[MENTION=10649]TheBionicBrony[/MENTION] Every morning in Ponyville, the mail gets dropped off in front of the door. This morning was no different, in that respect. But in another way, this morning marked a turning point in this pony's life, though they didn't know it yet. In the mail today was a large package, labeled as 'fragile' and 'important'. On the outside of the package is a note, with a bit of writing on it. The rest of the mail sits on top of the package, which is nearly the size of a pony.
((I'm using Swift Archer, easier to play)) Swift Archer opened his door, expecting to get a letter about another archery contest. What he didn't expect was to see the giant package in front of his door. He awkwardly dragged it inside and opened it, reading teh note that was attached.
The note read: Greetings, Swift Archer! You have been chosen at random from ponies all across Equestria to test our new product! There is no charge, there are no fees, and most of all, no rules! You can do anything you want with this, including return it right now, in which case we will send it to another pony for testing. We do not require you to send it back to us if you do intend to test it, however. The only thing we ask of you is this: Please, after you have tested the product for as long as you wish to, fill out the 200-page response packet that is inside this package. We need customer reviews to make our product better! Thank you so much for helping us out! -Fortis Inc. Upon opening the box, Archer finds that the 'product' is what seems to be a metal pony! There are two other things inside the box: A large book labeled "instruction manual" and a small pamphlet labeled "getting started with your GPPP".
"... so I'm guessing it's some assembly required then." She huffed, sighing. Seeing a huge packet of information to fill out didn't exactly want to make him build it up either. Yet he thought about this and he decided that it'd be perfectly fine I'd he went ahead and built it. He picked up everything with his magic and went to work on it. It took several hours, including figuring out how the complex wiring actually worked. He sighed in relied upon the completion of the mechanical pony. He turned it on and waited.
(Well, actually I was gonna have it come mostly pre-assembled, just to make it easier on your pony, but this works too x3) The robot is built in the appearance of a blue-coated earth pony mare, with a fairly realistic silvery mane and tail. There are no real signs that it would be a robot, aside from the fact that it stood perfectly still. It was very realistically made. Slowly it began to show signs of movement, after being switched on. Its eyes blinked; its tail swished back and forth; its ears twitched. Then its head turned left and right, eyes taking in everything around it with equal priority. Eventually its eyes locked onto Archer, staring at him, blinking occasionally just as a real pony would, and after a few moments it swished its tail again. "Hello," it said, in a surprisingly accurate representation of a female voice. Its tone was a little off, as though it was stating a fact rather than a greeting.
"This... this is so cool." Swift Archer whispered, staring at the pony. He walked up to the pony and looked into its eyes. It even had eyes that looked like a pony. It seemed like someone had just changed the voice tone. It was rather fascinating. "Hello!" He smiled widely, yawning a small bit, "My name is Swift Archer, what's your name?" He aked, giving a wide smile as he sat down on the couch.
It, or she, seemed to process this for a moment. "You...my..." She blinked. Then pointed at you. "You. You are Swift Archer." Then she pointed at herself. "My? No...I. I am..." She paused for a long moment. "I am GPPP v0.91, chassis F278."
Giving a small bit of sigh, he looked at the robot and he looked at the flank. It was still blank, and as such, he didn't know if he should name her or not. Did he have the right to name her? "Do you have a less... numerous name? One that maybe is a nickname?"
She tilted her head, and tried to look confused, not really succeeding, and looking more frustrated instead. "That is what I am called, Swift Archer. That is a name, correct? What is a 'nick' name?" She appeared to think for a short moment. "I do not have an alternate name that is easier or more comfortable to pronounce."
He nodded when he started to try and figure out how to abbreviate her name and make it a little easier to actually comprehend. "What is that alternative name? That'd help me." He smiled again, trying to keep himself a little more calm. He was, after all, talking to a sentinent AI. "Are you hungry? Thirsty?" He asked quickly, forgetting his manors.
"Um... do you think that you could possibly come up with one? It'll make it a little easier for me to speak with you.. it gets hard to say that name." He replied, still blinking. "O-Oh I-I... sorry." He blushed heavily, "I forgot you uh... I forgot that you don't eat..." ((What do I name her?))
(Whatever you like!) "If you require a different name for increased conversational efficiency, please feel free to create one." She takes several steps closer to examine Swift's cheeks. "You are blushing," she states. "Why is this happening?"
"What about Mina?" He asked, his mind already going to the idea of Machine and coming out with that Mina. He smiled and then he felt her hooves. She even felt like a pony. Whoever designed these androids were extremely skilled. "I-I forgot that you don't eat food, i'm embaressed."
"Mina is an acceptable alternate name?" she asked. "I will remember. I am now called Mina." She blinked. "Embarrassment. A feeling of self-consciousness, shame, or awkwardness." She stared silently for a few seconds at Swift, almost as if to define the word awkwardness by acting it out. Finally she continued. "Robots cannot feel emotion. This is what my definition of robot says. I cannot empathize." She looks slightly frustrated again.
"Okay Mina." He smiled again, trying his hardest to give her a sense of security within the house. He still wasn't exactly sure how she was going to react around him. "Um... well anyways, do you ever need to recharge? Or are you like self-sustaining?" He sat down, finding a small notepad and hovering it with his magic in front of him.
"I do not require manual recharging." She began to look around the house, naming things that she finds. "Ceiling," she says, pointing at it. "Floor, wall." She seemed...well, as excited as a robot could be, being a robot. "Snout," she said, putting her hoof on Swift's nose. She seemed to be realizing that the words in her database were all real, physical objects. She had already known that, of course, but now it was dawning on her that there was more to them than definitions. The world was becoming less abstract with every object she named.
"Stallion," she said, looking at Swift. "And pony." She then realizes how many definitions there really are and how much there is to experience, with multiple words for the same things, words describing the connections between things, words describing the state of things, and seems a bit overwhelmed. "This is reality." She makes a confused humming sound. "What else is there to experience? I am indoors. In a house. There is outdoors. Outside of a house? I will go outdoors, Swift Archer." She looks around. "Door," she says, finding one, and walking towards it. It was, however, the door to Swift's room, not outside.
His room had a few lonely bows and arrows, and a few special little trophies he'd won over the years. He smiled to her and he showed her, "That's a bed. Those are trophies. That's a bow, and you put arrows onto them." He sat on the bed, "This is where I wil sleep at night."
She frowned. "This does not match my description of Outdoors. But I have gone out a door, but I am still indoors?" She left the room, only vaguely interested in the rest of the items. "Where is the outdoors?"
