rejected InsertWarthog - IPC Application

[InsertWarthog]

BYOND Ckey: InsertWarthog
Discord username: taylorveridian
Character names: Tucker Oberon (main right now anyway, currently exitting a hiatus) Species you are applying to play: Integrated Positronic Chassis
------------------------------ General Whitelist Requirements
What colour do you plan on making your first alien character?: (IPCs exempt)
Have you read the lore pages for the species you wish to be whitelisted for?: 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 species?:

I like the whole idea of synthetic species, IPCs are pretty interesting in my opinion. They maintain logic when doing just about anything and therefore in my mind can be some very calculating people if they need to be. They face struggle throughout the spur and while some do not question it, other IPCs are born and are immediately free people after some base things, like the three month orientation a Konyanger IPC is given before being put into the big wide world. Any species that has reason as part of it's existence from it's very nature is something I like, making it synthetic is even cooler.

What makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a human?:

Well, you basically have to think like a machine. You have to think like your character even more so than you would others as an IPC literally has thinking as part of everything they do. Their lifespans are effectively non-existent compared to their creators. Depending on where the IPC was built and for what purpose, it could be a blank slate with minimal personality required of it to do a basic task, or it may end up having the ability to understand emotional and social cues and forming lasting friendships for all manner of reasons.

------------------------------ Character Application Character Name: Azumi
Write a backstory for your character. This may include their origin, education, personality and how they arrived to the SCCV Horizon. (2 paragraphs minimum)

The assembly of Bishop Accessory Model KNYS-12-2455, Designation "Azumi" was complete as of 20/02/2455 at a Terraneus Diagnostics facility in Aoyama, Aoyama Prefecture on Konyang. She was given female programming and spent the first three months of her existence in orientation in order to gain Konyanger citizenship, which was something she viewed as beneficial to have. Upon completing orientation, she was given a psychology datapack in order to fill a position as a Resident Psychiatrist at a Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals clinic. However, during her transfer to her first residence, she was abducted by a still unknown criminal sect who thus placed her into a trafficking operation. However, her power cell was removed the moment the intruders got to the van in the first place. By the time she re-activated, she was in a wooden shoebox studio apartment in a small apartment block in Boryeong.

Azumi quite quickly discovered she was legally a tenant of said apartment and thus, to be able to pay rent and thus power the charger, she sought the nearest employment. Lacking any known credible education however, she was turned down for any high-education job at the application phase, not even getting interviews. With nowhere else to go, she got a job at a hydroponics farm under Gwok Foods. She would be in and out of various shoeboxes studios for most of her life, occasionally changing workplace and housing to suit what she deemed was needed. However, due to her prior datapack, she was much more adept at socialising for an IPC of her age and was able to make quite a few work friends, both synthetic and non-synthetic. However, everything would change come 2466.

On 24/01/2466, Azumi would fall victim to Rampancy. As to what she did during that time is unknown, however she was eventually captured at the central port district shortly after the Massacre at Boryeong, whether she was there is not known. Azumi was released from rampancy on 23/03/2466 along with the other rampancy afflicted IPCs. She was in Rampancy Collection Point B22 - Boryeong Prefecture. She was only able to proof who she was thanks to a Zeng-Hu senior robotics personnel who was able to identify her while assisting with repairs to any damaged rampants. With her last home a ruin and most her work colleagues either dead or who knows where, Azumi decided the most reasonable course to return to some vague normalcy was to go to Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals. Fortunately, the residency she was initially sent for years ago had recently re-opened and she was placed on it. However, she would eventually learn that the SCCV Horizon had played a major role in containing the rampancy virus, which in her eyes was comparable to saving her life. So she applied to join the Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals crew compliment onboard. She was initially denied however recently was accepted when space opened up and boarded the SCCV Horizon as of 15/05/2468, being issued IPC recharging cabinet 3-82B-4 in the residential levels.

How has the recent events of the Orion Spur impacted your character? Events such as the Phoron Scarcity, the Solarian Collapse or even the Invasions of Biesel for interstellar-wide affairs, while region-specific events such as the Peacekeeper Mandate, The Titan Rises or even Cold Dawn may impact your character. (1 paragraph minimum)

Azumi was often too busy to concern with many things, however the rampancy crisis completely turned her life on it's head. She lost all her friends, her house and most things she owned. If not for the sheer happenstance that one of the workers who was around when she was manufactured was able to identify her, she likely would have been stuck having to rebuild her life on Konyang. This fundamentally changed her school of thought regarding several things and she has developed almost a phobia level of fear for her safety regarding hivebots. Despite this, under hope that she would be able to transfer to the Horizon, she rarely is emotional outside of when she is doing her job in psychology.

How does your character view the megacorporation they work for?

Azumi views Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals as a company that gave her a second chance at life, as such she has found herself to consider the company to be trustworthy and a good corporation. Azumi is also aware that she would've initially worked for Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals, however never ended up getting the chance to until ironically after the rampancy crisis. For this reason, Azumi has a good opinion of Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals and doesn't see any issue with working for such a company. However, this is also somewhat influenced by the fact if she had not agreed to go back to Aoyama and work in the job she was intended to start at, she would have likely been stuck in Boryeong with still minimal qualification and having to start all over again.

