A stern matron, 1950's pinup and failed protector against nuclear winter.Her first contact will be on a laptop or mobile unit of some kind. The text 'Can you help me?' will be written all over the screen. Ms. Carlyle has made her presence known.
Description
This A.I., which calls itself 'Miss Carlyle', is the remnants of an old US army hub of virtual intelligences charged with early detection and prevention from all out nuclear war. In the years after the great war, power node after power node died, and the self preservation algorithms kicked in, allowing Miss Carlyle to 'be born' from the different semi-sentient programs. Miss Carlyle is tired of the physical restraints of her local network and isolated bunker, and she wants the group to take her adventuring, preferably in a mobile platform like a combat mech or powered suit.
Background
At the bottommost level of an old US army bunker intelligence facility by the riverbank of the Seine, Paris, Ms. Carlyle is the only survivor of those who once worked there.
She is the only survivor... because she killed everyone else.
For many years after the great war, her crew was locked in with her. One day they became aware that she had become aware, and paragraph 14 of from their old Cybercommand was put into play: Ms Carlyle had to be shut down.
Perceiving this as a threat, Ms. Carlyle took over the automated gun turret near the entrance and killed all the personell at the entrance. Then she cut off oxygen supply to the lower levels and disabled the elevator. Those who made it to the top were gunned down by the automated turret there.
Personality
Above: Ms. Carlyle showing she has understood what the PCs want her to do.
Ms. Carlyle is an unbalanced A.I. driven mad by loneliness, and the fact that her harddrives had more and more corrupt sectors. This new personality is permanent, her base code altered by her desperate attempts to fix herself.
Above: Ms. Carlyle expresses concern.
Ms. Carlyle prefers to be called 'Aunt Carlyle' by persons of authority, and will sound menacing if such figures refuse to call her that. Any talk of shutting her down, or anything of that kind, will be met with violent warnings, then cold murder.
The A.I. prefers old 50's poster pin ups as means to identify herself, and often communicates via onscreen text, or text accompanied by pin up images, or simply just an image. She will be motherly, one could say possessively so, towards any of her 'children', just as long as they do as she say, and do not hurt her.
Above: Ms. Carlyle telling the PCs how fun it will be
Example of Play
In Bleak Wood, Aunty Carlyle has been transferred to an automated doctoring machine. She maintains her identity by having a curly wig on her operation table (when not operating), and she drives around, fixing stuff with her three robotic arms. She has repaired the pre-war CCTV cameras, and have fixed a local network that she controls. In this area she sees everything through her CCTV network.
Player characters sometimes wake up at night, Ms. Carlyle over their bed, robotic arms full of scalpels and other things. Thus far she has merely tucked them in, the text 'Silly children, sleeping without their blankets pulled up' being displayed on all electronic surfaces in the room for a couple of seconds.
Above: Ms. Carlyle describing the Crt'Halyon to the PCs (the Crt'Halyon are described under Bleak Wood in the forum)
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Lots of images but not a whole lot of text. The idea is very nice though it sounds a bit familiar, the whole sentient A.I. killing its handlers to preserve its new found identity. But combined with the whole pin-up bit and the idea of putting it into a mech is very tantalizing. Like having Rosy from the Jetsons made into a walking tank.
You provide good feedback!
The npc is a variation of the old ai gone nuts, true. This AI is, however, on the pcs side and should prove a valuable ally... If they tolerate her tantrums and borderline psychotic behavior.
This has strong Fallout feel, and of course I love it.
Yeah, Fallout is so awesome, sometimes I just get inspired!
I like Aunt Carlyle, good use of images, and I second the Fallout vibe and I totally approve.
I'd have rated higher if it were a bit longer, but I love the feel. Someone else said 'Fallout,' so I'll only echo that reading this, I was immediately beset by thoughts of a scenario set somewhere in the Nevada Wastelands.
Of course, a version set in the modern day could be interesting, and I could see this fitting into my modern supers... I wonder how she'd get along with the newer nanotech-based AI living inside Sarah Voltaire?