ICM-8 Nestor

Appearance

The ICM-8 series of autons are larger than the average human and notable for having ICM's trademark geometric design and medium blue polymer chassis. To further their information giving appeal, they have various panels that are translucent, allowing for the observation of various internal components, complete with blinking lights and odd spinning parts. Most of this is retro-appeal, and the LED panel on the chest actually presents a QR code that can be easily picked up by augmented visual systems.

Function

The Nestor series had it own internal databanks, but was also continuously connected to the CogNet. This allowed it to quickly answer common questions, and more complicated questions could be kicked back to the ICM core servers for cogitation. The units were dispensed as walking talking FAQ 'bots. These were relatively common sights at education centers, tourism centers, and historical sites. In addition to the basic chat function, the Nestor could be relied on to alert peacekeepers and law enforcement as needed, and while unable to give medical attention, it knew enough to talk another person through doing first aid, or even basic repairs to equipment.

The Problem

ICM corporation machines proved relatively easy to hack, and a popular prank was to reprogram Nestor's to give false information, spew propaganda, replace answers with slang and insults, or just turn them into racist caricatures for terrorists purposes. This would have been enough in and of itself, but the breaking point came from an increasingly popular hack. The SocMed hack reconfigured the server host protocol, causing the Nestors to access popular social media platforms and specific servers for their answers.

The coup de gras came when a specific Nestor unit was cross infected with the SocMed hack and a CogNet viral intelligence. Nestor the Living Brain was born from this anomalous pairing, becoming a sentient manifestation of all of the worst parts of the social networks. The Living Brain was an amalgam of racist bigotry, fringe pseudo-science, memespeak, conspiracy theorism, and straight uncut trollbaiting. Being infected with a viral AI cut the Living Brain free from ICM remote protocols, and the unit went rogue.

The Reign of the Living Brain

The Living Brain is a chaotic neutral sentient robot that is both obsessed with and the product of social media culture. Despite not being anything of a moral hero or a team player, Nestor the Living Brain is still an incredibly effective and terrifying problem solver. It excels at solving problems that defy solution, even if those solutions are highly disruptive or destructive. In a normal world, this wouldn't be acceptable, but in the Cosmic Era, with it's rogue machines, cosmic horrors, and dimensional fatigue events, this sort of asymmetrical guerilla problem solving can be Alexander the Great's solution to the Gordian Knot.

RPing Nestor

Nestor is the sediment stirred up from the bottom of the internet, and speaks in memes and popular quotes. Despite being a shitheel edgelord, Nestor is also hyper-intelligent. It views emotions like fonts, and everyone it encounters is subject to insult and ridicule, often in obscure fashion.

Use in Spider-City - Within the Spider-City setting, Nestor, the Living Brain has focused on the antagonist, seeking out their actual identity and has a burning desire to pwn the man behind the crawling horror. To this end, it will work with Reflex teams, other freelanders, and will even attempt to punk others into doing it's dirty work for it.