Nahdpencil

CM4-37AETO “ETO”

CM4s (“Combat Model 4s”) were designed in response to the problems with previous CM3s and CM3*s. They have the most advanced self-learning upgrades of all non-specialized combat models.

CM4s are often deployed as high-ranking “leaders” in squads of lower-ranking models, though they are also known to be deployed on their own for reconnaissance or termination duties.

ETO was originally deployed for a clandestine operation behind enemy lines. Though the operation was initially deemed successful, ETO returned with concerning bugs in its programming that forced the RAS to retain ETO at one of its production facilities, with the intention to eventually destroy ETO once the source of its bugs were found.

ETO’s apparent escape, as well as the resultant loss of life at the production facility, resulted in a decision by the RAS to destroy all remaining CM4s currently in active deployment.

Later CM5s and CM6s were subsequently given much more restricted self-learning algorithms, with the very last line of models being produced in much fewer numbers so that designers could manually program and build each model to more effectively suit their specialized roles.

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“ETO” was the final song I wrote for the IKE EP. I created its three-chord progression as early as fall of 2024 (around the same time I started working on the initial iterations of “TUKS”), though I only got around to writing and recording the bulk of “ETO” a couple of months later in May/June of 2025. Given its position as the album closer, I always wanted it to be a slow, calming song with a nice buildup to a sudden, powerful bridge, which I hoped would help it stand out from the rest of the songs on the album. I also thought it’d be fun if this song featured motifs from the other tracks of the album, which is why its buildup and outro include small, modified versions of the riffs from “IKE”, “TUKS”, and “ZAGHAZ”.

CM3*-G6ZGHZ “ZAGHAZ”

CM3*s (“Combat Model 3 - Stars”) are CM3s with additional self-learning upgrades. Stars (“*”) denote models that are modified or upgraded versions of existing models.

By the time of the war’s conception, RAS had begun exclusively focusing its time towards producing combat-centric models. Earlier CM1s and CM2s were functionally proof-of-concepts that were intended to catch the eye of various governments, whose funding and resources had dwindled to the point that emergency deals with private military companies were the norm.

This ended up being both a blessing and a curse for RAS, as the sudden increase in demand for combat models, combined with the short time frames in which military forces needed the models to be deployed, necessitated a decrease in the otherwise extensive field testing RAS was known for.

CM3s, and later CM3*s, were subsequently rushed into deployment with little field testing, resulting in the infamous catastrophic failures of CM3*s on the frontlines, due to a bug in their self-learning upgrades that forced them into non-functioning episodes.

ZAGHAZ has undergone multiple such non-functioning episodes since its deployment, and these episodes appear to have increased in frequency over time. It is unknown why ZAGHAZ was never destroyed like most of the other malfunctioning CM3*s.

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“ZAGHAZ” was the third song I wrote for the IKE EP. Like “TUKS”, this track faced numerous revisions between when I began writing it in December of 2024 and when I finished in March of 2025. I knew from the get go that I wanted this new song to be the most raw-sounding of all the tracks on the EP, given ZAGHAZ (the character) is riddled with programming problems, which—combined with ZAGHAZ being a frontline combat model—led me to design this song from the ground-up with chugging, distorted chords in mind. However, I also knew that this would probably make it one of the most difficult songs to execute correctly, as in the past I’ve had a lot of trouble writing distorted-guitar songs without it sounding too crusty or discordant to listen to. As such, my initial revision for this song featured way less distortion, but then it ended up sounding too quirky and—as one person put it—“more like a theme song for a space cowboy”. My second iteration did not fare much better.

SM1-WB7UKS “TUKS”

SMs ("Support Models") were among the first official models released after XMs. Though combat models became the primary public focus of the AAW program, RAS engineers were also interested in deploying models in support roles.

As such, SMs were often employed in the operation of heavy machinery and mass transport of supplies. By designing SMs, RAS effectively created its own laborers, as support models came to be the primary workhorses of RAS production facilities.

SMs have the most limited self-learning algorithms of all models, as they were usually deployed for specific jobs under controlled environments, where SMs would rarely find themselves needing to respond to rapidly changing conditions. However, as a safety measure, SMs were designed to follow the commands of higher-ranking models in an emergency.

Originally assigned to a mass transport role, TUKS was later deployed to the frontlines when the catastrophic failure of CM3* models left many CM3*s in a non-functioning state, necessitating their destruction before their technology could fall into the hands of opposing forces.

While deployed, TUKS was later assigned to a machine gunner role, as its bulky construction lended it well to carrying larger weaponry and substantial amounts of ammunition and supplies, with little impediment to its movement.

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“TUKS” was the second song I wrote for the IKE EP. In the five months since initially starting this album, I went through three draft compositions for “TUKS”; each one was in 3/4 time, and each ended up having so much distortion that my recordings sounded muddy and lacked dynamic variation. I was committed to releasing “TUKS” by the end of the year, so in December of 2024, I scrapped my drafts so I could rewrite and record an entirely new composition for "TUKS" within a day. This is the version you get to listen to here. (Technically, this new version is not entirely from scratch—the verse chord progression originated from a four-note descending bassline which came to me two and a half years ago. I jotted down the bassline in a file on my computer, yet contemplated deleting the file every few months since I thought I’d never use the bassline; I’m glad I didn’t now, since I love how this final iteration of the song turned out.)

XM-000416 “IKE”

XMs (“Experimental Models”) were among the first models produced by RAS under the AAW program. During the period when XMs were being designed, RAS was still a small-scale private military company that only dealt with human security contractors. As such, XMs were only ever officially designated for use in non-combat support roles, even though there were reports of XMs being sighted on the frontlines.

When later combat models were officially released, many XMs were scrapped for raw material. It remains unclear why IKE was not scrapped.

As one of the only remaining XMs of its kind, IKE is also one of the few known models to exhibit “mirroring” behavior, which AAW had been experimenting with before transitioning to its more common “self-learning” algorithms seen on later models.

Remaining information about IKE, or other similar XMs, is hard to come by, as RAS heavily safeguards most of its documentation regarding experimental models.

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IKE is a four-track instrumental EP that I wrote during the summer of 2024. I had been interested in the idea of writing solely instrumental tracks for at least a few years, both because I grew up listening to the instrumental rock duo Ratatat, as well as suggestions from my father to release the instrumentals for some of my vocal-focused tracks (which I plan on doing one day in the future). When the summer of 2024 came, I realized it was way too hot for me to try recording vocals in the garage like I normally did for my other songs, which made it a great time to commit to writing an instrumental EP.

Regarding the subject matter of the EP itself, “IKE” is a story that I began brainstorming back in 2022 as a way for me to explore subject matters beyond the typical anthro-focused narratives I am used to writing. More specifically, “IKE” is a story I came up with that centers around four humanoid robot soldiers, known as “Models”, who exist in a post-apocalyptic world which was torn apart by nuclear war. It is heavily inspired by video games like Battlefield 4 and the Metro series, and the short stories I would write about the characters (which I only ever shared with my friends) are written in pseudo-computer-terminal language, reflecting the fact that the four main characters are robots who cannot communicate with each other in typical human ways.

Each of the four tracks from this EP were written to represent each of the four main models in the story: IKE (an original, experimental model and the primary protagonist of the storyline), TUKS (a model originally designed for factory work that was later reassigned as a machine gunner), ZAGHAZ (a frontline soldier model riddled with programming issues), and ETO (an advanced sniper/reconnaissance model whom is the de-facto leader of the group).

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