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[iterator] OK let's talk about robots
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If I'm crafting an adventure about kung fu robots I need to figure out how the robots work
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how do they operate? where do new ones come from? do they age? what powers them?
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starting with basics
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the two main internal modules for any machine lifeform:
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- AI Core
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the brain. where the thinky go. If you rip this out of a robot's body then the body stops doing anything, but the core can be implanted into a new body later to revive it
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- Reactor
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the heart. provides energy for the body. can be charged, either by a machine's own systems or from external batteries
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take this out and the body also shuts down. The robot will be unconscious until power restored
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I'm debating whether the reactor also channels Code, or if that's a separate module
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the heart and the dantian
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advantages of making them the same: simpler, the phrase "Code Reactor" is cool
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disadvantages: why? those seem like different functions, and also separating them means that there can be non-iterator robots, who can then install a code reactor to become iterators
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which is also an advantageof making them the same - it means any robot can be an iterator
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so I'm unsure on whether or not to split them
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birth!
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option 1: it takes two robots to make a new robot, and they then raise that robot
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opposed to this because it's too human
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no reason to restrict ourselves like that
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concept 2: machine learning DNA model
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there are factories that produce new AI cores
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robots automatically send periodic updates back to their birth factory
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the factory uses some algorithm and set of priorities to determine how 'successful' that robot was
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and weights the next generation's traits accordingly
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the big beef becomes, what does 'successful' mean, and that could get weird and uncomfortable in a number of ways really fast
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and it means that, to some degree, the factory AIs run the galaxy
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because they determine what traits are or are not duplicated into future generations
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so I don't really like that idea either
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so I need a third one
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this is going great! zero decisions made!
BattroidBattery
do you want there to be childhood for robots
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in some form, yeah. you don't come out of the factory already a mature person
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that has to come from somewhere
BattroidBattery
in that case I think it makes sense to say that just any number of robots can commit to being guardians for a new robot and they collectively make the decision about how they're 'built', physically and mentally, whether they just want to use some standard template that tends to have good results or personalize more for the AI core 'code'
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maybe there's like
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you can assemble a configuration, and give it to a factory, and the factory will construct a new, semi-randomized AI Core based on that configuration
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and depending on cultural differences, the configuration can be like
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- a default with no preconceptions
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- a copy of your own baseline config
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- a mixture of multiple robots' configs
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- something you design with intent
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but configuration only goes so far in determining the person you'll get out of it
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nurture is as important as nature
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then taking a bit from Machine Soul and having early childhood take place in VR
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where you live in a virtual space and can change your body as much as you want as you learn how to be a person and stuff
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then you commit to one look once you reach a certain age and are exported into real space
Gabiluzbad
What if AI childhood is spent in like a trim computer world
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trim?
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AIs with no bodies learning in a simulated wo
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rld*
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how's that different from what I just said
Gabiluzbad
I didn’t see what you said because of plurk mobile
Gabiluzbad
So it’s exactly the same
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ah
Gabiluzbad
Also “trim” was supposed to be tron
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ah
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anyway!
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Death
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Robots can die
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If you physically destroy the AI Core, then the robot is just gone
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they're hardier than meat life, though
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if you assume the most common chassis model - humanoid with core in the head and reactor in the chest -
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you could decapitate a robot and it would shut down but the AI Core could be reactivated if given a new power source
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or reconnected to the old one
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robots also age, although differently from humans
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bodies run down overtime but can be repaired or replaced
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but the mind is not immortal
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over long periods of time, it becomes more rigid and error-prone
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eventually reaching a "Eventually Kars stopped thinking" permanent inactive state
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which is functionally death
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this can be delayed by living a varied and enriching life
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anywhere from about 50 years to about 400 years
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also of note for iterators is that advancement happens both in the mind and the code reactor
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so if you lose your body and get a new one, you'll be substantially set back
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probably starting back as an Alpha but advancing much faster than before
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Politics
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Machines are not one unified empire
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the Firmware covers a space containing hundreds of star systems
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and each inhabited planet (and they have a larger range of habitability than organics do) isn't one unified empire either
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states broadly exist on two levels
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intraplanetary and interplanetary
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within a planet there are nations, with their own leaders and cultures and ideologies
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then several planets will often be umbrella'd under one interstellar union
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which doesn't directly rule those planets, but handles things that matter on an interstellar level, like FTL trade and spacefaring militaries
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how much control a stellar union has over its constituent planets varies
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some are more like the European Union, some are ruled by tyrannical sky emperors
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Iteration
