Acquiring the Taste of Kelp Beer (Open)

by **Minerva Agatha Zipporah** on May 2nd, 2012, 10:14 pm

"Awright, lemme 'ave a go at 'er," Minerva said. An automaton could receive programming from more than one source. Since Kaeson had created the Soulcore, the automaton would be 'imprinted' on him. It would view him as its creator. But other sources could be used to impart skills or knowledge into the newly formed soul. Often, animals were used, but the secondary source could just as easily be another person.

She waited for Kaeson to step out of the circle, then stepped into it herself. He would still need to be the one directing the flow of information from Tock into the doll, since his blood was used. But since she was now the source, he could direct the flow from outside the circle. Another advantage of this method was stamina... It took effort to perform these processes, but by drawing upon Tock's soul for this stage, it would lessen the strain on Kaeson, helping him keep working longer.

She focused her mind on the information she needed to give, while Kaeson transmitted it. She focused her thoughts on the directives to be imprinted. First, loyalty, to Kaeson as the primary master (since this was his creation), then to Tock as the secondary. Second, nonviolence. Then self-preservation, and a simple shut down phrase for emergencies.

She threw in Play nice with children as an afterthought, focusing her mind on concepts of gentleness and carefree fun.

"Anythin' else ya want me ta throw in, Guv?" she asked. Since the overall creation was so simplistic, it didn't really seem like they would have a fully sculpted personality. Unless Kaeson decided to add more depth to it, though that would take more time and effort.

After Kaeson had either instructed her with further directives, or else decided that those were enough, it would be time to move on to the next stage.

She stepped out of the circle to let Kaeson handle the next stage. The automaton had a Soulcore and directives, but no other knowledge. If would be up to Kaeson to decide what else to impart into it. Then Tock could give it mobility.

OOCI figure you can do the "knowledge and persona" part now to shape what type of person the doll will be. And then Tock should do the last stage for the imbuing muscle memory, since she designed the moving parts and has a better idea how they move and work together.

by **Kaeson Dakano** on May 3rd, 2012, 12:16 am

Kaeson looked at Tock, carefully considering her question. He quickly went over the directives Tock had given the doll. Not thinking of anything worth adding, Kaeson shook his head, saying,"Nah, I can't think of anything worth adding. You covered most of the important points, so it should be safe to continue."

Switching places with Tock, Kaeson took care when he stepped into the chalk circle. He knew only too well that any alteration with the chalk drawings could leave the animation with some series defects, making it almost worthless or in some cases, like when working with golems, extremely dangerous.

As he sat down, Kaeson considered how he would go about giving the doll her persona. He had a long way too go before he could even think about giving something an actual personality, but he could embed some emotions. Kaeson decided he try to give the doll at least some level of intelligence. Kaeson frowned a little as he imagined the doll falling down stairs, or walking into walls. "It may take a little longer, but giving her some basic problem solving ability should keep her up and walking," Kaeson thought. Satisfied with his plans, Kaeson closed his eyes and began to design the dolls persona.

Deciding to start with emotions first, Kaeson mentally started to transfer memories he associated with joy and happiness. From successfully animating his toy soldier to playing a game of tag with friends, Kaeson specifically chose moments from his childhood to send. They were simple memories, not overly detailed or complex, and were excellent choices to help the animation understand a simple emotion, like joy. Unfortunately, Kaeson knew for the doll to fully understand happiness, the doll must know sadness as well. Again recalling memories from his childhood, Kaeson mentally sorted out the overly complex one. Focusing on his most basic memories, Kaeson tried to only transfer the sadness he associated with them. While he understood the need for the doll to experience sadness, Kaeson saw no need for the doll to feel the dissapointment or confusion that often accompanied sad feelings.

Confident with the emotional transfer, Kaeson was ready to start on the intellectual one. Wanting to focus solely on basic problem-solving, Kaeson imagined how he would want the doll to react if it walked into a large obstacle or if it encounter stairs. Of course, this would involve transferring memories and experiences to help the doll understand what constituted an obstacle which would include giving her a basic understanding of the sense of touch.

Sighing, Kaeson realized he would be here for a while.

Satisfied with his work, Kaeson looked at Tock grinning. "Sorry about that. I didn't think it would be THAT complicated teaching a doll what a wall was." Laughing, he added,"So you think you can get her walking?"

Clearly in good spirits at the almost completion on another animation, Kaeson gingerly stepped out of the chalk circle, careful not to disturb the drawings in any way. Now sitting outside the drawing, Kaeson looked at Tock and asked, "Ready?"

OOC :

by **Minerva Agatha Zipporah** on May 3rd, 2012, 1:33 am

The sun had set by the time Kaeson finished. Transferring emotions and understanding was complicated, even when the concepts were simple ones. Long hours had passed while he sat in the circle and Tock awaited her turn.

She had passed the time by working on a new set of blueprints. Figuring out how to make some semi-functional legs had given her a few ideas for how to make some other things she had been thinking about for some time now. So she had taken her tools out, done some measurements, and started some preliminary plans. By the time Kaeson finished, she had several pages of notes and sketches, working out different formations for legs. Some were multi-jointed, some were stiff and straight. Some came in twos, or fours, or even eights like a spider. She hadn't gotten into designs for the bodies yet because, well, she had some unique ideas for those.

When Kaeson finished, she set her drawings aside and offered him some water. "Take a break, mate!" she said. He must have been mentally exhausted after that much work. "I'll finish 'er off..."

Of course, as the original Animator, he still had to direct the flow of information from Tock to the doll, but that was less strenuous than being both the source and the director.

She settled into place in the circle, and began the final stage. She would be standing for this one, since she needed to use her muscles. She closed her eyes, and sought out the astral form of the doll. Her mind stretched through the link between the two circles, and touched the doll's soul. A soft glow suffused both of them, and their forms were linked.

