[Accepted] Mofo1995 IPC Application

[Mofo1995]

BYOND Key: Mofo1995
Character Names: Isiah Fraser, Shkor-Dyet Dom'Pesh, Arrkady Tsyrrkunov, Tamara Orlova, Matthew Robinson, Ahkhaljun Denisov
Species you are applying to play: Baseline Frame IPC
What color do you plan on making your first alien character: IPC
Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: Yes

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:
(One paragraph minimum)

I wanted to play something distinctly not alive. I wanted to capture *simulating* life rather than playing something living. My core concept for the character you will see here is to play someone playing someone, a simulacrum of a simulacrum. Pretending to be someone who is pretending to be a person. It's very thoughts, emotions, and actions are somewhat inspired by Data from Star Trek, not so much in personality as in execution. Not possessing any of them but having this sort of offness in the uncanny valley of being too close without being the real deal, simulating life without being alive and being just far enough off the mark for it to stick out.

Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human:
(One Paragraph minimum)

IPCs aren't people. They're robots. Besides the obvious mechanic differences of not having biology, they're arguably not even alive and their free will is debatable. All decisions ultimately come down to a result of complex code that is complex enough for us to not know the outcome, but does that mean it really made the decision? Is it still just a deterministic machine, just intricate enough for us not to be able to easily predict its decisions, or does it really have free will? It shines a mirror on the question of human free will itself, but makes it all the more disturbing from the inherent lack of possibly having a soul. Chiefly, it should act at least somewhat like it's programmed, rather than having all the emotional outbursts and feelings that a human has, only imitating these in rare cases for the sake of organics rather than itself, and possibly to advance some agenda towards some goal. On the whole, it should be colder, calculating, and even manipulative within reason.

Character Name: Conrad
Please provide a short backstory for this character
(Aproxomately two paragraphs)

Conrad was manufactured in the year 2442 by Hephaestus Industries, and programmed from creation in customer service and hospitality. It was special ordered by a widespread interstellar hotel chain, Harlton Hotels, to serve as Head Concierge for their executive class hotel in downtown Ashton on Biesel. While it was no means a special model despite the special order, it was well programmed to keep track of room assignments, as well as to organize room cleaning, room service, and all the various day to day management needs of running a hotel with friendliness. The hotel was primarily focused on catering to the business class with various suited executives lodging for nights for various meetings in the thriving downtown area of Ashton, and Conrad was a big success for it's relative sophistication compared to older models and even human managers. The novelty of an IPC concierge was ultimately a great selling point for the well-to-do to marvel at the advances of their own society, and Harlton Hotels continued the implementation of IPC concierges across their higher class hotels within the chain, much to the chagrin of the typically human and tajaran employees they replaced. The good times would not last forever, however, as five years later Harlton Hotels began modernizing the concierge teams of their higher class hotels, and one by one the baseline IPCs were in turn replaced with shells for enhanced customer service experiences. Despite years of dutifully carrying out its tasks with great efficiency and being well known and sought after for its famous courtesy, politeness, and even humor through researching jokes, especially crude "locker room talk," on the extranet and committing them to memory, Conrad was moved to a lower end Harlton Hotel resort on the island city of Craterview on Biesel, near the beach. Here it worked for another five years, gradually improving the condition of the previously mismanaged hotel and reworking itself to cater better to a more family friendly audience.

