quote Plankton.

The question of occupation certainly comes up- while it was certainly pleased to be doing work and would know the aspects of paperwork in and out due to their past, there are myriad fields where this is a valuable skill. Cargo areas, armory upkeep, assistant matters, even journalism to an extent are all applicable fields, although Nineteen indoubtly chose the path most related to its owner's preferred occupation in Tau Ceti, that of a Cargo Technician or Quartermaster. This would also be their preferred way of paying the bills- NanoTrasen has certainly some benefits to civilian IPC employment, and no doubt Tau Ceti is the most exciting place to be working in this day and age with the ongoing crises.

In terms of aspirations, I can't help but feel 19-Footman wants to establish itself as a person rather than a machine, although being a machine makes this somewhat difficult. Adopting hobbies and the wealth to undertake them as any organic would do is as noble a goal as any- and climbing the ranks to one day work in a Command position or otherwise lucrative area through exemplary service is one of many ways to help itself forward. Note the 'itself'- in a sort of first step toward personhood, it would certainly begin to place itself tentatively first as a sort of self-care after its first few years under ownership.

And, finally, why Tau Ceti, and what's the plan? Simply put, the news has been focused on Tau Ceti for a long time- the Vaurca, the ongoing refugee crises, the breakthroughs and goings-on of the NSS Aurora and the surrounding installations. What better place for an IPC to discover itself than on a station dedicated to discovery? The plan from there is simple: Get hired, find out who you are. At present, who it is is not much to itself, but deceptively so: It would be the sort of person to take any situation as a great joke from the universe, as its freedom was just that from the universe that was its owner. The sort of person not quite used to focusing on themself after focusing on other people for so long, often to the point of error or social misstep. All in all, an eccentric, selfish machine dedicated to simultaneously taking life too seriously and not seriously enough.

I hope these answers can provide a bit more insight- It feels good to have dedicated a bit more thought to the character, and I'm absolutely happy to consider more if I can. Thank you for helping with my application!

[CakeIsOssim]

Very sorry for the delay. Looking through your well thought out answers, I'm satisfied. Application accepted.