Information


Distort_821 has a minion!

Perditus the Brass Whelpling




Distort_821
Legacy Name: Distort_821


The Steamwork Darkonite
Owner: Mistakes

Age: 15 years, 2 months, 4 weeks

Born: March 3rd, 2009

Adopted: 14 years, 4 days ago

Adopted: May 27th, 2010

Statistics


  • Level: 1
     
  • Strength: 10
     
  • Defense: 10
     
  • Speed: 10
     
  • Health: 10
     
  • HP: 10/10
     
  • Intelligence: 0
     
  • Books Read: 0
  • Food Eaten: 0
  • Job: Beach Comber


Please, could you stay awhile
To share my grief
For it's such a lovely day
To have to always feel this way
And the time that I will suffer less
Is when I never have to wake

Wandering stars
For whom it is reserved
The blackness of darkness forever
Wandering stars
For whom it is reserved
The blackness of darkness forever

Those who have seen the needle's eye
Now tread like a husk
From which all that was
Now has fled
And the masks
That the monsters wear
To feed
Upon their prey


Full Name: Directional Reason and Action Structure
Nickname: DISTORT-2005, Tort
Age: 48
Race/Nationality: None
Occupation: None
Orientation: Asexual
Standing: [Permanently] Single
Attributes:
Quirks:
Hobbies:
Likes:
Dislikes:


The beginning of the Directional Reason and Action Structure was a gleam in the US military's eye for many years. Why use actual soldiers if one day you could create machinery that was capable of fighting in their stead? When technology seemed to be at its strongest for this endeavor in the 1970s, the prototype of artificial intelligence called DISTORT-2005 began. The goal was set high, aiming for a piece of technology capable of learning and communicating with others by the year 2005. Its scheme called for a brain that would control electrical impulses, which in turn moved the legs or activated the weapons. A titanium frame was created and the brain, a simple orb encased in a durable plastic and pulsing with a golden light, was wired in to it. To their delight, the robot was capable of moving on its own, but it was fixed in straight lines. No intelligence seemed to be in play, for the robot would reach the end of its line, crash into its obstacle, and then shut down. Three years after this, the brain had been reprogrammed. The machine now had vision, which consisted of cameras that sent information to the brain, then picked over the footage before sending out impulses for appropriate responses.

The director of this program, a Brigadier General Erik Pattersen, threw his full support behind the program. In times of monetary cuts, he paid for the program himself. Despite his support, others grew more weary. The decision that the program was taking too long was sent in the 80s, and Pattersen's brain child was given orders to shut down and give up. Unhappy with the decision, Pattersen obeyed. Once the robot was almost fully forgotten and gathering dust, he stole it from its home and took it away. The scientists already loyal to the program were paid by him to work on DISTORT-2005 on their own time. Progress understandably slowed dramatically, and years stretched by. Through evolving technology, vision improved and hearing was added to the automation, but it was still speechless and prone to using its batteries far too quickly. Following Pattersen's death in 1993, DISTORT-2005 almost became a lost project, save for one scientist named Adam Brady. As the others gave up their work, Brady found himself overtaken by the old Brigadier General's passion for the project and give his life to it.

The old body became too worn out, and eventually failed. Brady himself made a frame out of scrap parts he had salvaged, forsaking the fighting side of DISTORT-2005 for function. This body became his stress relief, and in the end took on a hybrid look given by the mix of bronze and iron he had discovered. This body contained secret pockets where things could be hidden, and notes on Tort's building and other information were hidden away in these. The brain was wired in once again, and its function was improved. To fix its battery problem, Brady installed solar panels along the creature's back. This gave DISTORT-2005, or simply Tort now, almost constant power. To regulate this, Brady redid the wiring so that the solar panels would slowly shut off unless a key turned on the back of Tort's head kept the power gathered by them flowing through the machine. The robot became important to Brady, who was alone in life. Tort was his companion, and fueled his need to work on the robot. He gave up his job in the military, dedicating himself to his project once again. Due to his tinkering, the automaton was capable of intelligent movement, hearing, and sensation. Brady gave himself to giving his new creation a voice. He installed a chip with a limited vocabulary and his voice inside into the brain, and then fixed a speaker in his product's throat. When he was finished, Tort was still for a few moments before uttering his first sentence: "What am I?"

With the voice now working, the pieces began to fall into place. Tort learned more words and actions through speaking with Brady, whom he titled Master, and for once it seemed that artificial intelligence was truly a success. Tort developed a sardonic attitude, as learned from Brady. Despite his efforts, the military wouldn't respond to Brady's calls, nor would they look at Tort on their own. Lonely, poor, and tired out Brady kept trying to reveal the success of his device to anyone who would listen, but by 2007 artificial intelligence was becoming all but a joke. No serious offers came to Brady, and depression set in. After many more months of mockery and abject failure, Brady placed Tort's key on a chain, hung it around its neck, and then hung himself. As its power wound away, Tort froze, became blind and deaf, and then stopped calling out for help. When Brady's body was discovered by neighbors who could smell his corpse, Tort was totally worn out and capable of nothing. It was considered nothing but art, and treated accordingly. Tort was sold through person to person, some simply letting him sit in their houses and others turning the key, seeing what Tort could do in the brief moments of power he had stored in travel. These people generally reacted with fear, trapping Tort and allowing the power to fail before they tried to tell anyone. These stories were considered false again, and generally these people resold it.

Tort's life, if one can call it that, is uncertain and to this day he passes through the world, rarely seen as what he could be. One may see him sitting in a pawn shop one day, the next rotting in someone's personal art gallery. The key, luckily, remains with him. Tort's frame may be frozen, but the mind created in its pulsing brain still works, lost in its own nothingness, and waits for the day the key will be turned and a true Master emerges into its life once again.

Roleplay Status:

Open/Closed

Quad only; Can be used in any type of RP.

Originally coded by: dreamsky
Edited by: Mistakes



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