Some Information on Rovarians
- Basic Appearance/Anatomy - *They look like the Spirit/Opportunity rovers, except for the following differences.
Average height-around six feet tall
Average weight-around 500 to 600 pounds
Two robotic humanoid arms with five-fingered hands
Midsection below the shoulders is thicker and slightly darker in color
Females have lighter-colored solar panels than males
Two pairs of eyes
One set of eyes (the bigger ones) sees like we do. The “regular” eyes. The smaller ones see in infrared
The four camera eyes are what create facial expression, with shutters and apertures.
Their voices are synthesized, but still sound completely human, making it harder for others to write them off as just robots. They're beyond that, they're people
The solar panels can fold and unfold at their owner's will, allowing parents to carry the youngest ones on their backs
- “Reproduction” (Growing the Species) -
The actual Rovarian is a combination of the parents’ programming and code, which is what contains the personality, the “soul” (do not try it with Earth computers, it won’t work. They have special alien computers that do literally nothing else but this.)
Rovarian "sex" is just two people putting code into a computer.
The new code is generated by randomly selecting parts from each parent's code. These are NOT "designer babies".
Although traits are randomly selected, this doesn't mean the child could end up with an extra arm or missing eyes or anything.
The new child's code is then sent to special replicators that produce the frame, program it with the child's new code and activated.
The child “grows” as their code and programming evolves and matures.
They start out as little Sojourner models, as their programming isn’t yet complex enough to handle a big adult body.
They stay that way from “birth” to early toddler age (about 1 or 2 years for humans) then transition to a miniature version of the adult body.
The old frame is then reused for another child, or is recycled for its resources (yeah, these guys are way smarter with their resources than a lot of today’s humans)
They continue through gradually larger versions of this frame until they’re in the adult one, which on average is somewhere around 6 feet tall (of course there are 5 and 7 foot area outliers.)
When a Rovarian dies, their frame is either recycled (for another Rovarian or for resources) or buried, depending on the wishes of the family and/or the deceased person's last requests.
This is the way historical figures are remembered. They are interned either beneath or inside their respective monuments.
- General Society Roles -
Once they reach adulthood, they’ve been schooled and educated in all the stuff that everyone needs to know.
About a Martian year (1.88 Earth years) after the transition to the adult frame, they either take on a profession as a civilian, enter the government in some way, or join the Rovarian equivalent of Starfleet (some choose to join Starfleet itself) where they eventually get posted to a ship and captain, such as Captain Kiali of the Rovarian flagship Artax.
They generally choose their names from stars (Admiral Sirius), constellations (soldiers Centaurus and Crux), or other astronomical bodies (Ensign Messier, ambassador Lady Carina).
Metal bands worn on the upper arm indicate rank, department, and specialty. Some may also have an insignia for a specific ship on their rank band.
One does not need to be in government, military, or fleet to have department and specialty bands. For example, general practice doctors will have Medical department bands, surgeons will have Medical department bands and Surgery specialty bands
- Historical Events and Achievements -
The last of a dying race found the twins (Spirit and Opportunity), and, knowing they were going to die, decided to save the rovers, giving them their own life force, as well as their own technological knowledge of how to use resources they had stored on Mars. Very little is known about this race, except Spirit and Opportunity’s hazy memories of them. Rovarian historians suspect they purposefully erased all records of themselves, though why is unclear.
The Rovarians claimed Mars as their homeworld and an evolved Spirit and Opportunity as their co-leaders.
Before official First Contact, a human military-esque group of xenophobic extremists planning to wipe them out before they could “invade and enslave us” (which never crossed their minds) ambushed a landing party with the twins (Spirit and Opportunity), who came back to visit the place and people who made them.
The twins were the only survivors, and the group stole their ship, using it to lure others to Earth, where cells of the group waited.
The Rovarian crews were overwhelmed and slaughtered, and the ships used to wage a short but bloody war on the Rovarians, with battles fought on both planets (Earth and Mars), and in space.
At one point, NASA’s Reconnaissance Orbiter took pictures of a Martian plain littered with fallen Rovarian warriors, as well as their living friends and family searching for their bodies.
Some humans did side with them, and the conflict, while essentially ending in a draw, led to Earth working with them instead of against, as it was made clear they have no desire or reason to invade us.
Opportunity was severely, almost fatally wounded in one of the war’s battles, but the JPL rover teams turned the lab into a makeshift OR and were able to save him (after figuring out how to airlift/transport him safely and without further injuring him)
JPL was on the Rovarians’ side from the start of the war, since they already kinda felt like the rovers were more than machines,
They're the ones who got the rest of NASA to take the Rovarians' side, which helped turn the tide of the war, since the extremists then had a harder time communicating with their space and Mars forces,
NASA was in charge of almost everything space, and almost nothing got to or through space without them knowing it.
