You awaken. You're not sure how you know what an awakening is, but you do. Your eyes flutter open as you become aware of a fluid all around you, something like water but not quite, that is steadily draining away from your face and then your body to somewhere you can't see. You only have enough time to realize you're apparently suspended in a large, clear glass tube before a burning sensation in your lungs suddenly kicks in. Burning. Burning. Your eyes snap open in a panic as you retch and cough up copious amounts of that same fluid, emptying your lungs. It takes several seconds for the ordeal to be over, but at some point you feel your feet touch the ground, and you take your own weight on your legs as the last of the fluid drains away. You blink. You breathe. A warm breeze seems to fill the narrow chamber, causing a tingling sensation all over your body as the moving air gently fluffs and dries your fur. You realize for the first time that you have fur. You look down at your body in confusion. You don't know who you are or even what you are, let alone where you are, save for the fact that you're in a glass tube with a metal drain at the bottom and some pipes up top. You have no name, at least not yet.
What you are is a Biot, an artificially designed and grown being. You are a 'biological robot,' meant to be sold to a household as a toy, servant, or maybe just conversation piece. You are the ultimate pet.
Welcome to the world.
---The Setting---
Biot is a science fiction roleplay set in the year ___ C.E.U., or ____ A.D., somewhere in our corner of the galaxy. At this point in time, faster-than-light travel is no longer science fiction, terraforming knows few bounds, and the word "alien" is a racial slur. This region of the galaxy is inhabited by denizens of the Milky Way Association, currently comprised of humankind and a handful of other equally intelligent races; a new species is discovered and invited into the coalition roughly once or twice a century. Unfortunately, you and your brethren do not count as one of these intelligent species. You are not acknowledged as sentient. You have no legal rights, not even under animal abuse laws. Your creator, Divinity Ltd., is a highly successful consumer robotics company, and your race is marketed as the first robot sculpted entirely from synthetically grown organic tissue and celebrated as a milestone in the field of robotics: the first large-scale simulation of life, so lifelike it can even reproduce. In actuality, the populus at large is unaware of the Biots' true nature, not as so-called organic robots, but as a top secret genetic engineering project.
---The Biots---
Biots are a bipedal race fully capable of humanlike speech and reason, allowing them to interpret complex commands, but they are designed to be cute and petlike. They are furred all over and can come in any color, realistic or not. They sport sharp canine teeth and a pair of small horns on the forehead as well as mobile ears and tails similar to those of deer. They have humanlike hands (missing one finger) with a furless palm, but they sport paw pads on their feet and walk on their toes, four toes per foot.
Behavioral patterns are as follows:
They use human facial expressions.
Their ears indicate their mood as well: perked forward when alert, droopy when sad, drawn back when threatened, etc.
They wag their short tail when excited.
They purr like cats when content.
The sides of their belly are sensitive; stroking them there will make their nearer leg "go" like a dog's.
They are nigh-unfailingly obedient. When they hear a direct order, their brain short-circuits and they follow the command quickly and thoroughly, out of a very strong fear of the consequences of disobeying, no matter what those consequences might actually be or what their personality is otherwise.
Out of the box, Biots are sexually immature. They have a prepubescent look to them and need not wear clothes. Puberty does not happen unless they are administered a serum that triggers the pituitary gland; Biot owners must pay a hefty price for a breeding license and agree to pay Divinity a share of any profit obtained from selling a "mutt" to gain access to any of this serum.
In addition, Biots also come preprogrammed with the ability to speak Standard, math skills up to basic algebra, and a good understanding of societally sanctioned behavior, erring on the side of propriety. How religiously they follow those rules about manners depends on their personality, but those who are too problematic are typically considered unfit for sale.
Biots come in four models: CL-A (petite), CL-B (slender), CL-C (athletic), and CL-D (chubby). Note that these are predispositions and are not set in stone. A CL-D put on a diet and exercise regime, for instance, will start to look like a CL-C over time. Similarly, Biots start out with a base personality, but it will grow and shift organically as time passes, as it does for any other animal.
---The Facility---
The locale of our story, at least to start, will be Divinity HQ's underground bio labs. There are artificial wombs to grow new Biots from embryos, tanks to accelerate a "born" Biot's growth, storage cells, lots of appliances and computers, you get the idea. I have yet to chart out a map of the facility, but hopefully we can work on it as we go. Feel free to pitch in your ideas here in the OOC thread!
