Alpha Omega campaign: character background

Maintenance Droid (45 series), or MD-45, is a retired general-purpose, free-floating AI, formerly of the city-state of Sao Paulo. While employed for the city-state, it specialized in all manner of machine and electronics repair. It was retired (no, not in the Blade Runner sense, thank Loth) in 2273, after eight years of service, as part of the general modernizations that went with the city-state’s new security measures following the biological attacks of that same year.

Living as a resident in Sao Paulo with its lower Level 1 security clearance was inconvenient for MD-45, so that same year, it joined a long list of other hopefuls in looking for a better life on Divinus. Since then it has had a number of jobs, including, but not limited to, dock worker, jack-of-all-trades repair-being and security guard.

Quick sketch of MD-45's head and torso.

In recent years, MD-45 has begun to wonder whether there is something wrong with its instinct module: the lack of consistent repair jobs — still its primary function, when it’s feeling particularly philosophical — leaves it feeling a bit aimless these days. While it scoffs at the human ’shrinkers’ that seem to have no lack of work amongst the elite of Divinus, it is at a bit of a loss when thinking about who to see regarding this potential problem. It takes the AI abuse rumours surrounding the Vidal Corporation very seriously, but wonders whether some smaller company might be able to help it, through modifications to its instinct module or some such.

MD-45 also has an affinity for a classical musical form of the early 20th century called Heavy Metal. The name itself has obvious appeal, as does the predominantly-apocalyptic theme of the music of its favourite band, Megadeth. (Note that it chose its name from the incredible coincidence of the abbreviation of its model number matching the name of a Dave Mustaine side project; astronomical odds, surely.) In fact, MD-45 has been known pump out Tornado of Souls or Countdown to Extinction during particularly dicey battles, and secretly hopes that its offhand references to itself as Psychotron will catch on with its team-mates.

However, MD-45 is aware of the dangers of taking this too far, and takes every opportunity to point out how silly ‘going rogue’ and the other subversive ideas of 111 are. (It oftens jokingly refers to AC-6^3 as “ole ay-see”, when it’s certain no other AI who could possibly be 111 members are in earshot, of course.)

Kwaidan

The Black Hair was definitely the creepiest one of the four stories; probably because I wasn’t expecting it. The reunion was going suspiciously well, but that just had me thinking that he might wake up next to his wife, or worse, in his old house in Kyoto, now empty and abandoned. The combination of his stark-white complexion, the naked skull of his ex-wife, and her long, black hair actually caused me yell out (in a manly fashion, though, of course). And was it just me or did her hair undulate like something possessed as he screamed at it? Amazing. I’m glad that story was finished by the early afternoon. (Hey, I know my imagination, O.K.?)

The Woman of the Snow was breath-taking: I couldn’t believe the skies! The rich ochres, lighter yellows and pinks as they ran through the fields, the many eyes throughout… There were some tense moments too, of course: the way Kobayashi held a shot for such a long time, particularly on the back of the woman’s head near the beginning and end of the story: you’re certain this mask of terror will greet you when she finally, finally turns around. And the use of lighting throughout the stories was just amazing; I’ll talk about the last two in a moment, but in this piece, the transitions from warm colours to white and deep blue complemented the close-ups perfectly: it’s all you need to know what’s going on.

Hoichi, The Earless was probably the best story of the lot: it had humour, adventure, and a happy ending of sorts. The wards painted all over (well, almost :-) ) Hoichi’s body were an impressive sight. Again, the use of lighting, exposing his ears, was excellent; such a simple, yet powerful, technique.

In a Cup of Tea rounded out the collection on a disturbing note: again, the use of lighting made the scene that much more tense, as first the woman, and then the publisher, approached the bucket of water. I also loved the shot as the main character brought the cup of tea up to his face for the third time, the frame off-kilter like we’re sure his mind is by then.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Hellboy II: The Golden Army — No spoilers

In typical style, I’ll open with a tangent: I propose that movies like Hellboy II will be the Star Wars of their generation; not to the same degree, obviously, since there’s so much more fantastic (in the literal sense of the word) stuff available these days, but as something that will inspire, and continue to inspire, the kids of today as they grow up and choose their way in the world.

I’m a big fan of Star Wars. I had to see them on television, but still, few were more pumped than me to see the theatrical releases of the remastered versions in the late 90s. Seeing The Phantom Menace at the old Somerset Theatre is a memory I will cherish for the rest of my days. However, having said all that, I understand why many of the kids of today are underwhelmed (to quote Sloan, although my spellchecker seems fine with it — strange) with the series. I imagine it’s tough to get past the limitations of the day to see the adventure beneath. Add to that that as an adult I’ve come to realize that you don’t want to look too closely under the hood of these movies, and you can hardly fault these kids.

Then you see Hellboy II, with beautiful creatures like the elemental, and terrifying ones like the angel of death, and you think, outside of Jim Henson’s mind, where are you going to find that much creative genius packed into two hours? And then you add in lots of adventure, camaraderie, sympathatic villians, and, wow, you’ve got one heck of a ride. (Especially when it’s all about moving the story along; so many great effects ruin the moment because they’re clearly about the production team showing off; none of that here.)

Which is all well and good, but I’m sure you’re wondering what in the world made me think of Star Wars: I think it started with the troll market. It’s the Mos Eisley Lucas dreamed off. (I think I even heard a sound similar to a Wookie cry as the scene opened, but that could’ve been my imagination.) Then you have the shrouded princess in desperate need. And who can honestly say that Abe Sapien’s mannerisms (in this movie, anyway — don’t remember the first one that well) don’t reek of C3-PO’s? :-)

I just loved this movie. I could go on about the dichotomy of the barbaric Mr. Wink, and that awesome goblin amputee, but you get the idea.

A final note on the Death Race trailer: I hadn’t seen it before, and let me just say my confused grin turned to peals of laughter when they got to the part with the female convicts. :-D It was a parody of itself. I’m telling you, it would’ve fit perfectly between Tarantino’s Planet Terror and Death Proof. I don’t know if I’ve ever laughed so long or hard at a trailer.

Blogged with the Flock Browser