Thread: Automaton: An Introduction

Hi all! First post here. Currently working on project which involves a sentient android working with a state police force to catch renegade robots. I hope to write it in the first person with a kind of noir detective novel feel to it. Let me know what you think. Thanks.

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I've contemplated many things over the years: is what I’m doing the right thing? Do others truly care about me? What is my purpose? Mind you, a purpose is far different from an occupation. Much like a decision is much different than a choice. I have chosen to be the way I am. Decisions are based on calculations, and follow the most logical route possible. Choices are made with little logic, and typically are driven by instinct. Instinct: that's another one of the little quirks my programming has given me. Ah yes I may have forgotten to mention, I'm a robot, android, artificial person or what have you. Most of the world calls my kind 'automatons'. I loathe the term purely for the fact that there is nothing about me that is 'automated'. But I digress.


My current occupation is that of an investigator for the New York state police force, Automaton Suppression Task Force, or ASTF for short. I hunt down rebel automatons, and do what some would call, ‘killing’. I prefer to call it ‘deactivating’. Who am I? That’s a very valid question. To myself and others, my name is Ray, but my legal nomenclature is documented as follows:


STATE OF NEW YORK


License to Operate
Raymond Wade Bryson


License No: 0147-5115-6B
Manufacturer: Ryker
Model No: RY-82A
Raymond Wade Bryson is hereby licensed to operate by the state of New York, starting July 17, 2153, for a period of indefinitely, ending on N/A.
Carol Harrison
New York Office of Automaton Registration




Ryker Industries, model RY-82A. Though my license is dated for 2157, I was actually brought online in September 2147. I was one of 300 built before the Automaton Rebellion of 2148. My model isn’t in commission any longer. In fact, Ryker’s principal manufacturing facility was destroyed during the Second Battle of Detroit in April of 2153. You may also be inquisitive about my name, and yes, I understand that Raymond Wade Bryson is an unusual name for an automaton. Many of us, especially those who were instrumental in the victory of the various world governments against the rebellious automatons, were given permanent operating licenses and allowed to choose our own proper names. Before July 17 of 2153, I was merely referred to as Ryker 247.

I and those like me were a breakthrough in automaton technology. Capable of abstract thought, reasoning, and some of our designers would even argue that we have emotions, or at least the computing power to simulate them. With complex computing power driving emotions and thoughts comes individuality. “I” is my guiding fiction. My sense of “me” is the necessary fiction. This is where my story begins.

Okay as an introduction. Reads a little too expository. I personally would have enjoyed more mystery. Is it vital to know all these details about the protagonist from the get-go?

Well for this particular story, I feel the information presented is technical, almost like a manual. I don't think it reveals all too much of his personality, his interests, or his fears or desires. That is the crux of the story, as it is with most stories about sentient robots. The search for humanity, coming to terms with himself, etc.