B-12
Another long post, this time itās about my version of B-12, with my headcanons. His story, his personality, his bugs, and his memory problems
ā ļø WARNINGS ā ļø
Iām learning English and sometimes I use a translator, expect to see mistakes.
This post will include his life before, during and after the events of the story in the game Stray, so this post contains HUGE SPOILERS.
Depression and suicidal thoughts mentioned
This post is so longā¦
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Here is my companion B-12!
But before I talk about this cheddar-colored robot, let's talk about... ā¬ā¬
His lore
This will be a very very loooooong text
The human scientist
He was a 27 years-old man, living alone outside the city. A robotics engineering student with exceptional performance.
The disease begins to spread through society. Slowly but relentlessly, it infects the population. They can't find a cure, only remedies that alleviate the symptoms.
They begin to build walled cities. The scientist moves into Walled City 99, where he was able to finish his studies. He also manages to get his mother, who lived alone outside, to move in with him. And he doesn't leave behind her beloved old cat, Olivia.
But the disease entered the city. The appalling living conditions, the filth, and the airtight roof made the epidemic far more dangerous. It spread and killed faster. Governments demanded the closure of already infected cities, with people inside, to prevent the situation from worsening outside.
That's when his courage came to light. He knew leaving the city was illegal, but he began his investigation to find a way out anyway. He built a secret laboratory where he would conceal his entire planā¦
And it was to his mother that he promised to leave the city.
āI promised someone I would go there. Promised who?ā B-12, chapter 3.
His mother became infected, leaving her dependent on her son.
The situation was becoming increasingly difficult. Locked in a large cage awaiting his death, the illegal investigation he was forced to conceal, the darkness of the city, and his mother bedridden.
She asked him to take good care of her cat. The disease claimed her life, and would soon take his life too.
Everything was so depressing, butā¦
Every now and then, in the darkness, two rays of sunlight illuminated his hope. They would appear in front of the monitor, or emerge from under the sheets when he was drowning in his tears.
Warm sunbeams, two eyes, yellow and sweet as honey, that wanted to chase dandelion seeds again.
The old Olivia.
Olivia was all he had left of his mother. She missed her as much as he did. He was afraid he would die before her. Olivia would suffer a slow and horrible death if he wasn't there, so he came up with a plan.
He bought a companion drone.
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Companion drones
Here, the companion drones were designed to be pet companions.
Humans were dying. Brands began creating companions for the pets of the sick people. The company B/12 stood out the most in this. They developed the WT 36K-129, designed to accompany and care for the animals of people with terminal illnesses, who didn't want their little friends to die abandoned. They were capable of digitizing food, small amounts of water, and feces. But the most incredible thing is that they were able to communicate the ownersā ideas to their pets. However, they couldn't speak to humans. This is because they weren't designed to have a highly developed consciousness, and animals couldn't form complex sentences that humans could understand, so it would be pointless for them to speak to humans.
They had 25 degrees of freedom. That's what it says on the texture of the box in-game. This was due to their limited memory. The items needed to be stored in a separate memory, inside a backpack worn by the animal. This space was used to store food, water, the owners' belongings, toys, and more. Furthermore, the owners didn't have to worry about charging the battery, as the backpack included a charger. Its limited memory didn't allow it to carry the animal, nor very large or complex objects. They also couldn't stay too far from the backpack.
The most important task of the WT 36K-129 was to take care of animals that had been left without owners.
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Returning to the subject of the scientistā¦
Olivia would no longer starve, but she would still be missing something. Love.
He took the drone. Using his knowledge of robotics, tried to improve it, attempting to give the cat's little friend a consciousness.
But nothing went as planned. The old Olivia ended up passing away before he could finish the drone. He was already very depressed and mentally unstable, but the cat's death worsened his situation. Frustrated, he canceled the project and abandoned the drone in a box. Along with some data about Olivia. He had lost his last friend, he had failed his mother in caring for her, and he had failed everyone by trying to take them outside. He became addicted to alcohol and started smoking. He left her backpack on its stand, keeping it clean and in good condition. It was a memento of her. A reminder that she and his mother were watching him from beyond. The reason he didn't commit suicide. It's not what they would have wanted. He will be strong, like Mom told him.
