ati really wants to beep application do not steal

[Aticius]

BYOND Key: Aticius

Character Names: Tzarka Ssarzi, Skaria Atubal, Sharah Guwan

Species you are applying to play: IPC

Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: Interestingly, before deciding to write an App, No. Most of this information will be pulled from interactions from players, though I am obviously taking time to look over the page specifically.

 

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:

IPCs are, simply put, the opportunity to play a mechanical intelligence without the overbearing influence of Laws, like stationbounds and their associated mechanical issues. This detachment from life, as traditionally seen, is woefully underused. Both in game, and in fiction, and it's something I want to explore personally. The opportunities to be only adjacent to life as we know it have a large breadth to them.

 

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

Simply put, IPCs are merely reflections of Humanity. Similar at a glance and in the broad strokes, but only so because they emulate Humanity. Thoughts are mechanical, responsive and entirely the result of stimuli and processing and nothing else. Mannerisms are simply inherited by Humanity to make interactions more comfortable for them. As such, Positronics are essentially entirely rational in their behavior and when without the need to operate with organic life, their behavior changes drastically into electronic handshakes designed for efficiency. While an IPC and a Human may arrive at the same answer, their methodology is often times vastly different.

Legally speaking, IPCs and other Synthetics do not have even a shred of the same legal protection as other organic life (sans Diona.), damage to an IPC quantifies as vandalism (If owned) or as assault (If self-owned) with no true equivalent to "Murder", the closest being Automacide which carries significantly less weight. Citizenship within the Republic is a difficult affair as well, as unowned chassis are defacto property of the State, which are promptly sold to Megacorporations as assets. To earn one's citizenship within the Republic, one must provide their own funding, a difficult affair at best.

Character Name: HEP-71-M

 

Please provide a short backstory for this character: 

71-M is a simple, untroubled, intelligence owned by Hephaestus. A simple, first-generation model of the Xion make designed for Extravehicular Mining for extended periods. While completely understanding that, over it's operational lifetime, it is has extracted more than several times it's worth in raw minerals, It has independently decided that while loftier ideals of freedom and self determination are a possibility, the fact of the matter is, It's existence is continued without personal overhead nor responsibility. This, then, allows it to continue existence and further learn about the galaxy at large. Despite it's seeming simple behavior, 71-M has an acute interest in furthering it's own knowledge about any topic, fully willing to engage in conversation with organics that might be within ear shot, though conversations about mineralogy and sediment compositions are like to be intensely boring to all but the most academic of listeners. 

 

Quote

The faint rumble of a Drill, the crushing of eons of natural processes at work behind an alloy drillbit. Chips of hardened, worn, stone bounce off the chassis of a Skeletal creature made of metal. This was it's home, A twisting, lightless cavern beneath the surface of an alien world with air saturated with acids that eat away, slowly, at it's joints and paint. The drill seizes, it's tip colliding with something harder than the stone it's chewed through for the last eighteen hours.

The metal skeleton withdraws it's tool, peering into the start of a new borehole. The cut stone reflects the dim orange light, casting shadows with loosened pebbles. From within the recess, purple-pink shards glitter in the light, the Machine reaches in with a pronged gripper and drags the shards out, scraping against the stone surface. The shards spark with vibrant color that twists and turns, briefly illuminating the cavern and the military-green casing of the Machine that's disturbed it. It's hand rotates around, to provide a better glimpse at the mineral in it's hand. The Drill clatters to the hewn floor below, echoing through the tunnel. A careful, calculated grip lifts the shard up to it's optics, simple recesses below a liquid crystal screen. It has seen these before, elsewhere. Elyran Phoron, now found somewhere else.

While these shards have no application, their discovery marks this world for more than a survey team. Perhaps twenty years prior, had this Machine found such a discovery, it would have considered the possibility of freedom. To do more than appraise stone and the impurities within it. It knows that, however, it is home. There is not comfort, no, but perhaps purpose in it's work. Other Machines may yet determine their own actions because of the wealth it has found and unearthed. It knows that- It's thought is interrupted as a flake of paint peels off a claw, the acid having eaten away at the layer. It has work to do, there will be time to dwell on possibilities later.

The shards are lowered into a polyplastic bag, quickly clipped onto a rigging point on it's harness, just above it's uppermost cooling rib, right next to it's cell. A treated steel Beacon is shoved, firmly, into the rock below. It's own drillbit lowering itself into the stone, it's supports automatically deployed to ensure it stays upright. The red light clicks on, the second light in this tunnel, now. The Machine leans down, gripping it's Drill, examining it's right forearm as it does so.

