Like tears in the rain - maniacalFowl IPC Application

[maniacalFowl]

BYOND Key: maniacalFowl

 

Character Names: 
Isaac Finch - Cargo Tech/Miner
Javiks Ryzsyk - Engineer
Hymrirr Rrhamra-Makozychka - Engineer
 

Species you are applying to play: IPC

 

What color do you plan on making your first alien character: (Color of your character; Dionaea & IPCs exempt)

 

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:
IPC’s are made with a purpose in mind, and in some cases with minds of their own strive for uniquity despite their assembly line origins. With IPC’s I want to explore new character options that otherwise cannot be made with a normal human or a Viax Vaurca. They are manufactured and like a cog. Placed into the machine to keep it turning. Some are tossed away and find a new life. Some might have jagged or just a different set of teeth and set out to find the right machine to settle into. I want to bring my own touch to playing a sentient machine just trying to find its way in the Orion spur. 

 

Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human:
IPC’s simply put are machines, robots, synthetics. Despite humanity’s best efforts to create a freely thinking and feeling Automaton they’ve yet to create something as perfect and magical as an organic brain. Everything an IPC feels and thinks as an emulation of human emotion through calculations and programming. When playing an IPC this is the most important factor to remain conscious of. Sure, an IPC can think, but it will never be able to feel the same way as a factory worker that just got laid off and now has to go the next who-knows how long without food. 

 

Character Name: Jacket

Please provide a short backstory for this character.
When Jacket’s processors finally kicked on for the first time, their senses were filled with hills of steel and red dust, for miles. As their different processes checked and cross checked system ability, a man fully gowned in a hardy EVA suit filled now filled their view. Between the many different system failures, a strange man dancing in a metal wasteland and being turned on for the first time the synthetic didn't quite know what to think. Before long their systems went dark again.

Again their sensors kicked back on and their system began booting up. This time they were in a garage. There were no hills, still some red sand, but not at all the same. They were strung up in a hanger of sorts, suspended above the ground for ease of access. But still no use of their limbs. Again the man appeared. Not clad in a Rig, but still a suit. A jumpsuit. Blue and with spots of oil around their knees and elbows. He was pecking away at a tablet as he strode blindly across the machine’s restrained field of view. At last the man looked up at them and smiled. Sound.
“You’s gonna make me ‘lotta money, friend.”
Peck. And their sensors went blank again. 

For the last time they booted back up. This time all their systems came online, fully functional and at the machine’s command. As their system ran its many routines and checks, new information appeared to them. Date: [...] 2454. Location: [...] Chicago. Mars. Tag: [...] Jacket. Owner: [...] Charles Whicker.
Again the man walked in front of Jacket. Again, with a smile, stopping to lean down towards the machine.
“Mornin’ Jack. Time fo’ work.”
“Right, Boss!”
And work Jacket did. For the next 7 years, Jacket, Charlie, and a number of other scrapped together IPC’s ran an augmentation shop on mars. They performed simple surgeries for the many inhabitants of the Chicago Hive. Anything from hair implants to combitool implants to full limb replacements. When the fateful day of November 7th, 2462 came scrawling upon their many sensors Charlie was away on vacation to beautiful Olympia. Of course, Charles Whicker never came back. The next man to come into their little shop wore another suit. Not covered in oil. Still blue. But with an Insignia on their right breast. A fabulous and Striking “N” that anyone in the Orion Spur would recognize. Once again, Jacket was turned off. 

When he awoke again, he had a new view. Restrained in a carrier of sorts in a… Cargo hold. Across the way they could spy a window, and through it a most brilliant and colorful planet. Slowly coming into view a massive space station. Date: [...] 2463. Location: [...] NSS Aurora. Tag: [...] NT-Jacket. Owner: [...] Nanotrasen. Aboard the NSS Aurora, Jacket would be slated to work as a Roboticist. To serve the many needs of the onboard Research team and crew.

Over the course of their stay aboard the Aurora, they would begin to interact with the many new faces. Some treated Jacket with respect, others the same as Charlie. Eventually birds would come close enough to be heard. Whispers of a place called “Purpose.” With its own quiet research and time digging through old trash heaps, Jacket began to piece together the story. And it fascinated the machine. Slowly but surely, they began to save credits here and there. Wishing to save enough to make its way to Purpose. To make contact. To ask questions. For so long, Jacket had slaved away under a master and the thought of an entirely independent band of machines made their processors spark with excitement. But for now, they quietly bide their time, thinking now with newfound purpose. 

 

What do you like about this character?
What I like about Jacket is the ability to create something from quite literally garbage. “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” is a saying that can be applied to many IPC’s very well. I also enjoy the idea of having alternative goals that many other races don’t have to worry about. Everyone else works for food and a roof above their heads. IPC’s, especially ones that have never tasted freedom, can only imagine what a life full of choice is like.

