IRO-bot

## IRO-bots

Coheed Kilgannon, an IRO-bot.

**IRO-bots** are an uncatalogued race within Heaven's Fence. Modeled after humans, they are primarily terrestrial beings (live on land) and usually move with erect, bipedal posture; high, manual dexterity with notable opposable thumbs that allow them to use various tools; and use complex, open-ended language (mainly verbal, but also includes a variety of non-verbal communication as well). Since they must be grown, their numbers are extremely low by all standards, so they inhabit very few planets in the colony, but very few areas are uninhabitable for them, especially given their high problem-solving skills, and additional features and powers that vary entity to entity.

## History

IRO-bots were created shortly after the appearance of the Black Rainbow by Doctor Leonard Hohenberger, a biologist with a specialty in humans. With the assistance of Doctor Inaid, a geneticist, and Doctor Stockmeyer, a biomedical engineer, the first IRO-bot created was codenamed Inferno. Using entirely more DNA then necessary and implanting a lot of his own memories into him, Inferno was a genetic clone of Hohenberger with an advanced, computer-like mind index important knowledge. The next IRO-bots were created at the same time upon the success of the first. They were codenamed Beast and Knowledge, respectively. Beast was outfitted with a mechanical set of arms that could transform into an ion cannon (right) or produce several hidden blades (left). Knowledge had a bit of special DNA mixed into her composition which gave her psychic abilities and allowed her to propel herself in a direction and hover, effectively flying. Created specifically for battle, these IRO-bots were given growth accelerators for both mind and body with the goal of trying to take on Ryan's forces.

Ryan did eventually get the better of them and they retreated. Their creator, Hohenberger, sensed that he would soon meet his end one way or another and created his fourth and final IRO-bot, Josephine. This one would not be given any accelerants since a cure for the Monstar Virus was to be cultivated in her blood. She was placed with Beast and Knowledge, now known as Coheed and Cambria, to be kept safe. Their memories suppressed, and new memories implanted, the pair lived an assuming life and even had more, biological children. Meanwhile, Inferno, whom they knew as "Jesse," joined a new, larger rebel force against Ryan, but this eventually failed as well. Coheed, Cambria, and Josephine all perished, leaving Inferno as the only original entity left.

He decided to create more IRO-bots himself. Having been a genetic clone, and retaining a lot of the doctor's memories, he was able to create a new generation of IRO-bots that all had some special ability or power. Again, primarily being for war, Inferno would destroy any so-called units that did not meet his standards, including those that lost their drive to fight. For one set of units, he used his own DNA as a base. Upon inspecting these units, one reacted to his presence in a strange way. This struck some chord within him and he asked the medical team to hold off on giving the unit (a girl) the accelerants. Unfortunately the mental accelerant had already been applied, but they refrained from giving her the physical one. These two units were Chase (the girl), and Sizer, a boy.

They constantly called Inferno their father, as did others on the elder IRO-bot's ship, much to Inferno's displeasure. That being said, Inferno *did* feel very differently about them in comparison to his many other units. Chase's ability was to bend reality to her will and was able to both create, absorb, and redirect energy of all sorts. Sizer was called such because he was able to morph into a giant, hulking form of a beast. They did eventually joined their father in battle. Chase, it seemed, was the fabled Vishual described in the Ghansgraad. They fought several battles again Ryan and even teamed up with the Crowing to take him down.

Ultimately, Inferno did lose his body, though as an IRO-bot, he was able to backup his conscious and upon being fatally struck by cyborg Mayo Deftinwolf, he was quickly able to upload this backup to Deftinwolf's motherboard, and perhaps even overtake it completely. We shall have to see how the rest of the IRO-bots' fate turns out.

## Habitat

> Main article: Human § Habitat

IRO-bots, with mostly human traits, live in areas that are common to humans. Some IRO-bots may have traits that allow them to live in even the watery depths of Donar, or the plasma filled Stars of Sirius. IRO-bots' powers are all different, even if the same DNA is used, as seen with Chase and Sizer.

## Biology

> Main article: Human § Biology

IRO-bots, like humans, all have generally symmetrical bodies that include: a head; with hair, two eyes & eyebrows, a nose, a mouth, and two ears; a torso; with a neck the head sits on, a chest that features two breasts with one nipple each, two arms that bend at the elbow, and wrists that have hands with five fingers each, a bellybutton on the stomach, a curved spine along the back that ends at the buttocks, and genitalia; two legs that bend at the knee and ankles that have feet with five toes each. Depending on the sex of the human, some features are different. They bleed red blood.

