Robots Building Other Robots - Lent23's IPC Application

[Lent23]

BYOND Key: Lent23

Character Names:  (Most relevant would be Alsina Tau'ha'nor)

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: Simply put? Robots are interesting. The idea for my first IPC is that they are a younger bot, still experiencing the world from a very naïve point of view. Being able to learn about other cultures and other characters is generally the most enjoyable part of roleplay for me. Being able to simply question things and grow as a "person" would simply be very fun in my opinion. I also find the idea of a robot building other robots in the machine shop very fun(ny).

Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: Lore-wise? They are robots. They are generally much younger than humans, and have a much different point-of-view through their upbringing as non-organic beings. The experience that encompasses their life is much different from that of an organic - While they may be physically more resilient in a lot of ways than humans, their positronic cores can only last for so long - much less than even a human life.
Mechanically? They are robots. They are vulnerable to NPCs and heat/lasers and more resistant to bludgeoning. They can't eat or drink and are not affected by chemicals and have no pain mechanics.

 

Character Name: HI.RU-M.023 (Hephaestus Industries Repair Unit, Designation: Moghes, Serial #023)
Please provide a short backstory for this character HI.RU-M.023 was deployed to Moghes in the middle of 2464, when the Hephaestus branch was constructed and established on Moghes. This particular bot was part of a program that saw just under thirty G1 models programmed with repair-focused software. The idea behind this program was to ensure that Hephaestus IPCs in the area would be more autonomous and less-reliant on direct Hephaestus oversight. Its deployment to the Skamander peninsula on Moghes saw the bot doing more-or-less basic work on G1 as well as G2 models that would come back for repairs from various things - a falling rock crushing the arm of a G2 miner, a G1 with its legs torn off by anti-corporate sinta - HI-RU.M.023 saw many situations, but all of them were the same to it: Get them back in working shape and send them back out. Occasionally, it would work on repairing some mech suits - it was, for all intents and purposes, an assembly line-style machine that repaired other machines, and it did not need much else.

With the advent of the Moghean guilds being subsidized by Hephaestus, a lot of company labor was shifted between locations. The Repair Unit program was ultimately a successful one in the eyes of the company, but with so many new hires - all with no desire for prosthetics - Hephaestus decided to repurpose most of the RU models, with 023 specifically being moved to the Horizon, for its efficiency in machining work. Prior to its reassignment, it was given a notable upgrade - a small personality program to compensate for its new main clientele, who are now mostly organic. Shipped to the Horizon with a newly added sense of self and being, HI.RU-M.023 has to wrangle his newly felt.. consciousness? - with that of his simple programing desire: Fix. Create.

What do you like about this character?: A young, naïve corporate dog of a cheap G1 is simply a fun concept to me. With the recent additions to Hephaestus/Moghes lore, I was inspired to create something like a Moghean IPC, especially with how contentious Hephaestus can be at this time. Being a naïve Hephaestus-bot that really doesn't understand the repercussions of his actions or statements, only having known heavily corporate opinions will be fun roleplay.

Notes: I'm 50/50 on the upgrade to his personality program - I think it would be more fitting with him being around more organic beings, but playing a 100% objective, logic-based IPC could also be fun. Either way, it would start off slow and be a progression to understanding human/organic life, as he has very limited experience with any organics - the few overseers on Moghes left him to more-or-less operate independently with other IPCs during their experiment.

Edited August 25, 2023 by Lent23
Spacing out things to look better aesthetically

[dessysalta]

I feel like you should go a little more in depth when it comes to talking about the differences between humans and IPCs. You speak very vaguely--what specifically do they think about more than a human might? How do they view self-preservation? What about goals or directives? How does a positronic learn?

This being said, I'm gonna give a +1 because I know you're capable of writing an IPC proficiently, especially after writing Tau for so long.

[Lent23]

6 hours ago, dessysalta said:

what specifically do they think about more than a human might?

By this, I was mostly referencing their differences in self-preservation. The biggest thing to be is how logic-driven a more basic IPC would be compared to a human. Let me give you a situation: A human security officer with a damaged prosthetic arm comes into the machinist bay after being shot while exploring an old station. A human might think, "My coworker is in pain and needs his arm fixed so he can feel better." whereas HI.RU-M.023 looks at the broken arm as a missing cog in a machine - "This part needs to be replaced, as it makes the entire system much less efficient."

6 hours ago, dessysalta said:

How do they view self-preservation

As I understand it, IPCs generally shift how they feel about self-preservation over time. When they're younger, the main priority is making sure that they survive - If their body dies, there is no guarantee that they will be placed into a new shell, and they may be left to rot rust - or worse, be wiped and reset as a punishment for their failure. As they age, they are less concerned with their shells and become more concerned with the preservation of their ideas and beliefs.

6 hours ago, dessysalta said:

What about goals or directives?

HI.RU-M.023 specifically cares only mostly about two things: Repairing machines and Survival. Its first priority, programmed into it from the beginning, is to get itself to a safe place, and then repair damages when things are safe. It will not risk itself, as it is counter-productive to get hurt in the effort of repairing things. Second priority is said repairing.

6 hours ago, dessysalta said:

How does a positronic learn?

A positronic learns in the same way that humans do - from external stimuli. While they can download information from external data packs, HI.RU-M.023, as a poor, unfunded IPC depends more on direct learning, unless extenuating circumstances demand that it gains experience or knowledge in a topic or area.

[The Stryker]

Hi, thanks for applying!

Just some concerns for the app, although your answers to Dessysalta's questions have added a bit of nuance.

