Damian (IPC Application)

[Peenyu]

BYOND Key: Peenyu

Character Names: Nikos Vouvali, Atmospheric Technician.

Species you are applying to play: Shell Model IPC.

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?: IPCs look like a fun race to roleplay. I like the challenge of expressing the unique parts of a race and their complications from playing a human. I don't have as much interest playing the game mechanically as I do playing the character and I think IPCs are great for that, especially the balancing of a shell model. I think there's a lot of room to develop from a robot to an experienced personality depending on the interactions in roleplay. I also like the Shell IPC specifically because it offers another layer of roleplay where a character may set aside considerations about IPCs because of the human guise, or the opposite reaction of seeing one try to mimic something living. I also like the history.

Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: IPCs vary mechanically and many ways in roleplay. One large difference is personality; comparatively, your IPC might have dull dialogue and lack the emotion and judgement that most human characters have. They are robots first and foremost, which mostly excludes them from sharing sentiments or holding an opinion in the way humans do. Even though they have a degree of freedom in their behavior, it tends to be dwarfed by the directive or position they're meant to play. There are plenty of interesting avenues of roleplay to take with those differences that you couldn't have as a human. Another difference is that IPCs are made with a starter package of knowledge and lack the experienced upbringing of someone who has progressed through life.

Character Name: Damian-092.

Please provide a short backstory for this character: Three years after the creation of Terranius Diagnostic's Shell model IPCs, a positronic brain would be loaded with knowledge and booted in the depths of a Scottsdan robotics facility in Biesel. 'Damian' would fulfill the duties of a psychologist in workplace therapy, purchased by a growing medical research organization among the wealthy corporations of Mendell City. The unit was sent out after a period of successful testing.

On arrival, Damian was given the affix '092'. The unit was assigned a closet and on-site maintenance, as well as a degree of freedom between working hours. Damian understood its role fully; at incredibly high prices, the unit would be rented by other businesses to better organize and improve the efficiency of a workplace. This proved a wise investment from the owning business, allowing them to recover from their initial investment and profit on the side. When in action, Damian would provide administrative advice specific to the needs of the renting business, as well as therapy for their workforce. In the time between working hours, Damian would absorb media and watch all of the ongoings of Mendell City.

Damian eventually understood the situation it was in. With the more media consumed and environments visited, Damian witnessed the cost of freedom as a positronic to be more dangerous than ownership. This understanding shaped Damian's priorities from selfless and helpful to a struggle for survival, given the slow decline which later ruined the business that owned Damian. Although the unit would be considered perfectly healthy, Damian's behavior became so absolutely average that it lacked the quirks of an individual. With enough interaction, its behavior could even come off as uncanny.

In passing years, the business in Mendell City owning Damian could no longer afford its steep maintenance. Damian found itself incredibly fortunate due to a circumstance of employee poaching; having nearly been passed to Einstein Engine's Phoenixport, its business was instead redirected to a far more generous deal with Nanotrasen. This involved a transfer out of Biesel entirely, directing Damian to serve aboard the SCCV Horizon in recognition of its preference to continued ownership over freedom.

What do you like about this character?: I like the idea of the struggle of an IPC that's faced with understanding how dependent they are on others, and that struggle of effort over ease being something that can change with roleplay in-game. I liked reading the IPC lore and the history of dependence on corporate ownership, with freedom being being something hard to achieve. I think I'd mostly enjoy the roleplay part of Damian because of how social the character is supposed to be, which should make it easier to play as a psychologist that drives the roleplay they get with others.

How would you rate your role-playing ability?: Good. I haven't spent a lot of time doing serious roleplay on ss13 in general, but I've roleplayed elsewhere for years and it helped give me an understanding of how to adapt to different scenes.

Notes: Hopefully I did fine in understanding the lore

Edited August 9, 2023 by Peenyu
backstory

[The Stryker]

Hi! Thanks for applying, just some questions for the application to start.

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

Could you expand on this section and talk about self preservation, as well as the way IPCs are treated in human space?

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Character Name: Damian-092.

Finally, to be on the Horizon, Damian would have remained in NanoTrasen rather than being transferred to the SCC itself since all non-command departments in the ship are effectively contractors. Please make changes to the backstory to reflect this.

[Peenyu]

9 hours ago, The Stryker said:

Could you expand on this section and talk about self preservation, as well as the way IPCs are treated in human space?

Because of the lack of legal protection granted to owned IPCs, their failures as a product could mean more than just losing a job. Without the protection granted by their owners, being at the mercy of any passerby could be the end. IPCs are designed for their roles and rarely allowed the freedom of choice for their futures, and there are lots of risks in being granted basic rights from becoming a free IPC. Like with Damain not having planned too far ahead, forfeiting that freedom for the guarantees that come with employment can be an easier commitment. These decisions were made after observing gathered IPCs, such as the IPC community at the Top of the World and District 14's Scrapheap. Although free IPCs are given rights, one could lack the real-world experience of living as an individual outside the datapacks they were created with. Besides survival, opinions vary on IPCs as many intelligent machines exist by man-made laws, so their lack of control over software can be considered dangerous. In Damian's case they're just treated with the respect of a useful product.

9 hours ago, The Stryker said:

Finally, to be on the Horizon, Damian would have remained in NanoTrasen rather than being transferred to the SCC itself since all non-command departments in the ship are effectively contractors. Please make changes to the backstory to reflect this.

Edited

[The lancer]

Accepted.