IRO-bots, like humans, may display a sense of individuality resulting in them changing many aspects of themselves, even their bodies. The first generation IRO-bots were mostly encouraged to suppress any individuality they made felt; they wore similar clothing to each other and did as they were told. The exception was Josephine. Since she was raised to believe she was 100% human, she displayed the same sense of individuality that they often displayed. Inferno's second generation IRO-bots were conditioned, in the same way, to suppress the majority of individualism many of them felt. However, Chase and Sizer, he allowed more freedoms and had stronger wills. That said, it very could be the human trait is the default but being easily overwritten is their IRO-bot trait.

IRO-bots are *very* resilient; they can even survive without major aspects of their bodies including key parts such as: eyes to see, noses to smell, mouths to speak, ears to hear, arms and/or hands which are used for a variety of tasks including writing, using tools, or other dexterous activities, legs and/or feet which are used primarily for basic transportation (walking), and even their breast tissue and sex organs, which are used to birth and care for their children. Sizer was taken captive by Ryan's forces and completely torn apart (inner organs and tissue completely separated and/or destroyed) but was able to be put back together in mostly working order. The longer he was back online, the quicker he regained function and memory.

IRO-bots, like humans, have a mixed set of teeth. Their front teeth, though not particularly pointed, are flat and wedge-like (called incisors) which allows them to cut into many different forms of sustenance; they have so-called canine teeth on either side of the incisors which **are** pointed and which helps to tear the food away from it's source (similar to how perforation works); and lastly they have molars which are larger, nearly flat teeth that crushes the food and breaks it down to be swallowed and digested. Some IRO-bots, such as Sizer, can transform these teeth to be even deadlier; all animal-like incisors. Though not necessarily shown in others, it is conceivable that some IRO-bots could have different teeth by default.

IRO-bots do not birth other IRO-bots, though they may reproduce as humans do, though the traits of the child take on the DNA traits provided to the parents at the time of their creation. IRO-bots can only be made in a lab using the techniques Hohenberger created which involves a bit of actual DNA, and ISO chamber, and various biomechanical assistance, if wanted. Each entity, even if the same DNA is used, will produce a random result. For example, Hohenberger used his son's DNA to create Coheed Kilgannon (Beast) and also later Josephine. Similarly, Inferno used his own DNA to create Chase and Sizer. Weight, height, gender, hair, eye, and powers... all are completely random. Coheed was outfitted with biomechanical prosthetic arms as he was growing so his DNA was altered to accommodate the extra weight and the transformative process on his body.

### Appearance

> Main article: Human § Appearance

IRO-bots tend to look like humans. Coloring has a large variance amongst IRO-bots, as they do in humans, with skin tone ranging from very light (almost white) to very dark (almost black); hair color bases are mainly black/brown and blond/white; and eye color bases are mainly blue/green and brown/black. That having been said, it is important to again state that IRO-bots are able to express their individuality by modifying these characteristics, OR these characteristics are modified for them in some fashion. The skin of an IRO-bot is always organic and may be changed with chemicals to be somewhat lightened or darkened or designs can be added to mark the skin (called tattoos) which could be of any color. Hair on IRO-bots is found all throughout one's body, but primarily the hair found on the head is often cut into unique styles, and/or dyed into any color, sometimes multiple colors or even completely shaved off (called bald). Some IRO-bots may not necessarily wish to make head hair modification permanent as thus wear a hair accessory known as a wig to conceal their natural hair state. Even eye colors can be modified using a prosthetic device that is inserted into the eye cavity to sit on top of the eye's cornea (called contact lenses).

IRO-bots, like humans, also practice a custom in which their bodies are covered in what is known as clothing. Clothing comes in a variety of styles and colors and is made from various natural and synthetic textiles. Clothing almost always covers the breast and genitalia areas of their bodies, but often covers other areas such as the rest of the trunk, arms or legs, and feet. Some IRO-bots who suppress their individuality where a uniform at all times rather than change their clothes out regularly.

### Life Cycle

> Main article: Human § Life Cycle

Though IRO-bots are not able to make other IRO-bots, they may reproduce; the result is usually derived from the DNA that is the basis for their own. As with humans, this is done internally. The male's sperm fertilizes a female's egg. Though this does not have to occur inside the female, that is the most common way. The average gestation period is 38 weeks, and can vary person-to-person by about 4 weeks. Births are live and usually pushed out—a process that can take an average of 24 hrs. Children can be cut out as well—a relatively safe procedure, this is usually only done for some medical or emergency reason and takes just as long as regular childbirth. IRO-bots are able to go through the three stages of growth in humans—childhood (which includes three major sub-stages: infancy, puberty, & adolescence), adulthood, & senescence—though often the childhood stage is completely circumvented using physical and mental growth accelerants.

