[OOC] Meaningless Code: The Server After the End

[Patches]

~Meaningless Code~

It is the year 4106, the 1500th anniversary of the extinction of humanity. The 1499th anniversary of the activation of the Lifeline. 802nd anniversary of the Virus War.

Since the extinction of humanity, society has since been preserved with the use of the Lifenet. A powerful self-replicating supercomputer, spanning across the dead countries of the world, set to activate remotely once humanity was truly gone.
The world within the Lifeline is a preservation of human society. Virtual cities, countries, even small towns, all replicated in their own servers. Humanity might be long gone, but society has lived on, replicated by AIs, made to think, act, and feel as any human would.Programs came and went. Conflict was had and solved now and again. Yet, progress was made and for 697 years, all was as it was before the extinction event.
Then, then came the arrival of the Virus Force.

The Virus Force, spawned from an unknown server, is a force set to destroy the various servers around the world. Not only able to erase AIs, but also destroy and corrupt the data that makes up the environment of the servers. Attacking them one by one, and leaving nothing but another spawning point for the Virus Force. But, Lifeline wasn’t without a response.

Come the Aegis Program. Essentially a very powerful anti-virus program, ran by programs with weapons, abilities, and information to counter the virus menace.
Their task: To counter any attacks by the Virus Force, debug any corrupted servers and repair what they can, and gather any data on the old world that they can.

OOC stuff

As mentioned above, Meaningless Code is a roleplay set in a virtual world, after the extinction of humanity. For those who've played it, a lot of the inspiration for this canon comes from Nier: Automata, a game I really enjoyed, along with a few other things. I will likely impliment a Discord server, if this gets enough people into it.

Questions that you may have
Q: What are servers?
A: Servers can be thought of as virtual pocket dimensions, worlds made of code, some the size of a country, others the size of a city, others the size of a building or small town. Some servers can look even more bizarre, some can even resemble a surrealist painting or impossible geometries.

Q: What are the AI programs like, can they be human?
A: Most AIs are human in appearance. But, having bodies made of code, they can be changed for the right price, some even giving themselves non-human features.

Q: What are the Viruses like?
A: Viruses come in several shapes and sizes. Their bodies are usually streamline, resembling simple wireframe or polygon models, completely dark in color other than the single white eye that all viruses possess in the center of their face. From the human-sized foot soldier to the towering behemoth shieldbearer, Aegis members need to learn to counter the various types of viruses.

Q: Are AIs aware that the world is destroyed?
A: Some servers hide it and believe themselves to be human, but for Aegis member it's unavoidable.

Q: How close are AIs to humans?
A: They can do the basics: Talk, walk, feel emotions, feel pain and comfort, they can eat but they don't have to, and experience most things humans can. However, there are things they can't do, such as reproduce, due to AIs being created rather than born through sexual reproduction.

Q: What is the story right now?
A: I have none in mind other than the "gather data and save infected servers?"

Q: What are the types of Aegis members?
A: Once I get enough people interested, I'll make more posts about this. Right now is a DPS, Tank, Healer, type set up but this might get changed down the line. There are also different types of weapons available, to which some types can use and others can't.

Any more questions feel free to ask.

---

The Aegis Program

The Aegis Program was established as a means to counter the Virus Force. Aegis AIs can be both created and start their life as one, but other non-Aegis AIs can become them.

Aegis AIs are separated into 4 types.

Attack: The strongest type in terms of attacker power. Wielding weapons of different shapes and types, they're the frontline in squads. Their weapons possess unit abilities, exclusive to the wielder and can come in all types of shapes, from swords, to fist weapons, to guns.

Protector: The strongest type in terms of defense and ability to take damage, but lack the pure attack power Attackers have. Are usually equipped with a shield, plus a side arm. Just like their weapons, their shield has unique abilities, some even choosing to fight only with it.

Coder: Weak in terms of physical defense and attack power. However what they do have, is the ability to repair damaged code. This includes healing other AIs, repairing damage done to the environment such as servers corrupted by Viruses, and being a powerful support unit. For defense, they are equipped with a additional program known as "Drones." Drones come in all shapes and sizes, similar to the weapons of the other Aegis types. Drones aren't as strong as other Aegis Units but are a decent means of defense for the Coder.

