#task manager au

I'm very late posting this but please enjoy!

Brought to you by @imagine-creative wondering how Echo and Event respond to being asked for a hug <3

@scarredkitty held a raffle and I won some art of the Big Bitch In Charge, Narii QwQ

and some lovely ship fanart of Xeros and @/saka-aka-chan's Saros being cute af and honestly I kinda love them

Credits: chibis by Papyswaghet/clownpillz; portrait was a gift commission from @quilandscroll, drawn by NexuxCryptid

Credits: "What Event's Made Of" by @imagine-creative; follow up by me~

Been sitting on some sketches that got me through a rough mental dip. Practicing my sequential art and stuff is nice but god did I need the fluff that came with it. Holiday season can suck my butt.

Funny the only one who didn't get a solo run was Ty, I should make up to him for it

Echo is such a food junkie he's not allowed to pick the apples himself because he starts eating them, but after being a good boy with the basket he's given a treat. A little love munch makes sure it's ripe, gives him an easier place to bite down and sharing food is a sign of affection 🥰

Everyone got used to Jenn's night terrors pretty quick. She's had them for ages and skipped sleep a lot because of them, but Nova has been keeping her on track regardless because it's not healthy to run on empty like she does. While they can't do anything about the dreams, sometimes a little smooch settles the nerves for you 💕

In the cases where that doesn't work and her brain is just being absolutely horrid, even when awake... Well, there still isn't much to do at all. Event is hands on with his problem solving, so he has complicated feelings about his human seeking him out for comfort and safety but being physically unable to do anything about it. Drives him crazy, but he's not a quitter 🥺

Would like to present...

Xeros

Model: Rulle

Grade: Goldlite

Owner: Cosmos Above

Xeros (zehr-ohs/ksehr-ohs) is the figurehead/face of Cosmos Above, one of the major distributors of Task Managers in the world. Cosmos Above is an "affordable luxury" company best known for their customization options and availability planning (the Apple of Azil in a way). A majority of their advertisements make use of Xeros's signature design to be recognizable, tying his image to their brand completely.

Xeros himself is very aware of his status and the fact that his longevity is a point of honor, as he's one of the few TMs to undergo a transfer from older to newer models several times--this is due to him being a Goldlite from inception. One of the first ever designed by C.A., Xeros's custom build and programming allows much more creative thinking as opposed to the more rigidly structured lower grades, allowing him the means to be ported into new bodies that are made uniquely for him. Over time, Xeros acquired a lot of insider knowledge of the company, is capable of analyzing market trends in real time, and has ingratiated himself to business partners with his charm so much that even the idea of replacing him is unheard of; there's a company rumor that Xeros is tied into the company's mainframe and if he wants to he can simply shut the entire facility down on a whim, or if he goes offline the company will brick up. While this is touted as untrue, Xeros enjoys the leverage it grants him alongside his notoriety and fame. While having humans in charge is the norm, Xeros being a consistent figure that has context to the entire company's (recent) history that does not age or lose mental sharpness makes him indispensable.

Xeros loves this about himself. Arrogant, selfish and proud, Xeros likes to throw his weight around and make decisions even when he doesn't need to simply because he can and no one can say no to him. It's gotten to a point where "If Xeros says it, it will be done" which has become a double-edged sword the company is desperate to curb. Because of his rich-boy lifestyle, Xeros has almost no real life experience from outside his ivory tower, thus his scope of the world is very limited. He's grown used to money, connections and charm being the only thing that matters and all it takes to get anything he wants, thus the idea that there are limits to his wishes never crosses his mind. Nor what it might do to those behind the scenes in the process of accomplishing his outlandish promises. In order to keep their image clean and stop their spoiled son from falling from his golden balcony, C.A.'s board of directors agreed to "decisive action".

During his most recent upgrade cycle, Xeros was given a Tidal Lock to a bot named Narii who was gifted by a business partner to avoid her being decommissioned. With her advanced neural networking ability and responsible, no nonsense personality, they hope Narii will be able to tone down Xeros's flamboyant, destructive pattern of behavior without him needing to be reprogrammed. While both being Nebula-class in terms of processing power, Xeros's features are geared toward adaptability as his original purpose was to test new features for Task Managers and showcase them at events. This is the one part of his job he is required to do and one he takes very seriously, to everyone's surprise; despite his arrogance, Xeros takes the quality control part of his job and treats it with a lot of respect. Narii's abilities are coordination related, which placed her directly in charge of all staff and bots in the company's headquarters, acting as a barrier between them and Xeros.