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

Could you expand a little bit more on the treatment of IPCs throughout the Spur with examples? This is especially important as I notice you've decided to make an IPC with a background from outside human space.

Additionally, could you expand your thoughts on self-preservation? What would being more concerned with preserving one's beliefs look like?

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Please provide a short backstory for this character

Could you talk about HI.RU's personality? How do they behave around people? What are their thoughts on Sinta?

[Lent23]

2 hours ago, The Stryker said:

Could you expand a little bit more on the treatment of IPCs throughout the Spur with examples?

This varies wildly based on the location and company of origin. Idris and Zavodskoi units are generally never free, living their entire lives in service to the megacorporations, with Zavodskoi going so far as to completely limit old or malfunctioning bots to being recycled or broken down - no Zavodskoi units are ever free. There are some examples of the other side of the aisle within Hephaesuts and even Nanotrasen. Hephaestus is generally considered one of the more liberal corporations with regards to their treatment of IPCs. It is not unheard of for Hephaestus IPCs to receive promotions to middle-management positions, and even to heads of staff of SCC vessels. A lot of Hephaestus IPCs are able to purchase their freedom within a relatively low amount of time compared to the other megacorporations.

In addition to this, IPCs are treated wildly different based on the nation they are living and working in. For instance, Tau Ceti generally has a more lax idea of synthetics, allowing freedom and even citizenship for IPCs that purchase their freedoms. To an even higher extreme, Konyang has no IPC slavery at all, living entirely as free beings. On the other end of the spectrum, we have places like Dominia, where IPC ownership precludes you from being allowed to even visit the nation - with all IPCs being completely barred and scrapped on sight as morally evil abominations in the eyes of most imperials.

2 hours ago, The Stryker said:

This is especially important as I notice you've decided to make an IPC with a background from outside human space.

HI.RU-M.023 specifically worked within a mostly-secluded mining area on Moghes, where the majority of its exposure to organic life was its direct bosses - some humans and some unathi, but otherwise it concerned itself with mostly working with its fellow IPCs. The culture shock of getting upgraded with a new personality core and having to work with a lot of organics is a big draw of the character for me specifically, as M.023 is going to have to deal with learning just how organics work, settle into a comfortable work culture, and generally.. be a real coworker to people.

2 hours ago, The Stryker said:

Additionally, could you expand your thoughts on self-preservation? What would being more concerned with preserving one's beliefs look like?

As they get older, IPCs generally understand that they have a time limit on their life much like organics do. Not only is this a limiting factor of their existence, but it is much shorter than most other organic beings in the Spur. The idea that one's positronic will only last for so long would permeate it, and the self-preservation becomes less physical and more about its remembrance. How will other beings remember who it was once it passes? Will its existence have mattered past the repairs it had made?

With HI.RU-M.023 specifically, this will not be an issue, as it would be a very young IPC, but the concept still exists for other IPCs.

2 hours ago, The Stryker said:

Could you talk about HI.RU's personality?

It is a young, naïve IPC that has been more-or-less secluded with other Hephaestus IPCs and a few organic bosses. Its personality has always been entirely objective and goal-based. A problem is brought to the machinist's bay? It will solve this problem using the least amount of resources and in the quickest way possible. From its time on Moghes, HI.RU-M.023 was shown that resources should be used carefully and recycling and preserving what you have is vital to an ongoing existence. Due to the nature of its efficient, objective way, HI.RU-M.023 speaks in shorter sentences, effectively attempting to utilize the most efficient way of speaking to people around it.

2 hours ago, The Stryker said:

How do they behave around people?

With its new personality core, HI.RU-M.023 has been given a basic understanding of most species it will be working with on the Horizon. While prior to coming to the ship, it has never seen a tajaran, its new programming allows it to understand it as a species that could potentially work for the companies aboard the ship. This would also include facts about how prosthetics interact with tajara fur, for example. HI.RU-M.023 would be naturally curious about this new being, but ultimately it would be more concerned with getting whatever job is brought to it done. Whether its a tajaran, a human or unathi - a job is a job. It is simply trying to get through its work in the most efficient way possible.

Ultimately, I hope to evolve how they behave around people once I start getting a feel for the character itself. Perhaps it will find itself working frequently with other tajara staff and take an interest in how tesla technology works, perhaps it will try to understand the unathi spirituality regarding prosthetics and robotics. Throughout all of this however, it have been given one new key feature: Curiosity. It wants to learn. It is no longer just a mindless being, it has a personality. I want it to find someone that they enjoy learning from and potentially have it download an imitation accent, allowing it to feel more like a real being.

2 hours ago, The Stryker said:

What are their thoughts on Sinta?

It has a relatively neutral idea of sinta, bordering on positive. On Moghes, a lot of Hephaestus' staff was sinta, so naturally HI.RU-M.023 came to respect the beings entirely based on their corporate affiliation. What weighs down the opinions of sinta for it is the idea that, not only are machines soulless, but prosthetics are essentially a destruction of ones' soul. While HI.RU-M.023 has never really concerned itself with the idea of a soul in its life, the idea that prosthetics are tearing apart ones being is preposterous to it. Outside of this, there have been a few attacks on its fellow IPCs by rogue anti-corporate sinta, though HI.RU-M.023 tries not to let it be too bothered by this fact - anti-corporate sentiment is simply a fact of life. HI.RU-M.023 does, however, fear that an anti-corporate unathi could end its life with the use of its own claws, though working in space aboard a heavily corporate vessel would alleviated any fears that HI.RU-M.023 would have about anti-corporate activity.

[The lancer]

Accepted