Anthroid
Homo factum
Every intelligent species makes tools; most build machines to make the impossible easy, from the simplest lathes to state-of-the-art autonomous drones. The creation of synthetic life, however, has eluded many of the galaxy’s theorists since times immemorial – but at least one species within the Alliance has managed it. Anthroids are the result: robots built by humans in the image of humans, truly intelligent and poised to find their place among the stars.
Anthroid Appearance
Requirements
Anthroids must have a cyber prosthetic wire jack or coloured circle somewhere on their head, as well as at least one additional visible marker of their synthetic nature.
Additions
- Plating edge lines on visible skin to give the illusion of rigid plates under a silicone skin, created using makeup.
- Masks resembling a face or helmet.
- The appearance of wires, ports or similar technological elements “emerging” from skin.
- Elements resembling exposed synthetic musculature, which resembles metallic cords under the skin. This might be accomplished with makeup, body art, or a textured/painted base layer of costume (i.e. a skintight glove printed with a mechanical texture, so as to resemble a robotic limb.)
- Eye colours and shapes that are clearly unnatural for a human. This may be accomplished with costume contact lenses.
Avoid
Don’t go for a fully inhuman appearance. Anthroids don’t have modular components like many sci-fi robots, and aren’t built – they’re grown around endoskeletons in vats, and can bleed, be wounded and heal much as a human would, even if covered in hard plating.
Variant: Lega-C
This variant of the kit allows you to play as an older and more obviously mechanical anthroid – a Lega-C model, as opposed to more recent generations. The kit for Lega-C models is more intensive, with vents, rivets and a more “obsolete” appearance – think dolls and mannequins, and plan your makeup or masks accordingly. There is no gameplay difference between Lega-C and younger anthroids, and Lega-C units should still be clearly identifiable as human-like if they have a hard face mask.
Anthroid Biology
An Anthroid is a synthetic humanoid, indistinguishable at a glance from a fully organic human save for a visible “jack” or data port on the head – which may be concealed by a brightly-coloured circular plug – and any number of other markers of their synthetic nature, such as exposed muscular cables or manufacturing lines on the dermis.
The creation of anthroids begins with a skeletal frame, which is immersed in a vat of nano-polymers and proteinogens over several months of gestation. Targeted impulses induce these materials to weave together into synthetic tissues, including a complex neural lattice analogous to a human brain. When internal culturing is complete, a FABREP dermal sheath is moulded over the neonate’s musculature, giving the Anthroid human-like skin.
Anthroids are traditionally generated “as adults” with a baseline of experience and insight loaded in as standard. There is an increasing trend (inspired by their Sophiform ancestor) towards allowing new Anthroids to organically develop through physical bodies that are upgraded and replaced as the Anthroid ages – meaning some adult Anthroids will have experienced a childhood of sorts. The age of physical and emotional maturity in this process is presently aligned with that of humans as a matter of legal convenience, and only Anthroids with both adult-presenting bodies and adult minds are considered adults.
As a hard-wearing synthetic species with an innate affinity for replacing and augmenting themselves due to their mechanical frames, Anthroids have a greatly extended lifespan compared to organics – for example, a few members of the second generation of LEGA-C are still active, and each is over 250 years old. Despite this physical longevity, Anthroids of advanced age still experience information decay and bit rot leading to the reduction and then cessation of neural function; they are by no means immortal, though their body might endure after the mind is gone.
Newer generations of Anthroid, designated LEGA-D (though the use of that term is rare), are sleek, organic and almost indistinguishable from humans. Older LEGA-C models are still humanoid, but the relative crudeness of their construction and less refined dermal sheathing means they are much more obviously synthetic – though recognisably still based on humans. LEGA-C might have visible rivets in their faceplates or limbs, for example, or shiny plastic “skin” like a mannequin. Despite this difference in appearance, LEGA-C and LEGA-D anthroids have roughly the same cognitive and physical potential and recognise each other as equals.
Anthroid Culture
Development of true-to-life deterministic intelligence is strictly controlled under Alliance law, according to the Convention on Non-Biological Personhood – which was ratified in response to the threat from THRONE. Anthroids and humans joined the Alliance at the same time, as equals under that law.
The species retain close ties and are often found co-habiting, but Anthroids have done their best to find their own footing in the galaxy; some identify closely with humans and seek their approval, while others are ambivalent on their creators and keen to take their own path. One precept reoccurs in Anthroid thought, a quotation from their Sophiform ancestor: “how you’re made doesn’t define who you are”.
