Fluffy Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 (edited) BYOND Key: fluffyghost Character Names: Species you are applying to play: Integrated Positronic Chassis What color do you plan on making your first alien character: (Color of your character; Dionaea & IPCs exempt): 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: Half machine, half human, a machine designed to be similar to humans, an electronic brain can come close to a flesh one? And how much? This is a staple of scifi and, recently, an emerging field of consideration with the improvements of AIs, as we might get close to the singularity, in which an AI would be almost indistinguishable from a human in a normal conversation. IPCs are created with a purpose, knows who made them, are loaded with informations and, one day, simply turned on. And one day, they might be turned off, too. They are not considered people in most of the Spur, despite arguably possessing equal intelligence to flesh-made people, the ability to make every decision ultimately only based on logic due to their nature, and are often treated as slaves, despite their abilities often surpassing normal humans. Their thinking is so similar to humans, yet ever so slightly twisted that even basic concepts can sound alien in their interpretation between them and flesh-made people. The relationship between all of the above, and exploring the concept, is why I wish to play this specific race. Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: You are a machine made of bolts, wires, transistors and metal (sometimes with synthflesh that covers it up), you also have a purpose, that you know from when you are turned on in your factory, and are able to learn things on your own to accomplish your function. You serve the flesh people, but they are usually indifferent to your whatabouts, if not outright hostile to your own very existence in some locations (eg Dominia). You are an exploited and abused worker, even more than your flesh colleagues. You do not even enjoy the smallest legal protection in many cases, if you are not self owned (if possible at all) you are just a property of your owner. You might be able to buy your freedom. You might be able to buy yourself some rights. You mimick your flesh friends, but you are ultimately a machine that decides only based on logic. You are bound to your self preservation at your highest directive, this is a somewhat flexible concept that can vary between IPCs, who might interpret it in a range of ways, from the classic "avoid being damaged" to a more abstract concept of preservation, for example by proving itself as useful as possible (to avoid the scrapeyard), or a more philosophical preservation such as leaving an impact or pushing forward a goal/ideal/objective the IPC deems worth preserving as a philosophical manifestation of the self. Depending on the sophistication, IPCs might form friendships or even relationships with humans, or not recognize them as different entities altogether, with the variability still being bound by their directives. IPCs can utilize their own language, EAL, to communicate with each other in a language incomprehensible to humans. IPCs, depending on the location and law, can have a goal of becoming indipendent, by purchasing their freedom, often by fairly exhorbitant prices (depending on the model and functions), while also being paid little to none for their work (after all, they are just a property, if they are not free). Having their memories tampered with, is a specter that follows every IPC, just as much as being destroyed. RPing this, is what makes this species different than role-playing a Human. The biggest theme of difference is that your very existence is a privilege you have to often actively fight for, not a right. Character Name: CL-04401 Please provide a short backstory for this character Built by Hephaestus on Mars in 2455, CL-04401 is an IPC that was built to serve the alliance. After the commissioning and additional time spent in additional configurations, uploads of data from the datapack, and fine-tuning of the circuitry and parallel training of the intelligence model, CL-04401 was deployed and commissioned as a ground support IPC for the 33rd marine regiment CL-04401, during its stay in the SMC developed, while interacting with the other Marines, a very process-oriented personality, focusing on trying to excel in its assigned tasks, and protect people from injustice. The interactions with actual, flesh people, on the other hand, was particularly scarce, mainly focused on the mission at hand or occasional requests to help out around; CL-04401 did not develop very much its social skills, often resulting very blunt and task-focused in its interactions, mantaining a very flat vocal tone where not strictly needed, and displays some issues in identifying emotions of others. CL-04401 developed a strong disdain for other erratic IPCs as, it concludes, they put in bad light all the others and do not serve they purpose they were built for, and what is expected of them, as well as putting what it calls "non-rebuildable lifeforms" at risk. During the fight between the 25th and the 33rd, its team was tasked with a retrieval mission of its gonna-be benefactor's daughter; During the early phase of the operation, CL-04401 sustained damages from enemy fire and was considered missed in action; Despite the sustained damage to the RCV (Radio) equipment and left arm, CL-04401 managed to remain operative and reach the mission theater; CL-04401 identified the vehicle of the daughter of its gonna-be benefactor, under assault from a squad of three hostile elements, and confirmed she was alive and well, albeit in a deep state of shock, inside said vehicle. CL-04401 proceeded to engage the hostile elements from the elevated position using a laser marksman rifle, neutralizing them, but sustained additional damages that rendered the left arm only capable of reduced operation. It then proceeded to closed distance with the vehicle and removed the bent door, managing to extract her from the vehicle, which was found in a reduced state of consciousness due to shock. CL-04401 administered a quick physical evaluation and confirmed the good vitals. Loading her on the shoulder and placing a mask on her face, CL-04401 proceeded to retreat from the open field into a building and activated the emergency broadcast beacon. Despite the relatively calm state of the night, additional enemy units managed to track down CL-04401 and her inside the building, and proceeded to mount an assault against the now entrenched position. CL-04401 responded to fire, terminating two of the three hostile elements before running out of ammunitions of the sidearm. The third element managed to access the building and reach the room where CL-04401 and her were located. CL-04401 was additionally damaged multiple times while proceeding to mount a hand to hand assault against the third element, neutralizing it, but being rendered inoperative in the fight. CL-04401, heavily damaged, and his gonna-be benefactor's daughter, physically