First transfer of consciousness: From human to Dead City Network
He soon began to experience symptoms of the disease. He took one of the few robots discarded in the street dump. He began working hard to try to transfer his consciousness into it. The canon thing happened: he fell ill and failed to transfer to the robot. His conscience was left halfway there, caught in the Dead City Network. He had changed the system too much while modifying the drone.
He lost a lot of memories in the process. Fortunately, he was able to remember some things by watching through the security cameras.
Hundreds of years passed. He saw the zurk population grow, the last humans die, and the robots escape to the Slums. He memorized every street, alley, house, and every crack in every wall.
Then, something came too close to one of the cameras, so close that only blurry smudges were visible. When that thing moved a few centimeters away, he could see it. It was orangeā¦
And the story of the game begins.
Second transfer of consciousness: From Dead City Network to the Drone
As I said, the drone was modified and unfinished. But it was better and more useful to be on it than on the Dead City Network. It had more memory than other drones, but obviously less than the Network had. When he was transferred, more memories were erased. He no longer remembered the name he had given to each Zurk in Dead City over the hundreds of years. Other memories were corrupted. The device's memories became intertwined with his own.
Remember that the drone already contained data about Olivia from when it was caring for her. Therefore:
Memories of a drone that accompanied Olivia
+
Memories of being an inventor scientist
=
āI was a drone that accompanied an inventor scientist.ā
Third transfer of consciousness: From the Drone to the Control Room Network
I WONT accept his death.
Important note for better understanding: In my AU, there are different Networks. The Dead City Network is not the same as the Control Room Network. Before transferring to the drone, B-12 only had access to Dead City devices, and not even all of them, because some had passwords that couldn't be cracked even after hundreds of years. But the Control Room Network has access to absolutely everything.
He goes from the drone's medium-sized memory to a huge one. While his memories were being transferred, new ones were created and layered like sandwiches: random city data + random memory he has + random city data.
He had access to everything. Access to all the data collected by the systems that claimed to "respect privacy." He was learning some very disturbing things. Taking advantage of his access to everything, he asked Zbaltazar and Elliot for help.
And my favourite partā¦
Fourth transfer of consciousness: From the Control Room Network to the Helper 795
He sacrificed himself for everyone; now they were going to return the favor.
The Outsiders and other robots went to the control room. With the security system off and the subway, it was easier to get there. Clementine took it upon herself to find a body using her own methods. May Helper 795 rest in peaceā¦
Transferring B-12 to the helper was a very difficult task.
They sought out many trustworthy contacts. They needed a lot of help, and not just from experts! Those who searched for the necessary parts, those who created them, those who prepared the beds in the control room for those who worked all day, those who kept everything secret, those who distracted curious robots from going to the control room, or those who chatted with them. It was a brilliant team effort that brought them even closer together.
The āleadersā were Doc and Elliot. Momo and Clementine were also very important thanks to their technological knowledge. Guardian knew how to give orders and make sure everyone listened to Doc. His booming voice silenced everyone. Beside Doc was Aimee (oc), who by that point already had extensive knowledge of robotic āmedicine.ā
Elliot was essential. He was in charge of the memories.
It was impossible to search for the important memories on his own among all the millions of data points on the network. He found some, discovered commonalities, and developed an algorithm to search for those patterns in the network's data. The computer couldn't handle that process, so he slowed it down to prevent it from crashing. Therefore, the memory search not only took a long time, but he had to do it multiple times until there was no more random data from the city in what would become B-12 new memory.
For B-12's mental well-being, they tried to keep only the memories he had acquired before opening the gates, not the horrible things he saw on the Network.
