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W-12 was prepared to follow Tetch's lead if they wanted to agree to the later meeting. But they wouldn't want Jabaxa to think of them as potentially hostile... "We'd heard Jabaxa's people were trying to prevent an attack at the landing bay," they said, "We were there, and we're trying to figure out what happened and what they knew before the Kings attacked."
W-12 had been considering Atrios's words. They weren't "just" a computer, true enough, but they hadn't said so. Being more then "just" a computer didn't mean they weren't one at all, no more then elves being more then "just" living creatures suggested they were not.
To focus on the present situation, though...
”Oh, there you all are,” said W-12, hurrying over to the table. ”Oh. Yes. Of course. Food.” None of the others had said anything to suggest they had any particular expertise in nutrition, biology, or related fields. That didn’t mean they were entirely ignorant, but it was probably a safe bet W-12 themself was one of, if not the, most knowledgeable among them on the subject. Still, actually experiencing the phenomenon firsthand did lend some insight, if not technical knowledge. “We want to eat breakfast before investigating more,” was apparently an area where lacking that insight led to a glaring oversight. ”I do have directions to Mama Fats’, though I suspect all of us got that far? It is with some embarrassment, given that I am one, that I must confess a lack of expertise with computers.”
As the hours passed, W-12 had become slightly concerned about finding a place to stay while they were on the station. Still, as they had notably less need for it compared to their biological companions it was certain one of them would suggest it first, and that proved true. The efficiency was more than sufficient. While cleaning off one's body and gear was important when traveling, a robot did not require all of the bathroom's fixtures for that task. And the bed wasn't strictly necessary, though it seemed silly not to lie on it for their sleep mode since it was available. Converting short-term memory to long-term, and long-term power supply into short-term for the next day, didn't require physical comfort in the same way that biological sleep did. W-12 also took the opportunity to connect their internal comm unit to Absalom's infosphere--a process that took an embarrassing amount of effort. But they didn't really have the knowledge base to know what they were looking for, beyond looking up the address for Mama Fat's. Everything about this location and the people here were fascinating, but W-12 wasn't sure how impressive they seemed compared to the others... Hopefully they'd get a chance to be more useful the next day--although given that they'd be most useful in the event of somebody being hurt, perhaps that wasn't a good thing to hope for. Maybe there'd be a chance to demonstrate their skill with wild things and wilderness, but not likely tomorrow. The unfamiliar programs on the entertainment unit did provide an interesting distraction.
"Well done, Milo," said W-12 as they were leaving the holding area. "I was thinking about how to soften him up asking about his injury, when he was refusing to talk. How to slip in that I saved him, while avoiding that I had hurt him first... but it seems you said exactly the right thing." Once he'd started talking, he'd been so forthcoming! Although Absalom security did seem far different from what they'd have expected--probably not a bad thing when one enters a new place and immediately engages in a fire fight with the locals. "Now... is this Mama Fats a person? A business?"
”Oh!” said W-12 with a flash of surprise, ”Would station security let us speak with him? They must be quite different from Aballon law enforcement, although I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised by that.”
"Ah... We did capture one of them and turn him over to the authorities, though," said W-12 somewhat sheepishly. They were primarily responsible for that; it had seemed like the right thing at the time! "They may not be happy with us."
W-12 has waffled about taking some refreshment. They had little experience with being the only robot in a group of humanoids. The few times it had come up it was with Maya and her associates, and W-12 was aware that Xenowardens were unusual.
In the end they took nothing, but hopped up on to a chair that was far too big. It was meant for a shirren or human or other tall creature, but they didn't notice the difference. They leaned forward on their perch as Chiskisk began to communicate telepathically. A useful talent! Perhaps one I could replicate magically? W-12's face flashed with interest as Chiskisk described the job. "I'm certainly intrigued to know what happened," they said, "and concerned by your thought that it could have been about us. I will gladly accept an offer to investigate. But..." Their head tilted, an expression easy to miss as their face was a featureless circle, "that can't be the job Mr. Kreel had in mind for us, of course. Do you know anything about that? I'm mildly concerned about leaving that loose end dangling, although only a very little since I don't know what the loose end is."
