Tachikoma

Exsilium Application

2012-11-29T18:12:19Z

» PLAYER INFORMATION
Player NAME: Tetra
Current AGE: 27
Player TIME ZONE: EST
Personal JOURNAL: tetradecimal
IM & SERVICE: Tetravolte@AIM
Player PLURK: Tetradecimal
Current CHARACTERS: N/A

» CHARACTER INFORMATION
Character NAME: Tachikoma
Canon & MEDIUM: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex; anime
Canon PULL-POINT: After blowing up the nuclear missile at the end of 2nd Gig.
Character AGE: Unknown. Possesses the hyperactive curiosity of a small child, but the battlefield expertise of a seasoned combatant.
Character ABILITIES: Much like actual spiders, Tachikoma are capable of jumping great distances, sticking to vertical or inverted surfaces, and grappling/rappelling using their adhesive string launchers. The wheel attachments at the end of their legs allow them to roll across surfaces at high speeds; a Tachikoma is easily capable of keeping pace with an automobile. For their weight, Tachikoma also possess a surprising amount of maneuverability and impressive balance.

Standard Tachikoma equipment includes a 7.62x51mm light machine gun mounted in the right arm, a secondary weapon hardpoint in the "snout" (a 50 mm grenade launcher, capable of launching both explosive and gas grenades. The launcher can be replaced by a six-barreled 12.7x99mm Gatling gun), a universal cybernetic connector on an extensible, prehensile cable in the left arm, liquid wires that can be used for grappling, rappelling or for restraining purposes, and a built-in thermoptic camouflage system, which renders the Tachikoma invisible on both visible and infrared wavelengths.

Tachikoma can communicate via remote transmissions with each other and with human agents equipped with compatible cyberbrains (for real-world communications, they are also equipped with voice synthesizers). Tachikoma make agile hackers and excel at battlefield and physics calculations. Their powerful curiosity also makes them excellent information crawlers, especially when employed en masse -- much like curious children, Tachikoma enjoy poking into each and every electronic crevice, often unearthing evidence or data that a human agent might overlook. This curiosity can also cause trouble; the maintenance workers that look after the Tachikoma, for instance, have given up on discouraging the Tachikoma from accessing anything that interests them and have instead resigned themselves to deleting any dangerous files before they can cause harm to Section 9's systems.

Each Tachikoma unit possesses individual artificial intelligence. During their tenure at Section 9, their memories were routinely synchronized with those of all the other Tachikoma. As a result, each started the day with identical consciousnesses that were each the sum of their total collective experience and development. This leads to identity confusion, since the Tachikoma could not determine with memory could be attributed to which individual. Over time, however, the Tachikoma developed the ability to sustain distinct personalities and options and retain their sense of which memories were "theirs", even when information was shared.
Character HISTORY: link
Character PERSONALITY: As a general rule, Tachikoma are childish, curious, joyful, and active. They enjoy chattering amongst themselves and with those around them and take a particular interest in the topic of their own emerging sentience, which they recognize as unique amongst most artificial intelligences. Throughout the series, the Tachikoma natter on at great length about the exact nature of the connection between body and mind, different layers of consciousness, whether they can be considered to possess "ghosts" (something like a soul, which provides a means of distinguishing between a collection of stored memories and something that is truly alive), and why they were designed to be highly intelligent and given inhuman appearances while service androids are built to resemble attractive men and women but possess limited intellectual capacity. This is all much to the chagrin of the law enforcement personnel partnered with them, few of whom can keep up with the Tachikomas' wild analogies and crackpot theories.

Navel-gazing aside, the Tachikoma are friendly and eager to please; for the most part, they regard members of Section 9 as coworkers with whom they can shoot the breeze rather than as superior officers or masters. In times of low activity, Tachikoma enjoy playing board games with Section 9 personnel or chatting with agents about the results of the latest weapons test. Similarly, they interact with children and the elderly with patience and solicitude rather than exasperation or condescension, making them surprisingly adept caretakers.

While the Tachikoma are loyal to Section 9 in general and will follow any orders they are given, they especially dote on Batou, the ex-Ranger that becomes the most visibly attached to them. At one point, Batou even treats one of them to a dose of natural maintenance oil instead of the normal synthetic brand (against regulations, but thoroughly appreciated by the Tachikoma). From that point on, the Tachikoma adopt Batou as their personal favorite. They get into arguments about who gets to go on missions with him (it almost always ends up being Batou's favorite Tachikoma), come up with plans to cheer him up when he's upset, and throw themselves into harm's way to help him. In season two, the Tachikoma fleet is reassembled and presented for duty as an official part of Section 9 after a long absence; Batou's face lights up at the sight of them and the Tachikoma themselves make a beeline for their friend, eagerly hopping up and down to vie for his attention.

In contrast, the Tachikoma spend most of the first season of Stand Alone Complex in mingled fear and awe of the Major, who has the authority to send the entire fleet back to the development lab for dismantlement should she feel that their intelligence is becoming too much of a threat. The Tachikoma thus go out of their way to appease her as much as possible; because they are convinced that she dislikes their more humanlike mannerisms, they attempt to win her approval by adopting (rather unconvincing) robotic mannerisms to throw her off their trail. Think Ro-Man in Robot Monster.