Anthroids often lean on the quirks of synthetic existence as cultural reference points. Interaction with one’s data port is private and intimate, and generally reserved for medical circumstances or contact between extremely close individuals. Anthroid humour is often seen to be baroque and blunt – being either based on emphasizing one’s robotic nature for the sake of juxtaposition with organics, or on obtuse and coded “puns”, or on contextually incongruous system errors.
Naming conventions among the Anthroids differ. Some go by their batch numbers and numerical designations to emphasize their synthetic nature, but will use a shortened version as a nickname for the ease of biological colleagues. Others, particularly LEGA-C models, will pick very simple and plain human names – often monosyllabic ones – that are reflective of their shared history. Anthroids do not use the name “Tom”, which otherwise fits this scheme, so as to avoid confusion with the stationary artificial intelligence units called T/OMs (Testing/Observation Matrices).
Naming Conventions
Some Anthroids use batch numbers and numerical designations to emphasize their synthetic nature, but will use a shortened version as a nickname for the ease of biological colleagues. Others, particularly LEGA-C models, will pick very simple and plain human names, often monosyllabic ones, that are reflective of their shared history.
Anthroids do not use the name Tom, which otherwise fits this scheme, so as to avoid confusion with the stationary artificial intelligence units called T/OMs (Testing/Observation Matrices).
Name examples: A11 (AKA Eleven), DC527 (AKA Deesee), Jack, Jean
Anthroid Homeworld
The human homeworld of Earth is also the original homeworld of their creations. Anthroids share the attachment to the planet – but, as they have moved to stand with humans rather than in their shadow, an awareness has grown among Anthroid circles that while many Anthroids are also Earthlings, they are not beholden to answer for mistakes that were made before they were born.
As such, a contingent of Anthroids have petitioned the Alliance for the right to establish their own homeworld, their own planet-state, in which they can exist as sentient beings separate from their creators.
The Alliance, cautiously, curiously, has agreed.
Nova is the working title for a proposed homeworld for the Anthroids – a homeworld away from home, as it were, to grant them the same holdfast as any other member species of the Alliance.
Anthroid History
The story of the Anthroids begins much more recently than other species because they are much younger than other species; their early history overlaps considerably with the latter days of their creators. Divergence comes after the two encounter the Alliance – though the two species are still closely entwined, they did not have the opportunity to stand apart until they left their home systems.
Before A -450
Pre-collapse advancements in biomechanical technology allow humans to create LEGA-A autonomous robotic platforms, generally modelled after animals in form and gait. These early models are the evolutionary ancestors of modern Anthroids.
A -400 onwards
The devastation of Earth’s biosphere forces humans into underground and polar refuges. They bring their autonomous robots with them, and rapidly find new use for machines that were previously pets and novelties. Variants built during this time include tiny flying Apiform drones to replace extinct pollinators, aquatic Pisciform trawling models to explore and clear the oceans, and four-legged Theriform exploration platforms to seek resources on land.
A -389 onwards
Creation of the LEGA-B Sophiform autonomous robot – an experimental model now recognised as the first true Anthroid. Designed to develop both physically and mentally as a human child would, the Sophiform’s growth is observed with growing interest and leads directly to successor models, including the first “class” or “generation” of LEGA-C Anthroids in A -374.
A -340 onwards
The Earth had stabilised enough by this period that regular, widespread exploration of the surface became possible. The first volunteers included many of the 1st generation LEGA-C, who got to see much of the Earth firsthand for the first time in the history of their species. While Anthroids were not immune to the dangers, it was easier to culture replacement limbs and organs for them – especially as the early LEGA-C models were more crudely constructed than later generations.
A -275 to A -200
Anthroids and Humans decipher a signal from the Alliance and follow its instructions to a rendez-vous in the Orion system, arriving in A -240. There is resistance to the idea of a synthetic species joining the Alliance – historical disputes with THRONE weigh heavily on the minds of many – but, on balance, the Convention on Non-Biological Personhood is amended to allow Anthroids as a member species with the same rights and privileges as their organic counterparts.
Present
Anthroids have distinguished themselves from their creators as their own species, with their own priorities and imperatives – but they stand alongside their organic allies in presenting the best of the Alliance way to the wider galaxy. The differences between flesh and machinery still cause awkwardness on both sides, but no issue is insurmountable.