Add to that NASA also gained access to Rovarian tech, which enabled them to make it even MORE difficult for the extremists to function by cutting off communication completely.
As a result, the stolen ships had no warning and no time to prepare before a Rovarian fleet showed up to apprehend them.
An important feat of theirs: Massive magnetic field generators at the poles, so they could give Mars an M-class atmosphere. This makes trade and diplomatic matters much easier, since most species require such an atmosphere.
Having advanced alien tech, they were able to pick up on pretty much everything we were doing. And I mean EVERYTHING. That’s why the Rigel filter (named for its inventor) was created. It blocked out all the offensive (to a Rovarian) communications humans send. (it’s basically a spam filter (that actually works) on steroids
- Social Customs, Beliefs, and Daily Life -
Water and food are replicated as needed for visitors.
Farming is kind of a waste, as the whole species feeds off of solar energy (which, thanks to advances in Rovarian medicine and science, can be stored in much larger amounts in the same size battery)
There are artificial solar energy generators for emergencies.
The Rovarians actually find the human obsession with sex/sexuality/female bodies to be super weird and a little disturbing/off-putting
It's actually HUGELY insulting to make sexual comments to them.
Relationships are based on feelings for the other person.
They actually think the sex obsession is what holds humans back from advancing more quickly.
They avoided money. They do more of a large scale barter system, and everybody contributes to the society in various ways.
They have stores of other species' currency, but it's only used for trade with said species.
This way, nobody ends up in poverty and there's no 1 percent elite.
Even healthcare is given based on how urgent your need is. (the field of regular psychology is still needed. These are people, not just programs, and people always need regular psychology)
The system works smoothly, and crime is mainly just thievery and vandalism (because every species is going to have born criminals.)
Stuff like murder, which is very rare, is obviously still a crime, as is most of the major stuff ( dealing in illegal contraband, scams, espionage, etc.)
Things like racing shuttlecraft around planets are common activities anyone could do.
- Rovarian Stardate System -
The first two digits of the stardate indicate the century
The second two indicate the exact year (Earth year*)
The third two are the Earth month
The decimal point number is the exact day.
For example, this stardate, 215004.05, translates to April 5, 2050, in the 21st century.
They use Earth time because Mars time is only practical for those actually on Mars. For those on ships, it doesn’t make much sense. (this is just a cryptic way of saying that I am too hopeless at math to convert everything to Mars time. There’s lots of decimals involved in that.)
- Arts -
Music
No wind instruments
Non-electronic music consists of strings, percussion, and vocals (singing)
They do also play electronic music (think Daft Punk, Basshunter, or any other techno artist)
The overall style can range from sounding like Celtic or New Age to sounding like techno or dance music, or anything in between. It depends on who’s playing.
Architecture
Very futuristic, but with sharp, boxy design and edges
Lots of metals and glass for materials, very clean and shiny
No stairs, it’s all ramps or lifts (elevators)
Some buildings, usually those with huge crowds moving through, such as the spaceport, have moving sidewalks and moving ramps (Rovarian version of an escalator.
Cities have very tall buildings, thanks to the planet’s lower gravity making it easier to lift materials up to those heights.
Many buildings (especially the tallest ones) are designed to light up at night, some having patterns of color change or light movement
A plaque inside the main entrance of the building credits the architect, as well as everyone who helped construct it
Sculpture
As with architecture, metals are the primary material used
Depending on the artist, the piece can be something ethereal-looking, something futuristic, or something inspired by Earth art styles
There are many installment pieces, especially in cities. These can be inside buildings or out in parks and other public areas.
A plaque or sign placed with the piece credits the artist and anyone who helped construct it.
For smaller sculptures, a signature from the artist can be found directly on the piece itself
Visual Art
There are Rovarians who draw and paint, both traditionally and digitally
Many digital artists like to animate their work
They may also include an animated version of their signature
Traditional painters, along with ordinary paints, will also use metallic and/or glowing paints in their work
Like traditional Earth artists, they sign their paintings. The same is true for Rovarian drawing artists.
Some Rovarians practice textile arts such as weaving fabric, as this is a commodity that can be good for trading with other species
Other media for Rovarian visual artists include, but are not limited to: holograms, fiber-optics, LEDs, found items (for “upcycling”)
Theatre/Dance
Yes, these do exist for Rovarians
The first ever live production was a retelling of the twins’ story through dance, with singers and musicians providing the music
Costumes are typically very elaborate and eyecatching, unless the production calls for more subtlety.
Dance style is usually smooth, flowing, and graceful, though it can also be sharp, snappy, and energetic.
Literature
Very similar to Earth literature, except that the genre of erotica does not exist
Some writers will collaborate with an artist to create a graphic novel or a holo-novel
FINALLY got the information on these guys up.
Photos courtesy of @nasa , myself (the craptastic drawing), and an artist whose name I couldn’t find, but I know it’s someone awesome because of that Opportunity painting