Fuzzybootz

No Turning Back - Into the Abyss

Meeting The Machine Man: Part II

Collab with @Heat

"WHAT?!" Mackenzie nearly choked.

"Michael, show her proof of your true nature." The doctor said as Michael internally figured out a way to display this to the woman. He pressed his hand against his left arm, then flipped it upwards as the skin moved to reveal his inner workings. His chrome metallic skeleton wires underneath it. Michael looked at Mackenzie as Phillips did as well.

Mackenzie instantly bolted up out of her chair, her hand covering her mouth. She looked down at Dr. Phillip and then back up to Michael. She took two steps forward to stand before Michael. She quickly inspected the Android's arm. She then narrowed her eyes, thinking for a just a moment that this was just a joke. Perhaps Michael was just like the woman down in the cell blocks. Only, something seemed genuine about the situation.

"Why are you telling me this? I'm sure you realize how much trouble you'd be in if he was discovered?" Mackenzie wanted to touch the android, but refrained.

Dr. Phillips smirked at how Mackenzie reacted to the revelation; she was the first person outside of the administration that he had told. He believed she would be one of the last as well, she was correct in her remark if Michael's true nature becomes widely known. The android stared at the woman as she neared him; he blinked at the expressions on her face.

"Because I know you won't tell anyone else, Mackenzie. You're intrigued by the existence of him, I think you want to learn more, see more. All the right people know of Michael, the team that created him had to clear through several channels," Phillips said, as he noticed that she didn't yet touch the machine man. "You can touch him if you'd like, he won't hurt a fly. Programmed him as much, violence isn't something he enjoys or will partake in against humans."

Mackenzie couldn't believe what she was seeing and hearing. She wasn't so prideful that she thought she would have been the one to create the first android, but she had hoped. She knew she had been close, but apparently not close enough. Violence wasn't she was really worried about. She knew that humanity would never consciously create a violent machine. She was just worried that if she reached out and touched it, it would disappear. She was still paranoid that this was just a joke.

Gently she reached out and took Michael's arm in her hands. She could feel the artificial muscle under its artificial skin. Gently but firmly she pushed her thumb into it to feel the actual machinery underneath. She then let go, pushing her glasses back up on her nose before she looked back up at Michael. Their eyes meet. She would have never guessed that he wasn’t flesh and blood from mere sight. However, there was definitely something in Michael's eyes that would fool even the most expert in robotics. They weren’t dead like the machines outside her office. There was even something in the way he spoke. True he seemed simple in thought but no more than a child would. Though she supposed in light of things, he was indeed a child.

“Will I be allowed to run a more thorough diagnostic?" She asked turning back to Dr. Phillips.

Michael blushed brightly as Mackenzie placed her hand on his arm, then felt along it. It was a new experience to the android; the only other time he had been touched by a human was in Eden earlier. This was something different. He looked into her eyes as she made contact with his, a light smile on his face. She seemed thoroughly intrigued by his existence, which amused the machine in some way. It also amused Dr. Phillips.

"If you wish, do remember that his existence is a secret to all but a few. Any tests or diagnostics must be run in utter privacy," The man replied with a nod. "He's brilliant, isn't he? Not one centimeter of him is organic, every single part was created. His skin is completely similar in composition to our own, his hair, eyes, every part of him just screams human."

”That’s an understatement!" She said in excited." I understand the need for secrecy. Though It might look, um, weird if Michael is seen entering my office on a regular basis. We'll need an excuse for him to be down here, or for me to go to your office. Something that looks official. Admiral Locke knows about this, right?" There was a hint of giddiness in her tone that she couldn’t hide.

"Yes, he knows. Was one of the first that was informed and had to clear it. We could rotate between where the diagnostic checks take place, in your office, at the science labs, there's plenty of room there to do it." Dr. Phillips said, delighted that such an esteemed individual was so impressed with his creation. It was one of the few times he'd be able to show off the android. Michael wondered what she wished to check with him, he could tell her excitement over his existence. It was amusing.

"Agreed, I’ll send you my schedule and we can find what works best for Michael." Mackenzie reached out her hand to shake Dr. Phillips’. “You have no idea how honored I am to know. I look forward to looking over your data. Brilliant!" Mackenzie couldn’t help but look back at Michael. “It was good to meet you, Michael. I hope we will get to know each other."

"Great to hear! I would love to hear your input on the data, anything you think could possibly be improved." Dr. Phillips said as he grasped her hand gently and then shook it firmly.

"It was a pleasure to meet you as well, Mackenzie," Michael said with another smile as he closed up his arm. He was back to his normal, fully human looking, which was indistinguishable from others in an outward appearance. Dr. Phillips rose out of his seat and then walked towards the door.

