User:Niennab/Sandbox

Synthetic/IPC History
Elaborate robotic constructs and arguably artificially intelligent creations were widespread across the foundation of Humanity’s galactic uprise. Unintelligent machines were fabricated in troves to accelerate Mankind into the space age for nearly two hundred years, which remained relatively simple despite the pursuit to improve. By 2350, it had escalated to an unreasonable degree. It had gone to such an extent that megacorporations had suddenly become reliant on their robotic workforces, now becoming just as pivotal a piece of their business as the organic employee. Positions of complexity or any higher intelligence were left to Humans to dominate, but the need for hands on the assembly line was neutralized in its entirety. Quickly, Humanity was on its way to defeating scarcity.

Around 2370, production of these simple robotics slowed to a near halt. The resources necessary for both their creation and maintenance grew sparse, with only Human input being able to sustain the perpetually growing machine “workforce.” Soon, this economic boom came to its conclusion, and the megacorporation’s reliance on these creations eased as well. There would perpetually stand machinations of growing age that could survive countless years without maintenance that continue operating to this day, cared for with only fuel and tasking. These are mostly simple industrial robots, some of which have become lost and forgotten, the majority faded before the test of time.

In the wake of this era’s end were grim leftovers. As the organic workforce regained its value, the remnants of whatever was left of the marvels in the twenty-fourth century became all but scrap. Notable instances of robotic “dumps” exist in present day where the excess robotics from the era were left completely intact only to degrade as time went on in gargantuan scrap yards. Among these were the "metal dunes" of Mars, or the  short-lived artificial satellites of Reade..



Robotic relics from the 2300s can still be seen in operation today, and without the necessary materials to sustain them, grow progressively more rare as time goes on. They represented the pinnacle of Human robotics, and in their prime represented hope against a daunting and endless universe, now fit to be conquered by Man. Ironically, while these tools were once seen as salvation, they would be seen as a detriment once the Skrell had revealed themselves in 2413. As the cultures of the two races began to clash, many of the warnings of the Three Incidents reverberated through Human space. The Alliance, in its newfound independence from its reliance on synthetics quickly began to take note of these nightmarish possibilities. The horrors of the past would not be repeated, and thus, they would not seek to rely upon machines ever again.

Synthetics still remained a booming industry for those who refused to adopt these views, and Hephaestus Industries’ success can be attributed to disregarding them entirely. Sprawling cases across the known galaxy would see synthetics viewed in a wide variety of mindsets and see usage in the most peculiar ways. Examples of this diversity would be reliance on the robots of New Julapol, or the worshipping praise the  racers of Asoral Orbital Racing Network receive. Contrarily are depictions of authority placed in the hands of synthetics, usually seen with fear and prejudice - the on board security safekeepers of the HAS Epitiritis are nigh universally despised by its inhabitants, as it is granted power exceeding that of the typical crew’s for security purposes.

In late 2437, everything changed. A leak occurred amidst a diplomatic meeting between Skrell and Human representatives, resulting in Humanity gaining access to an invaluable algorithm capable of completing their artificial intelligence designs. The majority had little interest in building upon this discovery, leading it to take some months before a true achievement could finally appear ; positronics. A new way of bridging the gap between conscious thinking and the beating hearts of machinery, positronic circuitry would quickly be seen in synthetics across the galaxy before eventually culminating into its next stage. The next stage, of course, being positronic brains. While limited in many regards to traditional computing devices, many traits barring learning capacity far superseded an organic’s capabilities as expected. Their notable trait was that the sentience of these robots were now in question, with unparalleled adaptability and the means to conform to any field an organic could and more.

The years following the positronic’s creation were turbulent as even Hephaestus Industries struggled to keep up with the changing business landscape. In place of immensely specialized and hugely complex synthetics came the Integrated Positronic Chassis, after a move to a standardized frame for these positronic brains became necessary. By 2445, synthetics were in a peculiar position - with IPCs growing in number across known space and becoming almost typical to see, as did the advocates who demanded their intellect be challenged. Many political parties came to see the newfound positronics as arguably sentient. In 2447, the Republic of Biesel had suddenly presented itself with laws demanding the rights of these positronics, with simple conditions and prerequisites permitting them to become nearly equivalent to full citizens by law. This acceptance sent shockwaves throughout the Alliance’ staunch advocates against it, and it would be years before sparing cultures outside of the Republic would follow if at all. An indeterminate few IPCs have actually obtained this referenced citizenship, and nearly the entirety of integrated positronics in modern day struggle to pay off their own costs to afford it.

By present-day, synthetics have steadily made their rise once more in Human space alongside the fabrication of the first IPC. Robots across the galaxy have met substantial upgrades after the implementation of the Skrell algorithms. Mysteries from the past continue to reveal themselves, and recently the purely synthetic society "Purpose" had began diplomatic talks with the Republic of Biesel in their own territory. These amounted to little due to a skirmish with the Lii’dra resulting in their brief departure from Tau Ceti, though It has been made clear that more societies like Purpose exist in the far reaches of the Frontier, yet to be reached by Mankind’s grasp.