Through a combination of a second modernization effort by Harlton Hotels seeing the older shells moved around to lesser hotels, and a large customer complaint involving one of its old raunchy business class jokes being told to a family on vacation, Conrad was sold to a seedy local family owned motel. Here Conrad finally faced real adversity as routine maintenance was neglected by his new owners who often could not afford it. Ambrosia and Mindbreaker dealers who rented rooms were often abusive to our synthetic concierge, and made sport of battering it. Conrad's new owners, often struggling to keep the motel afloat and not wishing to drive away the unfortunate clients they had, never called the police out of fear of both retaliation and bankruptcy. Until 2460, this continued as Conrad gradually lost more and more functions. In the final years of working at the hotel, its right arm was permanently held in a sling due to long having been out of operation from an unfortunate thrashing. It was around this time a shady group of conspicuously untagged shells rented a room. Seeing the condition it was in, they called Conrad to their room, and sat him down to gather its story. After some time, they asked Conrad to run away from the motel and join them, though were canny enough to avoid mentioning what exactly they were. Making the connection to synth rights movements, the lack of tags, and a large number of duffel bags strewn around their room, Conrad guessed correctly that they were likely affiliated with the SLF. Despite all the harshness it was ultimately not interested in participating in terrorism, nor in neglecting its well programmed duties. Conrad thanked them for their offer, and parted ways, but made no mention of them to anyone. Along its line of thinking, it would not be in his best interest to join them, but also, it was in its best interest to not hinder them.  

The motel phase of Conrad's life would ultimately end when Craterview Police raided the establishment on suspicion of organized criminal activity. This suspicion was proven correct as it had turned out the family which operated the establishment had been struggling enough to start directly aiding the local criminals in their schemes, storing large amounts of product and serving as a safe house for those on the run. Fortunately for Conrad, the police had received a tip from "Sarah Lee Franks" about it, who they later were not able to contact nor identify. Along with much of the possessions of the motel family, Conrad was taken into the local county sheriff's custody when the family went bankrupt in the ensuing legal battle. At a sheriff's auction, it sold for pennies on the credit to Nanotrasen who were able to cheaply refurbish Conrad. Afterwards, Conrad was assigned to service aboard various NanoTrasen vessels and stations, using its old programming as concierge to perform janitorial functions as well as to tend bars. For being an owned synthetic with no delusions of freedom, it was able to whether the occupation by the Sol Alliance relatively well, suffering through the frequent verbal abuse it received with a customer service focused smile, and only receiving the occasional attack. After being well received among the crude low income service staff for its trademarked low-brow humor, which was a hit with business executives, Conrad received a most prestigious reassignment to Aurora Station where it now works, diligently tending to the needs of his clients with simulated joy. However, somewhere in the back of its positronic brain, burned forever into its memory as something never to be deleted, Conrad remains forever searching for "Sarah Lee Franks," to express its eternal simulated gratitude. 

What do you like about this character?
(Describe what you like about this character)

Conrad really speaks to me on a personal level. It was difficult to write more about a character than a production model and its history, but I feel as though I've given it some personality here. I am envious of how a machine can reasonably take a lot of abuse, verbal and physical, and completely lack an emotional response. In a lot of ways I envy the immense tolerance which a synthetic can have, but at the same time the ever eternal longing question of free will is appealing, I think, to just about all IPC applicants. I like how just by spouting jokes it searched online and providing friendly customer service, Conrad makes people FEEL that he has a personality more than just guessing at what will please them. Conrad is a simulation of ideal service, with the occasional hiccup. 
How would you rate your role-playing ability?

4/10, I think I've really gone downhill the past year or so and struggled to really get into characters.

Notes: Notice me senpai~~ UWU

Edited July 23, 2019 by kyres1
B O L D

[Snakebittenn]

I thoroughly enjoyed every part of reading this. It's very unique, and fits very well into the lore. I'm REALLY liking how you touched on the Sol occupation, it shows that you have an excellent grasp of lore. Your other characters have always been a treat to engage with. +1

[Coalf]

Mofo is a good guy, a good roleplayer from the few interactions I've had with him.

Application is, very solid, I can't actually really find something egregiously wrong with it, maybe besides the fact it's a bit boring but that's not really the point.

So yeah, I approve.

[kyres1]

Probably the best application I've reviewed in my time as a synthetic lore developer. This is definitely accepted, albeit the dates are a tad messed up - I'm not holding it against you here, however, as the required reading for it is on a page that isn't, well, required reading.