"We'll talk later, Mackenzie. Have a nice day." The man stated and Michael nodded before they both left her office.

Mackenzie returned to her seat, though she knew that there would be no getting back to looking at Droid designs for today.

Into The Dark: Mercenaries (Heroes of Fame and Fortune)

Zin rolled the body of the now dead bandit off of himself. He grunted with exhaustion, his energy now at a bare minimum. The sounds of this battle had come to a quick end only moments before, but the sounds of a different battle echoed in his ears. He lay there longer than he should have given the circumstances, but he had trouble willing his body to move.

That’s when the door of the coach they had been protecting opened and out stepped a noble looking Ra'Sheek. The man peered over the ragtag group before questioning them about their motives. It was not unjustified for the man to at least a little bit suspicious, which is why Zin was little more than surprised when the man just shrugged off any idea that they might have had any ill intentions. Zin thought that was mighty foolish. Just the night before some of their group suggested leaving the man to his own devices. Perhaps he would now be nothing more than a corpse laying on the road if Zin’s group hadn’t come along, or more importantly if Zin’s group had decided to waylay him as well as the bandits. Zin would not have gone along with such plans, but it stands to reason that it could have happened.


Zin finally sat up and pushed himself up to his feet. He quickly searched out the Kukri that he had tossed into battle and was unable to retrieve before being set upon. In that moment Zin realized that Jex had returned. Zin waited patiently for their group’s leader to say something to the Ra’Sheek and began to wipe the blood off his weapons.

No Turning Back - Into the Abyss

Thump... Thump... Thump....Thudump....Thump... Thump...

The steady sound of footfalls echoed through the corridors of the massive Ark that carried some of Humanities last hope. Still several hours until simulated dawn Mackenzie felt the surge of adrenaline flow through her. The corridors were practically empty, except for an occasional Security Officer who stood vigilant.

A bead of sweat dripped down her brow as she forced her legs to push her forward. The music of Martian classical composers vibrated in her ears, dulling the sound of her own heartbeat thudding against her chest. This was the first time in several days that she had been able to get out, and it felt good. Running was the only real thing she had taken away from her time in the Martian Military. It was the best way to vent out her frustrations and the last few days weighed heavily upon her. It weighed heavily on everyone. It was times like these that she missed her father with an ever present intensity. He always knew the right thing to say to her to keep her motivated.

With a heavy breath, Mackenzie rounded a corner in the path and then came to a slow stop. Just up head was the corridor that leads to the central Hub where she could take the transit system to the Fabrication bay.

“Noah?” Mackenzie said as she leaned her back against the wall of the corridor. The soft vibrations of the power running through it grounded her and allowed her to clear her mind. She quickly turned the music off on her data pad.

“Yes, Doctor Newton?” the A.I’s holographic image appeared beside her and spoke through her headphones.

“Just call me Mackenzie, Noah. Doctor should be reserved for Medical Doctors.” She said with a sigh. She hated it when people thought she had Medical training. That reminded her that she needed to call Amara and set up that sparring match they had last spoken about.

“Acknowledged,” NOAH said a second later apparently updating its subroutines.

“Noah, please give me my running stats.”

“Your cadence was 180. Your maximum heart rate was 183. Your distance was 6.839712 Kilometers. Your calories burned were….”

“That’s enough for now Noah. You may go.” Mackenzie said standing back up.

“Acknowledged,” It said and then vanished.

Mackenzie continued on her way towards the Hub. She knew she still had several hours until her crew would show up for the first shift in the Robotics Maintenance Bay and she wanted to get a head start on a few diagnostic tests. So she headed to the nearest Transit system, hopped aboard, and headed to her office.

Mackenzie was both excited and nervous that she had been given the chance to lead her own team. When she had heard how large the team was she nearly choked. Luckily she had worked out a system where only a small handful would be present at one time. Not only that, Mackenzie had repurposed a supply closet into her own little slice of heaven. It was filled with wall to wall computer screens, and a state of the art rig that could process almost as much data as NOAH could. She had built it from random parts around the Robotics bay. That and she completely disassembled several droids she had decommissioned and recorded as defective in the system. Hopefully, no one would be smart enough to figure that little tidbit out.

Another little secret she had was the fact that she had hacked into NOAH’s mainframe through a backdoor. Every system has a backdoor and all it took was a little persistence to find it. NOAH’s hadn’t been particularly easy to find. She had to go so deep into the system that not even NOAH, in its current form, recognized it for what it was. That’s how she knew about the cyborg woman that Security had locked up in cell block A. Several of the ARX45 Security droids had been called into action and Mackenzie had been curious as to why. Needless to say, she didn’t have the security clearance to read the incident reports, but through the backdoor she was able to get a sneak peak. She had then wiped all evidence that she had been in the system, when she logged off.