#### Childhood

Only two known IRO-bots have experienced the Childhood stage of life. The majority of IRO-bots skip this stage as they are administered mental and physical growth accelerants; this stage may be gone through in just a week or two for incubated IRO-bots. In unaltered IRO-bots like Josephine, it lasts until no more than two years of age (it may end sooner depending on the child) and children during this stage are called infants. Chase, who was not given growth accelerants, but was given mental accelerants did have to physically go through this stage, but was more independent and understanding during this stage than the average human child is. Upon coming online, she was more or less in the next stage mentally.

The next major stage, puberty, begins around 11 years of age in unaltered IRO-bots. This stage is usually skipped in most IRO-bots who are still in ISO tanks (probably another two weeks or so). In unaltered IRO-bots, this stage may last until the child is about 16 years of age and children may be called youths during this time.

The child then enters the final stage of childhood: adolescence. Again, this is done in an ISO tank for most IRO-bots, and it is usually towards the end of this stage that they are released from the tanks. Within human society a child is considered a legal adult during this stage as well (which allows them to do all full adult activities), but may still be called a "young adult" instead. It is at that legal age, that an IRO-bot is released from their ISO tank. Sometimes, depending on the entity, they may stay in until full adulthood.

#### Adulthood

Though usually taken out of an ISO tank before this stage, IRO-bots are usually put online at around this stage. Humans reach full adulthood at around 25 years of age, but IRO-bots are usually online in about 18 weeks (4.5 months) and spend the majority of their lives in this stage. During this stage, humans are the most independent and secure and IRO-bots are no different. Though not having parents, they usually rely on their creator for at least a few weeks or months to become acquainted to all the physical motions they know, but have never put into practice. Though they have total autonomy over themselves, they tend to follow their creator's demands.

A human adult achieves seniority at about the age of 65, but this age varies based on the society which IRO-bots do not have. Seniority prepares the human for the final stage of their life (senescence) and allows a human to retire from a job, get government assistance, in addition to other benefits. As IRO-bots are made to fight, they usually don't reach the equivalent of seniority.

#### Senescence

Senescence is the final stage a human goes through in the life cycle. IRO-bots are usually destroyed in some way before they reach the equivalent of this stage so it's unclear exactly when it begins in them. For humans and thus potentially for IRO-bots, the process begins at the age of 55, but doesn't really effect the human until the age of 70 or even 80, depending on the human. A human's health throughout their childhood and adulthood will determine how harshly they experience senescence and how soon. Even though IRO-bots tend to live cushy, easy childhoods due to the ISO tanks they form in, their adult lives are filled with hardship as they are usually made to fight. Therefore it would be reasonable to assume some can even experience the stage much earlier at the equivalent human age of 40 or so.

During this stage, a human's body (both internally and externally) begins to break down. This may be different for some IRO-bots as they sometimes have biomechanical parts and do not have the same limitations humans do on having their "parts" replaced. Their hair, like humans, can begin to lose its color; their eyes may also become dull, their skin will lose its elasticity, and they will no longer be able to produce healthy eggs or sperm for reproduction. The eldest IRO-bot known, Inferno, was able to function until the human age equivalent of around 32 and had begun showing signs of senescence in losing his hair color on his temples and visible wrinkles in the skin (loss of elasticity). This could be due to the initial accelerants given to him to allow him to come online as an adult, rather than going through childhood first.

IRO-bots in general are pretty resilient. They usually require oxygen based air to breathe but may not die if they aren't able to obtain it, unlike humans who may die without oxygen for 5 min or longer or suffer permanent damage at just 4 min of deprivation. Limbs may not grow back if lost, but may be outfitted with a replacement easily enough and some other things, such as eyesight, hearing, and some internal issues may be fixed if damaged. They may be able to survive without their limbs, and in certain cases even the head and majority of the torso (specifically the part that contains the heart) can be repaired with a replacement with little issue. This was proven in Sizer's case. Some IRO-bots are only as strong as a regular human (exerting around 107 lb [48.5 kg] of pressure on average), but most others are significantly stronger than that on average due to their progeny.

## Psychology

> Main article: Human § Psychology

The IRO-bot brain, like the human brain, is located in the top portion of their head (called the skull), is the central point of their body's nervous system. It controls a body in two ways: in involuntary or autonomic activities (breathing, digesting, blinking, and so forth) and in more conscious activities (moving, speaking, thinking, and so forth). They have a complex mind that results in complex behavior, thoughts, philosophy, and emotions. Humans have developed a whole field of study for exploring this aspect (called psychology). IRO-bots usually also have additional abilities that are cultivated in their ISO tank time. It is unclear how that is done.

### Sleep and Dreaming

While humans require an average of 8 hours of sleep each day in order to maintain high functionality, IRO-bots, in some cases, never need to sleep. This is most likely due to the biomechanics in most IRO-bots that allow them to rest and recuperate in other ways.

