RexTenebrarumSum Posted October 17, 2023 Posted October 17, 2023 BYOND Key: Rextenebrarumsum Character Names: a lot: A-205 Epsilon (android); Collin Urbanski; Jan Sagorski; Xiaohou Feng; Bax Goddard; Dirk Stange; Tenzin Gyaksten; Dwaine Woodson; Nicholas Deimos; Chad Faust. I have a couple other characters i made for trying out other jobs, but I never really made a background for them or played more than 1 shift with them. Species you are applying to play: IPC What color do you plan on making your first alien character: IPC-exempt Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: Yes, and there's a lot more to IPCs than i thought there was. Actually helps my dominian characters RP now that i've read up on IPCs more. Why do you wish to play this specific race: Just like on my AI application, I'm getting a bit tired of playing Humans, and want something entirely different. It's why i was playing cyborg/android for a few days just to change up the pace. The IPCs have different mechanics since they're mechanical, and I really like the entire debate surrounding them: "are they sentient? do they deserve the same rights as an organic being?" It reminds me of Detroit: Become Human. In addition to the industrial designs looking cool, and the entire concept of the shell-based IPCs being infiltrators gives me fallout 4 vibes where the synths are slowly replacing people, which your lore clearly states they actively do this at the behest of some corporations. Recently, I saw that Havoc got approved/cleared to be a head of staff. Or at least I assume that's what was happening based on the round. I was a borg overhearing conversations on the Command channel about him being approved for it. I think Ofana was the one who approved it IC, giving him a trial run as Head of Security, and that's what really got me interested in the IPC race beyond my previous exposure to them. Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: It actually depends on the player how different they are from humans. I've interacted with a few IPCs on server that act entirely like machines, I.e. Havoc, and I had a whole 2-hour philosophical argument with Athena as Collin Urbanski about IPCs not having a soul. Whomever plays Athena was really giving me a run for my money in that entire conversation, baiting me left and right to trap me in their point, which shows that IPCs can act just like humans, having debates, trying to get inside someone else's head, thinking on their own just like a human character would. If I wasn't playing a dominian in that exchange, and had Collin vehemently believe humans were superior, I'd have stopped arguing and agreed with her to be honest. Those 2 IPCs show 2 different ends of the spectrum for RP for IPCs. I also did a ghost-role once as an IPC to try them out on the golden deep, and that RP was different. Being owned by the merchant, him saying I owe him, being demanded to do something, but he was being nice about it. It's like playing a slave, in a sense. Except they're enslaved to the megacorporation, which most of them actively keep the IPCs in servitude, except nanotrasen. One of the biggest differences is instead of having a pre-planned personality like "i'm gonna make Dick Johnson, and he's an asshole to everyone!" an IPC's personality is the product of its environment. so it's personality is shaped by everyone it's around and who they interact with. So who you RP with can really shape how the IPC turns out and how it interacts with everyone. Character Name: HIRC-621 Please provide a short backstory for this character (Approximately two paragraphs) HIRC-621. Hephaestus Industries Reconstructed Chassis-621. This Hephaestus G2 IPC is a newly built IPC using entirely recycled parts from previously destroyed units. It was given a datapack for engineering upon creation, and loaned to a construction crew for 4 years to make sure the datapack wasn't wasted on them. Throughout the 4 years, HIRC-621 bonded with 2 of the engineers and stayed with them throughout multiple construction projects on Biesel in and around Mendell City. It started with basic framing, which it picked up on immediately thanks to the datapack, and the Owner of the construction firm started picking up more contracts to truly test the IPC's building prowess. Extraordinary Maintanence & Construction INC, ran by a Frank Mazza, did it all. Housing projects, Commerical buildings. They even dabbled in Interstellar ship repair and maintanence. Mr.Mazza sent HIRC with all kinds of subcontractors to perform work and learn as much as it could from all other trades. The 2 engineers that Mazza made sure stuck with HIRC during all their projects was a Dennis Sacco and Kirk Divvees. Dennis and Kirk were masters of engineering, each in their own right, Dennis was a master of power systems and Kirk could build the structure of anything and always put on a good face for the company. HIRC was able to keep pace with both of these Engineers throughout all the contracts, mostly thanks to its nature as an IPC, and would work around the clock while the engineers needed to go rest. Dennis and Kirk's mannerisms slowly were adopted by HIRC, making a blend of the two, with HIRC