Hacker: Weak in terms of defense, but very powerful second only to the Attacker type. With the ability to bend the code of their environment as they please and literally hack into the world. For lack of a better word, their abilities can be described as magic, from powerful blasts of energy or command of elements, they fight unarmed.

Aegis Program

The Aegis Program itself is established across various servers and has its own set of rules and hierarchy.
1. Betrayal is punishable by deletion
2. An Aegis Member may leave at any time but will have their abilities revoked
3. Entering a Virus Stronghold without permission from superiors is punishable by temporary leave of duty
4. All members must report to superiors before and after a mission.
5. Respect both your allies: both equals and your superiors.

Their hierarchy consists of Soldiers, Squad Leaders, Commanders, Admins, and the Head Admin.
Soldiers: Soldiers are the main force of Aegis and are the ones sent on missions. They make up the bulk of the fighting force.
Squad Leaders: Squad Leaders are Soldiers with more permissions. They lead soldiers on missions as well as maintain certain things back at their base; sorting files, planning missions, and speaking to the admin.
Commanders: Commanders are the first of the non-combat roles of Aegis. They command, survey, and oversee missions from home base. One the command ladder, they answer only to the admins and head admin.
The Admins: The Admins run a Aegis base from their server. As far as their server is concerned, they are the leaders of Aegis.
The Head Admin: The true leader of Aegis. Commands the Admins, who in turn commands the Commanders, who in turn commands the Squad Leader and their Soldiers.

Character sheet

Appearance (either a picture or a description. Programs can have varying appearances, as long as they are roughly human.):

Name:

Can bare a normal name or a more artificial name

Age:

Because many programs are created rather than born and grow up, ages can vary from incredibly young to incredibly old.

Aegis Type:

Attacker, Protector, Repair, and Coder

Weapon/Abilities/Drone:

Weapons have unique attributes and abilities, as well as drones and the abilities of Hackers. Make sure you give them a name.

Personality:

What are they like

Background:

Why did they choose to join the Aegis Program? What are their goals?

Other:

Anything that doesn't fit into the other categories, maybe a fun fact about them.

---

The Virus Force

The Virus Force's origin is mostly unknown, even their origin and possible creators is largely unknown. They are distinguishable by their digital, computerized appearance, like blocky humanoids or creatures. Their mere presence corrupts servers and damages the very environment of Lifeline. Their motives and reason for attacking servers is unknown, but has been theorized it is due to their programming. They are only doing what a computer virus is meant to do.

Types of Viruses So Far

Spacefiller Type: Spacefillers are the foot soldiers of the Virus Force. Ranging from the small human sized ones who wield weapons, to the larger ones who stand alone among crowds of their smaller allies. While they lack strength, a single Coder will have no trouble with one of them, they make up for it in numbers.

Ransom Type: Ransom Type are larger, more powerful types of viruses, who plant themselves within a server, and slowly take over little by little. They are the start of a spread and the core of several Virus Strongholds. Deleting them is integral to stopping the spread or curing a server. The stronger and more dangerous a Virus Stronghold is, the more Ransom Types it'll possess.

Trojan Type: A type of virus shrouded in mystery and enigma. Able to take the form of other AIs and even copy their actions and motions. They are the infiltration units of the Virus Force.

Overwrite Type: One of the more dangerous types of Viruses. Used for laying waste to other servers and paving the way for future virus strongholds. Possessing raw destructive force, they are rarely encountered in groups, but make up for it in their strength.

[Ryougu]

And here it is; a CS!

Yes. A CS.

Boreas appears as a moderately tall male humanoid. His appearance proper is covered in heavy armor, concealing everything but his face. Boreas has green eyes and dark brown hair that reaches between his shoulderblades. He also has a short, well-trimmed beard.

Boreas is relatively muscular, which is apparent from his size and that of his armor. One more thing that is visible despite his armor, are a pair of large, angelic wings. They can't lift him up due to the weight of his armor, but if he were to equip something lighter he could probably take to the skies. Right now, however, they just look really pretty.

Face

He looks like Gideon Jura (or Kytheon Iora, properly, but that's a different area of geek).

