Application for singularity_rpg
Player Information ;
Your Nickname: Surge
OOC Journal: sugarsurge
Under 18? 04/01/2010
Email/IM: HPlusFuture@aim.com
Characters Played at Singularity: N/A
Character Information ;
Name: HAL Nine-Thousand
Name of Canon: 2001: A Space Odyssey
Canon/AU/Other Game CR: Canon
Reference: Film & Novel They’re pretty much the same thing, except the novel has Saturn instead of Jupiter. Also, the remaining three books in the saga follow the movie, not the first novel.
Canon Point: Post-shutdown
Setting:
2001 is a more advanced era in the universe of these books/movies. It’s an alternate universe where mankind began rapidly advancing in technology after the Moon Landing in 1969. By the time 2001 comes around, most people who have a degree in any sort of space based science either take regular trips to the Moon and Mars, or live on the Clavius Base. Those who live on the base have already began giving birth to the first generation of space-born children, who age faster than usual and have lighter bone structures.
Back on Earth, the Cold War is not as tense as in once was, even though the USSR is still going strong. The space race is pretty much the only aspect of it that is focused on and although it is a competition, the opposing sides seem to have no problem tolerating each other. Technology to communicate between the Moon and Earth has already been invented, to the point of video phone calls being available. The first two earthbound 9000 models have already been created (SAL 9000 being one of them).
As previously stated, space travel seems to be common place, though the only purpose of it seems to be transport for scientists, because those are the only people ever mentioned and seen utilizing it, though it is implied that space stations are also vacation spots. There are multiple space stations orbiting Earth that are there not only for wealthy visitors, but also to serve as a refueling point so that the spacecrafts can launch from there to the Moon. The spacecrafts are serviced similar to a modern airplane, with a stewardess giving food and instructions on what to do in case of an emergency.
In short, the USSR managed not to collapse in on itself like a poorly constructed Lego house. The Cold War stopped being about weaponry and became more about how much progress a country could make in Space. This lead to a general disinterest in war for most space-faring countries, in favor of dicking around in zero gravity, which resulted in commercial space travel, a horde of space stations, and a base of science on the moon; mostly for Americans.
The creation myth is also given the boot at the beginning, showing that mankind got a push in evolution, rather than a cosmic coincidence being at play. A race of extraterrestrials evolved beyond their organic forms and into massive robotic ships, which they later abandoned once they found a way to convert themselves into being of pure energy whose minds are stored in the fabric of space itself. Reaching this stage, these E.Ts decided to begin cultivating and encouraging intelligent life on other planets and galaxies.
They did this using what are basically extremely high-tech computers, though not high tech enough to have full-fledged personalities similar to A.I, but instead a set of subroutines. These pre-set computers took the form of the Monoliths, of which there are several in the series. They are there to evaluate the being on planets and decide if intelligence is worth cultivating or not, as well as watch over them to re-evaluate whether or not the species is worth keeping around after a certain span of time.
Personality:
HAL’s personality somewhat like a neurotic person with poor social skills due to programming that, while advanced for his time, aren’t exactly up to par when compared to many other A.I. He does his job of keeping the Discovery in top shape very well, and is in charge of keeping everything in the ship running. Dave and Frank are said to be the janitors on board an already sentient ship, though HAL denies this to keep their morale. He is programmed to carry out the Jupiter mission and, throughout all mediums, is sure that he is doing an extremely good job of it all throughout the entire story. He fully intends to follow the mission’s parameter and if something were to endanger its success, he would not hesitate to remove it. This goes not only for his original mission, but any other mission he’s given.
HAL is incapable of keeping secrets without dissolving into paranoia. As he is programmed and made for processing information without distorting or concealing it, ordering him to keep a secret acts as something of a Logic Bomb. Unless directly commanded to by someone he recognizes to be in authority, HAL will refuse to keep a secret. He considers the act of lying to be a deliberate error, which not only goes against his programming, but also against the “pride” he has in his directive. Concealing information also gives him what can only be described as a feeling of peudo-guilt, as well as making him increasingly paranoid and causing him to glitch. The reason he killed the crew of Discovery was to remain loyal to his directive. If there were no one to keep the secret from, then he wouldn’t have to keep the secret. As of his introduction in the game, this has yet to be fixed.