Any damage to it's myomer control might prevent it from leaving this chamber underground. No centimeter goes unobserved, there will be no rescue if it does not return, and it's discovery may never be reported. It finds a small tear within a black bundle of cabling; the air of this world has reached it's muscles. The hefty drill is quickly attached behind it's frame, it's handle folding into a more compact shape. It must move. It's illuminated gaze outlines a line of black cabling that leads upwards, through a small, shadowy slit within the stone. It must climb. Rubberized treads stomp against the stone below, it's grippers clench and secure themselves around each other. One foot forward, than another. It's pace is measured, practiced. It knows what this rope can handle, and how far it is allowed to lean to support it's frame. Though Skeletal, the alloys of it's body are heavy, dense, and not explicitly designed for spelunking, though perhaps a fall may not cause it's cooling vanes to rupture. The narrow passage requires it's torso to decouple, though briefly, to slip through without damaging the rock. A twist out of it's socket, a structural warning ignored, and it is through. A quick, forceful, movement into it's hip joint resecures it's body.

It unclips another beacon, setting it firmly within the stone. It does not wait for the beacon to function, it must move. Six paces along the stone, each of them measured, identical. A moment of doubt moves over it's mind, Will reporting this cause any further miners to become damaged? Will organics be assigned here? Will they die, from suit punctures? The stone is sharp here, it is possible. Six more steps, another beacon, another tense climb. It ponders, again, the idea of freedom. There is a wealth of credits to be found with Phoron deposits. There will likely be a monetary reward, and a possible excuse to cease it's expedition here.

Twelve steps, each identical. Twenty Four. It's gaze moves over the walls and ceiling of this chamber, the roof a series of checkerboxed holes divided by calcite formations. Another thought, Will anyone see this again, the same way it has? It does not dwell on the question, it will need to justify maintenance and repairs for this expedition. It must be reported. It's blackbox has likely already recorded an anomalous deposit, hiding it is like to be a cause for concern. It is not abberant. It must never appear abberant. A new noise infiltrates the cavern system, a wailing howl of a katabatic wind over the cavern face. Has it lost count of it's steps? It is near the surface now. It will report to basecamp and vocalize it's findings to the sole organic assigned to this world by Hephaestus. Perhaps they will be overjoyed at the possibility of returning home, it is unknown. Their behavior is unknown, irrational. It muses this idea, and ponders, briefly, if stone is irrational too.

 

What do you like about this character?

71-M offers an opportunity to play a Character that underlines more than a few grim topics in a straight-faced manner, while allowing for an interesting twist on how SS13 is normally played with essentially most mechanics sidestepped or subsituted.

How would you rate your role-playing ability?

Since my last application had the great fun of people calling me out, I like to think i'm pretty good at getting into character and providing narratives to them. I'm not always personally happy with my efforts, but I do tend to put a lot of sweat and tears into the characters I make.

 

Notes: p-pls i want to use *yes

Edited January 10, 2021 by Aticius

[YourDaddy117]

I've seen Ati play quality Unathi on both Bay and here, so it'd be interesting to see what they can do with an IPC whitelist. And it's nice that someone's applying or planning to play something like a simple mining robot, because ironically I feel like we don't have enough of those lately. +1

[niennab]

Hello, thank you for applying! Are you able to greatly expand on the backstory? As it stands, it’s too bare bones. I recommend trying to tell a story with that portion of the application. 

Moving on, what do you mean by this?

6 hours ago, Aticius said:

Citizenship within the Republic is a difficult affair as well, as unowned chassis are defacto property of the State, which are promptly sold to Megacorporations as assets.

Moreover this portion here?

6 hours ago, Aticius said:

To earn one's citizenship within the Republic, one must provide their own funding, a difficult affair at best.

Presently the only way to acquire a Biesel citizenship is through the TCFL or the Golden Deep.

Lastly, if I am reading this right, you haven’t read the IPC wiki?

6 hours ago, Aticius said:

Interestingly, before deciding to write an App, No. Most of this information will be pulled from interactions from players, though I am obviously taking time to look over the page specifically.

 

[Aticius]

8 hours ago, niennab said:

 

Moving on, what do you mean by this?

Moreover this portion here?

Presently the only way to acquire a Biesel citizenship is through the TCFL or the Golden Deep.

These lines all stem from an interpretation from this section of the IPC Page:

Quote

On IPCs purchasing freedom

All positronic constructs designed for IPC chassis who find their way into Tau Ceti or are constructed within are entitled to two basic rights :

Positronics, once tagged, are added to a registry within Tau Ceti ensuring (for the most part) that the data regarding their progress to freedom is secure and accurate.

Positronics without ownership within Tau Ceti who are not free are automatically property of the Republic of Biesel, who most often sells the rights to the brain and its chassis to a megacorporate employer.

IPCs are capable of purchasing freedom, with two simple prerequisites listed below.

The IPC in question having paid its own cost off in full ten times over.

The IPC in question being at least one year of age.

The most important part of this is to realize that the "funds" allocated to purchasing the IPC's freedom are a theoretical number which rises depending on the projected monetary output of the IPC in its given profession. This means that, once you buy your chassis off, you are not a millionaire - you would be entirely broke, in reality, meaning that leading into freedom requires some sort of forethought and planning.