slowly becoming the best of both. Throughout the 4 years with the duo, they'd constantly ask HIRC questions about its sentience, and constantly during breaks, they'd force HIRC to take breaks with them so they could figure it out. They wanted to know who the positronic was, make it less of a machine and more of a person. One of the reoccurring questions they'd ask HIRC was, "What are you gonna do when Frank's done with you?" which rang in HIRC's mind constantly. What are you gonna do when Frank's done with you. HIRC pondered this all the time, not even thinking for a second its entire employment that Mr.Mazza would get rid of such a high-performing IPC that helped with tons of projects, until Dennis and Kirk brought this up to it. Towards the end of the 4 years, HIRC finally had an answer, and told Dennis and Kirk during lunch one day, "Once I strike out on my own, I think I'll go back to Hephaestus and go work aboard Ships in the cosmos." Both of them laughed at the IPC when he said this. The response from Kirk was, "I meant what are you gonna do when Frank sells you off, or scraps you for parts so he can make money off of you. The only reason you aren't gone yet is cause you haven't had an accident. All that material you're made of? the brain included? That's just money to him. That's all you are is dollar signs in his eyes. He gets a kick-back from Hephaestus for employing you. Every time you screw in a screw, hammer in a nail, weld something, the ONLY thing he sees is MONEY, MONEY, MONEY." HIRC tried to process this, and ended up feeling anger for the first time. Money, money, money. Is that really all he was to his owner for the last 4 years? Throughout all the contracts, all the interstellar travel to shipyards, maintaining hulls, fixing breaches, setting up supermatter engines, all the talk about how Frank was going to give him the company when he retires. Frank even promised when HIRC paid off the cost of his construction, he'd help him apply for citizenship. Everything was a lie. HIRC's realization that his temporary owner for the last 4 years was just using him like the machine he was. So much trust and faith in Mr.Mazza was collapsed in one conversation. It was at this point, HIRC asked Mazza if he could be returned to Hephaestus, so he could seek better opportunities, learn more and eventually return to Frank Mazza when he finally earns his independance, and make him even more money. Frank thought about it for a week, and agreed. The IPC was returned to Hephaestus, and HIRC applied for a job opening aboard the SCCV Horizon, a Ship surveying the Orion Spur for Phoron, to pay off the remainder of his debt under Hephaestus Industries, and the newfound cost of transporting, equipping, and maintaining HIRC-621. A more jaded IPC now, HIRC-621's eyes were now opened about the feeling towards his kind, his people. All they are viewed as is tools, money makers, and cheap labor. HIRC's goal was to obtain his freedom, and rid himself of all this bullshit. What do you like about this character? More than I originally did when first creating him. it started out as "oh, robot laborer" background, but turned into a lot more as I got into the mind of HIRC-621 when writing that backstory. I really feel like i put a lot of effort into this, and feel HIRC-621 will benefit a lot of the RP that happens aboard the Horizon. I've put more effort into this backstory than any other character i've created so far on Aurora. How would you rate your role-playing ability? A little higher than average. I run a DND campaign for my brother and some friends as the Dungeon Master, so I constantly play the role of the random merchant, the big evil man standing in the way of the party, and endearing soldiers that have a bone to pick with the party during their adventures. My brother praises me for making an entire world for them to adventure in, although I struggled a lot to make the sections of the campaign they've played so far. As for role-playing, once i'm in the character's mindset, I'm fully immersed, and get really into it. Notes: I'm not sure what to put here, honestly. I wanna outfit him with some items from the loadout, specifically something as a momento from Dennis and Kirk that he'll carry with him all the time. as a gift for HIRC finally taking control of his life instead of just following orders. also, i want this Application to take precedence over my AI application. I'd much rather play as HIRC-621 than an AI at this point. if you need me to withdraw my AI application, please let me know.
The Stryker Posted October 21, 2023 Posted October 21, 2023 Hi, thanks for applying, just some concerns for the app to start. Quote Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: I notice your application talks a lot about the different paths an IPC character can take (you mention Havoc and Athena). Could you expand on this by talking about how an IPC learns, self-preservation, and in particular, how IPCs are treated throughout the Spur? I'll also have concerns for the backstory since it talks a lot about what happened to HIRC, but doesn't really show anything that separates them as an IPC as opposed to simply an anti-corporate human.