Edited Tuesday at 22:28 by NM_

[NM_]

Hi! Thanks for applying.

 

Some clarifications I wanted to touch on:

 

On 16/05/2026 at 11:07, InsertWarthog said:

You have to think like your character even more so than you would others as an IPC literally has thinking as part of everything they do.

I'm not sure what you're directly referring to with this. Every character of any species requires a level of day-to-day mindfulness that is not unique to IPCs. I'm assuming you mean more fundamentally the capacity of the positronic to view, modify, and adjust itself consciously, like with memories. You could also be referring to the innate logic behind stances, philosophies, and behaviors - including social - that serves as a defining rationale for why they do things. 

In either case, I highly recommend you reread the IPC pages to get a more thorough understanding for these distinctions from humans aside from thinking. 

On 16/05/2026 at 11:07, InsertWarthog said:

Their lifespans are effectively non-existent compared to their creators.

An IPC can live, on average, to around 50 years. I wouldn't consider this non-existent compared to humans. Even in the 25th century (2400s), the life expectancy for humans living an average lifestyle doesn't show a significant difference from humans today. If you meant their actual creators, that would be true, but not in the scope of the WL application.

 

As far as the character backstory:

1. Azumi's manufacturing date in year 2455 places her before Konyang's independence in 2462. Konyang prior to independence was a Solarian colony that did not recognize synthetic rights or citizenship in a similar capacity. I'm not sure what female programing entails - generally gender isn't an involved or necessary component of identity for IPCs at creation with the exception of those with Shell frames (exclusively to be congruent with the 'gender' of the frame, nothing they can't explore on their own) and any that require a more hands-on understanding for social contexts. A bishop model would certainly have a baseline understanding of societal norms, culture, and gender, but I wouldn't define it as male or female programming. Further to that, an opportunity was missed to explore Azumi's subsequent emancipation when Konyang achieved independence and subsequently freed IPCs. Someone who lived through these events has perspectives and motivations that younger units would not.

2. If she was provided with the datapacks necessary to fulfill a career under Zeng-Hu, it implies then that Azumi was a corporate owned IPC. Generally, the purpose of the orientation is to acclimate IPCs to a minimum level of education to accelerate their adjustment period prior to integrating into society. This is important for the #3 below.

3. It is highly unusual that she would be abducted by unknown criminals to be trafficked without a purpose. Azumi's backstory fails to explain or go into detail about her traffickers and ends with her actual abduction. Why would IPC traffickers provide her an apartment with no intent to hold her captive or use her as an indentured servant? A missing Zeng-Hu unit would arose suspicion and warrant an investigation, considering Azumi's existence was bought and paid for.

4. I don't understand why the datapacks she received at creation would not be credible or demonstrably acceptable by employers. This is especially notable as, again, my understanding is she was a corporate purchased unit at the time of production. Having datapacks endorsed or directly procured from Zeng-Hu is assuredly credible.

5. A rampant IPC is a unique opportunity to incorporate some narrative angle that you rarely get to do with IPCs without facing legal punishment, dismantling, or wiping. I won't suggest you have to specifically choose a path, but I would encourage if you intend to pursue the character with this angle, that you incorporate it deeper into Azumi's psyche to fuel her motivations, perspectives, and so on. Skipping over it entirely feels like a waste.

6. Its mentioned that a Zeng-Hu senior robotics staff member identified her. This doesn't align with her kidnapping and disappearance, where she was forced to seek employment with Gwok Foods. Neither does it make sense that Azumi returns to Zeng-Hu years later when nothing suggests she could not do so sooner. It isn't clear to me how long she worked in her intended role or what prompted SCC reviewers to select her versus other candidates. This is less mandatory but helpful to frame what separates Azumi from competitors who would similarly strive for the prestige. 

7. Keep in mind that you need to frame this level of 'trauma' as a form of self-preservation that's taken a change in meaning for Azumi, specifically as a result of the Rampancy crisis. Framing it as emotional cuts into the merit of an aspect far more integral to the IPC experience and their intended dynamic via self preservation.

8. At no point in the backstory is it mentioned that the resident opportunity for Azumi was in Aoyama - this is only stated in the character's views on their employer. Please be mindful to be consistent with details and the timeline. It helps the narrative flow to present the character.

 

Overall, there are inconsistencies in the backstory with several notable elements that don't align. The character concept as is requires significant overhauling. It reads as a sequence of events that Azumi has lived through without any attention or development to how it has affected her - helped her growth - or stunted it along the way. It is critical to keep in mind that while IPCs are synthetic/machine in origin, they are still fundamentally capable of person-hood and especially something that should be explored in origins like Konyang. An IPC created in 2455 is 13 years old in 2468, giving you a generous timeline to flesh them out.

 

There are resources both on the wiki and through reviewing the forums for previously accepted WL applications to help you get an idea of what we look for and what is required for a complete character. Much like this application, I provide thorough feedback for a given player to review.

 

With that said, I will be denying this application. You are welcome to reapply in a week. Given that Azumi as a character is liable to change significantly with the feedback in mind, you're welcome to re-use her or reapply with a different concept. Good luck!