Hi. In fact, the fact is that the Player/Angel is a robot, or rather a fusion of a robot and an android, it makes sense if you think about their behavior in the game.
Historical background, necessary for an introduction to the essence:
Towards the middle, but still at the beginning of the 20th century, robotics became popular in mass media, cinema and the industrial revolution. The very concept of modern robotics began thanks to the play "R. U. R." ("Rossum Universal Robots", 1920), written by the Czech writer Karel Chapek. It gave the steel workers their name, "robot." Then the well-known laws of Isaac Asimov appeared.
The laws state: 1. A robot may not harm a human being or, by its inaction, allow a human being to be harmed.
2. A robot must obey all human orders, unless they contradict the first law.
3. A robot must protect its existence to the extent that concern for safety does not contradict the first and second laws.
The end of the historical reference.
In the game, Elliot Ludwig, the founder of Playtime Co., is believed to have died or disappeared between 1985 and 1990. Apart from the developments, a more or less workable model was developed around the 70s.
The context of time: At that time, Intelligent robots were created: In the early 70s, Shakey was created at Stanford, the world's first mobile robot capable of analyzing the environment and independently planning actions to complete tasks. Industrial Revolution: In 1973, KUKA released FAMULUS, the first industrial robot with six electromechanical axes. In 1974, Swedish ASEA (later ABB) introduced the IRB 6, an all-electric robot with microprocessor control, which made it significantly more accurate than its predecessors. Space robotics: On November 17, 1970, Lunokhod-1 was delivered to the Moon, the world's first remotely operated rover from Earth. He worked for almost a year, transferring thousands of panoramas and images of the surface.
Also, speaking of robotics in the USSR. During this period, robotics became a part of government policy in the Soviet Union. Main directions: Industry: The appearance of the first mass-produced industrial robots (the Universal and PR-5 series). Sensorics: The development of robots with "sensing" (technical vision and tactile sensors), capable of recognizing parts on the conveyor. The amateur movement: The heyday of technical creativity clubs and exhibitions, where anthropomorphic robot secretaries and guides were created. End. Simply put, at that time people had enough practice in this field, so that even taking into account the huge conventions of a very controversial game, underground organizations, if they had the means, could create special-purpose robots that did not go out to mass flows, and were realistic enough.
Analysis of Player behavior:
The protagonist of the game is presented as extremely tenacious, quite passive, actively performing these tasks (especially those given by Poppy), persistent and most importantly silent and practically mute. The dumbness may be due to a malfunction or the complete absence of a voice device. Perhaps Ludwig was planning to add it, since the presence of speech is necessary to interact with the future head of the company. But the development was delayed and in cases of his death, the task of completing it had to remain on Leith. But as we know, he had other plans. The only thing is that the characters of the game do not react in any way to the Protagonist's inability to speak or send verbal signs, as if they know about his inability to do these actions and are not even expected to do so. In chapter 4, while in Safe Haven, a toy asks us if we have food, to which the Main character simply remains silent, although in this situation it is appropriate to give an answer from the category of "no, I'm sorry." You can refer to another convention of the game, but in the same Portal 2, which is a benchmark in how to work with a silent character, it was well played by others.
Speaking of others: The Player's attitude towards the environment they are in leaves questions. As such, the attitude towards toys, allies and enemies does not seem too deep and very indifferent. We are actively moving from point A to point B, as if realizing that and who is suffering and providing thoughtful help is not our priority, we are constantly on the move and do not even consider toys seriously as something alive (again, perhaps Poppy is the exception).
When considering the theory and the non-human personality of the Player, the thought came to me that the presence of a primitive AI Player created with the clear purpose of "Receiver of the Factory and Guard of specific persons" played a role in this. Playtime Co. initially did not focus on conducting inhumane experiments on people. Accordingly, live toys are not the norm at a time when Elliot Ludwig was still in charge. The only exceptions were the Prototype (Ollie) and Poppy. Accordingly, I will assume that the Player is programmed to visually identify PEOPLE and NON-PEOPLE. Without reservations or any conventions, except, of course, Poppy and Ollie. Going back to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd laws of robotics:
1. A robot cannot harm a human being or, by its inaction, allow a human being to be harmed.
2. A robot must obey all human orders, unless they contradict the first law.
3. A robot must take care of its own safety to the extent that it does not contradict the First or Second Laws.
Throughout the gameplay, we caused a large number of deaths, but were they, in our discernible understanding, people, or an obstacle that posed a threat to our safety? It is worth noting that we did not immediately resort to violence, but only when we were cornered. Accordingly, there were attempts to preserve the remnants of the company's ownership.
The Player clearly gives his preference to listen to Poppy and enforce her demands, despite their absurdity. Despite the fact that she cheated on us, often abandoned us, and generally does not behave too maturely, we prefer to continue following her.
Speaking of the Prototype, it seems that the law 1 and 2 should not apply to it, given that we actively engaged in a fight with it on the train at the end of Chapter 5. But it's worth bearing in mind that initially the Prototype was not a bloodthirsty likeness of Frankenstein, collecting parts of other toys and could probably be Jack in the Box, with a more friendly and sleek design. Even if it doesn't make much sense in the context of the situation itself, since we haven't seen any analogues of this toy, and creating a prototype specifically for a clownish theme seems even dumber. But the point remains. We just didn't see Ollie in the Prototype. Accordingly, the recognition protocol did not work on it.
