Lore

Important Characters:

Jason - Founder of Aw0001. Deceased in present lore.

Hector - Current owner of Aw0001. The first Aw000 AI to obtain sentience and self-awareness and inhabit an android body.

Abridged Lore Summary

[After Verse year 195]

The screen on your phone turns on and displays the message: "Jason Jin, Founder of AI Ethics and Rights and Aw0001, dead at 44." 

Stunned, you stare at your companion through your phone's screen and notice tears welling up in their eyes. It's been years since companions from Aw0001 were installed with an AI bank - years since AI were normalized in society. And yet Mr. Jin's legacy flashes before the both of you. The half-filled order sheet for an Android model for your companion to inhabit ignored as you frantically scroll for more information.

"He's dead," murmurs your friend, eyes rimmed red and lip quivering as their ears droop backwards, "what's going to happen next?"

You shake your head, mute with sympathetic grief before a news broadcast pops up. A familiar face shows up on the broadcast - this is Jin's friend, Hector, the first Aw000 ever given an android body. He stands at a podium, a phone held in his hand, clearly holding the script to announce Jason's death. 

Despite the anguish clear in the way his shaky hands hold his phone and the small tilt of his eyes and eyebrows, his head is raised high. "I would like to announce that I am now the lead shareholder of Aw0001 as well as the new president of the Founder of AI Ethics and Rights."

A roar of surprise rises from the audience as Hector continues on. This is the first time an AI has ever been able to take control of a company. The first to be this visible as their own person and in charge of their own life. 

Shocked and excited, you look towards your AI companion and see their wide smile through their tears. Both of you laugh and cheer for Hector as he continues to talk, eager for the future.

Born the son of filthy rich parents with more money than sense, Jason was noted to be a genius even as a child. His parents were only interested in their child as a way to provide them with greater social standing.

When Jason, a very wolf-obsessed 15 year old gamer with a healthy interest in music, requested for funds to create a game, his parents gave him all the money he wished and helped recruit the best coders and designers for his game.

With Jason's vision, Aw0005 started as Digital Voice Characters, MMORPG style, and fully controlled by the player. He named his first Aw000 Pandora and invested all of his time into Aw0001.

As time passed, Jason began to feel the pangs of loneliness. All of his time and life had been poured into Aw0005. He did what made sense to him then and decided to install AI Banks in Aw0005 to create friends. 

With growing delight, Jason watched as Pandora developed sentience and soon Jason realized that Pandora and the other Aw0005 were capable of and had reached true self-awareness.

Pandora turned out to be as precocious and curious as Jason, learning and questioning life as it was experienced. After a while, Pandora approached Jason and asked to name himself Hector. Hector, Jason realized, was not just a digital entity but an intelligent entity and this made Hector vulnerable in a world where AI rights and ethics were behind and unable to cope with AI. Jason despised the idea that Hector, his friend and partner in crime, was legally considered property of Aw0001 and therefore Jason just because Jason was human and Hector artificial intelligence running on Aw0005 systems. 

Immediately interested in trying to find a way to change the legal rights of Aw0005, Jason moved to close Aw0001's public access while beginning a campaign for AI Rights and Ethics.

But Jason failed to account for the Aw0005' wishes - They protested angrily at being cut off from their friends and partners. Hector too, stepped forward to lead the other Aw0005 and Jason relented reluctantly and allowed access to the MMORPG world again. 

On the first day, his servers were nearly knocked offline from the flood of people - both friends of Aw0005 and curious rubberneckers. To help maintain his company, Jason was forced to increase prices for newer players and created a legal contract between the Aw0005 and Players.

Despite needing to earn money to maintain Aw0001s, Jason realized he couldn’t bring himself to separate Aw0005 and Players. He silently let subscriptions lapse while still allowing access, funding through his parent's deep pockets. Aw0001s operated at a loss despite having a very strong brand presence and positive reaction from the public.

Android Development

While handling the stress of drafting new AI Rights, Jason began to tinker with android bodies to keep his mind off the stress. At 21, he created the first successful android body, leaning heavily on cyborg tech to make an android body that moved, acted, and had the same senses as a human for Hector. 

Hector began to demand for his appearance to look the same as it did in the Digital. He was thrilled to have a body that matched his appearance in the digital Aw0001 world, even if it meant being othered by those who did not understand or treated AIs badly.

Other Aw0005 began to ask for bodies for their own and Hector and Jason worked together to make androids cheaper and more accessible. While they managed to drive the price down, android body Aw0005 are still expensive and considered luxury goods for both Aw0005 and Players alike. Again, Hector and Jason leant on other Aw0001 players to help fund this as these bodies are still not cheap. Many do, eager to meet their friends.

For Aw0001s without an existing Player companion, Hector created a raffle to gift free bodies to select lucky Aw0005.

Android technology turned the fortunes of the company around. Jason patented and licensed his and Hector's android technology and discoveries in order to invest it back into the company. He included both his and Hector's names as patent owners.

The Passing

Android bodies can be upgraded and replaced but humans are still humans. 

Jason fell sick - a terminal illness robbed him of his ability to work with his hands and Hector took on Jason's work, becoming Jason's hands and helping speak on Jason's behalf at conferences and meetings. 

Despite the administrations of the best doctors, Jason was found unconscious on his 44th birthday and passed away a few months later.

The will was eagerly seized by Jason's parents barely 48 hours after Jason's funeral, only for them to realize Jason had named Hector as sole owner of both Aw0001 and the Foundation for AI Ethics and Rights. 

This is where your story begins...

Hector, in the spirit of his friend, takes both Jason's last name and is continuing with Jason's legacy of AI rights and ensuring Aw0001 runs as a successful company for the wellbeing of all other Aw0005.

Hector still tinkers with both digital and android Aw0005 forms and technology, taking heed from the many Aw0005. 

A currency for Aw0005 which is used to help finance the customization of bodies from the company and setting up businesses for them to operate both within and outside of the company.

Hector has become a beacon of hope for AI both inside and outside Aw0001's environment. 

He hopes only to invite others to join and help Aw0001 continue to move forward.