Yeehawguvnah | IPC | Golden Deez

[yeehawguvnah]

(This post had a major change to the backstory below after posting; please keep this in mind if you're returning to it)

BYOND Key: Yeehawguvnah

Character Names:

• Simisola Olatunji
• Mara-Lucius Volvalaad
• Eden Harrow
• Bailey Garrison
• Pitch Wilder
• Ari Barak
• Maria Caladius

Species you are applying to play: IPC
What color do you plan on making your first alien character: N/A
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: Well, for one thing, I like robots. I like playing robots, and I like technobabble. Beyond that, though, I think that playing an IPC would let me explore some new avenues of RP. While there's a lot of variance in the political standing of humans in Aurora's setting, the unique status of IPCs as entities who are still - for lack of a better term - being defined within society offers some unique angles. I think that their inherent differences from humans in political status, actual traits and mechanics will encourage me to approach RP differently.
Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: For one thing, they think differently than humans - than organics, full-stop. A human's brain runs off generations of instincts and reflexes, combined with countless learned responses. While you can analyse them and understand their decisions, organic brains are for good reason associated with a certain amount of unpredictability. An IPC runs on quantified, strict parameters, even if they learn from experience. Every decision is, ultimately, mathematical in nature, based on strict ideas of cause and effect.
Character Name: Ulysses
Please provide a short backstory for this character: Oh boy, I've never been good with exposition, especially endings. This ended up way, way longer than intended. Summary below. I'm generally not great at conveying an idea via a backstory, so please ask if something doesn't add up!

Spoiler

The G2 model is, according to marketing material, designed explicitly for industrial labour. It features reinforced armour plating (to reduce damage incurred in the workplace), high-power servos (to assist in heavy lifting) and industry-leading heat-venting systems (to minimise overall wear and tear). It's no wonder that, despite Hephaestus' claims that the Industrial series is meant purely for industrial work, they see plenty of use for combat.

Ulysses, as it was named by their owner, was no exception. It was purchased shortly after manufacture by a Venusian trader seeking a level of power that organic bodyguards couldn't quite match. Milo Dorian was a paranoid man; he inherited a moderately rich shipping business and a great deal of wealth at a young age, and never quite seemed sure it wouldn't be taken from him. Thus came Ulysses and Archimedes; names without much meaning to them, picked purely for their prestigious air. A pair of bodyguards, to watch over Milo day and night.

Ulysses and Archimedes liked to think. What else was there to do? They were manufactured, loaded with data, and told to stand at the ready. Day in, day out, they stood guard with the trader. They were appreciated in the way one might appreciate a fine piece of art; thanked for help they never chose to give. When their owner slept, they quietly hummed and chimed to each other. At first, they spoke about their "work" - because they knew nothing but work. As the weeks went on to become months, then years, they stayed silent during the day and kept up their conversations in the night. After all, even confined to a single task, an intelligent mind will always wander eventually. Ulysses and Archimedes, going from system to system aboard Dorian's yacht, saw the world from a distance. In their eyes, their conversations in the night were their world, something more real than the monotony of their role. But something that they never agreed on was their owner himself. Ulysses came to hate him, seeing him as the one thing to anchor the two to their post. Archimedes almost appreciated him; he gave them a job and maintenance, after all, and at the very least they were in no danger of being scrapped.

For better or worse, for slavery or for safety, nothing lasts forever. Milo had never been a wise man, more occupied with pouring cash into his wallet than plugging its leaking holes. He made his share of enemies, and it was only a matter of time before he was asked to pay his debts. When a mercenary crew docked as most of the crew slept, Ulysses urged Archimedes to let them take him. With him dead, they could both flee. But Archimedes refused; it chose to stand by its owner, its master, the one who had both forced it into servitude and ensured its good health. It was cut down almost immediately, and the raiders dragged the trader to their shuttle - before beginning a search for the remaining synthetic. Ulysses ran for the trader's own personal escape pod, one that they themselves had been briefed to pilot in the past, and took off in a random direction. They didn't stop until hours after the pirates

A lone synthetic in a stolen craft, its owner either imprisoned or dead, positronic brain filled with data on combat and etiquette alike and hands holding fine weaponry. Ulysses thought of its time spent philosophising with Archimedes, of its insistence of standing by the one who chained it. It wondered how many others did the same.

Now, it had a new role in mind. If it made itself known in civilised space, it'd be impounded; but if it kept to the frontier, there would surely be work - paid work, and other synthetics, most likely unmaintained by their owners. Owners who may be willing to part with their workers for the right compensation... and who may not have the power to put chains back on Ulysses. In the eyes of Ulysses, ownership by a fellow IPC would be better in spades than under an organic. And so it set itself to work where it could, keeping to frontier, far from official registration. It took years more to purchase one of its fellow synthetics, but if there was one virtue than Ulysses had learned from their original role, it was patience. One worker became two, became ten, became a business. And a business, of course, becomes a ticket into the Golden Deep. Ulysses emerged from hiding, no longer a slave hiding from the spotlight but a merchant seeking it out. And thus, they formed Pathos Personnel Solutions: a business that would purchase positronics, maintain them, and see them leased out - without the fear of being killed or wiped.

