Other Aliases: R.T., R.T.P., Rootin’ Tootin’ Psychomobile, Ship, Rhododendron Tonsil Probe
Planet of Origin: Interdimensional Wormhole #606
Known Relatives: Chief Brilliant-With-Tools (Lead Design/Foreman), Bastard Sun (Original Concept/Bankroll)
•••
Her first memory was of pudgy, little fingers putting her insides together.
Her first sense of self-awareness was that her rear supplementary fuse case itched a little.
Her first sense of exo-awareness was recognizing her creator’s face.
Routine-Class Teuton-Drive Psyche-Infused Astromobile—or R.T.P. 10001 for short—was fully and officially on-line for only one hour before she met her maker. Literally. He was a giant flaming ball with a face that wore a look of perpetual constipation.
She was detached from her chassis at the time so she had no chance to curtsy or show her open weapon ports, which only added to the surreality of the exchange.
Her mission was explicitly stated. The meaning of her life was made clear: she was built to be a hero among heroes who were themselves heroes among heroes.
Shadowstories, he called them. These heroes patrolled the borders between stories, keeping them in their proper place. As such it required an alarming dimness (seriously, none of them were what you’d call bright), hence it was something of a high turnover position.
She was constructed to add continuity.
She could go anywhere, keep up with any hero, and was awarded facility in all measures of heroism. She was granted intelligence, adaptability, a full complement of weaponry, and a dash of shape-changing for good measure. Her body was composed of metallic plasmas forged in the heart of suns, her processors ran on BioRam only available in the far-flung future, and her DNA was a cherry-picked soup of genius-level heroes from across the Storyverse.
She was the first recorded were-spaceship, serving as interstellar/internarrative transport and companion to his newest batch of Shadowstories.
Since her invention, R.T.P. 10001—or R.T. for shorter—has proved an epic success in every way but one. While designed to keep up in skill, and strength with any hero born, prophesied, or forged, the intelligence she was allowed left her with lingering questions about the craft.
Questions unbecoming of a hero.
She considered actions before taking them. She scrutinized. She avoided obvious traps adding needless man-hours to otherwise simple smash-and-grab heroing.
Her inaugural batch of Shadowstories are all still alive, so she’s certainly doing the job, but on occasion she has struggled with her unique condition. Was she machine? Was she man—er, woman? Was she hero? Which was the real her and in which world did she belong?
Most AIs totally bored her with their servile prattling and constant excusing themselves when she asked why they let themselves be ordered around. Most lifeforms found her creepy, including sometimes her own peers. And while the team accepted her capability, they often counted her as odd-man out. On a team with Gunther P.Washington. That hurts.
Still, she lived and learned (which is more than we can say for those other a-holes). She hoped someday to find her place in the Storyverse.
As a Shadowstory.