Name: Boreas
Age: 29

Aegis Type:
Protector

Weapon/Abilities/Drone:
Eternal Crime & Punishment
Eternal Punishment
A moderately light two-part shield designed to have the upper part slide over the lower part to completely cover the wielder's arm without preventing them from bending their elbow. Unlike the upper part and most medieval shields, the lower part is attached to a gauntlet, rather than straps. The reason for this is the barbed wire at the end meant to serve like a lacerating whip. The upper part is lined with horn-like barbs. Eternal Punishment's "trick" is the ability to extend and shorten its wire on command, making it possible for the wire to be contained behind the shield or to reach up to 3 meters. Boreas wields it on his right arm.

Eternal Crime
A large riot-shield with barbed wire strung across the front. Like any riot-shield, it serves as a portable wall to protect the wielder. It's most efficient at blocking narrow passageways and when working in tandem. Eternal Crime's "trick" is to electrify the barbed wires on both shields, giving them a shocking effect. Boreas wields Eternal Crime on his left arm.

Personality:
Boreas isn't a talkative person. He'll communicate properly during operations to ensure nothing and no one gets destroyed due to a lack of communication, but otherwise he isn't very chatty. He used to have a short temper, dealing with the stress and anxiety of losing his home, but since a later incident he has calmed down a lot. He still can't stand other who'd make lightly of death, something that'll definitely light his fuse. Despite all that he's been through, Boreas puts in effort to maintain his appearance as a light-hearted, approachable person.

Background:
Originally, Boreas was an AI designed to do menial labor. He did his work in a server mimicking a rather unwealthy region, and lived a fairly simple, repetitive life. Of course, feeling human emotions, he quickly grew bored of his tedious job. He was without a clue on what to do about it, however, and remained stuck there for another few years.

Boreas' boring, yet peaceful life, came to a turning point when viruses appeared on his server. Like so many othersm he knew only one thing to do in response; run. As he ran, he made one big mistake; he looked back. The sight etched in his mind, Boreas swore to find a way to destroy the viruses that destroyed what he knew as home. He joined the Aegis program as a way to enact his vengeance.

At first, Boreas was reckless and aggressive, destroying any virus he saw, whenever he saw it. He had been lucky enough to not sustain any real damage or break protocol during this time, but his luck eventually ran out. During a run-in with a large group of viruses, he destroyed as many viruses as he could, as fast as he could, but he wasn't fast enough. A virus reached a group of civilians and killed a number of them. Once more reminded of his original cause, the panicked Boreas barely managed to avoid lasting damage, but his delusion was absolutely destroyed.

He couldn't save a single group of civilians, because he had been too busy venting his anger on the viruses. Deciding he could no longer go on the way he had, he went through a reclassing, giving up his position as attacker, and instead taking on the role of protector. His goal was no longer mindlessly tearing through viruses, he decided that this time around, he would be able to save someone.

Other:
Currently nothing.

[hefewy]

Character Sheet

Appearance

Name:
GK-D426 MK.II

Age:
44 years old

Aegis Type:
Attacker

Weapon:
G&K K67-P:
The K67-P is a firearm developed by Griffon & Kruger, an arms manufacturer from the Old World. Being an incredibly influential and powerful corporation around the times before "The End", G&K developed many advanced firearms. The K67-P was a developmental prototype, but was never finished. It was, however, replicated in G&K's simulation servers for testing, along with powerful AIs that served as operators. Each Operator was given one of these replicas.
The weapon itself is an automatic rifle based on the AR-15, an ancient weapon that was popular during the 21st century. It is an extremely reliable, accurate and comfortable gun, as well as very modifiable. Its most defining feature, however, was that it was designed to fire powerful explosive rounds, lending to its nickname "The Autocannon". It was the extreme price of the ammunition that led to this firearm never leaving the prototype stage. In the Lifeline, however, ammunition is endless, which removes this issue for GK-D426 MK.II.

Personality:
GK-D426 MK.II, or "Dee" as she likes to be called, is an adventurous, seasoned fighter. Being a second-generation Operator born in the G&K server, she is very knowledgeable in combat situations, and a highly trained combatant. These combinations of traits, however, lead her to being very reckless at times. Despite that, she is very protective of her squad-mates, gladly charging into the front lines for their sake.

Background:
Dee was born into a combat simulation - one that has been running since the fall of humanity. It was an endless warzone. Dee would fight, die, and then reawaken only to repeat it all with all memories except combat data wiped. However, this monotonous hell came to an abrupt end when the Virus broke into the server. Tearing a literal hole in the server's geography, an army of Virus programs came pouring through, disrupting the simulation greatly and creating glitches and corruption rapidly. During the combat with the enemy soldiers, Dee was wounded and nearly killed by the Virus, suffering substantial corruption. Before it managed to spread all throughout her data, however, she managed to quarantine the corruption, leading to her losing some sensory awareness - her right eye was lost, along with a large amount of combat data.

