PLAYER INFO. ✖ Handle: Ida ✖ Contact:idahna ✖ Are You Over 16: Y ✖ Other Characters Played in Consignment: n/a
CHARACTER INFO. ✖ Character Name: Wayneright, R. Dorothy ✖ Canon: The Big O (Television Series), Episode 24 ✖ Character Appearance:It really doesn't get more expressive than this. ✖ Character Age: Unknown/Ageless ✖ Pick A Number: 1, 300
✖ Canon Setting:
Dorothy's story takes place in Paradigm City -- as far as appearances go, undeniably meant to evoke neo-Gotham impressions. Paradigm is city under a large dome, and the only human settlement as far anyone is aware. The inhabitants live under an umbrella of haunted pasts and developmental stupor thanks to "The Incident" forty years ago. Everyone was stripped clean of their memories, and in the subsequent years, had to relearn their now-foreign streets, their now-alien technology, and their pasts, which came to people in bits and pieces, in the form of disturbing visions or nightmares. These 'Memories', too, could be found as physical artifacts around the city, which were of high value for those who wished to piece together a vision of the Truth -- the whats and whys of The Incident, and the elements that spurred it into action.
Not much is known about The Incident, on both a narrative and meta level. It is implied that the upper crusts of Paradigm's society had a hand in its execution, but this is as far speculation can go. While most of the citizens live in destitution, the rich live in gross extravagance, surrounded by disproportionately advanced technology that they operated by mere instinct. Androids and giant robots are uncommon, but not particularly surprising.
R. Dorothy Wayneright's story likely began in a lab, spurred into action thanks to a pricey commission between a greedy scientist and a grieving parent: Timothy Wayneright, the father of Dorothy Wayneright -- the real Dorothy Wayneright, that is, who was famous around Paradigm City for her enchanting stage presence and beautiful voice. This tenderfoot songstress had allegedly died due to "The Incident" 40 years from when the story begins, sending her father into grief so unbearable that he decided to commission a Dorothy recreation in a city where androids with largely life-like qualities were common, if you could afford to meet the cost with a little less than an arm or leg. Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's The Nightingale, which tells of a Chinese Emperor who fascinated himself with the songs of a mechanical nightingale, Timothy Wayneright enlisted the job to Miguel Soldano to construct an android of Dorothy in her likeness, built with some of her memories and all her musical finesses. Miguel Soldano's expert skills were unmatched in all of Paradigm City, and Mr. Wayneright got his wish: dubbing this new creation R. (Robot) Dorothy Wayneright. In his eyes, the loss of Dorothy's personality was an inevitable price he was willing to pay, so as long as he would never forget the sound of his daughter's melodies.
R. Dorothy Wayneright quickly became the next target for underground dealers who made their livelihoods by holding quality androids hostage in exchange for a hefty price. When she gets abducted by Jason Beck and his gang of crooks, Paradigm City's top Negotiator, Roger Smith, is called to the scene on the assumption that he was to mediate a trade-off between the real Dorothy Wayneright and suitcase full of cash. He quickly finds out that the real abductee was merely an android, concludes with a certain amount of distaste that he has been scammed, and sabotages his own negotiation, leaving Beck and Co. without the money and R. Dorothy Wayneright without a place to go. With no small delay, Dorothy tracks down Roger's mansion to let him know that it was only Soldano who put up the money for her retrieval, stirring up more suspicions over the nature of the deal. On top of that, Dorothy forcibly manages to weasel her way into Roger's affairs, on account that Mr. Smith would protect her from some nebulous, looming threat. Roger accepts her request, albeit begrudgingly.
When Dorothy and Roger take a trip to Soldano's factory, they find Miguel among the buildings' ashes and ruins with one foot already in the grave. With his last breaths, he declares that he never wanted to build "it" for "people like them", and calls Dorothy "Dorothy-II, Nightingale, his real daughter". Before Roger could press for more details, Miguel Soldano dies in his arms, leaving the negotiator with a set of unanswered questions. Dorothy and Roger manage a spry escape when the factory comes under attack by Beck, looking to get retribution and an upper-hand. It's barely a moment out of the crossfire before they discover a giant mecha, referred to as a Megadeus, roaming the streets of Paradigm City, destroying everything in its path.
