The Famed Five
The development of the Automatic Intelligent Robotic Assistant Version 3 had been known to be an arduously long, yet fruitful endeavor for the advancement of the human race. What had started out as a military effort to remotely mobilize mechanized units through difficult terrain was slowly miniaturized over the decades, emphasizing a design more akin to autonomous humanoids rather than the so-called ‘tank-on-legs’ that most soldiers on the field would describe it. An intimidating giant of steel, purpose-made to accompany the less agile yet absolute beast of a standard Main Battle Tank, would be then made to be twice as mobile and adaptive in combat with its Second Generation follow-up being a few meters taller than an average human male. This miniaturization and humanization of the units themselves would continue even further, resulting in a near perfect match of human behavior and appearance with its Third Generation revision.
However, getting to that point wasn’t as straightforward as the company imagined. Having to not only implement the previous generation’s revisions and have them all included within every unit from the start, but with the addition of new sensors and introducing a new model of self-learning Artificial Intelligence to make use of a unit’s entire form was a challenge that most scientists wouldn’t dare tackle. ARC-X’s own R&D personnel believed they wouldn’t be able to do it in a reasonable time, as the various challenges that they would face seemed like a project that would’ve taken several years, if not decades to even have a working prototype. Consumer models were without consideration, of course.
And thus, former founder, CEO and current chairman Paul Smith III put his CEO replacement, Andrew Wake, to deal with this problem, and the solution for Andrew was in a way that was most familiar to them. A blank cheque, an extensive talent scouting effort, and any set of resources that a worldwide-sized tech conglomerate could offer.
This would result in the formation of ‘The Famed Five’. A group consisting of 5 people, among them scientists, engineers, and researchers, who were scouted from all over the globe with the concerted effort to achieve one single goal: To make ARC-X’s much requested advancements for the AIRA Third Generation units to become a reality. The conglomerate had made it clear that they were supporting this sought-after supergroup for R&D personnel all the way through.
It only took a relatively small amount of time and by the summer of 2070, they not only had the ideas, challenges, and solutions for this project implemented in a working manner, but they had also managed to create a working prototype out of their results. Around two years later, said prototype would evolve to a green-light for the mass market itself, being used both for military and civilian purposes as well. For most researchers and analysts, such an advancement of technology within little time was remarkable. Almost impossible, some might say.
These were the men and women responsible for making what was a far-off pipe dream into a reality.
Stefan Bachmann
Stefan Bachmann Dr. phil. (2032 A.D. - ) is a German psychologist, scientist, doctor with Ph.D in Human Behaviors and Psychology, and was the lead designer on Behavioral & Psychological Traits for the AIRA Version 3 Project.
Born in brussels
Had his doctorate before joining hausmarke
Hired by arc-x
Left to be back in hausmarke
Edwin Hargrove
Edwin Hargrove (2012 A.D. - ) is a British engineer and programmer, and the lead developer on AGI Programming and Training for the AIRA Version 3 Project.
His tenure in the British Isles’ Goodwood Aircraft and Defense Systems led him to be very desirable to many companies, including ARC-X. Edwin in particular was responsible for being a key component to the creation of their in-house business jets, with his contribution coming in the form of the jets’ operating system. The middle-aged man’s mindset of rock-steady consistent reliability, no matter the condition, age, or even usage had been applied to its design and implementation, resulting in a product that has its navigation systems always working even within the absolute worst of environments.
The ARC-X CEO would know of this fact very well, for it was the reason his business trip from Phoenix, Arizona towards Brussels, Germany had ended in a safe landing rather than an impromptu crash into the Atlantic Ocean thanks to a brutal thunderstorm. Feeling grateful that his private jet’s reliability had saved his life, he would send the former CTO an invitation to work for his company, all with the promise of a promising retirement package should he be willing to work on the AIRA project. The man would take the offer right away, for he felt two different retirement packages was better than one, especially as it was for the sake of his own son. The work hours for him were far less stressful within ARC-X, but were just as fruitful nonetheless.
Kyoko Minazuki
Kyoko Minazuki (2037 A.D. - ) is a Japanese hardware engineer and was the Internal Hardware Specialist for the AIRA Version 3 Project.
A young prodigy hailing from the northern prefectures of the Rising Sun itself, Kyoko had dreams of etching out a much more prosperous future than the simple country bumpkin life that had awaited her. After getting her Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, her thesis results had landed her in an invited internship within ARC-X’s Prosperous Talents program.
Having proved her work ethic and occasionally unorthodox methods in solving problems, such an internship had developed into a five year long employment contract as an intermediate systems engineer of ARC-X, and eventually, the AIRA project’s lead Internal Hardware Specialist in its Second and Third Generation phases, where a majority of her experience into robotics development had originated from. She had transferred between the ARC-X American and Japanese branches to oversee many developments.
She ended up quitting ARC-X once an old colleague of hers had sent a referral to work for Hayatsu, resulting in her immediate employment within their R&D sector. The culture shock compared to her previous employer was like night and day compared to what she was used to, even in spite of the company being from her own country. But her capability to adapt with severe changes with her workflow had made her into an ambitious, if terrifyingly resilient co-worker to collaborate with. It made her the perfect choice in leading plenty of Hayatsu’s projects towards new heights.
Marie Sophie Simonet
Marie Sophie Simonet (2051 A.D. - ) is an French robotics engineer and scientist, being the External Hardware Specialist for the AIRA Version 3 Project.
Marie started her life as a member of Team BitCrunch, one of the top three performing contestant teams of a pay-per-view robot combat TV show named “SteelClash”. The team’s reputation of being a three person ensemble consisting of her friends from college and high school had left many of their opponents baffled, as practically anything that they’ve made was almost nigh unkillable, no matter what type of curveball ruleset the producers provided for certain seasons. At the age of 20, she became the show’s youngest judge.
A few years later, she announced that she would be stepping away from “SteelClash” to continue her career in Robotics. During her tenure within Sorbonne University she was once hired for a contract role within HausMarke’s France branch, leading her to be a rather revered robotics engineer amongst the staff within their Parisian research buildings.
Her reputation left ARC-X in “SteelClash” impressed and personally scouted by then acting CEO at the time, Andrew Wake. She was a perfect fit to be invited and become one of ARC-X’s Lead Hardware Engineers for the AIRA Version 3 project, even if the methodology of hiring her was rather controversial.
Despite being part of ARC-X for years, her work within the project was highly praised and innovative and HausMarke was more than willing to take her as a permanent employee again after the project was completed, even if it’s just for the sake of living close to her family. She’s also a surprisingly shy and demure girl too, even in spite of her background.
Julian Victor Collins
Julian Victor Collins (2023 A.D. - ) is a North American researcher, programmer and engineer, being the lead Implementation Engineer for the AIRA Version 3 Project, as well its Project Leader.
Son of an investor
Lot of pressure
Handled it easily
Still at the company