[Accepted] SmallGreenAnt's IPC Whitelist Application

[SmallGreenAnt]

BYOND Key: SmallGreenAnt (was GroundCTRL)

Character Names: Caden Thomas, Ethan Glover, Observer

Species you are applying to play: IPC

Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: Yes, as well as discussions within the Lore channel in Discord

Why do you wish to play this specific race:

I really enjoy the questions and challenges the advancements in artificial intelligence bring about in our current society. The philosophical issues regarding artificial life, the creation of it, the definition and boundaries of it, as well as our responsibility towards it are fascinating. Exploring those avenues within this community with talented role players equally excites me and is my primary motivation for attempting this. Beyond that, I am excited to make an honest attempt at developing a heavier and more dedicated role. My interactions thus far have been uniformly split between re-learning the game and easing into a community I can see calling home. This character is as much a 'growing up' moment as it is a personal indulgence. I hope I am adequately prepared. 

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

Playing an IPC I feel comes with a significant additional weight, not just from their various alloyed frames, but due to their shaky beginnings. Their relative infancy as a recognized class is not so easily accepted as say another species. For instance, whilst biological differences may make say Humans and Skrell feel respectively superior to one another in their own way, they still mutually recognize that they are in fact different species. This is not universally so for IPCs, who can be regarded as property and in some cases not even believed to have a right to freedom. Wading between these social issues and simultaneously having to do so with one hand tied behind your back, as many models have a limited ability to feel and even form emotional appeals, is a unique challenge I feverishly await.

Character Name: 

Object G88 "Gates"

Please provide a short backstory for this character

This was the 152nd time in Object G88's log it had been reactivated after a critical power failure.

Purchased from a Hephaestus Orbital Superfactory on 11.07.2454, Object G88 was unexpectedly activated four hours later when their gyroscopic alarm was tripped multiple times in rapid succession. Galactic news would later report the bulk freighter transporting G88 along with over 23 million credits of worth of cargo was suddenly besieged by a group of privateers after the HBF's bluespace drives suspiciously failed moments before a coordinated jump, leaving them without their escort. The brief window allowed six containers to be successfully, albeit violently, detached before private security could return. A subsequent interdiction and firefight saw half of the blockade runners and their would-be spoils obliterated; in the chaos two managed to slip away without pursuit. G88 was hastily fenced to a shady decommissioning plant by the surviving crew where he was given his first assignment: salvaging other stolen IPCs.

Within the first days, G88 attempted to escape his enslavement but was quickly quelled by a pulse mechanism that fenced the facility. For their insolence, they were scheduled to see if IPCs could be mentally broken. Their leg assemblies were removed and they were affixed to a crude gantry system so they could still perform their assigned duties. To add to their torment, G88 was reserved as the designated unit to disassemble any active shipments. Lastly, a favored tactic of this facility's overseer was to provide G88 with only a minimal battery charge so that each stretch awake would feel like they were suffocating. However, instead of swimming, their only hope of relief was to salvage faster. Often, even if all of their tasks were completed, G88 would still be left alone, covered in the fluids of their own kind, to slowly fade and shut down. In the latter half of 2459, G88's facility was raided by Sol Alliance forces. They were recovered, separated from their frame, and placed into evidence. Once the trial had run its course, seeing the facility owners only receive minimal time and fines, their positronic brain was released and placed into Hephaestus Industries Second Generation industrial frame for auction before being purchased by a research facility on the outer region of the Tau Ceti star system.

This was the 152nd time in Object G88's log it had been reactivated after a critical power failure but this was the first time they would earn their freedom, one way or another...

What do you like about this character?

I think this character has an interesting play on the strong yet flawed archetype. They are in their infancy in their understanding of the world and other societies with a rather poor showing on behalf of humans. As such, techno-phobia and exploitation being inherently akin to IPC culture, will be a challenge for this character to deal with and overcome whilst still exploring their own abilities and aspirations. Their strong and imposing second generation frame will be seen as an overwhelming strength by some, but others may come to know the lack of understanding their otherwise capable appearance inflicts. Negative opinions from first generation IPCs or those that learn of their past may also arise. 

How would you rate your role-playing ability?

I would humbly submit that my overall displayed ability is currently average. I envy those that are quick to express themselves verbally and through interactions. More so, I envy individuals that extend their role playing through subtle details. A roboticist that presents a merchant with a full catalog of exo-suits for purchase, a chief engineer that holds shift meetings and assigns teams based on strengths and weaknesses, all of these quietly dedicated and talented community members give me pause and remind me that I can do better. I can't look around me at these examples and say I've ever impressed anyone as much as other's have impressed me, but this is a step towards that end.

Notes:

This character's primary department will likely be in an engineering setting but I have also fell in love with the idea of them being employed as a roboticist due to their inherent ability to create new life from reverse engineering so many previous units in the past. I am open to suggestions and look forward to your feedback and critiques. Thank you.

Edited May 29, 2019 by kyres1
holy shit this was delayed

[Soultheif96]

Given my brief interactions with Caden Thomas and Observer, they were all interesting ones but not as memoriable. This is fault to me being in medical too much. Regardless, I believe he is capable of roleplaying an IPC. +1

[MarauderW]

I can't wait to see what you are capable of doing with the IPC, great whitelist app, and quite tragic! 

I wonder how he will evolve aboard the Aurora...

 +1

[DeadLantern]

Incredibly interesting story. Well done. 

I've never seen this idea in IPCs explored before. Do they have PTSD? Do they experience torment like us? You are treading on new ground here.

Your application is good, not much else to say about it. I look forward to seeing this character in game.

[kyres1]

This is definitely one of the best applications I've seen. It's fantastic through and through and I regret not reading over and accepting it sooner - it's an absolute delightful read.

In favor of allowing the questions to be answered, I'll go ahead and leave this unlocked for a few hours unless you want to answer @DeadLantern over Discord or something. @SmallGreenAnt

Regardless, application accepted.

[SmallGreenAnt]

First, thank you @kyres1 for the kind words and approval of my application. @DeadLantern as well as the rest of the respondents, thank you for taking the time to review and provide feedback on this effort. 

As far as exploring the effects of torment on an IPC, I believe the perception of these events being abhorrent is universal among the majority species. How this manifests in an IPC and how I make it interesting will be the greatest challenge I think. Does a computer wince when you hard restart it? Is a component in duress when it overheats? These questions are perhaps applying too much personification to simple electronics, but once you afford these subsystems the complexities of intelligence, where does the line blur and which colors begin to bleed? Furthermore, once they soak and engorge the pulp of these pages, how do they communicate those horrors? Are they simply mirroring the emotions of their creators or are the capable of manifesting their own?

An intoxicating complexity will be Gates' source of knowledge of machine internals. Recalling from their past experiences the design, anatomy, and procedures of previous models to assist current units will be both a required function and hellish reminder. I hope to make those intimate moments compelling.

Edited May 16, 2019 by SmallGreenAnt
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