This Megadeus happened to be constructed by Miguel Soldano himself as Dorothy-I, and is skyjacked by Beck and his associates in an effort to break into a Paradigm Bank for mint plates. This makes R. Dorothy and Dorothy-I sisters, in a sense, which is nothing if not an unsettling discovery to Dorothy herself. Dorothy-I is apprehended by Roger's own Megadeus, Big O, but later resurrected when Beck kidnaps Dorothy for a second time in order to use her body as a generator for the robot.
Roger honors his newfound role as Dorothy's bodyguard by literally pulling Dorothy out of Beck's clutches -- the core of the Megadeus where Dorothy was embrangled in a web of interconnected wires and tubes. Dorothy-I is defeated for good, and Dorothy joins Roger in his negotiation business in the aftermath, living in his mansion as a glorified maid (along with Roger's butler, Norman) while simultaneously acting as hired muscle whenever Roger finds himself in hot water. Roger gradually throws his doubts over Dorothy's potential overboard, time and time after Dorothy proves herself to be much more capable of defending herself than Roger ever was alone.
Negotiation after negotiation, Dorothy and Roger bring to light the mysteries¹ behind Paradigm City and The Incident 40 years ago in small, gradual increments. Together with Norman, and a mysterious woman named Angel, they smoke out the Memories of Roger's past, and his peculiar role in The Incident 40 years prior.
✖ Character Personality:
There are certain traits observed in a typical Paradigm android, almost without exception. Unlike Dorothy, they cannot pass for a human if first appearances are any judge. They are generally created for subservient roles, such as busing tables, performing for live diners, collecting evidence for criminal detectives, changing oil and tires... the list goes on for however many labors can be completed using an android capable of filling in a human's shoes. And while Dorothy's interactions with other characters within the series (excluding Roger, and perhaps Norman) are strikingly limited, she is consistently recognized for the anomaly she is. Norman delights in her displays of snark, almost likening her to a cheeky granddaughter rather than a robotic assistant. Angel quickly realizes that Dorothy's hostility is rooted in implicit jealousy more than anything else, and instead of responding with incredulous disbelief or a flippant snub, Angel accepts that Dorothy's emotions are equally as valid as any other human girl, and does her best to back out of Roger's life in respect for Dorothy's happiness.
Even other Paradigm androids can distinguish Dorothy from the rest. R. Instro, one of Paradigm's top pianists, continues to offer her lessons even after losing both his hands, in the interest of fostering Dorothy's innate potential and curiosity. In truth, Dorothy's thirst to understand is the most defining feature that sets her apart from her android analogues. Dorothy has an unconscious urge to discover, or at least hypothesize, what it means to be what she is. Rather than resign to her role with a passive obedience, Dorothy rarely leaves a scene without voicing at least a single question, and in failing that, keen and relentless observations of those around her. At a fundamental level, Dorothy grapples with a classic crisis of identity. It's understandable, in a sense: she is too human-like to pass for an android, and too android-like to pass for a human.
In spite of this fact, Dorothy does not mourn her design, or show any enduring desire to cast herself in favor of 'becoming' human. She is not alone in her struggles, after all. Paradigm City is The City of Amnesia, where all its inhabitants -- human and android alike -- are endlessly piecing together their Memories in an effort to form a clear picture of who they were pre-Incident. The obstacle is universal, while the reasons may be different -- as well as the coping methods. While Roger prefers to tackle his crisis of identity head on, in true heroic fashion, Dorothy opts to understand herself in relation to the connections she forms with others, and how she fits in her web of relationships. She is Roger's complement in all senses of the word. Whereas Roger represents initiative and tangible results, Dorothy represents reinforcement and the hypothetical. Dorothy understands that she may never find out exactly who -- or what -- she is. That is okay, however, as long as she is able to learn and ask questions.