"Hello!" said W-12 brightly, approaching the receptionist. "We were called for, concerning a job opportunity. Well, we weren't actually called to... oh, hm." Did the android know Kreel? Perhaps they should be more gentle or careful in their explanation. Their face took on a more somber dark blue color. "We were supposed to meet a contact when our transport arrived at the station, but there was an incident in the docking bay. There was a fight between... rival gangs, I suppose they were? I'm all but certain you can find some information on that on the Infosphere by now, but we may be the bearers of bad news that hasn't reached you yet as we came directly here. Our contact was killed in the crossfire, and we weren't sure what to do but come here ourselves. "Our contact was a dwarf by the name of Kreel." The blue light on W-12's face formed into an inquisitive curved shape vaguely reminiscent of a question mark. "Do you know of someone called 'Chiskisk'? Kreel was looking at some notes that had their name along with ours at the time of his death."
”Have any of you been to the Lorespire Complex before?” W-12 asked those who said they’d been to Abdalom Station. ”I did download a map before I left, but... what’s your best way to get around Absalom?”
"We did manage to capture one of the Level 21 gang members," said W-12, pointing out the unconscious thug. The guard probably saw that already, but it didn't hurt to be sure. "The very light healing magic I used didn't actually heal his wounds, but it ensures he won't die from the injuries he's already sustained." W-12 had hoped to interrogate the thug for information themself, but security had arrived to quickly. But maybe... "I could revive him, if you'd like to question him here?"
Slipping their laser back into its holster, W-12 ran closer to Kreel. They held out a hand toward the dwarf; nothing happened, and W-12's face darkened. A disappointing result, but if they'd expected better they'd have risked acting sooner. Spinning around, the small robot raised a hand towards the thug they'd shot. A greenish white light filled their hand, and then a similar glow enveloped the thug's most recent wound. "That will keep him from dying," they called out to Netharan, "unless something else hurts him. I can't predict how soon he'll actually wake without healing him more, so I'd make sure to disarm him." W-12 scanned the bystanders, keeping an eye out for anybody else who'd been hurt in the crossfire and repeating their spell if any of them were down. "Is anyone else hurt?" It was surprising that the Stewards didn't take an immediate interest in their group, but it was probably for the best. As restrictive as Aballon could be at times, W-12 had heard that artifical lifeforms and intelligences weren't always treated fairly on other worlds. Of course, they were the only robot--there weren't even any androids in the group.
Was Atrios casting a spell? W-12 could do that too, but... that spell took several seconds to actually take effect. And without a clear leader or heavy-hitter to target, it was probably better to conserve their energy for healing, at the moment. Not seeing a better position to move to, W-12 leveled their pistol at the same thug they'd fired on before and kept shooting.
In theory, W-12 was a decently skilled medic. In practice... well, they didn't have much practice. A laser blast through the head almost certainly meant Kreel was beyond their help, but W-12 wasn't entirely confident they'd be able to judge instantly how badly one of their new allies was hurt in the middle of a firefight. "Please tell me if you need to be healed," they said tersely as they aimed their weapon.
W-12 fired a shot at the closest violent human as they ran for cover, though it was far too high. They'd never fired at a person before, but all these humans were, a best, willing to risk innocent lives. Attempting to stop them did seem necessary.
"Watch out," W-12 started, putting a hand on their weapon, "I see--"
This place... it was actually more similar to home, in some ways, then W-12 had expected. The place itself, anyway. The people here were quite different, and the atmosphere seemed more chaotic. That may have just been anticipation, though.
"The Arcan... are you a mage?" W-12 held out their left hand and tapped the palm with a finger on their right. "My mentor is a Xenowarden. She taught me about living things, but also a bit about magic." As W-12 drew the finger away, a small tree sprouted in its wake. It was pretty, but obviously brittle and soon crumbled to nothing as quickly as it had appeared. "I'm not the strongest spellcaster in the system, but I can do a little healing. Hopefully you won't need to know that, but..." The robot took note of how many of their group were visibly armed or armored and looked pointedly at the weapons. "...but I think we might expect it to matter."