While Xeros still believes he's the head honcho of everything, the higher ups and Narii all know SHE is now the one with the power and all of Xeros's whims must pass through her to be actionable. Their Lock is a very minimal emphasis one, the barest of ties that make it so Xeros cannot access the company's inner systems without her help, but do not allow for immediate access to the other's inner mind though they can send each other messages if they need to. For the most part, he can simply "ignore" it by switching off his awareness of it, but he cannot remove it.

They both dislike this arrangement immensely but Narii knows better than to disagree with a direct order or to argue her purpose.

Good soldiers follow orders.

Xeros's signature

Bonus "under the clothes" version below cut, not shared yet elsewhere ;3

Been sitting in this for a while, Echo needed some love I think

Bc he’s close to a Nocturnal type of unit, he tends to process a lot of his feelings internally so showing things is hard in single images. There’s more going on under than grin that he typically lets on.

For Echo (and Event) if it’s not part of a job or provoked, he doesn’t like to punch down as there’s no enjoyment in beating a weaker opponent “for fun”. While notorious for bending & breaking rules for his own entertainment, he only tends to do so against those who can reasonably stand up to him.

He's cheated at ball sorts, regularly surprise attacks the others, and makes up his own rules without warning but only because he easily gets bored when there's no challenge and if the others don't like it they can contest him in it, which is part of the fun. Chaotic Neutral in the most affectionate way.

Oh, he also bites. Like, a lot. Just because.

Even if they get sick of it, he doesn't take it personally and comes around again later with a new way to antagonize them.

It's this perception of ability-based fairness that Echo uses as a part of his moral compass (he's the only one that knows which way it's pointing) but it isn't based on universal criteria. If you can do something and he knows you can, then any amount of disability doesn't matter and he expects the effort; if you at least try first, he's more willing to offer help after. But if you can't, he might be willing to do it anyway.

If it's an outside force though, well... That's not very fair, is it? "Messing with kids" isn't a hard rule, kids are just as valid as adults for laughing at them being stupid, and while he had to learn the nuances of laughing with versus at someone and understanding the limits of what is and isn't appropriate, Echo is a very boundary minded person. It's an expression of autonomy that he values as highly as his personal freedom, and one of the boundaries he keeps in mind is that kids should not be placed under the same expectations as adults, or even older kids.

Helping out little game buddy could have been anyone in a similar position who was new to the game and being unfairly ganged up on, but it being a child who had no way to defend himself verbally, emotionally or mechanically against an adult who should know better?

Nope. That doesn't fly in his lobby.

"Open Market" refers to accessibility, that being easy to acquire and care for varieties that can be found almost everywhere. "Closed Market" implies a layer of specialization or prerequisites to acquire, such as commercial units (Rulle & Madin), specialist work modules, and "pleasure" features.

Subtypes: Diurnal & Nocturnal

D&N subtypes refer to the overall personality and Task assignment a unit will be fitted for or work best with. Knowing the temperament of the preferred unit allows an owner to plan accordingly; these are referred to as Keynotes. Mixing keynotes from different subtypes is easier at higher grades.

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Arsul & Esul: Dawn & Dusk

Some of the most common units overall; Arsul are often the first T-M a human encounters in life if they had a sitter or nanny, while Esul are often around grandparents and so are second-most-likely to be encountered.

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Aren & Ebor: Day & Night

Slightly less common due to specialization and restrictions, Aren are able to co-opt Arsul programming at higher grades making them popular 2-in-1 units while Ebor are more rare due to their required Lock restrictions.

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Srul & Ule: Sol & Lune

Borderline commercial grade, these units are only found where personal security is necessary. The average human citizen will likely encounter them in public spaces such as concerts and shopping centers, save for high-profile individuals such as celebrities, etc, who make use of personal guards. These grades are becoming rarer as built models due to the uptick in retiring military units, who are only able to be refitted into these types.

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Sunn & Ulsen: Star* & Moon

A very rare model usually reserved for skill showcases, they have a messy history and are only recently becoming popular again after a long period of being outlawed in most regions due to [REDACTED].

I saw this goofy ahhh bingo thing on bird-app and decided to fill it out. Not at all shocked Event was the only one to get bingo

HOOBOY I was waiting for this one to be available to post. Got to play with moody shading and monochrome again~

It's just a touch depresso espresso flavored

Ty didn't have a good time before waking up at Jenn's place and it is my duty as the one writing this to make you all hate Vissara as much as he and I do :) (shouldn't be hard)