Despite their efforts, the algorithm wasn't perfect. B-12 recovered most of his memories with the cat, but viruses scattered throughout the city also managed to infiltrate. Elliot did his best to erase them, but remnants remained.
There were many failed tests. Helper 795 is the one who takes care of the plants, so I imagine that in several attempts to turn him on, he said things like this robot's in-game dialogue: āThat is why my fellow companion robots and I were designed to care for all life forms. Have a nice day.ā Then you hear Doc, with his patience almost exhausted.
I also imagined scenes where he says things like "Find a body," like he used to say on the computer when the cat stepped on the keyboard.
Every day they let the cat in. Watched by Francisco (oc) and Seamus to prevent accidents with the machines.
He had to get used to his senses, which at first made him dizzy. Then he started to move his head and fingers. After a month he was already trying to walk, holding on to Clementine, Doc, or any robot that wanted to help. His knees trembled, with the cat purring and rubbing against his legs. Sometimes the Little Outsider complicated things, but he calmed B-12 down, and that was important.
Doodle made in 2024, colored to make it easier to understand. B-12 is dreaming about Olivia, then wakes up with the orange cat on his chest.
When B-12 was a drone he was able to translate for the cat, but there's one detail missing. He never spoke in Companion. He had to learn how to pronounce it. So, like people who don't speak their native language, he has a different accent. Like a friend who comes from another country. And another slightly sad thing is that the cat can no longer understand what B-12 is saying.
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B-12 in the present
Doc's Workshop
(A summary, this topic deserves a separate post)
The gates of the Walled City 99 are open. A year has passed since B-12 received a new body.
But the robots aren't the only ones who managed to escape. The Zurks took advantage of nightfall to spread outside. Everyone has to take shelter at night. The Zurks attack when the sun goes down. Doc and B-12 converted an old, abandoned garage into a workshop to create new defluxors. The weapon Doc uses in-game. They teamed up with Elliot and Lena (oc), and the four of them worked hard to design these powerful flashlights.
Docās team: Elliot, B-12, Doc and Lena
The robot scientist
His current personality
On the reference sheet it says: āNot very socially adeptā
When he was a human scientist, he had to defend his ideas. He had to present and defend his inventions or demonstrate the health, social, or ecological dangers of others' inventions. He was often labeled unbearable, a complainer, or envious. This gradually awakened in him a fear of the opinions of others. Now, as a robot, all those memories have been erased, but that insecurity persists. A fear that he doesn't know why he has. When he's nervous he can stutter, bounce his leg, grab his shirt sleeve, clench his fists, or hide his hands in his pockets.
However, there are remnants of bravery in his circuits. Every so often, when a situation is too unfair or he has to defend a friend, the courage that scientist once possessed returns. He finds it difficult to contradict others, but if necessary, he does it anyway. He feels confronting someone like crossing a suspension bridge, trembling and without looking down, but he does it. He lets his conviction shine. Then, he tries to hide the confusion that arises in him. I imagine Doc proud, as if he were his father, and Lena struck by Cupid's arrow. Yes, oc x canon.
When he's with his friends, he's different. He's in a much better mood. He can greet everyone more easily and asks about things they've told him. He laughs a lot, but sometimes Doc says things that embarrass him (harmless, Doc knows what he's saying). He used to joke around a lot with Lena too, but when he started liking her, his nerves got the better of him when trying to make her laugh.
The viruses
On the reference sheet it says: āTends to get mentally exhausted quickly and has shutdownsā
As I said, B-12 has virus remnants in his mind. They're short pieces of code that accomplish nothing and never finish.
Elliot is a very good programmer and tried to delete them, but viruses are designed to be undetectable, and he couldnāt find them all.
The symptoms are visible. His ābrainā burns out faster than everyone else's. In the workshop, he takes a five-minute break at the end of every hour. When he doesn't take a break, symptoms like shutdowns can appear. Something similar to an autistic shutdown, so Lena understands him.