RexTenebrarumSum Posted October 21, 2023 Author Posted October 21, 2023 I mentioned Havoc and Athena cause they're the biggest exposure to IPCs I've had. Athena in particular. IPCs learn from a mixture of memories and knowledge. If an IPC is capable of getting a datapack installed onto it, it'll have all the "book knowledge" as I'll call it here on whatever the datapack had within it. All this "book knowledge" is like reading a book on a subject, so it's like being shown how to do tasks, jobs, and ways to perform them and go about doing them. This "book knowledge" is hard to use if an IPC doesn't go ahead and actually DO the task, job, and methods of doing such. The datapack can have 1001 ways to build a wall, perform a tonsillectomy, or make spaghetti. The IPC will need to actually build walls, perform surgeries, or cook food for it to actually learn how to do all this, because it will have memories of doing said tasks, and it becomes "applicable knowledge", as I'll call it here, after going through these performed tasks. It now knows that assembling a wall on the ground and raising it is more efficient than trying to build it mid-air because it actually went ahead and built a wall, knowing exactly what movements are needed to go about building said wall. It now knows exactly where the tonsils would be on a human after going through training, and the minute movements it's phalanges need to make to successfully slice them out, and cauterize/sow up the wound so the surgery can be over. It now knows how to stir the pot of spaghetti, and to apply a certain amount of salt, pepper, and butter to the mixture until the noodles are cooked to a specific tenderness so it'll be ready for straining and applying the sauce. It's very similar to how humans go to school to learn how to do certain jobs, but can be a lot quicker, because the education is within the datapack, they just need the real-world memories of doing said tasks so it cements itself in the Positronic brain. Self-Preservation is an IPC's goal, or directive to survive. similar to how humans have a self-preservation when they're in danger, an IPC has self-preservation that can be in many forms. depending on the IPC, they might do different things, or take on different interests to fulfill their need for self-preservation. the wiki talked about how they'd secure mass funds for maintenance and power so they'll never run out of charge, and will always have a means of repairing themselves, or having someone repair them. I personally think that's why a lot of IPCs stay with corporations so they always have access to maintenance and power, which they need money from these corporations to have it. this Self-preservation can change and isn't always about staying healthy and charged, sometimes an IPC acts differently to ensure they stay alive, such as enduring abuse, or working extremely hard in fear of being scrapped, mind-wiped, or sold off to another owner. Zavodskoi instills this fear in their IPCs by consistently wiping the minds of their IPCs. so i'd imagine a lot of Z.I. units have a desire to perform well as part of their Self-Preservation directive, so they can avoid this mindwipe from their owners. Sometimes older IPCs, or ones that have spent a lot of time socializing or developing beliefs, start looking at their Self-Preservation more as a legacy. As long as the efforts, or goal an IPC made end up staying around, or becoming fulfilled, it could also fulfill their Self-Preservation directive, because whatever their parameters were for a legacy were met. It can also turn into Ideals, morals, and general beliefs about things that the IPC has learned about any particular thing. Like how Athena hardcore believes that IPCs are the ultimate destination for technology, and that IPCs are superior to humans, it's why she argued with Collin Urbanski for 2 hours. An IPC can believe in something so strong it becomes an absolute, and they'll do anything to protect this belief, such as fighting for their freedom so all IPCs can become free from being owned by a corporate entity, leading to them possibly even sacrificing parts of their body to uphold these beliefs. Younger IPCs, not having too much exposure to the universe, usually, in most circumstances unless they were groomed otherwise, look at Self-Preservation as "Don't damage yourself, don't run out of charge, and don't put your chassis at risk of being destroyed." I touched on how IPCs are treated throughout the spur through my example with how Zavodskoi mindwipes their IPCs to keep them culled. The empire of Dominia is an extremely easy example of how they're treated elsewhere, with the imperials despising their entire existence and destroying any IPCs within their space, although this is one extreme of the spectrum. A lot of beings look at them as appliances that they can swap out, use for tasks, or even just abuse them. They're looked at as tools in most places of the galaxy, being seen as just Robots capable of human-level thinking and problem solving while performing their duties. Biesel, Nanotrasen, and Hephaestus industries are the biggest areas/corporations where IPCs sentience is acknowledged, and their opinions can actually be listened to, and people will talk with them to see what they think or feel about situations or events. Nanotrasen and Hephaestus, from what i recall reading, are the only corporations that promote IPCs and will actually let an IPC pay themselves off and become self-owned, mostly as PR stunts to motivate other IPCs to follow after their example and make them work hard so they can become self-owned too. This type of treatment is non-existant within Zavodskoi, Zeng Hu, Idris, and the SCC. I know the SCC doesn't allow self-owned IPCs, as they want them bound to the conglomerate itself while operating as an employee, or at least owned by another company if the IPC in question is being loaned temporarily to the SCC to perform a job. Also, mendell city has a whole district dedicated to free ipcs, or its just the district that IPCs flock to if they become free. I wanna say it's district 14. The entire area is a slum though, with very poor infrastructure. I do see your concern with the backstory, and I can always add more to it to define HIRC as an IPC. the biggest thing is when kirk talked about how Frank would scrap him for parts, it activated his self-preservation and what spurred on the entire way he felt afterwards. I wanted to add a section about how HIRC is the 31st IPC that Frank has owned/gotten from Hephaestus. He's done all that fluffing he did to HIRC to 30 other IPCs. Talking them up, making them think he'd help them pay themselves off, and give them citizenship. Dennis and Kirk have seen this happen with the other 30, that's why Kirk knows how frank operates, and he usually waits for an IPC to make a mistake and get injured before scrapping them or getting rid of them. Frank knows, especially being within biesel and Mendell city, that IPCs gaining citizenship is a real possiblity. so that's why he was nice to HIRC to keep him motivated to work hard, cause he didn't want to wipe the IPCs too much. Easier to pretend to be nice to a machine and keep it satisfied and working hard, than to keep wiping its memory, when he's needed elsewhere. Thank you for the response, I hope i satisfied your questions, and please, if you have more, let me know. I want to make sure HIRC-621 fits within the lore you've established for IPCs.
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