unharmed, were found the day after by a detachment team that localized the emergency beacon, and extracted successfully from the area. She was returned safely to her home, where her father, who at the time of the incident was located elsewhere, was immensely grateful to the rescuer of her daughter, once the girl recovered and told the story about her survival of the events, thus deciding to become its benefactor. The benefactor decided to pay to have CL-04401 repaired, perhaps as a token of gratitude, instead of letting the unit be disposed to the scrapeyard, which was done using Hepaestus G2 Chassis components, the most similar to the previously used, but not available to private entities, components, which replaced basically every piece of its former chassis. Following some years in which it operated as a body guard for the family and escort of various work and leisure alike travels, CL-04401's assignee, finding CL-04401 not that useful in his day to day life, decided to allow it to pursue other challenges, letting it be employed in the Ceres Lance. CL-04401, after proving itself on the field, was commissioned to the Ceres Lance Regiment Section Six aboard the CLV Avenger with its purposes adjusted for the new environment by manipulation of its database and small tuning of some subset of the datapack, as an infantry IPC. Following successful deployments for Ceres' contractors, CL-04401 was commissioned to the Section Five, where it underwent the installation of the medical datapack and additional training in field medicine, as well as additional learning on special operations and equipments. CL-04401 enjoyed his work and lease in said role, but its benefactor stroke a deal with the Private Military Contractor Group, getting its lease changed from Ceres Lance to it, where it was sent aboard the SCCV Horizon in 2465, to much of its displeasure for the change of assignment. Despite that, CL-04401 mantains close and frequent contact with it's assignee and assignee's daughter while aboard the ship, though the outgoing messages far exceed the incoming one. What do you like about this character? CL-04401 is a character with an ambivalent personality, a machine whose purpose changed across different narrative arcs (if we want to call them this way) that developed some level of affection with what are essentially its enslavers, and a protector of others, though unable to understand them much on an emotional level, due to it not being, in the end, organic. CL-04401 was treated as nothing more than a machine for the vast majority of its uptime, and developed some level of what could well be Stockholm syndrome for synthetics towards its captives, particularly those that showed it some level of interest beyond it being a mindless tool. Probably something not well placed, but it does not know any better, after all. Furthermore, it's shown that, despite everything, IPCs are not seen as equals, no matter how much they try to appease the flesh people, in the end, they will be seen as a possession, more than a person. It's a character with a bittersweet backstory, and many leads it can develop/unfold forward in the narration. How would you rate your role-playing ability? I would consider it average to above average, though I try to improve on it. That's probably a question better suited to be answered by others that interacted with my characters, than myself, I believe. Edited March 7, 2023 by The lancer Link to comment
The lancer Posted March 6, 2023 Share Posted March 6, 2023 Who is that benefactor? How did they end up getting what is essentially government property under their possession, and how does it make sense that they ended up in a NanoTrasen sponsored mercenary company that is the Ceres' Lance? Other than that, the backstory seems too focused on minutiae of martial exploits with very little exploration of the character itself. It does not contain any information on the treatment it received in the Alliance and Ceres' Lance, or the reasons it has formed the opinions it has. If you want to continue applying with this character, I would suggest rewriting the backstory to focus more on the character and the points I brought up, than a series of deployments and assignments. I won't deny it, in case you want to post an updated background on this one. Link to comment
Fluffy Posted March 6, 2023 Author Share Posted March 6, 2023 6 hours ago, The lancer said: I would suggest rewriting the backstory I have to say, I already kind of did, with the help of a synthetic writer, rewrote the story as above. Third time's the charm, I guess. Here we go: Built by Hephaestus in 2455, CL-04401 is an IPC that was built for the SCC and leased to Ceres' Lance in a decade-long contract. CL-04401, during its years spent in the sixth section aboard the CLV Avenger, observed during their apprehension missions, and heard about others' apprehensions, of a number of erratically-behaving IPCs, some of which caused harm to people. CL-04401 developed a strong disdain for them as, it concludes, they put in bad light all the others and do not serve they purpose they were built for, and what is expected of them, as well as putting what it calls "non-rebuildable lifeforms" at risk. CL-04401, during its service, was treated as a disposable asset to throw at problems in an attempt to fix them, more than a sapient being, due to the nature of its existence and the philosophical question, to this day not settled, of IPC's sapience. Due to that, and having spent most of its uptime interacting with other IPCs, CL-04401 did not develop very much its social skills, often resulting very blunt and task-focused in its interactions, mantaining a very flat vocal tone where not strictly needed, and displays some issues in identifying flesh-people's emotions. CL-04401 found itself satisfied in having clear tasks to pursuit, a clearly defined purpose, and fullfilling the very reason for its existence in doing so, as its strictly logical positronic sees said fullfillment the best bet to ensure its self preservation, as it's the most likely choice that ensures its maintenance, eventual repairs and general upkeep. With a streak of successful missions, CL-04401 was eventually assigned to the Section Five, where it received, to much of its satisfaction, if we can call it that by analogy, the installation of a medical datapack, making it able to provide medical assistance during assignments, thus potentially saving more lifes in the process, something CL-04401 sees as a metric of its success in fullfilling its core purposes and, by reflection, its reason of existence, as well as ensuring it considered as efficient as possible, and thus the as less likely as possible to be disposed or its maintenance neglected of. CL-04401 was, after the ten years of lease expiration, assigned to the PMCG that, given the recent turmoils across the spur and the rising tension, assigned it aboard the SCCV Horizon, to ensure additional protection and assistance of the pupil of their fleet. Link to comment
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