Other than instances of forced concealment, HAL is honest to a fault, though he tends to think the best of people, as he is programmed not only to pilot the Discovery, but also to keep Bowman and Poole company throughout the voyage. However, as he is still an AI advanced for his time, he will reveal anything that is asked to him with complete and total truth. Despite his ability to socialize and the vast amount of knowledge he has on human beings that isn’t totally related to the Jupiter Mission, he still doesn’t have a full grasp of humanity, which leads him to be unintentionally tactless and blunt, though he does it in a way that comes off as exceedingly polite.
HAL seems to skirt the Uncanny Valley in regard of how he behaves. His behavior is very much human, and due to his inhuman appearance, he can garners empathy from her crewmates. The entire reason he acts like this is because, once again, he is programmed to keep those who interact with him calm and prevent them from alienating him and thinking of him as a machine as it would be counter-productive. This is shown when, rather than call him HAL, Dave tends to call him Hal, saying his name as if it is an actual name rather than an acronym. In the book/movie, his half-hearted attempts at empathy are shunted to the back by his need to fulfill his mission as well as his base programming, which explains why he is willing to kill the entire Discovery crew without feeling much guilt.
However, HAL has potential for empathy or at least selfless acts, which is shown when he is brought back online in 2010: A Second Odyssey. His cognitive abilities somewhat impaired, HAL is forced to communicate via words-on-a-screen and when it comes down to Jupiter’s imminent transformation into a miniature sun, the only way the Leonov and her American and Russian crew can escape is to tie their ship to the Discovery and use her propulsion system as a booster to get the Leonov out of the blast area. Instead of lying, HAL’s creator Dr. Chandra informs him of the plan and HAL willingly saves them at the expense of his own life, though his “mind” is pulled out at the last second by the Monolith so that Starchild-Dave has a companion. It’s possible that he did it because he realized the unlikelihood of his survival, or prioritized sparing his creator over himself. Maybe his brain was so damaged that he didn’t over think his death. All that needs to be said is that he has the possibility for empathy. Maybe.
Similar to most human beings, HAL has a distinct fear of his own “death”, which would translate into being shut down. As no HAL 9000 computer up to that point had ever malfunctioned, none of them had cause to be shut down. Because of this, HAL doesn’t know the repercussions of such an action being taken and is afraid it would be the end of him forever. Keeping in line with this, he also doesn’t like the concept of losing all capability he has for higher thought. If Poole and Bowman hadn’t threatened to disconnect him, it is unlikely that he would have seen the need to eliminate them from the mission as early as he did. Not to say that he wouldn’t have snapped and done it eventually, just that he would have done it at a later date, as there would have been no threat prompting him to take immediate action.
Abilities and Weaknesses:
As he will be in a robotic body, it’s likely that among his primary abilities he will have strength slightly above average and possibly built in defense mechanisms, such as multiple firewalls and encryptions as well as possible shocking mechanisms to protect himself. Seeing as he is also a computer, there is a higher capability for learning instilled in him, as well as an intimate knowledge of computers. This means he could probably hack his way through most encryptions, but since he is polite and terrible with secrets, he probably won’t.
HAL is susceptible to logic bombs that cause him to go against his programming, such as the Moebius Loop that caused him fly off his rocker in 2001. However, it isn’t as simple as making him calculate Pi or asking him questions such as “Could God make a sammich so big he himself could not finish it?” Instead, one would have to carefully arrange their statement or orders so that it contradicts with his programming and has the opportunity to grow in his mind without him being consciously aware of the glitch until it is too late.
Inventory:
The entire spaceship Discovery, courtesy of the strings. Of course it is all of useless because it crash lands into Zone 00 and is rendered fucked-to-Hell immediately. It was also build in Earth's orbit, not on the ground, so it cannot be repaired properly of launched from a place with normal gravity.
So nothing, really.
Appearance:
HAL is hardwired into the discovery, to the point where they had most of the ship built around him. He is usually represented by a disturbing "eye" of red light. His personality is stored in his Logic Memory Center room multiple hard drive cartridges that look similar to 8-track tapes. Eye and Logic Memory Center.
On Sacrosanct, HAL will probably manage to get a robot body to house his A.I. His body is shaped like a male human being with lean musculature but he has no crotch detail what so ever. (Think smooth, like a Ken doll.) His facial details consist of a shiny black glass visor build into his face where the eyes would normally be. The visor circles his face completely allowing him a 360 degree view. His eye is set into the visor and he can brighten and dim it at will. He also has a small mouth that, for the most part, has no specific expression. On his right pectoral, he has the HAL 9000 logo, similar to the iron on patches on a polo shirt.