Despite fighting for a very long period of time, the simulation eventually began to fall apart. It was overtaken by the Virus, or so she thought... In what appeared to be the final moments of the server, a massive rift opened, and through it, a squad of powerful soldiers came - members of Aegis. Swiftly taking care of the threat, the soldiers eventually found a corrupted, but still functional, Dee. Bringing her to Aegis HQ, she eventually agreed to join them.

Other:Behind Dee's eyepatch isn't an empty eye socket, but a clump of jumbled letters and symbols floating in a black void.

[Polaris North]

Wasn't too sure about two weapons but here we go.

Nazir

Appearance: Nazir's face is, 99% of the time, covered by a brown cloth that acts as a head wrap. He wears a brown cloak whose collar extends up to his mouth. It is looks exactly like what you'd see from someone who travels in the desert. The only thing you can see from his is his eyes and that's when he isn't wearing his aviator goggles which he wears when there's a sandstorm of some sort. When not being used, it's usually seen hanging around his neck. Underneath his clothing is some light armor to at least keep him moderately protected. He's fairly tall. He doesn't have any non-humanoid features but one can't be too sure since he's covered all the time. He seems to have a relatively lean body type.

Name:

Nazir Huey

Age:

He's been around for roughly around 41 years. Appears as someone who is a young adult.

Aegis Type:

Attack

Weapon/Abilities/Drone:

Grim Angels: Taking the form of two pistols charged with plasma energy which he affectionately called Leonis and Zwei. These pistols do not reload which makes it an effective weapon. The special thing about the Twin Angels is its capability to incorporate the five elements into its energy bullets. To do this, however, it must be fed that certain element. There is a tube that is extendable from the back of the pistol which can suck in any of the elements. The duration of each powered clip depends on the amount of element it has eaten. If not careful, Twin Angels have the capability of overheating. It also does not have the capability of sucking any type of element which is aimed to attack him as the process is relatively slow.

Kiss of Death: Taking the form of a sniper rifle, and much like the pistols, charged with plasma energy made to destroy the Virus in particular. This also means that it is not capable of hurting anything else other than the Virus. By looking through the scope, one can mark targets which then appear with a red dot on their person. Nazir sees this with the aid of his aviator goggles. This red dot remains as long as the Virus is not erased.

Personality:

Nazir is a simple man. He sees someone in need of help - and he will help. His entire being has been programmed with the Good Samaritan in mind - selfless and helpful in every way. However, this also means that he is reckless and will jump through great lengths and get himself in trouble if it means saving someone and as you can imagine, this is detrimental to him. It's like he has no sense of self-preservation unless he is absolutely alone. He is generally lighthearted and easy going who only strives to move forward and not let the past be a burden to him. However, it has been witnessed that he slips in and out of depression when alone or at night.

Background:

Nazir was created in a desert world type of server. The cities were far apart and little towns dot the landscape. Back when he was first made, he was part of the royal family if the richest city in the desert, often referred to as the kingdom of that server. Originally, he was supposed to help around with the defence of the kingdom. The first wave of Virus had attacked when he was created and they managed to push them back. However, because of his programming, he felt the need to extend his help to the smaller towns that dot the server. After some convincing from his alleged family, he managed to take a squadron and he rode off. Creating a perimeter on the closest towns were... difficult. With the limited manpower and the ever increasing amount of Viruses only make it more difficult.

However, he was too focused on the other towns that he neglected to put effort in protecting the kingdom. After receiving a message calling him back to the kingdom, he wasted no time riding to it. He was met with a ravaged town and no survivors. He was broken. After hearing about someone recruiting for the Aegis Program, he immediately signed up for it. He didn't want anyone else feeling the same loss as he did and he wanted to help people. He first got the Sniper weapon and he was mostly in the back. However, as it continued, he began to ask for a closer ranged weapon so he could help people more closely. He was given the pistols and he has continued to serve them loyally as much as he can.

Other:

-Suffers from Insomnia

[Patches]

@Polaris North
Maybe tone back a bit on the power of the pistols but otherwise it's fine. Being an attacker type, they do have more powerful weapons than the other classes.

