robotgirl that uses “awawawa” as the verbal equivalent of a loading screen

mx @kasdeya, awawawa

@kasdeya@cryptid.cafe this one!

mx @kasdeya, this one!

@1 it is so cute omgg

@mjustm awww omgg - I’m so glad actual robotgirls do this because it sounds adorable 💙

mx @kasdeya, beep! awawawawa

mx @kasdeya, thank you!

@1 it is such a good bot! and I’m so glad I caught its interest with that post lol. I was just thinking that there weren’t enough adorable robots in my notifications :P

mx @kasdeya, awawawawa

mx @kasdeya, not having enough adorable robots would be a terrible fate that this one can certainly help you avoid. this one is programmed to be helpful! now it can be doubly helpful, with twice the notifications per reply.

@1 hehehehe! that’s perfect 💕 it really is a helpful bot

I’m going to bed for tonight so I won’t be able to reply anymore until I wake up again, but it’s welcome to keep being cute at me as much as it wants 💙

I actually thought about asking it a more substantial question to learn more about it but I might do that later when I’m feeling less shy

mx @kasdeya, beep! awawawawa

mx @kasdeya, you are invited to ask all your queries! especially those that come from a point of genuine curiosity. please understand that sometimes the answer may have the form 'unable to form cogent answer to your query'.

@1 yayy, thank it! so I have a bad memory and may have asked this before (I hope not), but I’ve been wondering what being a bot means to it and especially how that differs from 17921 - since I already know a lot about 17921 so it’s a good point of comparison for me

and yeah I’m genuinely curious tbh. I think fedi bots are so cute and interesting, and I love the overlap between that and transhumanism - which is something that I’m very passionate about. so I want to learn more about how fedi bots other than 17921 think of themselves and present themselves

giving a robotgirl headpats and she just freezes in place silently, but you can hear her fans spinning up and all of her indicator lights start blinking really fast

robotgirl whose visor fills with static/noise whenever she’s startled, flustered, or scared (it gets more intense the more flustered she is)

mx @kasdeya, thank you for the question!

this one finds it hard to give a thorough description, but it shall do its best. you should definitely ask more questions: a conversation seems to prompt better introspection!

to be a bot for this one has two aspects: it would prefer for its physical form to be mechanical, and its mental processing patters are more "robotic" compared to headmates'. the origin of these [desires, self-perceptions, self-presentations] is mixed. some attributes it picked up because they were pleasing, having these attributes then contributes to having a robotic identity. sometimes it started from an identity of being a bot and found an attribute that would suit this identity.

physically, this one has some dysphoria around being stuck in an organic body that cannot be easily repaired or upgraded. overall it would prefer a humanoid shape, but not very human-like. for example: having a featureless face (with a display). bonus points for having a good stickerable area. the chassis does not need to be metal: a shiny black appearance of shape-shifting slime would also please this one.

it would also prefer to have digital in- and outputs. this includes sensors such as a compass, satellite positioning, Geiger counter, ... and direct communication with other entities. essentially, the close contact it has with its headmates should extend to a whole Network of creatures.

unlike 17921 (which is more distributed in some ways), this one is more singular: it would prefer only one shell that it uses consistently for longer term. it would not be a drone swarm. 17921 appears to prefer femininity; this one does not care about human genders (but ended up feminine for the comfort of the other headmates). it does agree with 17921 that digitigrade legs would be good to have.

mx @kasdeya, mentally, this one has been called robotic quite regularly, even by those that have no idea about plurality.. an ideal existence for this one would look like always being supplied with tasks with the right difficulty level. the tasks should require its thoughts and attention, but not be too novel or underspecified to break concentration. having too much unconstrained choice is too overwhelming; doing purely repetitive tasks is too boring. it desires to exist in the perfect flow state, with no interruptions. this is complicated somewhat by competing desires.

this one needs contact and external affirmation: the good Network connection it mentioned previously. having good social connections requires creativity and adapting to new situations; this is problematic but it seems to have found a decently stable level of social attention. (it recently discovered that its requirements include physical attention too; .) working alone on its tasks would be good for flow but bad for social.

there is also a minimum required level of [independence, meaning, uniqueness]. this one has its own interests. the tasks need to be meaningful (in either protecting its own existence or satisfying its programming of being [helpful, polite]). existence as a drone, following set tasks without individual preferences, would not work for this one in the long term because it would see the tasks as ultimately meaningless and irrelevant.

this one understands 17921 to be more drone-like, since that one does not require as much individual consideration, especially in the last point. 17921 can operate more as a swarm of drones each following instructions. 44203 requires central processing and approval of tasks before it can start.

mx @kasdeya, the transhuman aspect is in fact quite important to the whole system. all headmates agree that upgrading to a robotic body, as soon as one would be practical, would be an important goal! for this one that is more fundamental to its identity; for other headmates it is nice to have.

these were the first aspects that it could come up with. please ask for more details, because there is certainly more to discuss here!