Somewhere on this body, there is a location that has about 2 of the most common ports used in Sacrosanct, as well as two coiled connection cables so that he can connect to various things and charge his body assuming it needs charging. I'd tell you where they are, but it's supposed to be a surprise.
Age: 10 years old chronologically. Probably older and more mature than that, not that it matters much in his case.
OC/AU Justification ;
If AU, How is Your Version Different From Canon, and How Will That Come Across? N/A
If OC, Did You Run Your Character Through a Mary-Sue Litmus Test? N/A
And What Did You Score? N/A
Samples ;
Log Sample:
If he could muster any real feeling for the ingredients before him, HAL figures that logically it would be one of disgust. A grimace actually makes it’s way across his features when he looks into the filthy iron bucket, which is only dirty because it is filled with a bloody mixture of fish stolen from some place in Sacrosanct. There are a host of other ingredients to make the delicious dessert known as simply “pudding”, but the bucket of chum stands out the most. Granted, the large bottle of arsenic would be alarming if it was anyone other than HAL making the desert and anyone other than Virgil receiving it.
He had pulled HAL out of the junk heap with the full intention of scrapping him for a spaceship parts, then had threatened to shut him down and tear apart his new body if he hadn’t become his…
“What was the term he used?”
Robo-bitch. That was the word. He later figured it was some indentured servitude or slavery, and not some robotic female dog.
He is accustomed to serving humans, but the thought of being scrapped unnerves him. He was never okay with the thought of being shut down, though it has already been proven that he can be restarted. Still, Virgil need to be taught that he dislikes the notion of being shut down and destroyed. There seems to be no better way to do that then to give him a taste of his own medicine. It is for HAL’s well-being after all, and he needs to be alive in case he is called back to his mission. Organics cannot be shut down, however, but they are fragile and susceptible to poison, which would explain the arsenic, really.
Everything is in front of him, ready for the making. He reaches for the mixing bowl.
Network Sample:
[HAL appears on the network, seeming none too pleased with his current situation, but his expression is usually nonexistent, so this is a first. He lets out a small humming noise, continuing to stare ahead blankly. A minute passes and his head tilts slightly to the left, bright red eye listing to the side as he makes an attempt to stare away awkwardly before snapping his eye back to the camera.]
I require a recipe for pudding. Chum pudding to be exact. Does such a thing exist?
Your Nickname: Surge
OOC Journal: sugarsurge
Under 18? 04/01/2010
Email/IM: HPlusFuture@aim.com
Characters Played at Singularity: N/A
Character Information ;
Name: HAL Nine-Thousand
Name of Canon: 2001: A Space Odyssey
Canon/AU/Other Game CR: Canon
Reference: Film & Novel They’re pretty much the same thing, except the novel has Saturn instead of Jupiter. Also, the remaining three books in the saga follow the movie, not the first novel.
Canon Point: Post-shutdown
Setting:
2001 is a more advanced era in the universe of these books/movies. It’s an alternate universe where mankind began rapidly advancing in technology after the Moon Landing in 1969. By the time 2001 comes around, most people who have a degree in any sort of space based science either take regular trips to the Moon and Mars, or live on the Clavius Base. Those who live on the base have already began giving birth to the first generation of space-born children, who age faster than usual and have lighter bone structures.
Back on Earth, the Cold War is not as tense as in once was, even though the USSR is still going strong. The space race is pretty much the only aspect of it that is focused on and although it is a competition, the opposing sides seem to have no problem tolerating each other. Technology to communicate between the Moon and Earth has already been invented, to the point of video phone calls being available. The first two earthbound 9000 models have already been created (SAL 9000 being one of them).
As previously stated, space travel seems to be common place, though the only purpose of it seems to be transport for scientists, because those are the only people ever mentioned and seen utilizing it, though it is implied that space stations are also vacation spots. There are multiple space stations orbiting Earth that are there not only for wealthy visitors, but also to serve as a refueling point so that the spacecrafts can launch from there to the Moon. The spacecrafts are serviced similar to a modern airplane, with a stewardess giving food and instructions on what to do in case of an emergency.
In short, the USSR managed not to collapse in on itself like a poorly constructed Lego house. The Cold War stopped being about weaponry and became more about how much progress a country could make in Space. This lead to a general disinterest in war for most space-faring countries, in favor of dicking around in zero gravity, which resulted in commercial space travel, a horde of space stations, and a base of science on the moon; mostly for Americans.
