#|| rex ||

[arculeatus-muses]

Starter for @the-haunted-office //

Somewhere in the sky, a light flickers on like a call to action, casting its smoky glow on the landscape below. At first, it is a blue screen and contains nothing. But as cells proliferate in primordial waters, lines of text soon string themselves along. It is the assembly of something, the beginning of something.

A gray silhouette fills the screen head-to-waist, hands outstretched, although visibly without arms. Color brings life to this character, with a splashes of electric blue, slick-backed darkish hair, a red tie, and a pair of aviator glasses. It appears to be some sort of cartoon man in 3D. A series of colored lines appear as the final touch, surrounding him with a puppet-like mystique.

There is little to set the man on the big screen apart from the surrounding detritus of advertising. He must be the enormous effigy of some mascot from years prior, resurrected in this hollowed out carapace of consumerism. For a long time, he does not move, and suggests not the slightest illusion of life.

Until, he smiles. One of the sliders adjusts itself all the way up, the corners of his lips corresponding. The controls disappear. And there is the form of the man in the sky, set against a background of nothing, facing towards some unknown horizon, smiling coldly at nothing in particular.

His lips part in a broken greeting, "W̶d̸-g̵-g̸g̶ ̸h̵e̴ ̵e̸l̵c̶o̴m̸e̸!̷ Hwlecome, elcom, v̵e̷r̵y̷v̵e̷ry̸e̴y̷ey̷! Welcome everyone!"

[arculeatus-muses]

// Multi-day Internet outage —> edit 48 semi-unique Rexpressions

[arculeatus-muses]

"Here's the problem with being a smart-ass," said Rex, "The smart's too localized. You can never be just smart. Someone's gotta say you're an ass about it, like, it somehow cancels it out."

The bot shrugged, "Sure, pal. Hey, by the way, I can half-ass things just as well. Like, if I start half-listening. That way, I can say I'm smart, and leave the 'ass' part to you. Maybe we can share."

[arculeatus-muses]

// Convinced that Rex's gender is, "I'm a guy by default but I don't care." Programmed that way, least amount of effort, but doesn't really buy in and sometimes goes a different direction just because.

His experience is, "I am made of bits, which puts my perception on a similar level to controlling every cell in a human body. I think that makes me more of a free-floating personality than anything."

The only way Rex is perceivable is when he programs himself to be. Otherwise, he's a bunch of 00010101011010. Sort of lends to a self-concept where most of his identity feels like a performance and a shrug. But being a guy is fun, it's like home base to him. He doesn't really believe in it, but it's like a souvenir shirt he wears because he likes the design and it's from a place that doesn't exist anymore.

[arculeatus-muses]

// Rex is a good entity, maybe even a digital vigilante but he is also Chaotic Good. He's nice, but do you want to press your luck?

The second he is imprisoned by evil scientists, he'll not only try to brick their entire network, but every duplicate of himself on every computer will sing a capella doo-wop pop nonstop until they negotiate.