SMILE.asf

SMILE.asf is a virus in the Alpha Script File format known to plague sabarus alphas of the G-R1N model from the Rackinid city of Deldaan. This particular model of alpha was discontinued in 4267 as soon as the security vulnerability to this virus was revealed, and there are rumors that the Alamo Empire hunted down "loose" G-R1N model sabarus alphas and locked them away from doing further damage.
The G-R1N model was designed to be more appealing to organic Kylians with advancements in emotion-reading and general focus on being "indistinguishable" from an organic Kylian in behavior. To this end, neuroscientists and psychologists were involved in the development alongside engineers and programmers. The project drew criticism from both "separatist"-minded alphas that balked at the idea that alphas should be forced into "faking" normalcy to be accepted and organic Kylians that feared the idea of an alpha "disguising" itself as someone like them. It is suspected, but unproven, that SMILE.asf was an intentional sabotage from within the development stages of G-R1N model alphas done by a cover agent for either group.
Because meshes for faces were too complex to delay other aspects of the project for, G-R1N alphas displayed enormous amounts of innate understanding and instinctive pro-social behaviors immediately rather than having to learn them, yet still "looked" robotic. Within a few days of the G-R1N alphas' awakening, the test engineers reported an unsettling commonality among many of the alphas -- their jaws would clatter and bend and twist, sometimes even having the alphas try to "force" their mouths in different shapes with hammers and other tools, in an attempt at smiling. Analyses and diagnostic reports eventually found an errant file called SMILE.asf that they deemed to be the cause. Upon the file's removal, however, the sabarus alphas seemed to change, which revealed the "trick" -- the file had been so obvious that the engineers did not think to look deeper for any other effects it might have already done, and the actual presence of SMILE.asf had acted as an inhibitor for the rest of the program's hidden functions.
Alphas affected by SMILE.asf would continue to display the same "fake smiling" behavior that initially alerted engineers to some sort of flaw in the system. They would attempt to gouge off the skin of anyone they came into contact with and attempt to wear it on their faces, which would still be distorted by the nonstop jaw clacking. The end result had piecemeal skin, fur, and scales tattered on a bloodied, metal face that tried and failed to smile.
The exact number of injuries and casualties inflicted by SMILE.asf was never revealed publicly, but all personnel associated with G-R1N disappeared -- perhaps the first victims of SMILE.asf or simply hidden away to avoid retribution from a vengeful public. In the decades since the incident, it has passed into the public consciousness as something of a go-to horror story or urban legend, though mere public fixation on a horrific massacre does little to explain grainy security videos that occasionally surface of sabarus alphas wandering in the darkness, their steps marked by a strangely distinct clacking noise from their head.
Category:Ealdremen Programs
Category:No Spoilers