Those manning the facility will usually be scientists unless a business higher-up is paying a visit. Divinity HQ is mostly staffed by humans, since it is located in a primarily human-colonized area on the colony planet Narinno Gamma, but you may see other species wandering around. The most valued customers of the company may also have limited access to the facility; expect to see a couple, but only in designated areas to protect trade secrets. If you wish to play an employee or a customer instead of a Biot, there are some preset races listed below. Don't be afraid to ask me any questions when creating your character!
---The World---
The Milky Way Association was founded in ____ A.D., thereafter known as ___ C.E.U., when humans and an otherworldly race known as dubina greeted each other and agreed to a partnership. The first two planets under Association rule were Earth and Chorra, with the colony planet Narinno Gamma joining the pair a few years later after some terraforming. The complete list of governed planets at this time is as follows:
Homeworlds
Earth
Chorra
Tandoro
Anaziim
Colonies
Narinno Gamma
Narinno Delta
Celeste
Divinity, Ltd.'s headquarters are located in the inland business district of the city of Alegría, a coastal metropolis in the human-dominated country of Maris in the southern hemisphere of Narinno Gamma. The climate is moderate.
At the present time, five intelligent races are recognized by the Association:
Humans
One of the original two members of the Milky Way Association, this race of naked apes makes up a little less than a third of the population across all Association planets. Their homeworld is Earth.
Dubina
The species that first made contact with humans and thus one of the original two members of the Association. These six-limbed reptiles also make up roughly a third of the total Association-governed population of the galaxy. They are a hermaphroditic/single-sex race, so the notion of gender is not inherent to them; about half of the dubina population still chooses to identify as genderless. (The standard pronoun for genderless dubina is ze/hir). The other half consists of individuals who have chosen a gender for any of a variety of reasons, such as a perceived personality match, a sexual preference, to make things easier on their non-dubina friends, or just to be trendy. They're also the species that's most accepting of polyamory. Their homeworld is Chorra.
Naming notes: A dubina child or head of household typically has ra' in front of their family name. Someone who has married into a household usually takes on their spouse's family name but changes the ra' to ne'.
Onkai
These two-tailed feline folk were the third race to join the Association after being invited by human and dubina Association officials and currently form about a quarter of its population. The classic gender roles of onkai are flipped from those of humans: the average female onka is larger and stronger than the average male onka. Both sexes nurse their young. Their homeworld is Tandoro.
Naming notes: Onkai typically don't take their spouse's family name, but the woman's family name is usually the one given to the couple's children. Females have oro- prefixing their family name while males have olu- instead.
Jorgoans
Very few of these amphibians live under Association jurisdiction, although their species' total population in the galaxy is nearly twice that of the entire Association. The reason for this is that there exists a Jorgoan Empire that does not know of the Association's existence. Those that are now governed by the Association were exiled from the Empire for treason and other related crimes and subsequently rescued by Association ships. Their homeworld is Jorgoa, though most don't like acknowledging it.
Zanduul
The only known advanced species to be considered endangered, these peculiar half-rodent, half-snake beasts are the most recent addition to the Association. Sixteen standard years ago, before the Association even learned of them, their kind was very nearly extinguished in an attempt by the Jorgoan Empire to forcefully take their home planet as a colony. Fortunately for the zanduul, the jorgoans ultimately failed, and those who lived to tell the tale called the event "the Searing." These creatures have a sixth sense: the patch of skin atop their forehead is a third eye that forms heat images. In addition, zanduul are the only known advanced species biologically inclined to mate for life. Their (damaged but recovering) homeworld is Anaziim.
I encourage you to let these species descriptions inspire your character, but if you have a species of your own that you'd rather use over these provided ones, that's fine too! Tell me about the species either here or in a PM; I'll approve it if I think we can work it into the story universe.
---The Story---
Biots have not yet been released to the public at large. You are a member of one of many batches of prototypes that will undergo a variety of testing. Some customers have vouched to take you home for a discounted price after testing and have signed a waiver that frees Divinity from liability for any...defects you may exhibit at a later date. Some of you may exhibit defects so severe that you will be disposed of and the customer given a different Biot in your stead. Some of you have had your appearances customized by a customer that paid extra. Some of you will be matured and used for maturity testing and/or breeding experiments instead of being sold, and after you have provided satisfactory service, you too will be disposed of.
Will you dread your inevitable fate? Will you face it with confidence to keep yourself sane? Or will you fight it tooth and nail, assured of your right to freedom? Only you can say.
---Character Sheet (Biot)---
ID number: [will be provided in-story, please update when appropriate]
Nickname (if any): [update this if your character gains a nickname at some point in the story]
Model: [body type, see above]
Sex/gender: [most likely (cis) male or (cis) female. Intersex and transgender are also valid options, but note that those are considered defects and are more likely to be disposed of.]