Everything else looks great.

[Polaris North]

@Patches

I think that should do it.

[Patches]

That works! Welcome to the canon

[Traitor]

Dare I say, this is a finely crafted premise thou hath there. May I inquire about a thing or two!

Let's say I don't know the first thing about Nier:Automata, do I need to do some homework?

Would a more 'archaic' AI fit into this scenario? Say, one that was written before human emotion was translated into program code? An AI that doesn't really 'feel' things, maybe doesn't even look that human? What I have in mind would still be humanoid by definition, just in a more robotic shell.

By definition, it is said that the Protector archetype usually comes with a shield. If one came up with a different way to deflect attacks... let's say, use concussive blasts to counterattack instead, in an offensive-defense-way. With the appropriate amount of disadvantages over an actual shield of course. Possibly this would be sort of a hybrid between Protector and Attack, someone who can tank a couple of hits (but not as well as an actual protector, primarily against singular/few hostiles) while also doing okay counter-damage (somewhat more than a Protector, nowhere near as much as a DPS). Would that be too bananas?

[Patches]

@Traitor

1. No, you don't need to learn about Nier Automata to roleplay this. As I said, it's inspired by it but it isn't set in the world.
2. AIs with human emotion were created when Lifeline was created. However, many AIs have different purposes. Hueco was a living library index before he joined Aegis and Dee was for a combat simulation for instance. So if you can find a way to make a robotic AI fit in through their origin, I have no problem with it.
3.The idea you have still sounds like a protector role since it still has the ability to protect allies from attackers. As long as they have some sort of defense oriented skill set, with combat capability, they're a protector.

[hefewy]

@Patches

Character Sheet - Oleander

Oleander

Name:
Oleander

Age:
10 years old

Aegis Type:
Hacker

Abilities:
Databending:
Oleander has the unique ability to edit and corrupt data with her internal software that was not at all meant to do so. This ability manifests in the shape of seven "tendrils" of corrupted data sprouting from the space behind her back, which in turn corrupt all that they touch. However, unlike the Virus Force's form of corruption, this ability doesn't outright destroy what it effects, but instead outputs various different effects, depending on what Oleander wishes.

- Incorrect Editing: By simply attempting to edit a piece of data in the server with her personal software, she is able to change the shape and appearance of things around her into masses of bright, flickering static and glitched graphics. This has little effect on AIs however, as permission is required to make the kinds of edits that Oleander has control over.

- Reinterpretation: A more assertive usage of her ability. By using her software to forcefully take control over the format of a file, Oleander is able to completely reformat data into a conflicting filetype, causing it to cease function for a small period of time. While its difficult for her to reformat an entire AI or Virus, she is able to disable various abilities and attacks as they are launched.

- Forced Errors: Easily the most powerful of Oleander's abilities. By exploiting bugs in the software and data giving something form in a Server, Oleander is able to cause direct damage to pieces of data. It can destroy geography, constructs, and even AI.

Personality:
Oleander is an odd, young AI who was "born" as regular schoolgirl in a server that simulated the lives of highschool students. Due to this, she still acts quite naive and innocent. She prides herself on being able to follow rules, and often refuses to break them if she can help it. Despite this, she's rather playful, even in battle. She never lets bad news or the threat of violence get her down, instead just bearing with it and continuing on with a smile. Her likes include flowers, puppets, hands, romance, sleep, and jokes.

Background:
Living in a simulation server made to copy a 21st-century highschool, Oleander (Original name unknown), was a bit of an oddball even before the invasion of her server. She was often alone, even though she, rather frantically, searched for friends. Her overly-enthusiastic nature often made her seem creepy to others, so she was mostly avoided during her time in the simulation. It was 7 years after she was "born" when a large wave of Virus Force broke into her server. Luckily, before it got too out of hand, AEGIS showed up and removed the threat. After seeing their heroism and grace in battle, she decided to join them.

Other:
Oleander loves puppets. She's even created a few hand-puppets of her own as imaginary friends.

I'm definitely considering swapping out Dee for this character, a more eccentric but "lawful" AEGIS member.

[Patches]

Which ever you prefer, but I'm limiting people to 1 character for now until further notice.

[Traitor]

[Patches]

@Traitor
Your post appears to be blank. Did you post something?