"Huh," said the small robot, tearing their attention away from the front viewscreen for the first time in several minutes, "now that you bring it up, I've never heard of Kreel, either. I did put out some feelers saying I was interested in an opportunity to see more of the Pact Worlds, but I wonder if my mentor gave my name to him. I should have asked her, but she doesn't carry a personal comm; I sent a message, but to actually speak with her I would have had to visit in person and there wasn't time." The robot was small, similar in height to Milo. Its visible components were made primarily of a shiny white material, although for a face it had a plain black circle. In lieu of what humanoids might consider typical expressions, this face lit up with colors from time to time. On this journey, it had been flashing excitedly for most of the trip.* The robot's equipment seemed fairly new, although none of it was particularly interesting. The backpack was a plain blue, the holster on their belt held a cheap laser pistol, and they wore only the important protective parts of their armor; few robots bothered with pants. "It's W-12, by the way, if I didn't tell you that. My name, I mean." A brief glow of a slightly embarrassed reddish or pinkish hue as they shook their head. "Unless you feel that's, how did she put it? 'A lifeless designation for a piece of equipment, ill-suited to a being regardless of whether it's a machine itself.' My mentor and her colleagues nicknamed me 'Wiz' or 'Dub,' if you like those better." Their face focused again on the image of the station on the viewscreen. Have any of you been to Absalom? I'm excited to see its structure, but I think I'm more interested in that park...
Those two are kinda similar. Oh, and character sheet. Formatting to come later. Character Sheet:
Character Name: W-12
aka Wiz Size/Type: Small Construct (Technological) Class/Level: Mystic 1 Race: SRO Theme: Wild Warden Speed: 30 ft Gender: N/A Home World: Aballon Alignment: NG Languages: Common Ability Scores:
Skills: (6 ranks/level)
Initiative: +2
Saving Throws:
Attacks:
Race Abilities: SRO
Theme Abilities: Wild Warden
Class Abilities: Mystic
Feats:
Spells:
Level 1: 3/3 Slots
Equipment
Starship Combat Role: Mystics aren't great at those skills... I can put a skill point in whatever, and I'm willing to change my starting feat to improve it. Gunnery's probably easiest, since the total skill bonus doesn't matter.
Hope this isn't too late... Question for the GM: You've listed allowed sources for races, but what about other things? Specifically, I'm interested in the spells from the Alien Archives, although I'm also considering Squox Companion as a starting feat. Five Things:
Worker-11 was a prototype labor drone created by scientists working for a robotics corporation. It wasn't intended to be a free-willed, sentient AI. Whether or not its corporate "parent" was ethical enough to free it just because keeping it was illegal and immoral, it clearly wasn't suitable for mass-production as it couldn't be legally sold. Thus, it was freed.
W-11 has since resided on Aballon. After being there for a time, it decided to try its own hand at creating an AI "offspring." This time creating an independent person was the goal, although there were several failed attempts. W-12 was created explicitly to be a free independent person with no specific intended purpose, and the difference shows. Certainly they are more creative then to name any of their "offspring," if they create any, "W-13"--particuarly knowing that their corporate "grandparent" probably has created both "W-12" and "W-13" mindless drone prototypes. One thing that sets W-12 apart from many (though presumably not all!) other artificial intelligences is a wanderlust. They were fairly young when they started taking trips to explore the various regions of Aballon, their home planet. The most significant of W-12's expeditions was their first--of several--journeys to Frozen Nelumbo. The small robot was fascinated by the naturally growing things that they had never seen before, as well as far more organic people then they had ever met. In Frozen Nelumbo W-12 met a human Xenowarden by the name of Maya Cress. Initially wary of the robot exploring the natural area--the Xenowardens' express purpose their is to protect against anacites who decide it is unnecessary, after all--she kept a close eye on them. This turned into answering questions, and then offering lessons unprompted, and finally demonstrations of how her nature magic worked. W-12 took to these lessons, and eventually displayed a knack for the spells. This was surprising to both of them, and Maya nicknamed her little protégé "Wiz." Goals:
W-12 would like to visit each world in the Collective at some point. Or at least as many as they can!
