#because he thinks the metal virus future might still come to pass despite them defeating Metal Sonic

[true-blue-sonic]

Perhaps an unpopular opinion, but I am somewhat bothered by IDW’s sudden insistence that Silver cannot control his time travel and randomly finds himself in the past with no prior warning and without even knowing why he is there.Two reasons for that:

1. It is entirely unexplained why this is, how it works, what force is behind it, etc. My dislike for this ties in with the fact that apparently his future becomes good after his actions in the past make it so, but then it turns bad again before his very eyes. Again: how does this work? Time travel already makes no sense, but this makes even less sense to me than Silver simply arriving in a new bad future and going back in time again to undo the responsible disaster. Of course, there also wasn’t much explanation to how Silver travelled back to the past when it was still clear he was in control of it himself, except for the Sonic Channel drawing stating he does it with Chaos Control. But the idea that Silver himself is responsible for it, either through his PK or the Emeralds, seems a lot more plausible to me than an unexplained and unknown force being the cause of it.

2. To me, it removes a large bit of agency from Silver, and it does his character a great disservice. What I find admirable about Silver is that he chooses to save the world, every single time again. He chooses to go back in time to rescue his era through undoing a disaster in the past, and he chooses to go back to yet another future, find it in ruins, go back to the past again to undo it, in an endless cycle with the hope that one day the future will be a good one keeping him going. So for him to suddenly find himself in the past with no prior warning to solve a calamity he knows nothing about... I figure that also here he chooses to do something about it instead of idly sitting by, but tied in with the fact that it’s unexplained how 'Silver randomly finds himself in the past with no prior warning’ works in the first place, I simply can’t help but feel like it removes a powerful part of Silver’s character: being able to go face a bad world again and again, because he wants to bring things to a good end so badly. This might sound silly, but it makes him more like a play ball of fate being flung around than someone who works to actively defy said fate.

I think what would solve my dislike for it by quite a bit already is by having the comics (or the games, preferably even) explain just how in the world this works, and most of all who is responsible for just throwing Silver around in time like that. To me, it’s too significant a change of previously-established characterisations (because Silver has been clear multiple times he actively came from the future to the past by his own choice) to just randomly introduce in the way it has been done now, without any further information behind it.

[agentpink-writes]

WIP Intro: God of the Machine

“Such, such is Death: no triumph: no defeat: Only an empty pail, a slate rubbed clean, A merciful putting away of what has been.“  Charles Hamilton Sorley 

Note: This is the very first version of the WIP page for this one, so it’s going to be a bit underwhelming (at least for the moment). However, I’ll be adding more once I actually write more. So once I do that, I’ll delete this note.

Genre: Science Fiction

Status: Outline/1st Draft 

Date created: December 18th, 2018

Trigger Warnings: mentions of violence/war

Summary:

In near-future America, robots are now the new norm, and nearly every household has one. This is seen nowhere more than New Athens, a hive-mind of entertainment, manufacturing, scientists, and other communities focused on the existence and creation of robots. People flock to this great city and enjoy what the latest in technology has to give to them, specifically Androids: robots who imitate humans in order to better serve humans as caretakers, emotional support systems, or just being friendly in general.

David Cowen, however, has alienated himself from this exact society for several years. He’s a recluse who, although interested in robotics and the potential of Androids, is disinterested in what this “new” world has to offer him. 

In his isolation, he creates Lucy, using the last spare parts he has in order to create what he considers to be one of his “better” creations. Although naive and seemingly unemotional at first, Lucy grows interested in this new world and wants to explore it, along with identity as an Android.

However, this all changes when a rising force threatens to upset life between humans and Androids. A hardware virus, known only as Phage, has been unknowingly spread to Androids, turning them into unhinged zombies and forcing them to attack one another, spreading the virus even further. In an attempt to help find the source and stop this megalomania, the company, Olympia, orders David to assist them on their quest, due to his scientific background.

Lucy, in the meanwhile, helps David as much as she can, before she delves into a tough, harsh world, even going so far as to encounter the very forces causing this virus.

In the end, David not only has to stop the virus from wreaking havoc in a city he grows to care for once again, but also prevent himself from being consumed by his past demons and mistakes, which unfortunately play a large role in the present. 

And Lucy, despite her seemingly naive nature, might not turn out to be so innocent after all.

Main Characters:

David Cowen | 34 yrs old | Robotics Scientist/Engineer

One of two of the main characters of the story, though he is the most central part. 

Not much is initially revealed about his past, except for the fact he used to work for a rising robotics corporation simply known as Aesop, named after the  Ancient Greek fabulist. He left off on a bad note, however, and isolated himself from the rest of society, living off welfare checks while living in a small house. The corporation he left, however, turned out to have merged with another company to become Olympia, which he doesn’t find out until later.

