E
*Ermine
Guest
Original poster
OOC
This RP will (after a few posts) be about the crew of a ship, and possible passengers. How it goes depends on each character's individual past, and any goals they may have. Let's try to fill different roles at first. Multiple characters are fine, and I'll probably take advantage of this myself later. For now, I claim the only PC AI, though I may allow them for someone else later. They're still VERY rare (at least, ones with ACTUAL intelligence, not just smart software), and VERY easy to track, with most belonging to the Allies. Keep in mind that most of the characters will be desperate. That'll be a big theme in why they're all getting together without using legal channels. The IC portion of this post gives a little bit more information from the POV of my character. Keep in mind that this RP will start in an Allied space station near the edge of civilization which is far more like the early planets than the frontier planets nearby, but you don't necessarily have to start there. Additionally, we'll likely be on the move constantly, so there will be plenty of chances to be picked up on a civilized planet. Feel free to PM me anything you would like to happen, or ask for a way to incorporate your character.
There was a war, about 20 years ago. Anyone over 40 years old will remember it. They may even have fought in it. The Allies won against an unnamed resistance movement. Or at least, the Allies say it was unnamed to make it sound like it wasn't an issue for them to crush the disorganized rabble. In reality, they all followed one man, Luther Pendragon, and called themselves The Dragon. They were against the unification of all the colonies (ironically, as they all united to keep themselves separate). Some vets and children of vets still remember, and many of the outer colonies (many, many colonies, on many different terraformed planets in the Milky Way) still remember being independent and not forced to follow the rule of a massive government that long ago lost touch with them, but tries hard to crush any attempt at being independent despite this.
There are currently no major cultural movements going on, not since before the war, when a few new species of aliens were discovered (which you can feel free to make up, and even play; none will come into play until someone plays one). If you want a major cultural movement, go ahead and mention it in your post. There is only one language: A universal English-like language, with occasional slang in Chinese, Hindi, and Arabic, especially profanity. Religion is still around, but it's generally not forced on anyone; even preachers merely give their opinions and suggest conversion. The most common belief systems are Atheism, Buddhism, Christianity, Hindu, and Islam.
The level of technology is similar to Firefly; artificial gravity, faster-than-light space travel, but still using standard firearms resembling those of the late 1800s (though with the reliability expected of futuristic weapons). There is a such thing as ballistic armor, but it's very rare for those not in the Allied Army. It's illegal to wear it otherwise, in fact, but it looks like regular clothing (in gunmetal color), so it's very hard truly stop people from wearing it if they somehow manage to get their hands on it. It doesn't cover much of the wearer's body, only their torso. Solar energy is the most common form of power, and the technology to collect it has been improved upon greatly. Starships, however, require a special fuel that allows them to travel through space by creating matter for them to push off of. Many of these appear to create brightened clouds behind them, but this "dust" dissipates quickly.
The majority of settled planets, especially those far from Earth, are frontier towns with little support. Many are still dusty, with very few plants, though some have vast forests. Most of these towns are small, and typically contain what one would expect in the wild west. Earth, some of the first terraformed planets, and nearly all planets under alien control, are pretty much unified, sprawling megalopolises. An equal percentage of aliens and humans are part of the Allies, on that matter.
Simple CS (replace what's here with what would fill it, so "Name" is replaced with "Sybil" for my character):
Name, Race, Age
Appearance
Sybil, AI, Gained sentience about 10 years ago.
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Sybil did her best impression of strutting about to look important, though it was a very, very poor attempt, and she stumbled on her own feet in her drunken ambling several times before finally returning to a normal walk. The heavy military-style boots made each step echo, even among all the other noises in the station. She flickered her vision back and forth and tried her best to assess the threat level of all those around her, but her detection software was only effective on a few...well, a few people who were built like ships, and the readings couldn't have been less accurate. She hadn't expected the software to work at all, but even she could tell that those it was marking weren't threats at all...unless she was sitting in a bench they also wanted to sit in, and they hadn't seen her yet. Even then, she may be safe; her body was very durable.