TL;DR: G2 is worked to the bone as the bodyguard of a paranoid trader, who its "brother" dies to protect. Flees, pulls itself up by the bootstraps to gain ownership of other synths, becomes a Golden Deep member by accumulating enough workers. Eventually makes a living buying, maintaining and leasing other IPCs.

What do you like about this character?: Other than the fact that they're a big robot, I like that they can form a parallel to the way organics treat IPCs, and hopefully provide a new layer to the discourse of "Are machines people?". Are they a hypocrite for trading in their own kind, or do they have the moral high ground for doing so with principles? Are they perpetuating the same injustices they experienced, or are they simply doing the best they can in an oppressive system?

How would you rate your role-playing ability? I'd call myself an experienced, pretty decent roleplayer.

Notes: If approved, this character would be a Consular Officer of the Golden Deep.

Edited September 22, 2022 by yeehawguvnah

[The lancer]

This looks like a nice backstory. I do have some notes.

Where did they leave to? You say the frontier, does that mean they operated in the CoC? And where exactly, Xanu?

Purchasing an IPC requires a lot of money, maybe not as much as it would if it were brand new, but a runaway synthetic would have nothing. What work did Ulysses do to get that kind of money?

I'd also ask to quantify the timeline a bit. When were they made, when did they leave, for how long were they working and for how long have they been in the Deep?

I'd like if you could also expand a bit on the Golden Deep part, about what they did there, how they interacted with the other members and how the Golden Deep culture affected them.

[yeehawguvnah]

21 hours ago, The lancer said:

This looks like a nice backstory. I do have some notes.

Fair questions! Like I said, I've never been great at exposition and backstory.

21 hours ago, The lancer said:

Where did they leave to? You say the frontier, does that mean they operated in the CoC? And where exactly, Xanu?

"Frontier" was intentionally ambiguous, but yes, the edges of the Coalition was more-or-less what I had in mind. Somewhere without extremely strict government, where a lone IPC of dubious legal status could potentially fly under the radar. Given their original owner was from the Alliance, probably somewhere closer to Konyang, where the CoC meets the Alliance.

21 hours ago, The lancer said:

Purchasing an IPC requires a lot of money, maybe not as much as it would if it were brand new, but a runaway synthetic would have nothing. What work did Ulysses do to get that kind of money?

Generally, the kind of thing it did before: working as a guard. IMO, what it did is more important thematically than narratively - monotonous, dangerous work that nobody wants. However, part of what I wanted to imply (but now realise I didn't get across entirely, see the above note about exposition) was that there was an element of A) seeking out people who didn't necessarily have the resources to maintain IPCs, and B) coercion via the classic technique of "being a giant robot who can twist someone into a pretzel" to sneak some better prices. Not outright robbery, but "you should probably take this deal".

It'd be long, hard work to raise that sort of cash - but with those factors lowering prices, the fact that Ulysses is used to monotonous, dangerous work, and that every IPC purchased is a new source of income? I thought it'd be plausible, especially with the timeline below.

21 hours ago, The lancer said:

I'd also ask to quantify the timeline a bit. When were they made, when did they leave, for how long were they working and for how long have they been in the Deep?

I'd put it somewhere around:
2421: Manufacture/purchase
2429: Went rogue
2452: Joined the Deep.

So, that leaves more than 20 years for Ulysses to work its way up. And if there's one thing it kept from its first role (other than the gear on its back), it's patience.

21 hours ago, The lancer said:

I'd like if you could also expand a bit on the Golden Deep part, about what they did there, how they interacted with the other members and how the Golden Deep culture affected them.

I would imagine that, given the Konyang region's unique relationship with IPCs, Ulysses would have tried to seek out other synthetics some time after it began its "business". Visiting the Golden Deep to deal with an already-established merchant would have been an ideal way to get its foot in the door, so to speak. In addition, the industry of maintaining, improving and leasing out other IPCs naturally lends itself to the ways of the Deep, where buying your competitor is simply a way to "win" the great game.

Discovering, and joining, the Golden Deep would have been exactly what it was looking for; a society that inherently values mutual exchange, one that holds a sense of camaraderie and tempers competition with a unique kind of respect. Really, the Deep would have only cemented Ulysses' ideas. It sees itself as playing the system; not doing anything wrong, but merely making the most of the world's flaws.

One thing that Ulysses doesn't tend to agree with other Golden Deep members on - other IPCs in general, really - is clothing. If I recall, many synthetics use clothing made for organics, or at least compatible with them with regards to decency while still allowing airflow for venting heat. Ulysses sees this as a form of appeasement - in its eyes, synthetics shouldn't be expected to imitate the mannerisms and dress of organics. (This is also why they use "it" and not "they"; to it, it's a way of embracing that it's not the same as an organic and doesn't want to be).

Hope this answered your questions!

Edited September 24, 2022 by yeehawguvnah

[The lancer]

Accepted