When she finally arrived at her destination, it was as she expected it to be. The bay was filled with row upon row of deactivated droids and a number of other types of machinery. It was eerily quiet, and Mackenzie couldn’t help but stand for a moment and think about the cosmic beauty of it all, the robots, the Ark, and NOAH. How could Humanity not survive after creating all of this?

Ping

The gentle sound from her data pad brought Mackenzie out of her thoughts and back into the Bay. She turned and headed to the back of the room where her office was located. Her office door was heavily protected. She had Gavon, head of Security, make sure it was set it up correctly. Only three people on the Ark had access to this room, Herself, Gavon, and the Captain. She had explained that any new designs and pass codes for the droids would be safely secured here to prevent anyone from tampering with them. Quickly she entered her security clearance into the screen attached to the door. Not only did it require a passcode, but several body scans as well. The door unlocked with a click as all verifications were met. Mackenzie entered and closed the door behind her.

No Turning Back - Into the Abyss

Player Name: Fuzzybootz
Character Name: Mackenzie Leanne Newton
Character Age:26
Character Gender: Female
Appearance:

Profession:Robotics Engineer and Technician
Nationality: Martian
Strengths:

Robotics:It is a highly interdisciplinary field that often includes computer science, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, physics, human–computer interaction and interaction design. There is a fine balance between hard study and fiddling about in the field and Mackenzie dances the line on a daily basis. She spends a lot of her time fiddling in the lab and Planning in her Quarters. Her particular areas of study include A.I and Nanotechnology.

Computer Programming: There are hundreds of programming languages and even though Mackenzie does not know them all, she is able to adapt rather quickly and easily when the need arises.

Athletic: when not fiddling with machines Mackenzie enjoys staying active. She believes that a healthy body encourages a healthy mind. She can be seen every morning running or engaging in healthy competition with a friend.

Well-read/ cultured: Not only does she know several computer languages but she knows a few human ones as well. She speaks Japanese fluently, but German, French, and Italian only conversationally.

Weaknesses:

Introvert:Large groups of people make Mackenzie uncomfortable. She prefers either one on one friendship or small groups.

Pacifist:Even though she enjoys good competition she believes that Violence is wrong. She will participate in martial arts as a sport but never as a means to an end. She enjoys Aikido and Tai Chi.

Workaholic:Even when out doing other things Mackenzie is thinking about her work or the project she is currently working on. At times it is all she can talk about.

Personal Effects: Several books, which includes technical manuals and a very worn down copy of Fahrenheit 451, a picture of her father and herself, and lots of random computer and robot parts scattered about.

Bio:
Mackenzie Leanne Newton is the daughter of two highly influential and wealthy Martian family members. Her father, Carl Newton, was a well-respected and famous mechanical weapons engineer and her mother, Mercedes, was the heiress to a highly profitable mining company. They met, a year after Carl graduated college, at a fundraiser and spent the entire night together. They parted ways knowing that it would never have worked for them. However, three months later Mercedes reconnected crying that she was pregnant and her family would disown her if she didn’t marry the child’s father. Fearing the same scandal, Carl reluctantly agreed and they were married just a month before Mackenzie was born.

Mackenzie grew up privileged even among the Martian elite. She went to all the very best schools and even had tutors.Even during the Three Days War, which happened when she was 6, she was sheltered from the horrors.She had everything a young girl could want and desire. However, her family life wasn’t as happy as it might seem. It was very clear that Mackenzie’s parents were in a loveless Marriage. Her father worked all the time and her mother spent her time spending money and throwing lavish parties. Mackenzie was also her mother’s favorite person to harass. Mackenzie could never do anything right in her mother’s eyes. It wouldn’t be until Mackenzie was 16 that she discovered the reason for her mother’s treatment. Her father had never been a faithful husband and over the years he had many Mistresses. These times, however, he was always careful never to sire any more children. Mercedes had always been aware of his unfaithfulness and she let it continue if only to save herself from embarrassment. This was why she took her frustrations out on Mackenzie.

Despite her father’s misgivings Mackenzie loved her father, and she knew that he loved her. He would often bring her gifts when he was away on long trips and he would spend many hours with her when he wasn’t working. He would even take her along with him to work and allow her to help him on his projects when she needed to escape her mother’s wrath. Her father recognized the latent talent in his daughter and helped to foster her work ethic and hone her skills. He taught her most of what she knows in engineering long before she ever went to college.