She had gotten to the station sort of by accident. She hadn't actually wanted to come here, but she had been forced to shut down her body and its sensors due to an emergency situation, and when she awoke, she was in the cargo hold of a massive ship, inside a styrofoam-filled crate. Someone's missing their platform. I wonder where they're living now? She knew she was better off here, of course, unless they'd bothered to do a satisfactory RFID scan to identify the platform she was in, but it was entirely possible whatever ship she was in had simply been smuggling in a spare that had been dug up somewhere.
Regardless, it was entirely possible, as well, that they had scanned her and detected her, and she was being searched for by human bloodhounds or spiders. There weren't too many safe places to hide in a station, after all, and a station was such a finite space. The best option was to move about through space freely, but that was only an option if she could find a ship. To buy her own, she'd have to "forge" money in addition to making a false identity, but she'd still have to give biometrics. And if she'd identified as an AI when purchasing the ship, she'd have to give vital parts of her source code and a metaphorical filing cabinet of other data. No, it wasn't an option.
Now, stealing a ship was an option, though she'd be a lot easier to track that way if it was a newer ship, what with all the tracking software that even she couldn't circumvent. An older ship wasn't an option, either, with how low quality most were by now. She didn't have to worry so much about them not having working life support, but if their other systems had any flaws, she could be affected. It could be worse still if they had malware, or even anti-AI software. It was a rare threat, of course, but it was still a threat. No, stealing a ship was also no longer an option.
There was a single alternative, but it was a long shot, as well. She'd have to find a captain who needed a crew, no matter their backgrounds. There were never many of those around, at least not ones she'd be willing to call captains. The majority were just kids with big dreams who would probably die before they even got their first shot at taking out pirates, and even fewer still who would survive long enough to become them. And what made it even more difficult was the majority of them went through all the proper legal channels, meaning she'd have to give out the same information as if she was buying her own ship. No, she'd have to find someone willing to take whoever they could. Someone desperate. And if the one she was looking for was a human (she'd never follow another AI, especially one of the newer ones), the best place to find them would be a bar. That's where all the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free were now.
Sybil continued her musings as she walked in, barely paying attention to the world around her --or the station around her, in this case. The only attention she paid was to the locations of things around her so she wouldn't walk into someone or something, which wasn't much of a concern in the sparsely filled bar. There were plenty of service drones, to be sure, but none of them really seemed to notice her, or if they did, they were ignoring her until she was a paying customer. That was the likely scenario. It wasn't going to happen, of course; what would an AI order in a bar?
She sat down at the bar proper and looked around. The bartender looked at her and started moving in her direction, but she simply shook her head and raised her hand to tell him to stop. It got an odd look, but he didn't know what she was. For all he knew, she could have been some sort of secret police for a ship; she looked imposing enough with her one metal-covered arm. It was entirely plausible, and she would have told him she could see why he would think so, but would have denied she was. It wasn't entirely impossible for her to lie. It was analogous with performing evasive maneuvers in a ship in a vacuum; it shouldn't have to be done, but if it is, the best course is to simply misdirect.
Most of the others in the bar were clearly not going to pilot any ships anytime soon. Some of them probably lived in the station, either out of luck or because they WERE out of luck. There were a couple who looked like they could be the crew of a ship, but they looked for the most part like they'd make her legally register as a crew member. That was never going to be an option. That narrowed it down a lot. One was an old grizzled merc type, another a younger man. There may have been others, but she didn't want to draw too much attention to herself. The old merc would probably be a better captain of the two she saw, but...something about him seemed a bit...off. Like he was too obvious of a choice. He seemed like a poor attempt at some government trying to get her attention. It may not have been true, of course, but she wasn't exactly a risk taker by nature, and she had a better chance at taking out a guy who probably wasn't hiding an entire armory in the hair of his armpits.
