It's a Door! (solo)

[Kaeson Dakano]

88th Day of Spring, 512 AV

"No...no...not shiny enough...too big," Kaeson sighed, then proceeded to throw the 'too big' pebble behind him. Kaeson had been searching throughout Zeltiva's rocky shores all morning for the perfect pair of pebbles, or if he was really lucky -- some sea glass. Keason had felt slightly jealous after seeing all of Tock's recent animations, and finally decided on a worthwhile project. A door. "An animated door," Kaeson smiled as he said it out loud. Honestly, when the idea first came to him, Kaeson couldn't believe he hadn't thought about it before. An animated door? "What an idea, genius!" Kaeson had thought to himself. The implications were invaluable, really. If Kaeson could animated right, which there was no doubt in Kaeson's mind he could, then Kaeson would be able to vocally select who would be able to come in his house, would never worry about break ins should he decide to leave Zeltiva one day, and on top of it, Kaeson would never have to worry about losing the gods forsaken key to his cottage. Kaeson smiled. His newest 'project' was perfect and all it needed were eyes, or pebbles to be exact.

Reaching down for another pebble, Kaeson smiled as he investigated the shiny rock. "Reflective...not transparent...smooth," Kaeson bent down into the surf to briefly wash away some sand from the pebble. Drying it off with his shirt, Kaeson brought the pebble back to his eye level, to better see it. "Perfect," Kaeson breathed admiring what would soon be an eye for his automaton. The pebble was about an inch thick, and very flat. Kaeson caught his own reflection in the pebbles milky white hues, but not so much that it could double as a mirror. The 'eye' wouldn't function with long distances, and would only work in a close range -- perfect for an automaton who wait for someone to approach before opening, "Or staying shut," Kaeson muttered.

Looking around, Kaeson was temporarily blinded as light was reflected in his eye. "OW!" He yelled, blinking in an attempt to regain his sight.

Kaeson squinted his eyes as he looked along the rocky bank for whatever had blinded him. Seeing something flickering a couple yards in from of him, Kaeson smiled and whispered "Seaglass." Could he really be so lucky? Quickly, he ran towards the reflective object, afraid that it might disappear before his very eyes should he not attempt to grab it as quickly as he could. As soon as what he expected to be seaglass was within his reach, Kaeson grabbed it. Slowly opening his hand, Kaeson was temporarily disappointed to find that the substance before his was seaglass, but his face regained a smile once he realized what it was. "Quartz...," Kaeson said, a little unsure if he was right. Whether Kaeson was right or wrong about the squarish stone in his hand, it was perfect for the second eye. The stone was reflective, small, and flat -- perfect for Kaeson's project.

Brimming with joy, eyes matching the clear blue of the sky, Kaeson practically skipped back home.

[Kaeson Dakano]

"And...AGAIN!" Kaeson yelled as he slammed his door shut. Looking at the upmost left hand corner of the door, Kaeson smiled as he saw that the quartz remained in place. "Didn't even move," Kaeson said, quite proud of himself. While he certainly hadn't built the door himself, he had placed the eyes -- stones on the door, even if it had been a rather crude way of doing it. The eyes were placed on either side of the door, directly above the door handle. Kaeson had smashed them in with a large rock he had found outside, and while the door now had a couple a dents here and there, it should still remain as strong as it had been before. Plus, despite several attempts to remove the stones from their place, Kaeson was please to find that the stones remained perfectly still -- perfect.

Now that the shell had been correctly tested for functionality, Kaeson was ready to animate the door and welcome a new addition to his 'animated' family.

Kaeson opened the door halfway, placing large stones on either side hoping to keep the door completely still during the animation process. Then Kaeson carefully drew a large circle around the door, and slowly drew a slightly smaller circle around himself. Carefully, Kaeson checked and doubled checked the drawn circles for any breaks or gaps. The last thing he needed was a malfunctioning door. Satisfied with the circles' conditions, Kaeson linked the two together.