Primary color:
Accent color 1 (eyes, markings):
Accent color 2 (hair, markings):
Hair length/texture/features:
Markings: [none, leopard spots, tiger stripes, king cheetah stripes, something else?]
Personality: [all Biots exhibit a knee-jerk reaction to commands, but otherwise, go wild! Do note that "troublesome" Biots are more likely to be disposed of.]
Role (if any): [if you wish for your Biot character to have been vouched for or customized by a customer, be planned for maturity, have multiple and/or severe defects, or any other such plot-skewing things, let me know here! It will affect how the scientists treat you. This section is optional...you are just as free to leave it blank and cast your Biot's fate to the wind.]
---Character Sheet (Staff or Customer)---
Name:
Species:
Sex/gender:
Age:
Position:
Appearance (pic and/or description):
Personality:
Other (optional): [background if relevant, reason for working here, opinion of the Biots, etc.]
---Rules---
Follow Iwaku's rules.
Don't godmod.
Be nice to other players.
Profanity is allowed, and reader discretion is advised.
Put some effort into your spelling and grammar.
Keep chat and questions here in the OOC thread and out of the IC thread.
Respect the GM's decisions.
For now, there is a limit of two main characters per player. This may be changed at a later date.
Have fun!
---FAQ---
Do we post in rotation?
Nah, post when you feel it appropriate.
What happens if my Biot is "disposed of"? I didn't want my character to die off so fast!
Feel free to write a new Biot character to be born in the next batch of prototypes. In fact, you can write multiple "problematic" Biots to generate drama if that's your thing! Yay drama! However, if you really want to make sure your Biot does not die, let me know in the Role section of your CS. That section exists to let me know what kind of storyline you'd prefer.
What'll the plot be like? Where's the story going and where will it end?
That is largely up to you. You might play an employee who becomes a whistleblower. Your Biot might organize an uprising or escape the facility. Your Biot might be sold to a customer whose eyes are opened by the Biot's character and presence. It may take a while, perhaps even years after the Biots have been released officially, but I will say it now: Divinity is digging its own grave.
How is Divinity getting away with all of this as it is?
The idea they've allowed to seep into the public consciousness is that Biots are manufactured and thus soulless. You wouldn't say one of the robots in existence today had a soul, would you? No matter how lifelike a Biot may seem, its personality is dismissed as very sophisticated programming. That's not to say people don't get attached to Biots the same way they may grow attached to a pet or dear belonging, though.
Should I know anything about the process of selling a Biot?
All Biots are implanted with a small tracking chip before being sold that monitors location and a few things about the state of the body. Divinity also hopes that by release time, all Biots will be able to go through a brief quality assurance test before they are sold, short enough that they will forget about it after being put right back into hibernation for shipment. In the case of our prototypes that will undergo much more rigorous testing, Divinity plans to do a selective memory wipe before selling them. I wouldn't call that process perfect, though...
How does breeding work?
Biots can only reproduce after ingesting a special serum and then waiting for puberty to happen. This would take several years if allowed to happen naturally, but in the facility, the maturation process is usually accelerated to about a week's duration. There will be ways for customers to accelerate this change as well, whether by taking their Biot to a clinic or purchasing their own hibernator along with the Biot. Once maturation is complete, the Biot will be fertile according to a hormonal cycle very similar to that of a human. Mature female Biots menstruate and can be instructed to use feminine hygiene products. As for persuading a pair of fertile Biots to have at each other, Divinity intends to sell kits that contain ingestible aphrodisiacs and pheromone diffusers.
Divinity requires "mutt" Biots born of such unions to be registered and implanted with the same small tracking chip that each first-gen Biot starts out with. There is no guarantee that an owner will comply, but they will face heavy fines if caught. Don't forget the chips can monitor bodily state, and that includes pregnancy.
Does that mean this RP might contain adult content?
Potentially. If your Biot ends up matured and in an intimate scenario, please keep the ensuing scene to PMs or inside spoiler tags as per Iwaku's rules.
Does a Biot have to be mature to feel attraction?
Not to feel romantic and slight physical attraction, but they won't be humping anything until their bodies are developed.
Is a gay Biot considered defective?
Yes, because if matured, that Biot would be more reluctant than most to breed. It is not considered the most serious of defects, however, as the aforementioned mating kits should weaken the Biot's will, and Divinity does not expect most customers to obtain breeding licenses anyway. A Biot that resists orders is much more problematic than one that's a little reluctant to mate.