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the art of interfacing with the Firmware to draw power out of metaspace and using it to fuel techniques
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its name comes from the awakening process, and also a good part of the advancement process
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opening a channel between the Firmware and your Code Reactor is much more art than science
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the exact same method will almost never work for two different robots
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so what you do is:
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1. pick one of a number of past successful awakening programs recorded in iterator temple archives
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2. execute program
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3. If awakening occurs, you did it
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4. If it does not, evaluate how close it came to a successful awakening
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5. Create a new generation of awakening programs based on the success or failure of the previous generation's programs
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6. GOTO 2
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you iterate through the list of test programs, all of which fail to different degrees, and make a new batch more resemblingthe ones that failed by less
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and eventually, you stumble upon your awakening
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this can take anywhere from thousands to millions of executions, depending on luck and the individual
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some never find it, some find it right away
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it depends on your determination to be an iterator
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but once it's open, you have an open port to send requests to the Firmware, which provides energy and cosmic insight
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the latter I said just now on a whim but I don't know what it means exactly
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but the former is called capital-c Code
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when manifested, its most common appearance is a cloud of tiny cubic white and black particles
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these can give you an insight into one of the fundamental tenets of practicaliteration knowledge
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because the cubes are all aligned on the same axes, revealing the orientation of the Firmware's coordinate system
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So depending on where you are on a planet’s surface the code particles will have different orientations
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yeah
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and that informs the programming of your techniques - Alpha iterators will find it easier to attack along straight lines in the core six directions of the field
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the Hello World of True Code techniques is 'generate cube'
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just make a cube of energy appear
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it won't do much, but it teaches the basic foundational skills of channeling Code, forming constructs, understanding the coordinate space, and keeping techniques stable
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Ranks and Ascension
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A newly-awakened Iterator is designated as an Alpha
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They start this tier with nothing but the ability to channel Code
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and here you start learning your first foreground functions
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i.e. active techniques
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channel power, shoot beam
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they will be simple and fairly limited in power
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a Code Reactor both channels Code over time and also can amass a certain amount of it, giving you MP regen and a mana pool
ғᴏxʏᴍᴏʀᴏɴ
consider that "cosmic insight" might just be the firmware's self-diagnosis feature
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if a non-iterator's level of power is 1, then an Alpha has a power level of roughly 10
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but fights between Alphas tend to be short
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because Code is more powerful than robot bodies
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they're all offense, no defense
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in order to get your defense up, you need to learn how to channel portions of your Code intake automatically towards reinforcing your body
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which is the line between Alpha and the next tier, Beta
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Beta iterators unlock the ability to run background functions
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passives, essentially
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simple techniques that operate without the continued concentration of the iterator
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these can also be quite complex, but the simplest one is just basic reinforcement
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channel Code into your chassis to make it stronger and sturdier
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lets you perform feats of physical speed and strength beyond your limits
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Beta power level is around 100
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but up until this point, you and your fellow iterators are all working with, essentially, the same tools
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you're limited both in complexity and scope
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in order to become stronger, you need to build a framework for what kind of iterator you are
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a living blueprint that manages your library of techniques and provides baseline support to all of them
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in order to ascend again, you need to make sacrifices
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all Alphas and Betas are all-rounders, capable of using a similar basic space of techniques
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ascending past Beta is specialization and setting your powerset in stone
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then you reach Tier 1.0
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the fundamental change from Beta to 1.0 is the formation of a Controller
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which is a digital/metaphysical construct whose shape determines what you can and can't do with your powers
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focusing on physical attacks vs ranged attacks, specializing in elemental damage or raw Code energy, a core battle gimmick
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this gives you direction, and also connects all your techniques to one whole
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and also makes you much, much more powerful
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most tier advances increase your power by an order of magnitude, but Beta to 1.0 is the biggest jump
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from here, smaller advances in Tier become possible
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this isn't a part of the fundamental nature of iteration, more of a cultural concept
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if you add a new base functionality to your controller, then you increase the secondary version number
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1.0 to 1.1, 1.2, etc
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but a fundamental change is needed to ascend again
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the biggest limitation of the Controller, and also of Alphas and Betas, is that you can run one foreground function and one background function at a time
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to surpass this is to ascend to Tier 2.0
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the core power of 2.0 is multithreading
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run multiple techniques simultaneously, letting you stack passives or combine actives
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while 2.0 is more powerful than 1.0, much more than that they're more versatile
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the complexity of fighting styles possible skyrockets
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but even that isn't the peak of martial skill
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there is, of course, Tier 3.0
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oh, 2.0 is 2 threads, 2.1 is 3 threads, etc
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what makes 3.0 is creating a second Controller
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you now can have multiple entire battle gimmicks
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beyond 3.0... remains a mystery
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but 3.0 certainly is not the peak