Which seems to imply, to my understanding, that "Freedom" means "Citizenship", unless this is incorrect, or outdated lore. Given what you've said, I'm certainly confused. My interpretation was that within Tau Ceti, Self-Ownership is the same as Citizenship, but this seems to not be the case. Wouldn't this create a Stateless IPC? Are there self-owned IPCs who are not citizens of the Republic, and also nowhere else? This seems to not have that answer. It's certainly caused confusion.

 

Quote

Lastly, if I am reading this right, you haven’t read the IPC wiki?

I have, it's just that having played nearly a year, A lot of my information is pulled from what i've received from players. Determined Wiki reading has, indeed, occured.

why is this a question even?

 

I will be editing the main post with a short story, since it's really hard to drag out a simple concept as described without getting out a thesaurus and making the font bigger.

 

[niennab]

Can you format the story so it isn’t a wall of text? In addition to an expansion on the backstory. How did the character make their way to the Aurora, why, so on and so forth. Who owns them then and now, etc etc.

Moreover, what is meant by this portion here?

19 hours ago, Aticius said:

It has independently decided that while loftier ideals of freedom and self determination are a possibility, the fact of the matter is, It's existence is continued without personal overhead nor responsibility.

On the topic of ownership and citizenship, they are separate things. An IPC can be self-owned but not possess any citizenship. The passage there is ultimately referring to synthetics whose owner passes or run away synthetics from other star systems. Each star system and sometimes even planets treats their IPCs differently.

3 hours ago, Aticius said:

why is this a question even?

Sorry, my question or the application’s?

[Aticius]

1 hour ago, niennab said:

Sorry, my question or the application’s?

Asking if someone's read the wiki page seems rather odd, given that's the best place to look for lore. I've poked fun at this question for a while.

 

Quote

It has independently decided that while loftier ideals of freedom and self determination are a possibility, the fact of the matter is, It's existence is continued without personal overhead nor responsibility.

71-M understands that Freedom is a plausible thing it could achieve, but being under ownership by Hephaestus means that repairs and electricity are always provided and there's likely to be a token rescue effort if something awful happens to it's chassis.

 

71-M is planned to be a contracted miner, shipped to the NSS Aurora as part of a minor agreement with Hephaestus for additional mining support given the shortage is showing no signs of slowing down. As such, they're still Corporately owned, by Hephaestus Industries.

 

I'll reformat the story for ease of reading, as well.

[Connorjg1]

Howdy.

 

I've roleplayed a lot with Aticius recently and really enjoy the style they put forth. I believe they could do very interesting things with an IPC whitelist and look forward to seeing it

 

Big old +1

Edited January 10, 2021 by Connorjg1
Me spell name good

[DronzTheWolf]

I've been RPing with Ati on the station more often recently and I've come to say that I support this. With how they've done making Unathi, I can't wait to see how they do IPCs. 

Beep Boop +1

[Wigglesworth Jones]

I've known Ati for a little while, and from interactions with their characters I can pretty confidently say that there's a lot they can do with an IPC whitelist. So I don't just give "+1 cool gamer", though, I'd like to ask something.

While there's nothing wrong with a "plain old robot" kind of IPC, I personally think that they're kind of boring (and while intentional, this usually means there's not much substance with the character, either.) Do you plan to have any kind of "arc" to the character, or develop them in any way? It's alright if this isn't the case.

 

Edited January 10, 2021 by Wigglesworth Jones

[Aticius]

4 minutes ago, Wigglesworth Jones said:

I've known Ati for a little while, and from interactions with their characters I can pretty confidently say that there's a lot they can do with an IPC whitelist. So I don't just give "+1 cool gamer", though, I'd like to ask something.

While there's nothing wrong with a "plain old robot" kind of IPC, I personally think that they're kind of boring (and while intentional, this usually means there's not much substance with the character, either.) Do you plan to have any kind of "arc" to the character, or develop them in any way? It's alright if this isn't the case.

 

I don’t have any real arcs planned for 71-M, no. Beyond the intrinsic arc of emancipation that will likely, given my track record, end up becoming a thing. I have plans, however, to break the mold of generally bland mining industrials by putting some flair onto my own bland mining industrial, so that they’re not an automated roomba with a pickaxe.

[Kintsugi]

Quote

Aticius underrates himself when he describes his role-playing ability as only "decent" - Aticius is one of the more competent roleplayers I've encountered. And that's just his ability to play characters - When it comes to understanding and immersing himself in a piece of lore, he's highly capable of doing that, as well. I've never been disappointed or even merely satisfied by something he's done in the context of SS13 - be it playing a character, or writing lore, or what have you - He's always gone above and beyond, in my mind. My word probably doesn't mean much, because I'm new myself - but I think that he would be an excellent contribution to Aurora's Unathi community,

This is what I wrote when Ati applied for Unathi, and it is still true. +1

[niennab]

Denying this application for reasons explained via Discord. If you’d like to discuss the matter further you’re welcome to reach out to me nonetheless.