College was a mixed blessing for Mackenzie. On one hand, she had entered college a year earlier than most and was a spectacular student. She was always at the top of her class. However, her long hours spent studying didn’t leave her much time to socialize. In fact, she didn’t have many friends at all. The friends she did have either had the same field of study, and didn’t get out much themselves, or she had known them from outside college. One such friend was Amara Locke. She was the daughter of a military Admiral that Mackenzie’s father worked with occasionally. They grew up in the same circles and they found that they enjoyed friendly competition against each other. Even after they had both been accepted into separate Universities they had kept in contact with one another. They often would call each other to let off some steam when they had a big exam or to boast about a good grade.

Mackenzie studied hard and worked even harder. By the time she was just 22 she had successfully completed her doctorate in Robotics Engineering. She then spent her 2 years on active duty for the Martian Military. It was a hard two years and one she never could get used to. She was never truly good at following orders and always fell behind when it came to training. Luckily she spent a majority of her time working and repairing the various machines and robots the military used.

Then tragedy hit when Mackenzie was 24. Her father, during an argument with her mother, had suffered a heart attack. Unfortunately, he did not make it. Mackenzie was left heartbroken. She could not bear to be around her mother, as Mackenzie blamed her mother for her father's death. In an act of grief and defiance Mackenzie left Mars to live on Earth.

Unsure of what to do with herself, Mackenzie delved deeper into her projects and studies. She even began work on her second degree in computer science. When she was young she never really knew what father had been was working on, but it never really mattered to her. It wasn’t until the Project had gone public that she had learned of her father’s involvement. Apparently He was the lead Engineer on all the weapon designs and systems for all the Arks. He also had a hand in designing the weapons aboard the new Reaper-Class Cruiser.She and Amara had spoken about it in length as her father was also involved.

Then Mackenzie was approached by someone from the project itself. He claimed that she was a perfect candidate for the program and that her skills would be needed to save humanity. Mackenzie was hesitant at first, but after taking to Amara, she realized the best way to stay close to her father was to be around the things he had helped to create. She applied and was accepted almost immediately even though she had no idea what she would be getting herself into.

Initially, she was drafted to be aboard the Citadel, but just 3 days prior to the Devastator vessels appearing she was transferred to the Vitae.

Code Word: SpongeBob lives in one of these...

No Turning Back - Into the Abyss

@Sep

Ok, I've made some changes and I've highlighted them in red in the above CS.

On the Citadel thing. I took the name at random from the list of Arks in the Wiki. It's listed under Active Arks in the Genesis Project page.I can easily change it though.

" There were twelve Arks constructed: Rejuvenation, Vitae, Destiny,Relentless,Hope,Mirai,Citadel,Taweret,Inlustris,Xīng lièrén,Nueva Vida and finally the Jinsei no akashi."

No Turning Back - Into the Abyss

Player Name: Fuzzybootz
Character Name: Mackenzie Leanne Newton
Character Age:26
Character Gender: Female
Appearance:

Profession:Robotics Engineer and Technician
Nationality: Martian
Strengths:

Robotics:It is a highly interdisciplinary field that often includes computer science, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, physics, human–computer interaction and interaction design. There is a fine balance between hard study and fiddling about in the field and Mackenzie dances the line on a daily basis. She spends a lot of her time fiddling in the lab and Planning in her Quarters. Her particular areas of study include A.I and Nanotechnology.

Computer Programming: There are hundreds of programming languages and even though Mackenzie does not know them all, she is able to adapt rather quickly and easily when the need arises.

Athletic: when not fiddling with machines Mackenzie enjoys staying active. She believes that a healthy body encourages a healthy mind. She can be seen every morning running or engaging in healthy competition with a friend.

Well-read/ cultured: Not only does she know several computer languages but she knows a few human ones as well. She speaks Japanese fluently, but German, French, and Italian only conversationally.

Weaknesses:

Introvert:Large groups of people make Mackenzie uncomfortable. She prefers either one on one friendship or small groups.

Pacifist:Even though she enjoys good competition she believes that Violence is wrong. She will participate in martial arts as a sport but never as a means to an end. She enjoys Aikido and Tai Chi.

Workaholic:Even when out doing other things Mackenzie is thinking about her work or the project she is currently working on. At times it is all she can talk about.

Personal Effects: Several books, which includes technical manuals and a very worn down copy of Fahrenheit 451, a picture of her father and herself, and lots of random computer and robot parts scattered about.