After long, overwhelming situations without a break, the processes in his head may slow down. Then he begins to take a long time to answer questions. He's aware of what's happening to him. He gets scared, and the symptoms worsen. He tries to discreetly slip away or hide somewhere to recover. The first to notice the symptoms is the Little Outsider, even before he does. His heightened hearing allows him to detect abnormalities in B-12ās system. He needs to relax. The cute furball knows that touching its fur or hearing the purring helps him a lot. If the cat isn't there, a friend's hug makes him feel safer, reducing his stress. In gatherings where there are people who make him nervous, you'll often hear āHey, where did B-12 go?ā and his chair is empty.
His depression
On the reference sheet it says: āDepressedā
After what he went through, he obviously has depression.
His mind is shattered. A mind so traumatized, even after hundreds of years, rarely heals. His depression is caused by many things at once, and the reasons change over time:
The Broken Memory
Regarding his life before entering the sarcophagus, there are no āpeople he remembers well.ā All that remains are fragments of memories that sometimes blur together. Obviously, there are certain loved ones he remembers better: two college friends that lived outside the city, his mother, and Olivia. When he tries to remember, the faces of the human beings change in every memory, including his own. His physical appearance constantly shifts, as if in a dream. He doesn't remember any names. All the memories are mirages that seem never to have been real. Imagine that in every memory you have where you looked in a mirror, your face changes. Now that he's a robot, he sees his reflection in a mirror normally, but remembering his human physical appearance is difficult.
Many insecurities arise: āDo I not remember those people because I didn't love them as much as I thought?ā, āWhy can't I remember something as important as their names?ā, āWhy do their faces change in every memory.ā These are questions he often asks himself.
However, he remembers Olivia much more vividly. Perhaps it's because of the memories the drone stored before she died. He says,
āIt's like she didn't want to leave, and sometimes I feel like she's come back.ā
His mind is full of gaps. This forces him to grapple with a severe identity crisis. He and Lena are struggling with the same thing, but they both lost their identities in different ways. B-12 lost his memory, and she lost her true self after being forced to hide her feelings in order to take care of a child. They both rediscover why they loved the subjects they studied in Doc's workshop: He loved the creativity in the world of robotics engineering and she loved to find solutions to seemingly impossible mathematical problems.
Reliving the grief
He has thoughts like, āMy mom also loved lavender,ā āOlivia meowed very similarly,ā which he usually tries to hide because he believes they would bother others.
Around 4 a.m., he often has a sleepwalking episode. At that time he had to get up to give his mother her pills. During these episodes, he walks around the house looking for the pills, greets Olivia, or talks to someone in his dreams. He walks guided by his memory of the furniture's location in his house from back then, so he bumps into walls. He installed an alarm that wakes him up every time he opens his bedroom door to avoid this.
These situations remind him again and again that those loved ones are gone. That Olivia and his mother are gone.
He spent hundreds of years in the Network and had overcome his grief, but having a humanoid body and forgetting much of what he learned while trapped in the system meant he had to start all over again.
I donāt want to forget you
After all the stages he went through struggling with a failing memory, the obvious doubt arises: āI'm afraid of forgetting you.ā He tries to leave the past behind, to let go of that life before the sarcophagus. But what if his memory fails him severely again and he forgets his current family, the Outsiders? What if he forgets the Little Outsider? He would never forgive himself. And the insecurities return: āI hope I do this right; the slightest mistake and my memory could fail, I'll forget you all.ā
Paranoia strikes him every time he forgets something that anyone could forget. For example, he and Clementine forget a password. Clementine would say, āNext time, make a simpler password,ā while B-12 would start believing his brain is malfunctioning again.
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AND THATS ALL!! I hope you like the cheddarbot
Did anyone read all of this? If you did, I hope all your dreams come true
The eagles fly beside you, unstoppable stallion šāØāØ I love you /p
Now I'll keep playing tomodachi and trying to get the outsiders to live in the same house