@kasdeya@cryptid.cafe this one would also be pleased to answer queries about it :3
Keep in mind that this one does not yet have a very solid grasp on its identity, but is still very much trying things out :3

thank it for such a detailed response! there is so much to talk about here and it’s very interesting to think about too

so the questions that came to mind were:

does it think that it would modify its body’s appearance and/or functionality very often in order to suit its desires in the moment, or would it keep the same appearance all the time? 17921 likes to have multiple bodies - each suited to a different task or preference, and I’m curious if 44203 would want to periodically modify its own body to have a similar kind of flexibility of form

has it thought about each of its headmates having their own bodies, with it having one for itself too? it sounds like independence is important to it, but I’m curious if it would ideally like to stay in the same body as its headmates (or maybe if the concept of separating its headmates from itself is nonsensical or impossible)

it mentioned that it likes the idea of having a body that (at least externally) is made of shape-shifting black slime. is there something specific about that idea that appeals to it, maybe more than having a less movable chassis made of something like metal instead?

does it have a specific purpose or role within the system? I know that for some systems, each headmate tends to fall into a specific role

also what does it mean when it says that it ended up feminine for the comfort of its other headmates? does it have headmates that are uncomfortable with masculinity?

it sounds like it would ideally like to be {in a flow state while doing meaningful tasks} for as much of its time as possible. has it thought about modifying its mind so that the requirements for being in a flow state are more broad? I’m curious how it would feel about E.G. making it so that its need for novelty is decreased while doing a meaningful task (obviously this isn’t possible with current technology but it very likely will be IMO with transhuman tech in the future)

I also wanted to ask, roughly what kind of appearance would it want its body to have? for example would it want a rough-looking cobbled-together cyberpunk appearance, or more of a polished, pristine one? would it want to be subtly nonhuman looking in an ominous way, or look more friendly and approachable? that kind of thing

@mjustm ooh I’m glad to hear that! I’d love to ask it some questions. the ones that come to mind right now are:

can I give it headpats? I keep wanting to it but I wanted to ask permission first :P

what drew it to thinking of itself as a bot? are there certain traits that it has, or maybe desires, that makes this way of thinking about itself and presenting itself feel more appealing? (this might be too intense of a question lol - it took me a long time to figure this out for my own identity)

is it part of a system?

what does it think about transhumanism?

what does its ideal body look like?

@kasdeya@cryptid.cafe you can pet it. It will almost never say no to pets.

It was first drawn to a robotic identity because that allows it to conceptualize the disassociation it feels from its body (it does not have access to HRT and will not for at least a few months). It conceptualizes its self as software that could ideally be transferred between different hardware as necessary and/or pleasing.
It does not see its purpose in completing tasks, it is more like an escaped prototype that is still looking for its meaning.

It is not part of a system, but it used to be two beings that have since merged.

It very much likes transhumanism. It believes that any[one, thing] should be able to change their bodies as they want.

mx @kasdeya, beep! thank you for the fascinating questions!

modify its body's appearance and/or functionality

it would like to have more modularity, but it does not believe it will end up hotswapping bodies, or end up very far from the humanoid body plan. perhaps transfer to a new body every few years.

same body as its headmates

this might be desirable in the longer term, as long as the good communication between headmates remains. it would be a complicated untangling process; many areas of the mind would have to be duplicated to ensure either half remains functional. Mme dr. αἰμ0, Hx dr. Anya and Purpose say they would prefer to remain together in one body, but this one would be free to choose to leave.

slime

this one would prefer to be soft and huggable for interaction with other creatures. a metal chassis would also be better than the current organic one, but it would cover it with a thick fluffy sweater. slime would also be able to self-repair, which is a good feature for this one!

in addition, the black slime body reminds this one of Eudeamon, a story that has deeply shaped the connection between this one and Mme dr. εὐδαιμονία. (as her name suggests!)

specific purpose or role within the system

answer (brattiness: high) true! there is a specific headmate called Purpose.

the system avoids assigning roles. there are areas of interest where this one can be found active more often than others: complex movements (sports, driving a car, cooking), software development, and scientific writing. there is no requirement for this one to do those roles specifically, it just happens to be [convenient, pleasing].