This RP will (after a few posts) be about the crew of a ship, and possible passengers. How it goes depends on each character's individual past, and any goals they may have. Let's try to fill different roles at first. Multiple characters are fine, and I'll probably take advantage of this myself later. For now, I claim the only PC AI, though I may allow them for someone else later. They're still VERY rare (at least, ones with ACTUAL intelligence, not just smart software), and VERY easy to track, with most belonging to the Allies. Keep in mind that most of the characters will be desperate. That'll be a big theme in why they're all getting together without using legal channels. The IC portion of this post gives a little bit more information from the POV of my character. Keep in mind that this RP will start in an Allied space station near the edge of civilization which is far more like the early planets than the frontier planets nearby, but you don't necessarily have to start there. Additionally, we'll likely be on the move constantly, so there will be plenty of chances to be picked up on a civilized planet. Feel free to PM me anything you would like to happen, or ask for a way to incorporate your character.
There was a war, about 20 years ago. Anyone over 40 years old will remember it. They may even have fought in it. The Allies won against an unnamed resistance movement. Or at least, the Allies say it was unnamed to make it sound like it wasn't an issue for them to crush the disorganized rabble. In reality, they all followed one man, Luther Pendragon, and called themselves The Dragon. They were against the unification of all the colonies (ironically, as they all united to keep themselves separate). Some vets and children of vets still remember, and many of the outer colonies (many, many colonies, on many different terraformed planets in the Milky Way) still remember being independent and not forced to follow the rule of a massive government that long ago lost touch with them, but tries hard to crush any attempt at being independent despite this.
There are currently no major cultural movements going on, not since before the war, when a few new species of aliens were discovered (which you can feel free to make up, and even play; none will come into play until someone plays one). If you want a major cultural movement, go ahead and mention it in your post. There is only one language: A universal English-like language, with occasional slang in Chinese, Hindi, and Arabic, especially profanity. Religion is still around, but it's generally not forced on anyone; even preachers merely give their opinions and suggest conversion. The most common belief systems are Atheism, Buddhism, Christianity, Hindu, and Islam.
The level of technology is similar to Firefly; artificial gravity, faster-than-light space travel, but still using standard firearms resembling those of the late 1800s (though with the reliability expected of futuristic weapons). There is a such thing as ballistic armor, but it's very rare for those not in the Allied Army. It's illegal to wear it otherwise, in fact, but it looks like regular clothing (in gunmetal color), so it's very hard truly stop people from wearing it if they somehow manage to get their hands on it. It doesn't cover much of the wearer's body, only their torso. Solar energy is the most common form of power, and the technology to collect it has been improved upon greatly. Starships, however, require a special fuel that allows them to travel through space by creating matter for them to push off of. Many of these appear to create brightened clouds behind them, but this "dust" dissipates quickly.
The majority of settled planets, especially those far from Earth, are frontier towns with little support. Many are still dusty, with very few plants, though some have vast forests. Most of these towns are small, and typically contain what one would expect in the wild west. Earth, some of the first terraformed planets, and nearly all planets under alien control, are pretty much unified, sprawling megalopolises. An equal percentage of aliens and humans are part of the Allies, on that matter.
Simple CS (replace what's here with what would fill it, so "Name" is replaced with "Sybil" for my character):
Name, Race, Age
Appearance
Sybil, AI, Gained sentience about 10 years ago.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Sybil did her best impression of strutting about to look important, though it was a very, very poor attempt, and she stumbled on her own feet in her drunken ambling several times before finally returning to a normal walk. The heavy military-style boots made each step echo, even among all the other noises in the station. She flickered her vision back and forth and tried her best to assess the threat level of all those around her, but her detection software was only effective on a few...well, a few people who were built like ships, and the readings couldn't have been less accurate. She hadn't expected the software to work at all, but even she could tell that those it was marking weren't threats at all...unless she was sitting in a bench they also wanted to sit in, and they hadn't seen her yet. Even then, she may be safe; her body was very durable.