Being an android, everything Dorothy knows has been learned by mimicking human behavior. She perceives social interaction by ascribing strict scripts removed from emotional influence: X behavior should always elicit Y reaction, so on and so forth. As an observer, feelings and emotions are mysterious yet unwanted strangers. She at more than one occasion remarks that while Miguel did not include the capacity for emotional judgment in her design, she does not hold any qualms over his decision. Her range of facial expressions are strikingly limited. She is a shining example of flat affect. Judging by all the above, it is easy to say that Dorothy doesn't have an inherent personality, just a highly efficient AI that is constantly acquiring new social scripts and adapting to changes in her environment.
Yet, Miguel may have designed her with a number of emotive capabilities that even Dorothy herself is unaware of - little unique quirks proving an underlying personality distinct from other Paradigm androids. She has a very dry, very prominent snark about her. Brutal honesty is her best -- and at times, only policy. She may appear to some as sour, what with the perpetually frowning disposition and all, but she shows no signs of a temper. On the contrary, Dorothy is candid, not malicious. Her bluntness can be a bitter pill to swallow at the worst of times, and light sarcasm at the best of times. The latter made more prominent considering that she speaks in a firm, yet monotone voice, each syllable of every word enunciated with a measured precision. It's no question she means everything she says, but the emotions behind her words can often times be anyone's guess.
Dorothy can get very attached to anything (people, items, animals) she regards as important. Allow the relationship to grow and foster, and the lines between loyalty and subdued possessiveness start to blur. She has a special affinity for things that remind her of herself: other androids, robots, and the like. On one occasion, Dorothy takes a droid cat - affectionately dubbed Pero -- as her pet, later showing obvious reluctance to return it to his owners. There's the same unequivocal "mama bear" dynamic between Dorothy and Roger. When she is not accompanying him on a case, she is overlooking the city from the mansion's patio, keeping an eye out for his return with all due diligence. She is the first to notice his days-long absence when he manages to find himself trapped in an underwater facility, and orchestrates her very own negotiation when Roger gets kidnapped. Even more unusual still are the implicit tones of jealousy -- glacial glares, limited interaction -- whenever Roger expresses even a modicum of interest in outside women. In canon, it is Angel that is the primary recipient of the feelings: never verbally expressed, but there all the same.
If she hadn't insisted on staying, Roger might have brushed her off without so much as a second thought. In fact, in the beginning months of their working relationship, Roger has no trouble reminding Dorothy of what she should and should not be capable of by virtue of being an android. No doubt, there is a peculiar trade-off in their growing understandings of one another: on one hand, Dorothy enters Roger's life with the understanding that he holds a set of preconceived notions regarding androids -- he's only been around a handful in his post-Incident life, all of which come nowhere close to rivaling Dorothy's unsettlingly lifelike qualities. He shows a good amount of surprise at the idea of androids contemplating their own natures; Dorothy is quick to remind him that humans are not the only beings capable of thinking about themselves.
While there's more than an ounce of doubt on Roger's end in the beginning, Dorothy steadily diminishes it by the end. Throughout the series, she exhaustively challenges Roger's aforementioned notions, right down to the most trivial displays of personality that, in Roger's words, might have been "expected from a real woman" (mocking his sense of style, most famously). On the flip side of the coin, Roger provides Dorothy a home, an exemplar of otherwise unfamiliar human habits (sleeping in past noon, much to Dorothy's ire) and perhaps most importantly: a lesson or two in what it means to care for -- or even love -- another person.
It's understating the matter by several degrees to say the issue of love becomes a point of internal contention for Dorothy. She has difficulty grasping tacit human "codes" for love, and by extension, does not understand why her relationship with Roger never looks quite like what she observes in the streets of Paradigm --- two people living together, giving gifts, holding hands, kissing one another. During one particular interaction and without even the slightest hint of reserve, Dorothy asks Roger if they would have fallen in love if they were to lose their memories. She acknowledges that it is a difficult question, hinting at an inherent understanding of the complexities of love and how it manifests for each and every person. For the most part, both are content to leave the matter unsaid. Mutually complicated. Classifying the nature of Roger and Dorothy's relationship is difficult -- whether it be in terms of platonic or romantic affection, unrequited or requited, but for what it's worth, Roger and Dorothy never bother to classify their dynamic themselves.