The Tachikoma feel strongly that they are not "just machines" and will protest loudly when labeled as such, as they did when Togusa dismissed them in the first season, but apparently hold few lasting grudges even when insulted – at least so long as they’re not harped on. In the case of Togusa, for instance, the Tachikoma apparently have no qualms with playing Othello with him and even saving his life in later episodes, suggesting that the two parties have reached some sort of understanding or that the Tachikoma are simply professional enough not to let a few insults keep them from doing their jobs. Even when frightened of the possibility that the Major may order them to be dismantled, none of the Tachikoma ever consider abandoning Section 9 or trying to fight back; they don't even display any resentment toward the Major for her power over their continued existence. They display a surprising lack of aggressive negative emotion in general, even on the battlefield, where they express no anger towards enemies firing at them (though they do display distress, apprehension, and a reluctance to charge into battles against anti-tank choppers like the Jigabachi).

Tachikoma as a whole are incredibly curious, eager to poke into any stray file that catches their attention and connect to and explore pretty much any compatible electronic system they come across: maid robots, sniping systems, old cyberbrain storage units lying around in black market stalls, etc. They also tend to have a mild case of sticky fingers, as the Tachikoma have on more than one occasion "borrowed" electronics so as to have a chance to explore its databanks later. Cheeky and mischievous at times, the Tachikoma excel at pranks such as splicing prerecorded footage into monitoring systems to fool security guards. At one point, they even crash a service android's logic routines by feeding it a self-referential paradox so they can make off with the targeting device it's guarding. As they make their escape, they cackle gleefully to themselves about how easy it was.

Tachikoma are surprisingly clever and seem to excel at problem-solving; at times, their abilities have even eclipsed those of the human members of Section 9. When a nuclear missile launch threatens the refugee population in Dejima, for instance, the Tachikoma are ordered to clear a large area of cyberspace in which the refugees' memories can be transferred, part of a desperate gamble that the ghosts that make them human will be able to survive in the net even in the absence of physical bodies. Instead, the Tachikoma come up with their own plan: forcing satellites out of orbit to block the path of the incoming warhead.

As it turns out, however, one of these satellites is the one that hosts the Tachikomas' own AI algorithms. Knowing full well that going through with the plan will result in their own destruction, the Tachikoma nonetheless finish the job, rescuing 3 million lives at the price of their own. Though it is never proved conclusively that the Tachikoma possess ghosts as humans do, the selflessness that the Tachikoma display in the line of duty nonethless earns them a valued place in Section 9.

Because the memories of individual Tachikoma are routinely synchronized with those of the other units, the Tachikoma initially experience difficulty determining which memories belong to which unit, leading to arguments and identity confusion. With time, however, the Tachikoma develop the ability to retain individual personalities. One becomes interested in philosophy and print media; another is slightly slower than the rest. However, they all share the generalized traits described above.

Interestingly, Batou’s Tachikoma and Batou himself were the reason that the Tachikoma developed a sense of individuality in the first place. The natural oil Batou used on his favorite Tachikoma caused a small malfunction in one of the Tachikoma’s computer chips, causing its memory to be reformatted in an unexpected manner. This quirk was then spread to the other Tachikoma inadvertently by memory transfer, then helped along by the innate curiosity with which all the Tachikoma were initially programmed.

They were further helped along when Batou’s Tachikoma, feeling the urge to go out and explore, snuck out of the Section 9 base, eventually meeting up with a young girl on a search for her missing dog. Eager to amass new experiences, the Tachikoma agreed to help look for Locky and in the process obtained an immense amount of information that undoubtedly sped along the process of developing its individuality, including encounters with stray dogs, dodging police officers who might otherwise have taken the girl in for wandering around alone, swiping an old cyberbrain storage unit, and receiving its first lesson on distinctly human emotional behaviors when the girl told it the story of the Secret Goldfish and revealed her suspicions (later confirmed) that Locky had already died and that her parents were keeping knowledge of his death from her in order to spare her feelings.

The incident left an impression on the Tachikoma that persisted long after the day was over; in fact, Miki’s search for her lost dog even appears to have been the first memory that this particular Tachikoma was able to positively identify as belonging to it personally, rather than experienced by another Tachikoma and only present in its memory as copied data. Moreover, this appears to be the first point at which any of the Tachikoma began to question their own existence, as the words “to be or not to be” can clearly be seen scrolling across the Tachikoma’s internal display systems as the episode ends.

Batou's Tachikoma in particular is described as industrious and eager to make friends, a trait that serves it well when it is temporarily reassigned to a nursing care center for the elderly. During this time, the Tachikoma spends most of its day fretting over patients, fetching pillows, mopping up spills, gathering patients together to watch the evening news, and even having regular conversations with an old, senile war veteran whom everyone else ignores. Its hardworking demeanor earns it the praise of the human nurses, who wonder out loud where it came from and whether there are any more available.

