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!
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
References
Illustrations and doodles
Character info
Urs Novak
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
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
The more reclusive half of Aster. Urs quickly discovers his existence during a routine virus checkup, as Aster appeared to be oddly silent 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, he 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
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 privileges, 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.
