Non-Person Characters

Non-Person Characters are holograms with simplistic AI.

The park bustled with activity. Kids ran to and fro on the grass, giggling and screaming as their parents watched on from under the shade. Curious cartoony critters, NPCs, poked their heads out from behind trees and bushes, taunting the children into chase.
For a nominal fee, parents could adopt a copy of the NPCs. The money went back into the park.

Uses

Assistant

NPCs are excellent assistants for personal or business use. They can be programmed to answer questions or track orders orders. For this reason, they are popular, low-cost solutions for many businesses.

Entertainment

NPCs can be used to recreate plays or interactive theater. One example of this is with the ever-popular Whodunit Escape Parties, where participants can explore an area and interact with NPCs to escape the area and solve the mystery.

Demonstration

An NPC can tirelessly loop the same task over and over, which makes them an excellent method to provide demonstrative tutorials to the public for using technologies or doing certain tasks, such as cooking.

Decoration

Just as Illusory Decor can help a space reach a certain atmosphere, having themed NPCs wandering about can add a lot to a space. Ghosts in a haunted mansion, foxes in a park, so forth.

Deterrent

People are less likely to commit crime in well-lit places and if they feel watched. NPCs solve both by giving off a glow at night and by having that basic interaction which allows them to watch passerby. It's a simple measure, but surprisingly effective except in particularly crime-riddled areas.

Companionship

NPC pets (often called Familiars) and other, more humanoid companions have proven a good method to combat social disorders and fight the Loneliness Epidemic. The seeming presence of others for support, even illusory, goes a long way towards guiding a mind towards health.

Navigate

Above: It's easy to discern hologram from person when shining a bright light through them.

Parent Technologies

• Hologram

Summary

^{For more info, read: Technology in Ethnis}

Meta Property

Mundane

Tech Clade

Mecha

Access

Common

Complexity

Advanced

Manufacturing

Simple

Dancer stopped, it was a crossroads. Shimmer holograms could be seen dancing just ahead of them. A main street. She had been clacking away on her wrist for the last five minutes. It made Dartesi wonder if Dancer was really paying attention to the route. He opened his mouth to ask, but Dancer beat him to the punch.
“BOOK IT!”
She pressed a single button on her wrist, and with the telltale shimmer of meta split into four ghostly white apparitions that covered the narrow walkway.
“Oi!” Wolff bellowed out and began to give chase, only to bound off the wall of projections locking arms. Wolff raised his baton to beat down the meta wall when Weavill raised his hand to stop him.
Behind the now dissipating meta-wall, near the mouth of the alley was a line of well-dressed men, pinstripe suits and fedoras. They were armed, machine guns held at the ready. “You messed with the wrong family, figlio di puttana!” The lead gunman cried out before opening fire.
“SHIT!” Wolff jumped in front of Weavill, ready to take the bullets, but none ever came. When they had opened their eyes, it was to an applauding crowd. It was all holograms.
“Fuckers! Drone?” Wolff grunted. Weavill poked at his interface, only to have it light up with animations of peaches and eggplants.
“Fuckin’ bitch hacked it.” Weavill cursed, his voice still shaky from the faux near-death experience. “Let’s go, we’ll find ‘em.”