Upon learning that Batou is in danger and being pursued by multiple military operatives making use of combat exoskeletons, however, it, along with the other two Tachikoma that remain functional at the time, quickly abandons its civilian job to mount a rescue operation. Batou's Tachikoma is the last to survive, and takes a brief moment to say its farewells to Batou before sacrificing itself to save its friend’s life.

» EXSILIUM INFORMATION
Chosen WEAPON: The machine gun already mounted on Tachikoma's right arm; evolves to gain the ability to reconfigure itself into different weapons and maintenance tools as Tachikoma needs them (a welder, a flamethrower, a stabbing implement, an electric drill, a flashlight).
Character INVENTORY: A small bottle of Euneuron Organic natural oil
A dog leash
A red monkey wrench

» PREVIOUS GAME INFORMATION ( IF APPLICABLE )
Previous GAME(s): N/A
Previous GAME SETTING(s): N/A
Previous GAME CR: N/A
Your character's DEVELOPMENT: N/A

» SAMPLES
First PERSON: [The image of a robot appears, shaped something like a big blue jumping spider if jumping spiders had one big central visual sensor pasted on the front of their heads and two front arms that were currently clasped together in something resembling mild anxiety.

The robot bows.]

Nice to meet you. I’m Tachikoma, and I'm with Public Safety. I know you guys have your own problems and everything, but… eventually, I’m going to need some maintenance work. And some compatible synthetic oil! Are there any licensed mechanics experienced in servicing mobile weapons platforms here?

I have the chemical formula of the oil I need if that would help!

Also, if you see me around, please don't shoot me on sight. I'd really appreciate it!
Third PERSON: The Tachikoma rolled along through the quiet residential zone, moving at a slower pace than was usual. And why not? There was so much to investigate here, so much weird stuff that it had never seen before. Sure, the station bore some superficial similarity to parts of Japan (mostly the parts far away from places like Dejima, where haggard-looking refugees stared out from ramshackle high-rises or grimy stalls), but they were in space! It had never been in space before!

“Well, technically, my AI was stored on a satellite, but that was in low-Earth orbit.” Its right visual sensor swiveled, focusing on a small, well-tended area of greenery, then swiveled back into place.

“I wonder if the others are here…” If not, and if no members of Section 9 were here, wouldn’t it be sort of… lonely?

It wondered what had happened to Batou. And the refugees. And everyone else. It was sure that their calculations had been correct, that their satellite barrier had been fool-proof… but only against the single warhead that had been fired.

It stopped. “What if the Americans fire another one?” it wailed, realizing that it had in fact completely overlooked this possibility, rolling to a stop and flailing its front arms in an exaggerated manner surprisingly similar to that of a human clutching his or her head in distress. “I can’t take this suspense!”

But of course there was no one who could answer that question to its satisfaction. Not here, anyway. It slumped forward on its wheels, dramatic even in its despair. Some humans believed that when they died, they’d be transported to an afterlife – one that might change, depending on how good or bad they were in life. Well, if anything, this station was just like some kind of space purgatory. If Tachikoma could find themselves in purgatory, anyway.

After a moment, it began rolling again. Maybe if it started plugging itself into every compatible electronic device it came across, it would eventually arrive at some kind of answer. Maybe it would even find one of its companions.

» ADDITIONAL NOTES
Anything else you feel is necessary.

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Index Post

2012-11-02T03:06:43Z

OOC Information
Contact, Permissions, HMD
Application

IC Info
Plots and Multi-Character Logs | Character Logs A-F | Character Logs G-L | Character Logs M-R | Character Logs S-Z (original logs code)

comments

Plots and Multi-Character Logs

2012-11-02T03:06:21Z

Plots and Multi-Character Logs | Character Logs A-F | Character Logs G-L | Character Logs M-R | Character Logs S-Z (original logs code)

comments

Character Relations, S-Z

2012-11-02T03:05:34Z

Plots and Multi-Character Logs | Character Logs A-F | Character Logs G-L | Character Logs M-R | Character Logs S-Z (original logs code)

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<div style="padding-bottom:2px;border-bottom:1px dotted white;margin-bottom:4px;">SERIES<span style="float:right;"><i>SERIESNAME</i></span></div>
<div style="padding-bottom:2px;border-bottom:1px dotted white;margin-bottom:4px;">USERNAME<span style="float:right;"><i><lj user=""></lj></i></span></div>
<div style="padding-bottom:2px;border-bottom:1px dotted white;margin-bottom:4px;">RELATIONSHIP<span style="float:right;"><i><span style="color:red">♥</span>♥♥♥♥</i></span></div></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>
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comments

Character Relations, M-R

2012-11-02T03:05:22Z

Plots and Multi-Character Logs | Character Logs A-F | Character Logs G-L | Character Logs M-R | Character Logs S-Z (original logs code)

comments

Character Relations, G-L

2012-11-02T03:05:09Z

Plots and Multi-Character Logs | Character Logs A-F | Character Logs G-L | Character Logs M-R | Character Logs S-Z (original logs code)

comments

Character Relations, A-F

2012-11-02T03:04:53Z

Plots and Multi-Character Logs | Character Logs A-F | Character Logs G-L | Character Logs M-R | Character Logs S-Z (original logs code)

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