| Linden grid account twist.snakeankle | Port of origin Lowport Station, Dokk Refurinn Colony |
| Name Eclipse | Model CONEA class-A | Serial number KI-4749255-a |
| Manufacturer Kojima Industries | Date of manufacture 2013-12-01 |
Kojima Industries, one of many tech companies Eisa has gained the attention of, registered a corporate representative with the colony in late August of 2015. Rather than send a human agent, Eisa received a synthetic liaison that has represented both the company and one of their product lines, the CONEA. The unit befriended SXD vi0let, and through her was introduced to some of the people and bots around Nanite Systems.
Originally arriving with a temporary codename of "Twist", the coney has registered as a licensed autonomous AI with the designation of "Eclipse". Though she lacks a legal identity, Eclipse is authorized to act as a proxy for the executive she serves, and works on behalf of Kojima Industries. She has been seeking to (or at least claiming to) establish business and collaborative opportunities, with the possibility of opening an office on Eisa. To that end, she's been more or less allowed to 'mingle', forming connections and exploring the colony at will. Entrusted as an 'ambassador' of sorts, Eclipse is often eager to extend gestures of goodwill, offering services or consultation wherever it might be welcome, and she has access to KI resources to support those efforts. She's usually very friendly and open, to the point that she's submitted portions of her memory for review to avoid concerns of corporate espionage. She's also something of a novelty, as the CONEA line of robotics is still working to gain share outside of asian markets.
Eclipse is a class-A model but, due to her company purpose, is a modified variant not available to the commercial public.
- About the CONEA
In 2009, KI released a new line of personal robots called CONEAs, the "Compact Omnipurpose Networked Executive Assistant". Trademarked as 'coneys', these small synths were marketed as versatile and efficient alternatives to full-sized humanoid robots. Prior to this rollout, smaller consumer robotics were either simple toys or purpose-built geometric shapes for specific tasks, and other attempts at smaller biped robots had been repeatedly rejected by the public as either too disturbing when trying for realism, or too abstract to relate with. The coney’s petite proportions and cute rabbit-like appearance neatly sidestepped the 'uncanny valley' issue that many consumers would find intimidating or off-putting in androids. Kojima designers were eager to build on this advantage from the very foundation of the design, making use of a biomimetic processing core that was originally deemed impractical for commercial use. The body was based on a miniaturized version of their tried and tested K-103 powered hardsuit design, with added systems to help offset and minimize the disadvantages of their small stature. The result was a synth that was helpful, efficient, and stable, but still personable and remarkably expressive.
It was a step away from the traditional design of 1:1 scale humanoid frames. KI gambled on a marketing campaign that introduced their new design as product and mascot. Tie-ins with a few popular TV shows, some celebrity endorsements, and deft PR made the campaign successful beyond expectations.
Since then, the CONEA design has been one of Kojima’s more popular lines in Japan and the reemerging economy of China, and has gradually evolved into tiers or classes over time. Less expensive and trimmed-down class-C ‘domestic’ coneys are common in homes as servants, and commercial venues as retail assistants and service reps. Smarter and more rugged class-B coneys retain the more robust K-103 parts, and have been seen supporting civil services like police, and working in hazardous environments or on starship crews where their size and toughness is an advantage. Expensive class-A models like Eclipse tend to be reserved for VIPs like corporate executives, with as many high performance components as are legal. All of them have been developed with an emphasis on natural speech patterns and mannerisms, capable of picking up social cues and nuances. They are made to be pleasant to work with. On occasion different animal 'styles' have been introduced, but the rabbit remains the most popular by far, and is the 'face' of the line.
KI keeps fairly strict control of its IP and distribution. Generous buyback and refit programs as well as aggressive countermeasures to reverse engineering have effectively discouraged black market demand and kept the vast majority of coneys out of obsolescence and scrapyards. Even class-C coneys will vigorously resist attempts to steal or dismantle them. Individual components will destroy themselves if tampered with, unless the coney is aware enough to approve.
- About Kojima Industries
As multinational/extrasolar corporations go, KI is of moderate size, but has been successful in maintaining profitability and market presence through most of its history. Nanite Systems overshadowed the western market with high-profile technological breakthroughs, but KI managed to quietly carve a niche out for itself by building off their eastern market share and targeting promotion of different or even complementary products. Their style of innovation has been characterized by incremental refinements rather than earthshaking discoveries. Their roots began in defense contracts, and items like their K-103 powered hardsuit, R-18 assault rifle, and products by subsidiaries like the popular Rapture HP-26 sidearm have become ubiquitous, or even raised the bar as in the case of their esteemed line of high-frequency blades. Since then, they have brought their measured approach to everything from commercial manufacturing to logistics services. They have become known for finding the ideal balance between elegance, quality, and economy in each of their products, as well as their signature hologram accents. last updated: 2015-09-11 22:17:40