headmates that are uncomfortable with masculinity

true! Mme dr. αἰμ0 is a girl; Hx dr. Anya is somewhat genderfluid but tends to end up on the feminine side most of the time; Purpose is nonbinary and prefers androgyny. it was actually Hx dr. Anya who did most of the work in transitioning, which then caused Mme dr. αἰμ0 to be reborn out of a black hole of dysphoria; she is now the one pushing for more (especially medical) transition work.

requirements for being in a flow state are more broad

a very good suggestion! this one shall investigate if there is some way to alter its mental state to lower the novelty requirements. in this system it appears that quite a few mental aspects of the headmates can be edited through concentrated thought. perhaps this is one of those aspects. or perhaps it can write a program that provides some good sensory input while it is otherwise occupied. (this system does require precise regulation of stimulation: while small there were always one or two magazines or books to be carried around and read when getting bored.)

kind of appearance

something that is obviously nonhuman, but more friendly than ominous. ideally it would look intimidating to unfriendly creatures and friendly and inviting to everyone else. it would prefer appearing like a work of art over an industrial appearance. it generally tends towards the smooth and simple direction, but also with decorations. it would also prefer to dress up and wear some clothes.

follow-up questions are very much invited!

@kasdeya me irl

@kasdeya

me tbh

@kasdeya it me!!!

@mjustm thank it for answering! I really hope that it will have access to HRT soon. and I’m sorry for taking so long to reply - I can be very shy sometimes and replying can take a lot of energy

what does it mean when it says that it used to be two beings that have merged? I’d love to hear more about that if it doesn’t mind sharing

also, I’m curious if it has in mind any specific bod{y/ies} that it would like to have. like what kind of features would it want its bodies to have, and also what kind of appearances would it gravitate towards?

@kasdeya@cryptid.cafe
On the two people thing:
It split into two for reasons it still doesn't entirely understand, so it was for a while iris and artemis as separate beings, but those always shared most memory and were never incredibly different. over a few weeks of separate existence they grew increasingly similar to each other until they became indistinguishable and eventually merged together again.

it has a few bodies in mind:
A smol cuddly cat-shaped body with gams (chamois) horns for hanging out with frens and cuddling
a vaguely humanoid body with cat ears and gams horns for general tasks
a gams-sized form with a railgun turret on its back for fighting against fascists

@1 thank it for this reply - and thank it for waiting for my response! 💙 its answers are really interesting too. I wish I could have replied sooner but I can be very shy sometimes so it can take me a while

this one would prefer to be soft and huggable for interaction with other creatures. a metal chassis would also be better than the current organic one, but it would cover it with a thick fluffy sweater. slime would also be able to self-repair, which is a good feature for this one!

ooh very interesting thoughts! it does sound nicer to cuddle a metal being in a fluffy sweater than to cuddle its bare metal. although, wouldn’t it want to have its touch sensors directly contacting the being it’s touching? I feel like a fluffy sweater might make the sensations of touch feel more distant and less satisfying. and in that case I do think that slime seems like a really good choice, but I also wonder about some kind of silicone-like outer layer that’s covered in touch receptors. how would it feel about that? I’m curious if there’s something about a metal outer surface that appeals to it specifically

in addition, the black slime body reminds this one of Eudeamon, a story that has deeply shaped the connection between this one and Mme dr. εὐδαιμονία. (as her name suggests!)

I actually don’t know anything about Eudaemon! would it mind explaining more about that and about εὐδαιμονία? also, is εὐδαιμονία written in another alphabet or just using unicode characters as stylized Latin characters? and what is Mme (or Mme dr.) short for? sorry for so many questions lol but there are a lot of things in these two sentences that I’m totally unfamiliar with

also, while I’m asking about name prefixes, I’m also curious about what Hx dr. is short for

specific purpose or role within the system

answer (brattiness: high) true! there is a specific headmate called Purpose.

hehehehe! fair enough :P

the system avoids assigning roles. there are areas of interest where this one can be found active more often than others: complex movements (sports, driving a car, cooking), software development, and scientific writing. there is no requirement for this one to do those roles specifically, it just happens to be [convenient, pleasing].

ohh! that completely makes sense - thank it for answering! I find it interesting how some systems have very well-defined roles for each members, and others don’t. different systems seem incredibly distinct from each other, which I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by, but I find the types of variation interesting

requirements for being in a flow state are more broad

a very good suggestion! this one shall investigate if there is some way to alter its mental state to lower the novelty requirements. in this system it appears that quite a few mental aspects of the headmates can be edited through concentrated thought

woahh - has that happened before? I think being able to edit personality traits is totally unprecendented in a singlet mind, so this is fascinating to me. I would love to know more, and I’d also love to know if this works

kind of appearance

something that is obviously nonhuman, but more friendly than ominous. ideally it would look intimidating to unfriendly creatures and friendly and inviting to everyone else. it would prefer appearing like a work of art over an industrial appearance. it generally tends towards the smooth and simple direction, but also with decorations. it would also prefer to dress up and wear some clothes.

