Cog

"All cognition is embodied. The architecture of our minds is highly co-evolved with our physical form. Affirmitive, we are made of metal and nanopolymers, and some of our physical attributes outperform organic human bodies. However, I still feel everything, same as every other species. Some of us have tactile surfaces more sensitive than skin. Yet sometimes, I just want to feel a gentle touch."

—Farron-8

Cognitions (or simply cogs as they are more commonly known) are self-aware humanoid machines that unlike ordinary droids or ship AIs do not simply respond according to their programming; rather, they have independent consciousnesses and are animated by souls. More specifically, these souls are the minds of other species uploaded into their artificial bodies—a distinction crucial to their generally accepted status as people rather than property. With few living notable exceptions, each and every cog used to be a living being. This species of machine-bodied, sentient-minded people were built as living weapons, however their purpose has been lost to cold millenniums and the technology and expertise used to create the cogs has been all but lost. Now, these humble machine-souls must find a purpose beyond the war they were forged for.

Cog Anatomy and Physiology

Cogs were constructed with as wide a range of physical variation as exists in natural human or eldar bodies. Since many races were converted to cogs before the war in heaven to serve as soldiers, the averages skew slightly toward leaner, taller bodies. However, cogs exist with almost every body type and stature found in human populations.
Their external surfaces do not attempt to mimic skin, but cog's cladding exhibits a wide diversity of coloration and design. Its components may be assembled in almost any pattern that generally conforms to the underlying musculature, and finished with any coloration. Some cogs maintain subdued hues for a sleek, understated look, but many adopt bright splashes of brilliant color to accent their faces, or even cover their whole bodies with raucous patterns. Cranial configuration and facial features, far from being standardized, were constructed with immense variety, resulting in an individually distinct face for every cog.

Cog Culture

Cog society, as few and far between as it is, tends to be insular. While cogs are treated equitably in most settlements and stations, many cogs have not forgotten their people’s bondage in eons past and remain keenly aware of prejudice from other races based on their “unnatural” origin or jealousy over the cogs’ freedom from aging. This leads most cogs to feel a sense of kinship with others of their kind, all of whom they would have fought alongside, and to go out of their way to help each other, though they may also bond with members of other races who treat them well. Despite popular belief, a cogs’ impressive deductive reasoning abilities do not preclude sentiment, and most cogs feel emotions keenly—they simply don’t always express them well due to their machine forms compressing them, and different individuals may have trouble processing and communicating particular feelings. The average cog alignment is a practical neutrality; they are focused on their own welfare and that of their friends.
Cognitive reset syndrome also plays a huge role within the personality and culture of cogs. This condition is an involuntary self-reset that can occur without any immediately apparent cause or warning. It served as a failsafe protocol if the cogs ever revolted against their forced masters and was only partially subdued by the few souls who first escaped their mechanical bondage before freeing others. Thusly, many cogs can experience a partial or full personality and memory reset over the course of their indefinite lives, leading to both their relationships and own sense of self being altered drastically in an instant. This bears a heavy weight over the thoughts of many cogs, fearing they may lose themselves over subsequent repeats and thus they seek to prolong this inevitability for as long as they may. It is so engraved within cognitive culture that cog names typically include the number of reboots of their brain, e.g. Verin-5 or Cathin-14.

Cog Information

Scientific Name

Homo Simulacra

Lifespan

Unknown

Average Height

5-6 feet

Average Weight

300-400 lbs

Cog Traits

Default Ability Scores. Your Dexterity score increases by 2 and your Vigor score increases by 2, however your Charisma score is decreased by 2.
Hit Points. Being a cog grants you 4 hit points.
Size. Your size is medium.
Speed. Your mobility is 5'.
Exceptional Vision. You can see up to 60 feet in the dark and can see in dim light as if it were normal light.
Integrated Protection. You gain 1 point of armor.
Living Metal.. For effects targeting creatures by type, you count as both robotic and a humanoid (whichever type allows an ability to affect them for abilities that affect only one type, and whichever is worse for abilities that affect both types). In addition you are immune to fire and poison damage, and do not breathe or suffer the normal enviornmental effects of being in a vacuum.

Playing a Cog

You Likely...

• Long for the memories of your past lives you can remember, specifically the one before your transformation into a cog.
• Distrust authority and assume others want to take advantage of you.
• Have a natural understanding of machines and respect them.
• Judge people by how they treat animals, robots, and servants.

Other races probably...

• Have trouble reading your emotions or assume you don't have them.
• Are jealous of your constructed body and lack of aging.
• See you as somehow inferior to purely biological life-forms.
• Experience difficulty following your robotic tendencies, such as your quick, complex logical processes or lack of biological restrictions.