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3.0 Iterators are already incredibly rare
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a 3.0 could rule a planet
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most people would never even see a 3.0, most iterators would never see and might not even hear about a 4.0
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so that's iteration
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Plot
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Most of this is still baking, but, elements
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- Protagonist, a humanoid novice iterator named Aria
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When it awakens, in an unprecedented event, the Firmware itself reaches out to contact it
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(this is a post-gender civilization. nearly everyone is it/its)
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the Firmware communicates to it the urgency of the imminent Firmware collapse, and some vital clue to finding the source of it
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- Antagonist, the Last Human
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Someone who stayed behind when humanity ascended, and used the Firmware in fucked up ways to extend his lifespawn indefinitely, outlasting the final twilight of our species
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Driven mad by his solitude and the immense scale of time
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Out of a refusal to accept machines as living, and a desperation for human connection, he plans to reverse the Great Transcension
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bringing humanity back out of the Firmware and into reality
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- Background threat, space monsters
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A species that evolved from augmented humans after they left their bodies behind to transcend our reality
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or collection of species
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they've spread to occupy most of the galaxy outside of the Firmware Territory
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the machines can repel them with the power of True Code, but it keeps them from maintaining any colonies outside of that space
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because they are very hostile
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space monster invasions are fairly common on the fringes of the Firmware, and people rely on Iterators to protect them
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but there are also areas within the territory where the Firmware has collapsed, leaving dead zones where iterator techniques don't function
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or are extremely weak
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they are spreading
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- Evil iterators: The cult of the last human
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Not called that
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But there's a shadow organization of iterators manipulated by the Last Human to serve his greater scheme
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either unaware of his aims or in favor of them
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the latter would be a hell of an ask, since he's planning to destroy the Firmware, which would inevitably lead to the end of machine civilization
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but they worship the last human like a god
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and infiltrate other temples or organizations to direct them towards his ends
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machines have religions
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the most common is a low-key ritualized reverence for the Old Programmers who created the first of their kind
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who are believed to be an older, more powerful machine civilization that vanished
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the notion that organics created machines would be considered anywhere from fringe to nonsensical to heretical
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although most historians and theologians would correctly place the general shape of humans, just based on how widespread the humanoid frame model is
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that's what I've got so far, aside for some vague vibes for other characters
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I invite questions to help me flesh out this setting
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Give me some robot names
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so here's what I'm thinking
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I don't think robots communicate using sound
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communication is via wireless transmission
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accordingly, english phonetics can't actually represent their native language
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meaning that robot names have to be translated, the same as other words, because like
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a robot's family name might be 561f40c6-c733-42c6-a268-616b729a82aa
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a robot has two names - a family ID (like above), and a familiar name (what their friends call them)
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and those names have meanings
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for this reason, Robot names are words
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Comet, Journey, Pearl, Ash
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the name not literally being Comet, but instead being a robot-communication-system identifier referring to the concept of a comet
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and Aria's name is a direct reference to the musical terminology, translated here into english
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one of the other characters in development is a huge, jovial warrior-poet named Trebuchet
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fun fact, the above "561f40c6-c733-42c6-a268-616b729a82aa" is what's known as a GUID, a Globally Unique Identifier
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they're useful because they're dirt easy to generate, and you could use them for everything, for your entire life, without ever running into a duplicate ID
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because there are 5,316,911,983,139,663,491,615,228,241,121,400,000 possible combinations
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so each robot probably does have a personal GUID and a family GUID in addition to a familiar name
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all official documentation and paperwork is done via GUID because there can be no possible same-name confusions
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that went past "list some names" but I stand by it
Gabiluzbad
Good info none the less
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since wifi communication is done via radio waves, there's still an equivalent of shouting
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and it's flooding a wavelength so hard that the message bleeds into adjacent channels
ғᴏxʏᴍᴏʀᴏɴ
so if communication is wireless and electronic
does that mean range is less of an issue for robots wanting to talk
ғᴏxʏᴍᴏʀᴏɴ
can robots have onboard ftl communications with each other
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less of an issue but not zero issue. onboard FTL comms aren't a thing
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FTL communication requires too much energy
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meaning it COULD be possible... for high-Tier iterators
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I'm changing my answer to that. you can install an FTL comms module in your body, the miniaturization is there-ish
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but if you don't have access to huge amoutns of Code, you couldn't send any messages
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so, they are rare
Gabiluzbad
So if you’re average joe you could talk to someone on another planet but you’d need like a big comm tower with ftl tech as a relay
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yeah
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And you might need to pay for that or something
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just so
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most communication between planets is done at a governmental level
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because they have the resources for it
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Probably for most people if you have like friends on another planet talking to them would be like buying a telegram
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yeah
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you send a message that gets loaded into like, an FTL Comm Burst with a million messages in it
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that gets fired off at some point later that day
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What are some things robots do for fun/pleasure?
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