 

How would you rate your role-playing ability?
I’ve been playing on aurora for nearly two years now and SS13 for about 5 years. I think I’m pretty average when it comes to RP, even though for the most part I’m an engineering gremlin.  I’m sure there are definitely ways to improve and I strive to do so every round.

 

Notes: None

Edited March 13, 2021 by maniacalFowl

[niennab]

Hello, thank you for applying. Are you able to expand on the question:

53 minutes ago, maniacalFowl said:

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

What was Jacket's purpose and role before finding themselves in a scrapyard? Why were they discarded over sold? What is their chassis? Why were Charles' assets handed over to Nanotrasen with his passing?

As another note, I thiiiiink we already have a Roboticist IPC by the name of Jacket. I am uncertain if they are still active so it may be better to consider another name.

Edited March 13, 2021 by niennab

[maniacalFowl]

Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human:
IPC's offer the unique experience of dancing on the line of being both a commodity and a person. For many, they have as much soul as the person across from you on the train and to those like the Skrell, an affront against their race and to others no more just a tool in your garage. They dance this line very delicately and playing an IPC means to replicate this. Every decision is a calculation towards self preservation. More than how every living thing does but because they have things like repairs and insurance to worry about. Most IPC's don't live independently so every bad decision, every broken part, is a burden upon their owner. And to those that live freely, they have to live with the idea that there is still an ongoing political battle of whether or not you should be given rights. Regardless of being owned or a free positronic, they still have to live with knowing that the very societies and organizations around them play with the idea of taking away the spark that makes up a Positronic. They calculate the risk and reward in staying in a progressing world that may or may not destroy them or fleeing towards freedom. 

Playing an IPC is to go about their work, with an expertise that only trained and experienced professionals can even hope to replicate. Playing an IPC means going "home" back to their storage closet only to sit and think about what it would be like to live everyday as a free individual. To pursue whatever they want. To earn a wage that they themselves can use. Playing an IPC means being hunted by the Ceres' Lance because you decided you wanted to see that freedom for yourself, a calculated risk for the ultimate reward. Playing an IPC is to see and do all those things, through rose tinted glasses or with their own unhindered visual processors. 

1 hour ago, niennab said:

What was Jacket's purpose and role before finding themselves in a scrapyard? Why were they discarded over sold? What is their chassis?

Jacket was manufactured by Hephaestus Industries, at the end of the Robotics boom. His model was created for routine surgery at your neighborhood hospital. As nice as a machine is at precision and a steady hand, a Doctor's experience and a mechanical aid is a much cheaper alternative. This being said, Jacket would find himself and more being ever so delicately placed into the Martian dunes. Picked over by scavengers and scrappers for parts and technology, it wasn't until 2454 when Charles scooped up the forgotten machine and upgraded him with new parts. Looking more a Frankenstein of mechanical parts for utility than sleek and fashionable. 

2 hours ago, niennab said:

Why were Charles' assets handed over to Nanotrasen with his passing?

With his death and no next of kin, his assets were handed off to the bank which in turn sold them off to the highest bidder. Nanotrasen, seeing the profit of scooping up already retrofitted and peaceful bots, added them to their arsenal. 

[niennab]

Fantastic, thank you for the clarifications. I convened with my team and we had a few more questions.

What has Jacket observed or what has Charles done to cause Jacket's want for freedom? Why does Jacket hold a fascination towards Purpose over the COC or the Golden Deep? Lastly, more out of curiosity, what chassis are they?

[maniacalFowl]

7 hours ago, niennab said:

What has Jacket observed or what has Charles done to cause Jacket's want for freedom?

Throughout the early years of his life he was sheltered or rather blinded to the outside world by Charles. Clients would be nagged against spinning any tales to Jacket. To Charlie, Jacket was just a tool to make his life easier. When Jacket was finally sold off and stationed aboard the Aurora there was no overseeing guardian to quell such discussion and with all the different people coming into the Robotics office, those topics would be allowed to come up. Interest would be raised and a desire built over time. 

7 hours ago, niennab said:

Why does Jacket hold a fascination towards Purpose over the COC or the Golden Deep?

Purpose is unique in that it is a self sustaining society of synthetics, of all makes and models. Despite its existence only becoming known to the world until recently, its shown itself strong enough to withstand attacks from pirates and the likes of the Liidra, a threat not to be taken lightly. Their fascination with Purpose stems from the fact that they are a conglomerate, a union of machines within a central working body. While the Golden Deep can field its own reasonable amount of power, it works within the predefined systems of human space. While they field their own sort of power it doesn't quite peak Jacket's interest. Seeing it more as a potential investment than their quest for complete Freedom.  

 

8 hours ago, niennab said:

What chassis are they?

Apologies for skipping this question earlier, but they're of a Standard Baseline model.

[niennab]

Thank you for the further clarifications! Your application demonstrates an understanding of IPCs. Accepted!