Herpetophilia's epic IPC application

[Herpetophilia2]

BYOND Key: Herpetophilia

Character Names: Xu Qiuu, Khazarir Prruzhulkanich 

Species you are applying to play: IPC

What color do you plan on making your first alien character: A bad-ass dark military green 

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.

Why do you wish to play this specific race: 

I've been playing on Aurora for a while now, and already have whitelists for 3 other species. Skrell, Tajara, and Unathi respectfully. The IPC whitelist seems like another fine addition to my whitelists, and I've been sort-of longing to play cyborg or IPC for a while already. After seeing some of the cool and funny IPC characters people have created, and interacting with them, I've decided that I'm going to get a whitelist as well. 

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

Obviously, IPC's are not organic, and have a series of advantages and disadvantages that come with this, such as resistance to brute damage, vulnerability to ions and EMPs, and so on. One of their most important differences however, is that being a positronic, most are not capable of having the same level of social interaction with organics as other organics do. This is because they do not possess the same mannerisms as many other species do. Instead, they act off cause and effect and adapt to the environment and it's culture to the best of their ability. However, some IPCs can still form opinions, emulate human behavior and other traits normally possessed by organics. Each IPC's highest concern is their own safety, regardless of their job. 

Name: Bob (H-4B0B)

Please provide a short backstory for this character:

Being a mint Hephaestus Industrial Gen-2 constructed on August 1st in one of the many factories on Mars, H-4B0B was quickly shipped to an off-planet warehouse until it was ready to be bought by a customer. Made in a batch meant for paramilitary and security uses, it was equipped with a state-of-the-art updated G-2 chassis, plating, cooling systems, but alas a slightly outdated, less advanced positronic to lower the production cost. Somewhat low on the social interaction ability scale, it was more suited for following orders, patrolling, answering simple questions, and neutralizing threats.

After about a month, H-4B0B was leased by a galactic mega-corporation, NanoTrasen. H-4B0B's batch was sent off to be used on some of NT's many assets, included, but not limited to, space stations. H-4B0B itself was assigned a security position aboard one of NanoTrasen's most advanced stations. It's memory banks were updated with corporate regulations and it's ownership status temporarily set to NanoTrasen. Not long after, it was shipped to the Odin where it was dubbed "Bob" by one of the officials in charge of IPC assignments, either out of simplicity over "H-4B0B", or just for shits and giggles. 

It was given a short training period where it was taught to successfully deal with regulation-breakers using proper escalation of force. After that, it was further prepared for servitude by being told to be a "good boy" by the same imbecile that named it "Bob" and to seek a non-lethal solution whenever possible. Some paperwork and records followed, and it was finally sent off to the NSS Aurora to fulfill the assignment of Security Officer. If it's performance is satisfactory during the year-long lease period and there are no costly mechanical faults, NanoTrasen may obtain full ownership of the unit by paying the remaining cost.

 

What do you like about this character? 

Having almost no knowledge of how society really works, Bob is going to be thrust into a diverse, new environment for it to adapt to and learn from. This means I will try to roleplay Bob to learn from and take examples from other characters and crewmen, no matter how positive or negative of an influence they may be (within limits of course).

 

How would you rate your role-playing ability?

Depending on the day and mood, really. It can be anywhere for 6 to 8 out of 10.

[niennab]

4 hours ago, Herpetophilia2 said:

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

Can you expand upon this portion?

4 hours ago, Herpetophilia2 said:

is that being a positronic, most are not capable of having the same level of social interaction with organics as other organics do. This is because they do not possess the same mannerisms as many other species do. Instead, they act off cause and effect and adapt to the environment and it's culture to the best of their ability.

I'm curious what you mean by this. How does acting off of cause and effect mean that they aren't capable of having the same level of social interactions as organics?

Also, can you expand upon the backstory? As it stands only the foundation is there for the IPC (built, training info, shipment) but it's lacking otherwise. As it stands, how does the backstory differ from a station-bound? I often look for details to the story that offer a concrete understanding of the lore and how to apply it etc etc.

Admittedly this line raises a red flag for me:

Quote

Somewhat low on the social interaction ability scale, it was more suited for following orders, patrolling, answering simple questions, and neutralizing threats.

How will the character fit in when they themselves aren't very good at interaction? The Aurora isn't always fighting after all.