W-12 doesn't really want to become a living creature--just being fascinated by something doesn't mean you want to be it--but it'd be an interesting experience. As long as it was temporary. Memories:
The first time W-12 saw Maya breathe fire. It was one of the first things that got them interested in the study of life. They only later realized that this wasn't something all humans could do... which got them interested in the study of magic!
W-11 started keeping houseplants after discovering its child's interest in them. It did not go especially well, but they were were touched by their parent's attempt. While W-12 was theoretically aware of the existence of the Fields of Judgement, they didn't realize at first that one of their wanderings around Aballon nearly brought them into the Field as they wondered what all the broken machinery was doing their. They were roughly prevented from meandering in by a very angry anacite guard. Duravor Keel:
The anacites' labor system raises a lot of interesting questions regarding worker rights--is it better or worse then other ways of doing things? Keel was investigating W-11's workplace to see how things were run differently there. W-11 invited the dwarf to visit its home, explaining that it had a child who would be interested in working for him and would jump at the chance to cook a meal for a humanoid guest.
As one of the first meals W-12 ever attempted to cook it was something of a disaster, but Duravor was fascinated both by the robot's eager attempt and at their burgeoning magical talent that they proudly showed off. Absalom Station:
Absalom Station is the center of civilization for the Collective. W-12 is, of course, fascinated. It's a place where there will be many, many people--and setting it widely apart from W-12's past experience, almost none of them will be robots (well, maybe androids, but they don't count).
Unlike their Xenowarden mentors, W-12 is also curious about the artificial structure. Some would claim that it's very unnatural, but they disagree. With an outsider's perspective, W-12 doesn't see why humanoids don't consider themselves to be a part of nature, or why their construction is so different from something like a beehive--aside from being considerably more impressive, of course. Voidwalkers:
W-12 doesn't know much about them.
But they do know that their parent loathes the collective, possibly related to the corporation that created them, a corporation that it's perpetually refused to name. They also know that Maya is a Voidwalker, although they're not supposed to tell anybody that. Character Sheet:
Character Name: W-12
aka Wiz Size/Type: Small Construct (Technological) Class/Level: Mystic 1 Race: SRO Theme: Xenoseeker Speed: 30 ft Gender: N/A Home World: Aballon Alignment: NG Languages: Common Ability Scores:
Skills: (6 ranks/level)
Initiative: +1
Saving Throws:
Attacks:
Race Abilities: SRO
Theme Abilities: Xenoseeker
Class Abilities: Mystic
Feats:
Spells:
Level 1: 3/3 Slots
Equipment
Starship Combat Role: Mystics aren't great at those skills... I can put a skill point in whatever, and I'm willing to change my starting feat to improve it. Gunnery's probably easiest, since the total skill bonus doesn't matter.
W-12:
Character Name: W-12
aka Wiz Size/Type: Small Construct (Technological) Class/Level: Mystic 1 Race: SRO Theme: Xenoseeker Speed: 30 ft Gender: N/A Home World: Aballon Alignment: NG Deity: Weydan Languages: Common Ability Scores:
Skills: (6 ranks/level)
Initiative: +1
Saving Throws:
Attacks:
Race Abilities: SRO
[b]Theme Abilities: Xenoseeker
Class Abiliies: Mystic
Feats:
Spells:
Level 1: 3/3 Slots
Equipment:
I believe that's a complete character sheet for my Xenodruid. Although I might add some details to the spells and things when I have time.
W-12:
Character Name: W-12
aka Wiz Size/Type: Small Construct (Technological) Class/Level: Mystic 1 Race: SRO Theme: Xenoseeker Speed: 30 ft Gender: N/A Home World: Aballon Alignment: NG Deity: Weydan Languages: Common Ability Scores:
Skills: (6 ranks/level)
Initiative: +1
Saving Throws:
Attacks:
Race Abilities: SRO
Theme Abilities: Xenoseeker
Class Abiliies: Mystic
Feats: Spells:
Level 1: 3/3 Slots
Mostly complete character sheet. Missing equipment, and I haven't picked a Feat. |