Physically, he has sharp black eyes and black hair he regularly slicks back into a short ponytail (his hair reaches near his shoulders when it's down). He normally wears work-related outfits, similar to lab coats, or stuff he doesn’t mind getting dirty, mainly because he often gets dirty. He once had a young, fairly attractive complexion before the years of isolation grew on him, leaving him with a pale, slightly wrinkled face and tired eyes. He constantly gets back pains as well, due to stress, depression, and work in general.

As a person, he is quite laid-back and pessimistic. He seems exhausted most of the time, which he is, but is mainly just depressed or in an overall sad mood. However, he does feel guilty whenever he feels like he’s being too much of a pain, and likes to reward people often for having to deal with his attitude sometimes. This happens quite a bit with Lucy, whose very presence helps to check his attitude, considering he’s no longer alone with his own anxious/cruel/depressive thoughts and has to watch himself. In addition, he is also very pessimistic about the state of robotics in New Athens and doesn’t agree with the widespread use of “emotional bots”, since he thinks its just society’s way of deterring their attention from real, serious issues. However, Lucy points out that he’s a bit hypocritical as, she soon realizes, that part of the reason he did create he was for some type of emotional connection.

Lucy | Less than 1 yrs (16) | Android

The second main character of the story and also has several chapters from her POV. She is technically less than a year old, but her intended age/appearance is around 16 yrs old.

Lucy was created and named by David during the present time the story begins. After a few days of being in his house, exploring and studying his world, she thirsts for more knowledge and yearns to know more about the world. Despite knowing she’s an Android, she wants to learn more about human society anyway and she begs David to show her, which he eventually gives in to. Through her exploration of New Athens, Lucy begins to open up David a little more to see this type of society has to offer and reflect on his own hypocritical behavior. However, she starts to wonder more about he came to be this way (negative, depressed, and pessimistic). She becomes so curious she even escapes for the night to go to a place nicknamed the Barrens, where David tells her to avoid, thinking it might have a connection to him. There, she meets Micheal, who goes by the nickname Major. After that, she meets the rest of his “gang” and is thrust into the center of the Phage virus conflict, going so close as to possibly being infected with it. 

Physically, she is young-looking and of average height, with nothing that peculiar about her appearance besides her white hair. David made it so she would stand out and even offers to change it if she dislikes it, but in the end, she likes it quite a bit, constantly having to pass it off as if she dyed it. In addition, despite her small frame, her exoskeleton of a strong type of metal as well as some bits of titanium, so she has the strength to put up a decent fight (in comparison to other Androids). However, her skin/flesh is weak so its susceptible to damage like any other Android/robot body.

Personality-wise, she is initially quiet and unemotional, still adapting to her surrounding environments and how emotions work in relation to her programming. There’s a sort of child-like quality about her, especially after she first introduced to NewAthens society. After experiencing the world, however, she still maintains some level of docility but quickly learns how to express her emotions properly, even going as far to form complex and diverse opinions. Before and even after she meets Major, Lucy believes that Androids, in contrast to what some make them out to be, aren’t just imitation, but a form of improvement. She wishes to share this improvement with humanity. However, she doesn’t come to this conclusion any time soon, as there is a point where she feels envious of humans due to the greater level of acceptance, and even feels she’s less of a being simply because she was made. However, this is twisted later on, when she inevitably delves into the harsh underbelly of New Athens and really explores what, she thinks, it means to be an Android vs. a human, with dangerous consequences (of course).

Other Characters:

Micheal (Major) | 18 yrs old | Member of the “Titans”

A human side character who encounters Lucy when she is assaulted in the Barrens. After finding that she actually managed to injure the attacker, he tells her that he, along with some other guys with him on bikes, will help her find the attacker. She hesitantly agrees, hoping to learn more about the Barrens and, secretly, get some revenge. When they do find him, Major and the others violently beat the assaulter until he’s down on the ground. Major reveals that he, including the friends with him, are part of a new-found gang known as the Titans, a group adamant about their contempt for robots. 

After this first introduction, and the eventual rekindling between Lucy and Major, he is revealed to be one of the main leaders of this underground crime gang, as they search for unwanted or isolated robots or Androids to steal and sell on the black market for parts, while also “cleaning them” off the streets. And with the growth of the Phage virus and the slowly growing fear towards robots, the gang is rising exponentially in numbers. Major, in this case, is hoping to rise in the ranks as well, and soon become the Titan Leader. 