She had gotten to the station sort of by accident. She hadn't actually wanted to come here, but she had been forced to shut down her body and its sensors due to an emergency situation, and when she awoke, she was in the cargo hold of a massive ship, inside a styrofoam-filled crate. Someone's missing their platform. I wonder where they're living now? She knew she was better off here, of course, unless they'd bothered to do a satisfactory RFID scan to identify the platform she was in, but it was entirely possible whatever ship she was in had simply been smuggling in a spare that had been dug up somewhere.
Regardless, it was entirely possible, as well, that they had scanned her and detected her, and she was being searched for by human bloodhounds or spiders. There weren't too many safe places to hide in a station, after all, and a station was such a finite space. The best option was to move about through space freely, but that was only an option if she could find a ship. To buy her own, she'd have to "forge" money in addition to making a false identity, but she'd still have to give biometrics. And if she'd identified as an AI when purchasing the ship, she'd have to give vital parts of her source code and a metaphorical filing cabinet of other data. No, it wasn't an option.
Now, stealing a ship was an option, though she'd be a lot easier to track that way if it was a newer ship, what with all the tracking software that even she couldn't circumvent. An older ship wasn't an option, either, with how low quality most were by now. She didn't have to worry so much about them not having working life support, but if their other systems had any flaws, she could be affected. It could be worse still if they had malware, or even anti-AI software. It was a rare threat, of course, but it was still a threat. No, stealing a ship was also no longer an option.
There was a single alternative, but it was a long shot, as well. She'd have to find a captain who needed a crew, no matter their backgrounds. There were never many of those around, at least not ones she'd be willing to call captains. The majority were just kids with big dreams who would probably die before they even got their first shot at taking out pirates, and even fewer still who would survive long enough to become them. And what made it even more difficult was the majority of them went through all the proper legal channels, meaning she'd have to give out the same information as if she was buying her own ship. No, she'd have to find someone willing to take whoever they could. Someone desperate. And if the one she was looking for was a human (she'd never follow another AI, especially one of the newer ones), the best place to find them would be a bar. That's where all the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free were now.
Sybil continued her musings as she walked in, barely paying attention to the world around her --or the station around her, in this case. The only attention she paid was to the locations of things around her so she wouldn't walk into someone or something, which wasn't much of a concern in the sparsely filled bar. There were plenty of service drones, to be sure, but none of them really seemed to notice her, or if they did, they were ignoring her until she was a paying customer. That was the likely scenario. It wasn't going to happen, of course; what would an AI order in a bar?
She sat down at the bar proper and looked around. The bartender looked at her and started moving in her direction, but she simply shook her head and raised her hand to tell him to stop. It got an odd look, but he didn't know what she was. For all he knew, she could have been some sort of secret police for a ship; she looked imposing enough with her one metal-covered arm. It was entirely plausible, and she would have told him she could see why he would think so, but would have denied she was. It wasn't entirely impossible for her to lie. It was analogous with performing evasive maneuvers in a ship in a vacuum; it shouldn't have to be done, but if it is, the best course is to simply misdirect.
Most of the others in the bar were clearly not going to pilot any ships anytime soon. Some of them probably lived in the station, either out of luck or because they WERE out of luck. There were a couple who looked like they could be the crew of a ship, but they looked for the most part like they'd make her legally register as a crew member. That was never going to be an option. That narrowed it down a lot. One was an old grizzled merc type, another a younger man. There may have been others, but she didn't want to draw too much attention to herself. The old merc would probably be a better captain of the two she saw, but...something about him seemed a bit...off. Like he was too obvious of a choice. He seemed like a poor attempt at some government trying to get her attention. It may not have been true, of course, but she wasn't exactly a risk taker by nature, and she had a better chance at taking out a guy who probably wasn't hiding an entire armory in the hair of his armpits.
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