Bio:
Mackenzie Leanne Newton is the daughter of two highly influential and wealthy Martian family members. Her father, Carl Newton, was a well-respected and famous mechanical weapons engineer and her mother, Mercedes, was the heiress to a highly profitable mining company. They met, a year after Carl graduated college, at a fundraiser and spent the entire night together. They parted ways knowing that it would never have worked for them. However, three months later Mercedes reconnected crying that she was pregnant and her family would disown her if she didn’t marry the child’s father. Fearing the same scandal, Carl reluctantly agreed and they were married just a month before Mackenzie was born.

Mackenzie grew up privileged even among the Martian elite. She went to all the very best schools and even had tutors.Even during the Three Days War, which happened when she was 6, she was sheltered from the horrors.She had everything a young girl could want and desire. However, her family life wasn’t as happy as it might seem. It was very clear that Mackenzie’s parents were in a loveless Marriage. Her father worked all the time and her mother spent her time spending money and throwing lavish parties. Mackenzie was also her mother’s favorite person to harass. Mackenzie could never do anything right in her mother’s eyes. It wouldn’t be until Mackenzie was 16 that she discovered the reason for her mother’s treatment. Her father had never been a faithful husband and over the years he had many Mistresses. These times, however, he was always careful never to sire any more children. Mercedes had always been aware of his unfaithfulness and she let it continue if only to save herself from embarrassment. This was why she took her frustrations out on Mackenzie.

Despite her father’s misgivings Mackenzie loved her father, and she knew that he loved her. He would often bring her gifts when he was away on long trips and he would spend many hours with her when he wasn’t working. He would even take her along with him to work and allow her to help him on his projects when she needed to escape her mother’s wrath. Her father recognized the latent talent in his daughter and helped to foster her work ethic and hone her skills. He taught her most of what she knows in engineering long before she ever went to college.

College was a mixed blessing for Mackenzie. On one hand, she had entered college a year earlier than most and was a spectacular student. She was always at the top of her class. However, her long hours spent studying didn’t leave her much time to socialize. In fact, she didn’t have many friends at all. The friends she did have either had the same field of study, and didn’t get out much themselves, or she had known them from outside college. One such friend was Amara Locke. She was the daughter of a military Admiral that Mackenzie’s father worked with occasionally. They grew up in the same circles and they found that they enjoyed friendly competition against each other. Even after they had both been accepted into separate Universities they had kept in contact with one another. They often would call each other to let off some steam when they had a big exam or to boast about a good grade.

Mackenzie studied hard and worked even harder. By the time she was just 22 she had successfully completed her doctorate in Robotics Engineering. She then spent her 2 years on active duty for the Martian Military. It was a hard two years and one she never could get used to. She was never truly good at following orders and always fell behind when it came to training. Luckily she spent a majority of her time working and repairing the various machines and robots the military used.

Then tragedy hit when Mackenzie was 24. Her father, during an argument with her mother, had suffered a heart attack. Unfortunately, he did not make it. Mackenzie was left heartbroken. She could not bear to be around her mother, as Mackenzie blamed her mother for her father's death. In an act of grief and defiance Mackenzie left Mars to live on Earth.

Unsure of what to do with herself, Mackenzie delved deeper into her projects and studies. She even began work on her second degree in computer science. When she was young she never really knew what father had been was working on, but it never really mattered to her. It wasn’t until the Project had gone public that she had learned of her father’s involvement. Apparently He was the lead Engineer on all the weapon designs and systems for all the Arks. He also had a hand in designing the weapons aboard the new Reaper-Class Cruiser.She and Amara had spoken about it in length as her father was also involved.

Then Mackenzie was approached by someone from the project itself. He claimed that she was a perfect candidate for the program and that her skills would be needed to save humanity. Mackenzie was hesitant at first, but after taking to Amara, she realized the best way to stay close to her father was to be around the things he had helped to create. She applied and was accepted almost immediately even though she had no idea what she would be getting herself into.

Initially, she was drafted to be aboard the Citadel, but just 3 days prior to the Devastator vessels appearing she was transferred to the Vitae.

Code Word: SpongeBob lives in one of these...

No Turning Back - Into the Abyss

Control Alt Delete

No Turning Back - Into the Abyss

@Fuzzybootz Since you're rolling with the robotics expert, and I play the android. It might be a fun bit if your char was one of the scientists who created my character. Or maybe they aren't and perhaps they figure out he's not what everyone thinks he is.

@Heat

I need to get myself caught up with everything and give your character a look over but I am entertaining both ideas.

I was planning on her being the daughter of someone big in the robotics field. Perhaps her father created something that was pivotal in the creation of AI.

No Turning Back - Into the Abyss

Lol... Didn't even see it cause I was distracted by the picture.

No Turning Back - Into the Abyss

@Sep Can I get the invite for this thread's Discord?