Dreaming is an interesting phenomenon, even in humans. IRO-bots have been known to dream, though truthfully the only ones we know of had their memories suppressed and believed they were human. The dreams they experienced seemed to be these suppressed memories surfacing in a relatively harmless manner.

### Motivations and Emotions

Humans are motivated by a variety of things and receive a variety of biological feedback that may motivate them to accomplish basic tasks. For example, if a human is hungry, they experience a pain in their stomach and may also experience headache, tiredness, and mental blur. This may motivate them to seek food; if they live in a society in which food is obtained through the exchange of goods (including money) they may be motivated to find work to have the means to obtain food. IRO-bots do not necessarily require biological sustenance, so even when these urges occur, they are easier to ignore. An IRO-bot, built to fight, is motivated simply by the commands they receive and the mission to be accomplished.

They are also not motivated by pain or fear as many humans are since they often have a higher sense of purpose by command and they usually have no regard for their own life, but regard the lives of their comrades and the success of the mission. They may have other personality traits to exploit, but pain or fear is not something an IRO-bot knows, by nature. Josephine, who was raised as a human, did know pain and fear, which did affect her, but this is not the norm.

Emotions are usually an expression from a human's state of mind through their nervous system. There are eight core emotions: anger, caution, happiness, trust, fear, surprise, sadness, and disgust. Many other emotions can come from these and some emotions are a cross between two core ones. IRO-bots do experience emotions, as humans do, but are often better at disguising them. Emotions are primarily expressed through facial expressions, but may also be expressed through their body (called body language).

Sometimes emotion can affect one's tone in their speech or disposition. This can be harder to detect since it is not just the direct expressions their face or body displays. Interpreting both the direct and subtle qualities a human, or IRO-bot uses to express their emotions is known as "Reading the Room." This can be much harder to do in most IRO-bots.

### Sexuality and Love

As IRO-bots do not need to reproduce to progenerate, many do not engage in sexual activities at all. The IRO-bots that were made to believe they were human, such as Coheed, Cambria, and Josephine, all did engage in this, and Coheed and Cambria specifically even had other, mostly regular children. Though never believing he was human, Inferno most likely engaged in sexual activities with his long term lover, Mariah Antillarea.

That said, IRO-bots may also express love, which is affection that does not relate to sex. The most common types of love are: familial, platonic (usually amongst friends), romantic (usually for a sexual partner), and self-love. This is a very strong emotion that stems from the core emotion of happiness. If manipulated with advance skill and thought, this can control even an IRO-bot completely, as shown in the Kilgannon family. Inferno in his early years believed he was built to love, and was reluctant to express this emotion. Though he became able to express this for Antillarea, he found it difficult to express this to Chase and Sizer, even though he felt it. So it is probably the most complex emotion for some IRO-bots to convey.

## Culture

In a way, IRO-bots are very social; though they do not live in a society of their own, they do constantly interact with their comrades and various people from all walks of life. They are accepting of people who are different then them. Their culture is very war-like; mission focused and driven to achieve success. They can successfully live peaceful lives if given the opportunity (though perhaps this, too, is viewed as a mission). They have no uniformed beliefs, but they do have a uniformed sense of righteousness and justice, even in peaceful times.

## Society

> Main article: Human § Society

Though IRO-bots can be very social, they do not have a society of their own. They live in mostly human societies and integrate into their social structures.

## Notable IRO-Bots

* Inferno Kilgannon
* Coheed Kilgannon
* Cambria Kilgannon
* Josephine Kilgannon
* Chase
* Sizer

### Longcindia

Shortly before Chase and Sizer's creation, **Longcindia** was made by Inferno. Unusually kind and a big brother type, He formed a very close relationship with the two very quickly. Inferno, in his very strict and hard way, tried to hammer that kind of personality out of all of his creations, but it wouldn't budge in Longcindia. Eventually, thinking he could be fixed perhaps, Longcindia confessed to Inferno that he'd noticed some "malfunctions" such as crying, not being able to concentrate, and not wanting to kill. Of course, Inferno, who was still trying to ignore his own feelings, decided to incinerate him, which of course upset Chase and Sizer.

### Hack

A male IRO-bot. He has the ability to cut through anything with blades that extend from his arms. He wears a green uniform and sports a scarred face.

### Many

A female IRO-bot. She has the ability to create duplicates of herself, though their stature diminishes with each copy. She wears a purple pilot's uniform and a gas mask. Her face is disfigured as well.

## References

1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human
2. ↑ Sanchez, Claudio. *Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV - Volume I: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness*. Page 87. Evil Ink, 2005.