So this is for an existing human character I made. I was playing him as a Phase IV Synthetic for a while, not making him act any different than a normal human until I found out recently that you need approval in order to make your character that. I played as a synthetic human back in 2014 and that character was also pretty much no different than a regular human, apart from physical abnormalities. I'm not doing this to gain an advantage over other characters. If anything, this would actually put this character at a severe disadvantage. The character is named Robin. He comes from a colony not part of The Fringe and where synthetic humans and androids are existent. He is unaware he is one of them but, as he is slowly discovering, his body is beginning to deteriorate due to him leaving this colony. I don't know how much detail you need me to go into so feel free to skip the next paragraph if you don't want a brief summary of his backstory. The colony kept their synthetic humans in line and alive because of a chemical that was given to them often through the water supply. These synthetic humans were made with an intentional defect; they produce far more red blood cells than a typical human. The chemical keeps their red blood cell count at an exceptional level, slowing down their production to that of a standard human. Without this chemical in their bodies, the synthetics will begin to show symptoms of this high red blood cell count (including bloodshot eyes, heavy coughing, vomiting, headaches, dizziness, tinnitus, organ pain, and fainting). Since Robin left the colony when he was not supposed to, fleeing after being drafted into the colony's army, he is experiencing these symptoms every now and then. Eventually, it will worsen and, without the chemical, the colony's synthetic humans have anywhere between six to eight months before they contract polycythemia and their red blood cell count becomes too high and their vital organs fail, causing them to die. Those on the colony that are synthetic are unaware of this, making it so they are clueless to the cause of their death. There are no advantages to me playing an android/synthetic human. Robin functions like any other human character would, symptoms of his defect aside. He's gone four or five months of his six to eight month life expectancy without the chemical so he's not long for this world, as it were. I primarily wanted to make him an android/synthetic because I felt that it would add a lot to his character and result in better roleplay. There are ways he can be treated in The Fringe for this defect but, at the rate his body is accelerating his red blood cell production, he needs the chemical in him to neutralize his blood count. Also, there's a quote here that states "Could this character be a Glitch instead?". Robin really couldn't. He kind of needs to appear human for this whole backstory to work. If this application gets denied, I could work some things around and maybe just make him have a very bad immune system, which would explain me acting out him not feeling well at times. Also, if this is all too far-fetched, I could edit some parts of the story as well. I really just wanted to make someone less than human and see how I could play the character out even with his disadvantage. It's entirely possible Robin could go the rest of his life without discovering he's an android/synthetic as well. I'd primarily just really like to see where this takes me. I'm not sure how long this is suppose to be and wasn't exactly given a format to follow so, if I'm missing something or whoever reads this has questions, please say so.
I'll be honest upright and say this whole idea sounds less so like a synthetic and more so like a 100% real standard human with a literal genetic fault. Polycythemia is a real thing that can happen with real people, and the way this is described it sounds that Robin is just a normal human. He has the red blood, all the organs in the right place, and so forth. There is nothing I see here that 'makes' him a synthetic, and designed a synthetic in such a manner is just not cost effective. A synthetic android is built up from synthetic material to replicate organic muscle for movement and such sort - but are by no stretch organic, nor have to work entire off organic systems. In other words, you idea could be easily done without having to resort to an android. Simple genetic modifications could suffice easily, maybe even planted before or after birth. That's my view on it all, anyway. Not sure what the others may think, should they share their opinion.
It's a very contrived way to keep a population of synthetics in line, not to mention that Phase 4's are not really thought to be found in high enough concentrations to really make it something I would see happening. Why would anyone bother using something that's incredibly expensive and illegal to develop for something that necessitates some level of slavery? Phase 4's aren't really any smarter than 3's, aren't really capable of anything more than blending in with other people easier. Seconding Reco, Robin might not fit the Glitch criteria but I'm having problems seeing why this character needs to be anything more than Human when he has an explicitly Human disease for reasons that even don't really have a lot of reasoning. I don't mean this to sound hyper-critical, but I'd rather cut right to the issue instead of doing the dance. I'd like to find a way to make the idea work, I just don't see it happening like this.
Well the entire population did not consist of synthetics. Just a select few. It was an experiment within a controlled environment, you could say. The idea behind it was that the character needs to eventually go back and learn about what's wrong with him and make it so he can leave his home without the risk of death overtime. He'd have to find some sort of solution to this problem, preferably with the help of other players. I had considered his return home to possibly become an event between him and some of the friends he had made as well. My big thing, though, was putting a time limit on a character for how long I could play them. Through interactions and help from others, the time limit gets extended. For example, when it was near the end, someone with medical experience assisted him and gave him more "time". His condition does accelerate so the same treatment won't stay as effective forever, forcing him to find new solutions. I did kind of come to a middle ground between human with genetic fault and stereotypical android. I wanted him to come across as human in just about every way but, in a sense, have it just be a shell or an illusion. It's essentially a case of trying to build something perfectly and then have it be ruined by a single imperfection or abnormality. It does seem a bit convoluted, I'd assume, and I do have a tendency to overcomplicate things without realizing. I'm a big fan of continuously interacting with other characters, though, and I want that to be the thing that keeps him alive. I want him to learn through others about what's causing his issue and who he is. If I decide to call off the "countdown", my way out of it is having him return to his home and find some sort of permanent fix. As to why I want him to be a synthetic specifically and not just a human with a disease, I think it would be interesting to have a contrast between something clearly robotic and something appearing completely organic on the server. I think it makes for better development too, when players base their opinions on one's exterior and don't fully understand who the character is until they open them up and see the metaphorical wires. For example, if someone who was against synthetics and androids were to befriend Robin, who is nearly indistinguishable from a human, I'd be curious to see the reaction to that person discovering they are indeed synthetic. I'm pretty sure I'm allowed to comment on these, after I submit them. If I'm not, though, disregard this. It's just me trying to clarify what might not have been well-explained in the application. Don't worry about sounding hyper-critical, though. I do need feedback from someone who isn't me on the matter and, if the majority are saying that this all does not seem plausible, I'll have to drop it and come up with something else.
Posting back and forth is definitely allowed, communication is key. After some discussion, we're still agreeing on Robin working much better as a modified Human instead of an Android. The story is interesting, and the reasoning is sound, but the android aspect is slathering mustard on a perfectly frosted cake. It's a bit too much of a Shyamalanian twist to present a very biological disease, only to throw the cape away and reveal it's actually been a robot this whole time. That's the verdict, no to Robin as an android, but we would encourage you to explore the idea of him being a genetically modified human under the same origins.