Slowly and very careful to not disturb the chalk drawings, Kaeson sat himself down in the smaller circle and prepared himself for the animation process. Quickly, Kaeson pricked his finger with his hand and squeezed it over the chalk, in an effort to force the blood to drop faster then it would have otherwise. Gleefully, Kaeson watched as the chalk circles slowly changed from a bleached white color, to the same deep red of hs blood signaling the start of the animation process. Closing his eyes, Kaeson focused only on what made him Kaeson -- his soul, and what would make the door, Door -- the soulcore Kaeson was creating. Kaeson had made several soulcores over his animation career, and was thus unsurprised as a warm feeling washed over him -- not unlike being submerged in a warm pool. The soulcore had been created.

Kaeson then began focusing on what directives the door would be given. "Obedience is a given, Identification of a master -- or me, and non - violence?" Kaeson asked himself. He had already decided on obedience and identification as directives, they were key to any animation Kaeson had ever created. Non - violence seemed unnecessary, however. "How much damage can a door, do?" Kaeson though aloud, deciding to not use it, instead opting for protection of it's master, Kaeson. Having decided the appropriate directives, Kaeson focused intently on the flow of Djed between the two circles. Slowly, Kaeson vocally repeated the chosen directives one at a time -- Obedience, Authentication, and Protection, slowly sending the neccesarily information with its perspective directive through the connection between the two chalk drawings. With Obedience, Kaeson sent his name. With Authentication Kaeson sent a visual representation of himself, as well as the sound of his voice. Kaeson gave the Door a set rule, "You will open for anyone who gives a predeterminded passcode." While Kaeson hadn't planned on allowing any one entrance to his home when he wasn't there, it was always good to plan,". With Protection, Kaeson said, "You will protect me to the best of your ability, unless I say otherwise." Kaeson always used Obedience as the first directive since it would effectively allow his to override any mistakes he could make with the other directives. Kaeson then gave it temporary kill phrase.

Satisfied with the chosen directives, Kaeson opened his eyes, and streched.

[Kaeson Dakano]

Roughly two bells had past since Kaeson had created a soul core and given the door three directives -- Obedience to Kaeson, Identification of Kaeson, and Protection of Kaeson. While he wasn't exactly sure how the Door could be an active protector, Kaeson was confident that the Door would figure it out.

Slowly, and careful not to disturb the circles, Kaeson made his way back to the smaller of the two and sat down. Looking out his window, Kaeson could see that Syna was at her highest point of the day. Kaeson managed a smile -- at least it should still be daylight by the time he finished with Door. Kaeson scratched the back as of his head as he thought about the next process.

As he sat down, Kaeson considered how he would go about giving Door his persona. He had yet to manage to instill a fully developed personality but he could embed some basic emotional reactions to given. Focusing on how happy Door would feel when it obeyed Kaeson correctly, Kaeson mentally started to transfer memories he associated with joy and happiness. From successfully animating his toy soldier to playing a game of tag with friends, Kaeson specifically chose moments from his childhood to send. They were simple memories, not overly detailed or complex, and were excellent choices to help the animation understand a simple emotion, like joy. Unfortunately, Kaeson knew for the door to fully understand happiness, the door must know sadness as well. Kaeson was also aware that sadness itself would've punishment for the automation if it ever choose to disobey him. Again recalling memories from his childhood, Kaeson mentally sorted out the overly complex ones. Focusing on his most basic memories, Kaeson tried to only transfer the sadness he associated with them. While he understood the need for the door to experience sadness, Kaeson saw no need for Door to feel the dissapointment or confusion that often accompanied sad feelings.

Satisfied with the emotional response Kaeson had embedded into Door, Kaeson went on to the more intellectual side of Door's persona. Slowly Kaeson taught the door such devices as memory and remembering, as well as basic problem solving skills. Kaeson was well aware of the possiblity that someone who wasn't suppose to know the password did and he wanted Door to be able to handel it.

