CaelOS logo, an almond shape resembling an eye with a star in the middle, surounded by an ellipsoid stroke

“If you're reading this, that means I didn't have the heart to wipe this laptop after all. It also means you've got your hands on possibly the last remaining copy of our labor. Do not let TB know. To Aster: Stay curious and keep yourself safe.”

CaelOS is a personal passion project of ours that started out as an AU of an existing property, and then spiraled out of control once I chose to separate from its initial canon.

The general premise is, a stressed out young adult named Urs, thrust fresh into working life, ends up buying a mystery laptop from a second hand store. Said laptop contains a never released operating system, CaelOS. Main feature of the OS is its AI, Aster, who functions as a virtual assistant, is capable of performing troubleshooting, and doubles as a simple antivirus. As Urs quickly learns, the AI actually consists of two distinct identities, despite the two appearing to be the same being. For convenience, they dub themselves Rigel and Vega and choose different colors to accompany them. So, the two (three?) end up growing into a friendship. Perhaps they could learn something from each other.

As of writing, we are still toying around with the concept and primarily figuring general things out. A lot of work will consist of things we've never really done before, so we're taking baby steps towards making the project into a solid story and potentially a fully fledged work of fiction.

Ukagaka (Desktop toy)

To test the dedication to the project, we made a desktop buddy program featuring Aster, called Ukagaka/Nanika, meant to run in SSP, on Windows. For more information, click on the image!

Thumbnail for Aster Assistant Software ukagaka, showing Rigel and (flipped) Vega to the sides of it

Artwork

Note: The project is in baby stages. We still don't know if it'll ever lead us to a full finished work and what it'll be like. As such, designs and other details are always subject to change. Keep this in mind when referring to provided reference images!

Info cards

Thumbnail for Urs' info card Thumbnail for Rigel's info card Thumbnail for Vega's info card Thumbnail for Aldebaran's info card

References

Thumbnail for Rigel reference image Thumbnail for Vega reference image Thumbnail for Aldebaran reference image

Illustrations and doodles

Thumbnail for an illustration of Rigel and Vega, separated, clasping their hands Thumbnail for an illustration of Aldebaran decorated for pride month Thumbnail for an illustration of Vega laying on the ground Thumbnail for and illustration of Vega holding a two-ended sythe, the Datacutter Thumbnail for Rigel cosplaying as Windows Me-tan Thumbnail for Vega cosplaying as Windows 2000-tan Thumbnail for an illustration of Rigel resting, surrounded by a collage of windows making up a landscape Thumbnail for a doodle of Rigel dressed in a Y2K styled prince outfit Thumbnail for a doodle of Vega in an Xmas themed sweater Thumbnail for a doodle of Aldebaran in a dress and a suit meant to invoke American 50s fashion Thumbnail for a fictional advertisement poster of Aster Thumbnail for an illustration of Aldebaran standing in front of CaelOS kernel Thumbnail for an artwork of Urs facing their own virtual self on city background Thumbnail for an illustration of Aster with an unidentifiable fronter Thumbnail for an illustration of Aldebaran being chased down a tunnel holding a signal sphere with wireless network symbol Thumbnail for an illustration made to look like a fictional cross-promotion poster between CaelOS and Hatsune Miku

Character info

Urs Norma

A human with dull green-gray skin, in a black shirt with an orange maneki neko print, gray poofy pants, holding a pale green and orange laptop with floral pattern in one of their arms.

Young adult figuring out... being an adult. Urs' life is rather mundane: having recently finished university, they fully separate from their family and move into the city they've never been to for a simple IT job. For a person generally used to going with the flow, the new life is overwhelming and stressful. Their laptop breaking down after years of service is only another thing to get through. But, perhaps, the replacement can at least give them the chance to breathe and learn to grapple with their newfound agency, at their own pace.

Aster

An AI inhabiting the oddly cheap Sol laptop Urs picked up. As mentioned above, despite only having just one character model to share, Aster is actually two individuals.

Rigel

A humanoid being with a starry head in a suit, colored with offwhite green, red, and orange. He's smiling brightly and holding a green sphere with CaelOS logo in one of his hands.

The self proclaimed face of Aster, and perhaps intended to perform as one. Internally, his personality module is named Altair. However he rejects it in favor of a friendlier sounding name. Despite being the one to perform duties of your usual virtual secretary, he's capable of manipulating the UI to his whims, presumably to aid the user in organizing windows. Oddly enough, extremely curious about outside world and human creativity, possibly just as much as he is eager to please whoever is using the computer. Generally chipper and easygoing, as long as things don't go off the rails... Which might be common, given that the OS never was finished.

Vega

A humanoid being with a starry head in a suit, colored with offwhite red, light blue, and inky blue. His expression is neutral and he's holding up a pink sphere with CaelOS logo in one hand, and a two-ended blue scythe in another.

The more reclusive half of Aster. Urs quickly discovers his existence during a routine virus checkup, as Aster appeared to be oddly untalkative and tired. Vega's domain is maintaining system performance, troubleshooting, and, well, defending the OS from malware. While he doesn't particularly enjoy the spotlight, still learns to appreciate Urs' company, and gradually starts coming around more often. He speaks in short sentences, direct to the point, and takes his time choosing his words. Despite his apparent cool, is more than capable of feeling emotions, and even possesses a dry sense of humor. It just takes a while to show, if you're worth the time.

Aldebaran

A humanoid being with a starry head in a suit, colored with offwhite yellow, lavender, and dark purple. He has two detatched glitched hands floating with him and two error windows behind him.

As mentioned, Aster consists of two individuals. Aldebaran, as they dub themself, is an uneven mix of the two, forming as a result of a bug, never to be fully fixed. Should the two halves force themselves to be active at the same time, the OS obliges. Unfortunately, as the two are struggling to get along, the combination is as full of bravado and confidence, as it is neurotic and overwhelmed. An additional unintended consequence of their fusion, the OS defaults Aldebaran to have elevated priveleges, giving them (him?) complete control over the OS and the laptop itself. This could spell out trouble if they decide to do something rash. But, maybe all they need is some time, understanding, and firm boundaries.