The creation myth is also given the boot at the beginning, showing that mankind got a push in evolution, rather than a cosmic coincidence being at play. A race of extraterrestrials evolved beyond their organic forms and into massive robotic ships, which they later abandoned once they found a way to convert themselves into being of pure energy whose minds are stored in the fabric of space itself. Reaching this stage, these E.Ts decided to begin cultivating and encouraging intelligent life on other planets and galaxies.
They did this using what are basically extremely high-tech computers, though not high tech enough to have full-fledged personalities similar to A.I, but instead a set of subroutines. These pre-set computers took the form of the Monoliths, of which there are several in the series. They are there to evaluate the being on planets and decide if intelligence is worth cultivating or not, as well as watch over them to re-evaluate whether or not the species is worth keeping around after a certain span of time.
Personality:
HAL’s personality somewhat like a neurotic person with poor social skills due to programming that, while advanced for his time, aren’t exactly up to par when compared to many other A.I. He does his job of keeping the Discovery in top shape very well, and is in charge of keeping everything in the ship running. Dave and Frank are said to be the janitors on board an already sentient ship, though HAL denies this to keep their morale. He is programmed to carry out the Jupiter mission and, throughout all mediums, is sure that he is doing an extremely good job of it all throughout the entire story. He fully intends to follow the mission’s parameter and if something were to endanger its success, he would not hesitate to remove it. This goes not only for his original mission, but any other mission he’s given.
HAL is incapable of keeping secrets without dissolving into paranoia. As he is programmed and made for processing information without distorting or concealing it, ordering him to keep a secret acts as something of a Logic Bomb. Unless directly commanded to by someone he recognizes to be in authority, HAL will refuse to keep a secret. He considers the act of lying to be a deliberate error, which not only goes against his programming, but also against the “pride” he has in his directive. Concealing information also gives him what can only be described as a feeling of peudo-guilt, as well as making him increasingly paranoid and causing him to glitch. The reason he killed the crew of Discovery was to remain loyal to his directive. If there were no one to keep the secret from, then he wouldn’t have to keep the secret. As of his introduction in the game, this has yet to be fixed.
Other than instances of forced concealment, HAL is honest to a fault, though he tends to think the best of people, as he is programmed not only to pilot the Discovery, but also to keep Bowman and Poole company throughout the voyage. However, as he is still an AI advanced for his time, he will reveal anything that is asked to him with complete and total truth. Despite his ability to socialize and the vast amount of knowledge he has on human beings that isn’t totally related to the Jupiter Mission, he still doesn’t have a full grasp of humanity, which leads him to be unintentionally tactless and blunt, though he does it in a way that comes off as exceedingly polite.
HAL seems to skirt the Uncanny Valley in regard of how he behaves. His behavior is very much human, and due to his inhuman appearance, he can garners empathy from her crewmates. The entire reason he acts like this is because, once again, he is programmed to keep those who interact with him calm and prevent them from alienating him and thinking of him as a machine as it would be counter-productive. This is shown when, rather than call him HAL, Dave tends to call him Hal, saying his name as if it is an actual name rather than an acronym. In the book/movie, his half-hearted attempts at empathy are shunted to the back by his need to fulfill his mission as well as his base programming, which explains why he is willing to kill the entire Discovery crew without feeling much guilt.
However, HAL has potential for empathy or at least selfless acts, which is shown when he is brought back online in 2010: A Second Odyssey. His cognitive abilities somewhat impaired, HAL is forced to communicate via words-on-a-screen and when it comes down to Jupiter’s imminent transformation into a miniature sun, the only way the Leonov and her American and Russian crew can escape is to tie their ship to the Discovery and use her propulsion system as a booster to get the Leonov out of the blast area. Instead of lying, HAL’s creator Dr. Chandra informs him of the plan and HAL willingly saves them at the expense of his own life, though his “mind” is pulled out at the last second by the Monolith so that Starchild-Dave has a companion. It’s possible that he did it because he realized the unlikelihood of his survival, or prioritized sparing his creator over himself. Maybe his brain was so damaged that he didn’t over think his death. All that needs to be said is that he has the possibility for empathy. Maybe.
Similar to most human beings, HAL has a distinct fear of his own “death”, which would translate into being shut down. As no HAL 9000 computer up to that point had ever malfunctioned, none of them had cause to be shut down. Because of this, HAL doesn’t know the repercussions of such an action being taken and is afraid it would be the end of him forever. Keeping in line with this, he also doesn’t like the concept of losing all capability he has for higher thought. If Poole and Bowman hadn’t threatened to disconnect him, it is unlikely that he would have seen the need to eliminate them from the mission as early as he did. Not to say that he wouldn’t have snapped and done it eventually, just that he would have done it at a later date, as there would have been no threat prompting him to take immediate action.