Physically, he has dark brown hair and chestnut eyes. He seems older then he looks, but he only recently turned 18 yrs old. And despite his young age, which several of the other members make fun of, he has managed to make quite a name for himself, mainly under his nickname “Major”. Lucy finds that his real name is Micheal, but he hates it so much he refuses to also tell anyone what his last name is (partially to help to prevent anyone from discovering his true origin). 

Personality-wise, he can be rather ruthless, especially towards those who commit violent crimes, ironically enough, or those he deems guilty of such punishment (he’s an eye for an eye type of guy). However, he seems to soften a little around Lucy, due to his developing interest in her (unbeknownst to the fact she’s actually an Android). Her personality seems to wear off on him a bit, as he slowly opens up more as they interact. He eventually goes into the details of his personal life, which isn’t nearly as violent or “abusive” as one might expect.  

Sara Hogsworth | 41 yrs old | Chief Officer at Olympia (originally Aesop)

Sara is a career woman who's made quite a name for herself in the past years. While she isn’t the head of Olympia, she does hold a great amount of power since she’s in charge of their security and all things related to it (she even has control over certain manufacturing decisions in the corporation, due to how trustworthy and reliable she is). She is also the one who ends up contacting David about the Phage virus since she seems to be one of the few in the Olympia hierarchy who doesn’t initially see this as a problem. In fact, David used to work for her during his time at Aesop, where she oversaw his main project(s), at the time.

Despite her polite and confident demeanor, however, Sara can be ruthless if she doesn’t quite get what she wants. She always sees Olympia as part of the future, and always defends it even if they might do something wrong. Her goal is to help society in any way she can, even if it means having New Athens citizens dependent on Androids for comfort. Most of this is because of her mother, who inspired her to share her smarts with society in order to better it, as a whole. She even has an emotional support bot in her nursing home, which further solidified Sara’s idea of a progressive future alongside humans and Androids.

Yet, this doesn’t mean she’s totally good-hearted. She is also the type to commit “necessary evils” if it means it will bring improvement to the country and society as a whole. In fact, this is one of the reasons she and David conflicted in the past, since David, while a risk-taker, doesn’t believe that good can arise from such cold-hearted decisions. However, that isn’t one of the only reasons, as she is the one, who turns out, to have fired him from Aesop, for reasons currently unknown...

William (Will) Jimmison | 45 yrs old | Military Overseer at Olympia (former Colonel)

(This starts 7 years prior to the current timeline)

A military man at heart, William returned to America near the end of the Tyro War (will explain later) after being medical/honorably discharged. He was about to retire until he was introduced to the Aesop corporation, which focused on building war robots to help end the war. Considering his options, he decided to become a Military Overseer, a position that allowed him to work with the military and Aesop even when he’s not fighting directly.

Ironically enough, even though he’s working with Olympia, he despises robots due to his experiences during the War. However, he suppresses his hate due to the fact he, like Sara, believes its the best for society and the war. 

Additionally, he actually oversees David, who he was actually friends with during the War (and yes, David was part of the war as well, but eventually left). This is the first time they met after about a year or two after leaving a War, so there’s a bit of a disconnect but they are still on good terms, still.

Personality-wise, he appears to be a tough, aggressive military type at first glance (which is how David first viewed him when he met him) but he is soon revealed to be a kind/light-hearted guy. He’s a bit traditional and stubborn, but he generally has a good sense of reason and will listen to both sides of an argument. 

There’s also a sense he might have PTS(D) or at least symptoms of it, like how he’d rather go up ten flights of stairs if it means avoiding an elevator since it reminds him of the event and how closed off it was (tight space). He also gets stressed/anxious at the mention of his time during the War. But its never really defined.

Background:

Before Androids became commonplace, there was a twenty-year long war with a neighboring country called the Tyro War. Most have forgotten why the War originally started, but they fight regardless, with no real aim. However, near the end of the war, the opposing country has developed new and improved war robots, gaining the advantage and growing even closer. Desperate to win, America begins experimenting and developing war robots as well. One of the main facilities is Aesop, which is created solely to tackle this very issue. This is when David and his old friend, William, begin working at Aesop. David works mainly since they promise to give him more funding for his personal projects (as well as a stable job) while WIll focuses on the “greater good” at hand. Eventually, however, the project goes awry and David is left jobless. The project fails, yet America ends up winning just a year afterword, gaining mass resources and rewards from it. Because of that, the country experiences an economic boom over the next seven years, which prompts citizens to widely buy Androids in order to forget about the tragedies of the past. 

Links:

None.

Other:

None.

Oh gosh, I think that’s about it for now! This took a while to make! I know it a lot, but I wanted to get as much down so I can translate it later when I set up character links and what not. So for now, this will serve as a basis for my WIP!