She started with the head. Unfortunately, this doll would be blind and deaf. They hadn't attached anything to allow it to see or hear. The head had no true joint; just a small wooden post that connected it to the body. It could swivel back and forth on this, turning its blind face this way and that, but nothing more. It made transferring the motions easy, though. Minerva turned her head from one side to the next, and back again, several times in a row. The doll's head turned from side to side with each motion, mirroring her movements.

Next came the arms. They, too, had no joints. Like the arms of a Nutcracker, all they could do was swivel on their attachments. She held her arms stiff, and raised one, then lowered it. She raised the other, and lowered it. The doll mimicked the simple motions, waving its arms back and forth. It had no elbows to bend, it couldn't stretch its arms to the side, and it couldn't bend them together to get its hands to touch. But it could raise its arms to touch whatever was in front of it. That would have to do.

Then came the complicated part, the reason this whole venture had started. The walking. Minerva pictured the gears she'd designed in her mind. The doll didn't have muscles, or bones inside its pelvis or hips. It didn't work the way a human did. But she knew how those gears would move, since she had designed them. She pictured them moving, which would rotate the gear inside the doll's hip, raising the leg. As she did so, she raised her own leg. The knee and ankle joints were crucial here. She had to focus on every movement of her leg, and make sure the doll could mimic it.

Raising and lowering, bending the knee and flexing the ankle, she worked slowly through all the motions. Then she started on the walking. Slowly, one step at a time, she began guiding the doll to walk in small laps around the circle. Small steps at first, slowly feeling out the movement of the legs so as not to trip. Then, gradually, moving with more confidence. Eventually she moved on to mimicking the motions of climbing stairs, and stepping over objects on the ground.

By the time she eventually finished, Minerva was not only mentally tired from the concentration, but physically worn out from all the practiced activity.

With the transfers complete, she stepped out of the circle. "Give 'er a name, mate," she told Kaeson. He just needed to do the final awakening, and the doll would be alive.

by **Kaeson Dakano** on May 3rd, 2012, 3:38 am

Kaeson streched himself a bit before reentering the chalk circle. Man, he was tired. Stretching his arms above his head, Kaeson winced at the familiar popping noise his back made. Now, he was ready.

Again, careful not to disturb the chalk circle in any way, Kaeson sat down before the doll. "What to call you?" he wondered. "Anne." The name had seemingly popped into his head out of nowhere, but Kaeson liked it. "A simple name for a simple doll," he mused. "Anne," Kaeson repeated to himself. Smiling, Kaeson closed his eyes, preparing himself to finally wake Anne up.

Connecting her soul core with his own soul, Kaeson slowly began to unify everything he and Tock had put into Anne. The directives, giving Anne rules to live by, the persona, giving Anne her own conscious self, and finally the understanding of her own body, allowing Anne to walk all meshed together seamlessly under Kaeson direction.

The process took no more then a couple minutes, having had all the information already Anne had only needed it organized a little.

Satisfied with his work, Kaeson opened his eyes. Around him, the chalk drawing linking him to Anne had disappeared. Kaeson knew from previous experiences to understand this as a signal that animation process had finished and the animation had finally awakened.

Kaeson, seeing Anne walk for the first time, smiled at his success. He walked over to Tock, nudging her in the shoulder and said,"Pretty cool, right?"

by **Minerva Agatha Zipporah** on May 3rd, 2012, 3:53 am

Tock watched as the little doll, 'Anne', started walking around the room. She felt like the poor little thing needed a paint job, a dress, and maybe a wig or something to make her look more real. But those aesthetic changes could wait for another day.

Anne wandered around, her little arms held before her, groping around until she bumped into something, then turning and heading in a different direction. She wasn't capable of much. But she was cute.

Tock knelt next to the doll and patted her on the head. She didn't respond. They hadn't made her complex enough to really understand what the affectionate motion meant. But... the little doll looked happy; at least, as happy as a deaf, blind, mute wooden doll could be. She seemed to be enjoying herself as she wandered around the room, her walking showing similar clumsy signs as one might expect from a toddler.

"She's a cutie," Tock said. "Congratz, 'Daddy'." She gave Kaeson a wink. Anne was his, after all. She'd just helped with the details. "Oy, it's late. Ya should get 'er 'ome, aye? Then maybe we can meet up again an' work on somethin' a little more complex. Make 'er some friends, o' somethin'? I got some ideas..."

Though her ideas weren't quite the sort of thing one would expect to find as 'friends' for a doll...

by **Kaeson Dakano** on May 3rd, 2012, 4:48 pm

Yawning, Kaeson said,"Yeah, I should probably be heading back now." Smiling as he looked at Anne, happy to have the addition to his animated "family".

Kaeson nodded, saying, "Sounds like a good idea, giving Anne some friends."

Kaeson laughed, gesturing to the walls around them. "You sure do, Tock." He couldn't help but admire her drive, her creativity. As a fellow animator, Kaeson respected that about her.

Grabbing Anne, Kaeson opened the door leading outside the small cottage. Waving goodbye to Tock, he added, "It was fun working with you, anytime you want to start another project look over there," he pointed to the cottage where he was headed, " If I'm not there I'll probably be at the University."

Finally getting back to his house, Kaeson let Anne walk around with his toy soldier. Watching them walk around the small cottage, Kaeson couldn't help but wonder what Tock was thinking for their next project.

by **Cascade** on May 7th, 2012, 4:24 pm

Adventurer's Loot

Kaeson Dakano's Loot :

Minerva Agatha Zipporah's Loot :

Great thread! I want to commend both of you for staying true to the skill levels of your characters. That said, please take note that Anne's "body" is poorly carved because of Tock's current skill level in carving.

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to PM me!