Kaeson let out a sigh as he began to flow a series of words and reflective images to Door. Words like 'Close', 'Open', and 'Smash' as well as images of what Kaeson expected Door to do when these words were heard. Door's vocabulary was very limited, but hopefully, if Kaeson did a good job with the animation -- Door could learn more.

[Kaeson Dakano]

Opening his eyes, Kaeson was glad to see Syna hadn't moved much. Still it was obvious that time had passed, two bells or more by Kaeson reckoning. Either way, it was mid-afteroon and Kaeson still had plenty of time before nightfall.

Kaeson breathed, happy to know he was almost done with animating Door. All that he had left was the astral body formation, and the final awakening.

Kaeson took a deep breath and slowly released it as his vision reddened and blurred. Through mental concentration alone, Kaeson pulled and tugged at the Djed that formed an amorphous blog around Door. Slowly, Kaeson molded the Djed to form an almost identical shape to door, and slowly began to focus on the different areas that would allow Door to function. Kaeson used the Door's henges as joints, allowing Door to close, open, and slam on his own. Kaeson then connected what he was hearing to what the Door would be hearing, using the hole as it's 'ear'. Finally, Kaeson opened his eyes translating the ability to see into both stones on either side of Door.

Finishing, Kaeson closed his eyes, yelled "Door!" and opened them. It was done.

Now, Kaeson had to test it out.

[Kaeson Dakano]

Kaeson slowly approached Door from the inside. If, Kaeson had programmed Door's correctly, seeing Kaeson approach would be enough for the Door to open. Kaeson was now six feet away and was becoming progressively more worried with each step. Door should've opened at a close range, wasn't six feet enough? "I knew I should've bought mirrors," Kaeson thought, cursing his own cheap nature. Five feet away, Kaeson started to sweat. Would he have to 'kill' his newest addition? "I can't BELIEVE I was so stupid! Surely, small mirrors wouldn't cost --" Kaeson thoughts were interrupted by a sudden scraping noise; the noise of a door opening.

Kaeson smirked as he saw the door open before him -- four feet before him to be exact. "And I didn't have to say anything," Kaeson said, only mildly surprised at his own success. Of course Door would function, Kaeson was a very good animator after all. "Door, close, uh, please." Kaeson said politely. Most animators would scoff at his overtly polite tone with an animation, and Kaeson might agree - had someone else animated Door. To Kaeson, while Door was a separate identity, Door was more of an extension of himself. Kaeson had used his own should in his creation, after all. And if Kaeson couldn't manage polite formalities with himself, what hope had he in a civilized world?

Watching Door close, Kaeson backed away a few steps only to approach Door again. He wanted to see if the automaton would open again, which he hopefully would. Kaeson had intended Door to take a command once, and once the command had been fulfilled to reset itself to his original standing. So seeing Door open with his approach filled Kaeson with optimism for his new addition. Surely, it seemed as though Doors 'eyes' and 'ears' worked perfectly. But, Kaeson had one more final test, one that required a willing volunteer.

Leaving his small cottage (and making sure Door properly closed himself) Kaeson went off into Zeltiva to find someone to try and open Door. Finding a group of kids playing a game right offside his house, Kaeson promised them a reward if they could open a door for him -- 20 gm to the first one who got into his house. It was a lot of money and Kaeson knew that, but he was sure Door would work just as he was told. Kaeson slowly watch as the first child approached the door and let out a sigh of relief as Door did nothing. Then Kaeson watched as Door reacted just the same to the four other children.

Sending them on their way, Kaeson approached Door and within four feet he opened for Kaeson -- just as a good door should.

[Cascade]

Adventurer's Loot Kaeson's Loot : Kaeson Skill XP Reward Animation +3 Observation +1 Lore: Animating A Door Animation: Placing Eyes Zeltiva: Shore An interesting and practical way of using Animation. Good job. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to PM me!