Velmenni

Sometimes, technology makes an accidental discovery, a quantum leap in technological achievement. During the Second Breath, one of the major robotics manufacturers, working on infusing their creations with more and more sophisticated intelligence and artificial personality interfaces, did something thought impossible – they created artificially sentient robots.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Velmenni are robotic, and thus are made entirely of metal and plasteel. Most Velmenni are humanoid in appearance, with two arms and legs, but some use wheels or treads for movement. While all Velmenni start out metallic in color, a Velmen can use industrial paints to change their color.
A Velmen can change their chassis the same way an organic being can change their clothes, but their “soul”, their artificial brain, must be physically moved from body to body. Thus, Velmenni are still physical beings, rather than a sentient software program. Being an artificial contstruct, Velmen have no mystical ability. While they don’t eat or drink, they must recharge periodically.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

The standard model Velmen has similar approximate sensory capabilities as any organic Species.  Velmenni, however, cannot manifest mystical ability.

Civilization and Culture

Culture and Cultural Heritage

Since their creation, a debate has raged as to whether an artificially created life form can meet the test for sentience and therefore citizenship within the Empire, and if so, would purchase, possession and sale of such robots be violating the Empire’s anti-slavery laws. The debate continues to this day.
At present, Velmenni are still considered property rather than persons, and therefore can be owned. To free themselves from bondage, the Velmenni have chosen an unusual tactic; to earn enough money to buy themselves outright. At present, a sizeable number of Velmenni have been freed from ownership in this way. However, even these “free droids”, as they are known, are second-class citizens; they cannot own property, enter into legally binding contracts, vote in elections, or start businesses. Most free Velmenni create informal partnerships with an organic being to assist them with these things.
As a result of this, Velmenni do not have much of a culture they can all their own, at least not yet. Even the name they have given their race is an ancient KaLa word for “mechanical men.” There are rumors of a secret society of Velmenni that are working to found a homeland and equal rights for all Velmen.

History

During the Second Breath, the brilliant founder of Sorayama Cybot, Marcus Sorayama, worked tirelessly to create robots that acted and thought more like the organic species they were designed to serve.  Sorayama Cybot's products trended towards robots with interpersonal relations programming, like translator robots, pleasure bots, and personal servant robots.  It was Sorayama who coined the word "android" to describe a robot that was built in the shape of a humanoid. 
As his creations become more and more complex, certain buyers began noticing what was first thought to be a glitch - an independence of thought in certain robots.  It was not every robot in a certain class of robots, or even coming off the manufacturing line together.  Later, investigation showed no definitive commonality between the robots who displayed independent thought. 
These robots were the first truly sentient, self-aware robots, and the first Velmenni.  Sorayama spent the remainder of his life attempting to recreate the condition, or combination of conditions, that caused robot sentience, but he was never able to determine what programs or factors would cause self-awareness.  The only certainty he could find was that sentient robots never arose from the more "simple" robots, such as construction, cleaning, or security robots.
After Sorayama Cybot successfully merged with Roussum’s Universal Robots, the new board of director chose to abandon Sorayama's search to create more Velmenni.  Instead, they slapped a warning label on the robots most likely achieve sentience and buried some technical jargon on the subject in the owner's manual.

Attributes:
8 HPs
Velmenni start with the two Traits:

• Robot - Velmen don’t need to eat, sleep, or breathe.
• Customizable Chassis - A Velmen can select an additional Trait from the Trait List at character creation.

Any Test to heal or repair a Velmen must be made at Disadvantage.