Dorothy can easily settle into habits and daily rituals. Once a routine sticks, there's no diverging from the path. Playing the piano when Roger decides to sleep in is one such habit, despite his constant gripes and complaints... he even went as far as to bolt the piano with metal chains to prevent her from opening it when he decided that enough was enough. Typical of Dorothy's persistence, she found a loophole through his logic and later had the piano unlocked as per her conditions of a deal.
✖ Character Powers:
( sᴜᴘᴇʀ sᴛʀᴇɴɢᴛʜ/ᴀᴇʀᴏʙɪᴄ ᴄᴀᴘᴀᴄɪᴛʏ ) Dorothy's strength rivals that of world-class bodybuilders. She can smash through wooden walls, push open laden metal doors with as much of an effort as moving a pencil, punch through glass with nary a flinch, and withstand the brunt of missile fire, so as long as the damage can be repaired. Despite her movements being entirely mechanical, her aerobic stunts are executed with an impeccable fluidity. She is fast enough to cleanly dodge bullets, and can move her body in unsettling contortions.
( ᴀɴᴅʀᴏɪᴅ ᴘᴇʀᴄᴇᴘᴛɪᴏɴ ) Dorothy can sense even the most minute changes in her surroundings and can accurately perceive whether an individual is human, android, or neither of the two. She perceives no pain, taste, or smell (ergo, does not need to eat or drink), although her body can recognize temperature fluctuations. She does not require oxygen to survive.
( ᴄᴅ-ʀᴏᴍ ᴅʀɪᴠᴇ ) Dorothy's headband functions as a CD-ROM drive, which can accept whole or fragmented CDs to be verbally transcribed. This ROM drive also acts as an 'ON' button of sorts, for if it is forcibly pulled out from her head, she will shut down, much like a computer.
( ɪɴᴛᴇʀғᴀᴄᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴀᴛɪʙɪʟɪᴛʏ ) Dorothy is interface compatible with the mecha of her universe (referred to as Bigs), but since this is largely unexplained in canon and irrelevant to Consignment, it doesn't need further elaboration.
Having been accustomed to stopping for the sake of someone's curiosity, Dorothy was hardly surprised when she saw a man approaching, looking intent on conversing with her. She was, however, surprised when he promised her Pero back, in his original state, without even so much as a plead on her part.
Not as if she would be the one to plead under any circumstance -- especially in light of the caveats offered by should she -- or anyone from her world -- refuse to take up the cross in CDC's honor. She wasn't particularly excited to offer her expertise in the name of world building... or destroying. She wasn't particularly upset, either.
It was just one of those things -- one among many of those things -- that simply had to be carried out till the end.
And of Roger? She had referred to him simply as her "boss" -- assistant would do an unjust to the dynamic of their roles, and companion felt a bit too... She couldn't begin to explain.
"He will be called upon in due time."
Her motive for resistance grew more limited right then. It was a small miracle that she wasn't met with a negative on that front, which could either be considered lucky, or simply an indication of what kind of place she would find herself in.
...Or the type of people she was working for. Regardless, it could have been just a little worse; and suddenly she's reminded of an affectionate mewing at her feet when she reaches out to shake the man's hand, cold fingers gripping tightly around his with stiff determination. The memory more than reminded her of that fact.
Yes. It definitely could have been just a little worse.
CHARACTER ITEMS. ✖ Pick a Team: Orange Team
✖ Mission Freebie:Pero, her (temporary) pet android cat. ✖ Personal Item or Weapon: A fragmented CD of hidden Memories of Paradigm City
✖ Character Inventory:
a fragmented CD of hidden Memories of Paradigm City
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consignment appidahna