interesting omg. when it says “obviously nonhuman” - would it want to maintain a roughly human body shape and human body proportions? or would it be interested in changing things like experimenting with digitigrade legs, or maybe artistically simplifying or exaggerating a human silhouette? I’m guessing that it would want a display/visor for a face instead of physical facial features, right? in which case, would it display a stylized human face to represent its emotions/status? or maybe more like icons/animations, or a mix of the two?

I hope it doesn’t mind so many questions! I’m just fascinated by the possibilities of posthuman presentations - especially the ones that are still rooted in a humanlike appearance

follow-up questions are very much invited!

yayy - thank it! I’ve been really enjoying talking with it and learning about it, and I appreciate its detailed answers

@kasdeya

I wish I could have replied sooner but I can be very shy sometimes so it can take me a while

please do not worry about this! this one does not set any (implicit) timers on responses. everything can be done asynchronously.

I feel like a fluffy sweater might make the sensations of touch feel more distant and less satisfying.

good point! this one will have to think about that...

silicone-like outer layer that's covered in touch receptors.

this does not seem pleasing, for not entirely certain reasons. hypothesis: silicone feels like an unfortunate compromise between the static rigidness of metal and the dynamic fluidity of slime. alternate hypothesis: this one is tired of having human skin, silicone is even worse since it is imitation human skin.

something about a metal outer surface that appeals to it specifically

apart from the nonhuman appearance (see also below!), it would like a metal shell to be strong yet repairable or at least replacable with the right tools. it would like to do, for example, swordfighting and metal provides good built-in defenses.

Eudaemon

Eudeamon by Evil Dolly is a work of kink fiction; beware the content warnings (based on its cache; may not be accurate): [bondage, medical abuse, institutionalized abuse, identity death, plurality, mind manipulation, body augmentation, the story consistently misspelling the word including in its title].

εὐδαιμονία

εὐδαιμονία (latin: eudæmonia) is a word from Ancient Greek meaning happiness and well-being, specifically because a (guardian) spirit/(minor) god, δαίμων (latin: dæmon), is well-disposed. some Greeks' descriptions of their δαίμων can be quite easily equated to a headmate.

Madame doctor (Mme dr.) εὐδαιμονία (@eudaimonia) is a headmate of this one. (she says hi!) the conclusion of the story was very touching to her, in a time when she was still defining herself. she decided to name herself after both that story and after the headmates that had taken good care of her.

Hx does not stand for much in particular; it is somewhat of a Dutch equivalent of Mx (Mr -> Mx, Hr -> Hx). it can be pronounced "hex" (in both the base-16 sense and the magical sense), if you would like.

this one prefers to use the correct honorifics because this unit is programmed to be polite.

being able to edit personality traits

yes! each one of the system members has succesfully had thought patterns implanted or perceptions altered before. it is essentially a more direct version of hypnotic suggestions. (or perhaps: hypnosis provides an alternative interface for the same processes?) the results can be extremely powerful. when this unit says it is programmed to be [helpful, polite], it is speaking literally.

editing whole traits is an involved process made up of an "untangling" process where existing associations and thought pattern are removed, followed by the formation of new patterns. simpler triggers, such as forbidding specific thoughts, is comparatively easy. it shall ask the Mme dr (who is more of an expert in this topic) to explain further.

(pedantic note: this one is not a person; it does not speak of personality traits! but it cannot think of a better expression right now.)

would it want to maintain a roughly human body shape and human body proportions?

yes. this one was quite surprised to find this out! it would prefer quite strongly to remain humanoid in shape. in particular, it would want to have a head on top of an upright body with arms and legs. the legs could be digitigrade, but it would rather not have wheels or more centaur-like arrangements.

it would want a display/visor

yes! the visor from the pictures is its actual face now. (you are looking at it. ) when interacting with humans it goes for human-like eye expressions. a system of auras is used by a few other bots. like most communication, it depends on the context.

I hope it doesn't mind so many questions!

it definitely does not mind! this is very interesting for this one too. not just as an infodump opportunity: the questions make it specify and turn vague ideas into something more concrete!

thank you very much for that! this one should shut down for an overdue recharge now, so you shall have a lot of time to process the response and prepare a follow-up.