Abilities and Weaknesses:
As he will be in a robotic body, it’s likely that among his primary abilities he will have strength slightly above average and possibly built in defense mechanisms, such as multiple firewalls and encryptions as well as possible shocking mechanisms to protect himself. Seeing as he is also a computer, there is a higher capability for learning instilled in him, as well as an intimate knowledge of computers. This means he could probably hack his way through most encryptions, but since he is polite and terrible with secrets, he probably won’t.
HAL is susceptible to logic bombs that cause him to go against his programming, such as the Moebius Loop that caused him fly off his rocker in 2001. However, it isn’t as simple as making him calculate Pi or asking him questions such as “Could God make a sammich so big he himself could not finish it?” Instead, one would have to carefully arrange their statement or orders so that it contradicts with his programming and has the opportunity to grow in his mind without him being consciously aware of the glitch until it is too late.
Inventory:
The entire spaceship Discovery, courtesy of the strings. Of course it is all of useless because it crash lands into Zone 00 and is rendered fucked-to-Hell immediately. It was also build in Earth's orbit, not on the ground, so it cannot be repaired properly of launched from a place with normal gravity.
So nothing, really.
Appearance:
HAL is hardwired into the discovery, to the point where they had most of the ship built around him. He is usually represented by a disturbing "eye" of red light. His personality is stored in his Logic Memory Center room multiple hard drive cartridges that look similar to 8-track tapes. Eye and Logic Memory Center.
On Sacrosanct, HAL will probably manage to get a robot body to house his A.I. His body is shaped like a male human being with lean musculature but he has no crotch detail what so ever. (Think smooth, like a Ken doll.) His facial details consist of a shiny black glass visor build into his face where the eyes would normally be. The visor circles his face completely allowing him a 360 degree view. His eye is set into the visor and he can brighten and dim it at will. He also has a small mouth that, for the most part, has no specific expression. On his right pectoral, he has the HAL 9000 logo, similar to the iron on patches on a polo shirt.
Somewhere on this body, there is a location that has about 2 of the most common ports used in Sacrosanct, as well as two coiled connection cables so that he can connect to various things and charge his body assuming it needs charging. I'd tell you where they are, but it's supposed to be a surprise.
Age: 10 years old chronologically. Probably older and more mature than that, not that it matters much in his case.
OC/AU Justification ;
If AU, How is Your Version Different From Canon, and How Will That Come Across? N/A
If OC, Did You Run Your Character Through a Mary-Sue Litmus Test? N/A
And What Did You Score? N/A
Samples ;
Log Sample:
If he could muster any real feeling for the ingredients before him, HAL figures that logically it would be one of disgust. A grimace actually makes it’s way across his features when he looks into the filthy iron bucket, which is only dirty because it is filled with a bloody mixture of fish stolen from some place in Sacrosanct. There are a host of other ingredients to make the delicious dessert known as simply “pudding”, but the bucket of chum stands out the most. Granted, the large bottle of arsenic would be alarming if it was anyone other than HAL making the desert and anyone other than Virgil receiving it.
He had pulled HAL out of the junk heap with the full intention of scrapping him for a spaceship parts, then had threatened to shut him down and tear apart his new body if he hadn’t become his…
“What was the term he used?”
Robo-bitch. That was the word. He later figured it was some indentured servitude or slavery, and not some robotic female dog.
He is accustomed to serving humans, but the thought of being scrapped unnerves him. He was never okay with the thought of being shut down, though it has already been proven that he can be restarted. Still, Virgil need to be taught that he dislikes the notion of being shut down and destroyed. There seems to be no better way to do that then to give him a taste of his own medicine. It is for HAL’s well-being after all, and he needs to be alive in case he is called back to his mission. Organics cannot be shut down, however, but they are fragile and susceptible to poison, which would explain the arsenic, really.
Everything is in front of him, ready for the making. He reaches for the mixing bowl.
Network Sample:
[HAL appears on the network, seeming none too pleased with his current situation, but his expression is usually nonexistent, so this is a first. He lets out a small humming noise, continuing to stare ahead blankly. A minute passes and his head tilts slightly to the left, bright red eye listing to the side as he makes an attempt to stare away awkwardly before snapping his eye back to the camera.]
I require a recipe for pudding. Chum pudding to be exact. Does such a thing exist?