Edited September 2, 2020 by niennab

[Herpetophilia2]

Hello! Thanks for replying! I'll do my best to answer these questions, even though to be honest, I was unprepared for some of them.

10 hours ago, niennab said:

Can you expand upon this portion?

IPCs are not organic, and have a series of advantages and disadvantages that come with this, such as resistance to physical damage, vulnerability to EMPs, resistance to pain, and some of them being able to survive in a vacuum. One of their most important differences is that positronic brains are not capable of having the same level of social interaction with organics as other organics do. This is because they do not possess the same mannerisms as many other species. Instead, they attempt to imitate organic behavior and adapt to their current environment and culture as best as they can. This can vary from model to model and positronic to positronic, as some may be more capable at it than others. However, some IPCs can even possibly form opinions, make friends and do other things normally done by organics as a result of learning and adapting. Each IPC's highest concern is their own safety, regardless of their job. Most IPC's will find a way to link their job to their own self-preservation, with bound synthetics for example possibly believing that being owned is a good way to stay safe, as they can get free repairs and maintenance. 

10 hours ago, niennab said:

I'm curious what you mean by this. How does acting off of cause and effect mean that they aren't capable of having the same level of social interactions as organics?

I might've worded that in a bit of a weird way. IPCs are incapable of feeling true emotions, and are only emulating them, each to one degree or another. What I meant is that while a human might speak or act based off their emotions or morals, IPCs unfamiliar with, or incapable of emulating them to a high degree might take emotion and morality out of the equation, just to follow orders and/or make sure they survive. 

10 hours ago, niennab said:

How will the character fit in when they themselves aren't very good at interaction? The Aurora isn't always fighting after all

I feel like I already talked about this in another section, but maybe I didn't make myself clear enough. Even though that Bob wasn't really made for positions which may require heavy human social interaction, this will not bar it from actively trying to learn from and adapt to it's workplace. Bob will be curious and try to absorb any information it is given to better fit in with the environment, maybe making friends along the way.

10 hours ago, niennab said:

Also, can you expand upon the backstory? As it stands only the foundation is there for the IPC (built, training info, shipment) but it's lacking otherwise. As it stands, how does the backstory differ from a station-bound? I often look for details to the story that offer a concrete understanding of the lore and how to apply it etc etc.

I don't really know about how I can flesh out a story of a newly made, corporate-owned IPC. Maybe it was a bad idea to try and make an application backstory centered around one in the first place, seeing as how new IPCs, especially ones owned by corporations, most likely will not be able to come in contact with groups such as the Trinary Perfection church or the Golden Deep because said corporations like Hephaestus are against IPC freedom. I read about the Synthetic factions and to be honest I am really interested in them especially the Trinary Perfection and their idea that all synthetics are divine. However I don't really know how to implement their lore into a month-old IPC that is fresh off the shelves, seeing as there simply isn't a way for Bob to have ever met these factions. Instead, I will attempt to rewrite the backstory if you still want more lore representation. 
 

Edited September 2, 2020 by Herpetophilia2

[sebkillerDK]

ay, finally joined the synth masterace?

Anyway. i've known herp for about 3-4 months now, and i can confidently say that i have had nothing but great and fun interactions with them through this time, especially with their skrellian surgeon Xu Qiuu, whom i've noted they are very great at when it comes to getting into the mindset of a species. I've often found myself dumbfounded by their sudden actions that would seem weird for a human, but perfectly normal for a skrell, and overall i think they will do a great job at getting into the mindset of being an IPC, and bring some interesting RP with their backstory being focused on a new IPC that is still learning about the world around them, a gimmick i have not seen done that often, and the few times i have seen it, it has usually been enjoyable, and entertaining to interact with. i am looking forwards to working with bob in security, and getting into situations where im gonna have to explain a giant 8 feet tall walking tank what teddybears are used for in human society. 

A confident +1 from me.

[niennab]

If you want to stick to the idea, I recommend considering what might have transpired in between their manufacturing and employment with the Aurora and how that shaped their identity moving forward. Whether they are an old positronic recently wiped, an IPC that traded multiple hands, so on and so forth.

However if you are unable to expand on the backstory, I will have to deny you for now. The application's backstory is too bare-bones and on the surface, differs very little from a stationbound conceptually. I also recommend avoiding focusing on mechanical differences for the "Identify what makes role-playing this species different from role-playing a Human" question.

You're welcome to reapply in 3 days.