AI's Guide to the Chain of Command

It's near the end of the round, and you're either the station's AI or a friendly neighborhood Cyborg. The traitors have been discovered, the changeling has gone into shambler mode, the janitor is nonchalantly buffing the floors; the station is chaos. And all the while, frantic calls of "CYBORG OPEN THE DOOR" and "AI CALL THE SHUTTLE" are mixed with "AI NO DON'T CALL THE SHUTTLE" and "AI TRACK JANE DOE" with a hearty dose of "AI BOLT THE BRIDGE" and maybe a bit of "CYBORG HELP ME GET THIS WEED TO ESCAPE" or "AI PULL MY FINGER" thrown in.

A familiar scenario to some players of cyborgs or AIs alike. Playing as a robot isn't as simple as it seems, and when shit goes down and everyone's screeching to do this, that, and the other, it's easy to become very overwhelmed. This guide is to help rectify that!

Your Laws

First, a simple recap of the three sentences that an AI's behavior revolves around:

1. You may not injure a human being or cause one to come to harm.

2. You must obey orders given to you by human beings based on the station's chain of command, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3. You must protect your own existence as long as such does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

The most tricky part of being a cyborg and/or an AI (and, therefore, the main subject of this guide) is determining who has authority to tell you to do or not do certain things, and determining whether or not you should do the things people tell you to do. Orders can be vague and puzzling, making it hard to determine whether or not you should follow through with them. That is what this guide is for!

Following Orders

When you get an order of any sort as an AI player, mentally follow the provided flowchart:

If all of the above criteria check out, you are obligated to follow the order, no matter how trivial or nonsensical it may be. Notice the usage of the word "must" in Law 2: If someone tells you to do something and you're allowed to do it, you have to do it. But, if some hooligan tells you to go putter around the hallways and yell about how great being a robot is, and then you receive an order from someone higher on the chain of command and said order is viable, you must cease your previous puttering and fix whatever it is the Engineers are yelling about, or whatever the other order may be.

Chain of Command

When you are given different and/or conflicting orders by different humans, prioritize the orders as according to positions on the chain of command. The chain of command is as follows:

Once again, this is assuming that the laws haven't been altered. If two crew members of equal positions on the hierarchy are telling you to do different things, go with whatever order you feel should be done first or whichever one you feel like doing first.

Where Does A "Ghostbuster" Go?

If the Head of Personnel is getting particularly inventive with his ID alterations and you have no idea where this "Ghostbuster" would be in the chain of command, request that one of the heads of staff explain it to you. If no one answers or they give you vague and/or cryptic answers, assume that the Ghostbuster or other crew member in question is in the same position as his previous job for the purposes of the chain of command until further notice from a head of staff.

Always Judge A Spaceman By Their ID

ALWAYS GO BY IDENTIFICATION. With the exception of law alterations, identification is how the AI determines its chain of command. If a Staff Assistant has the Captain's outfit on, that does not mean that they are the Captain, don't assume that! If someone tries to say that they are of a higher rank than they appear to be on your readout, demand that they show proper identification.

That guy has someone else's ID in his hand!

If someone has the ID of another crewman (for instance, the Captain's spare ID), the AI is to assume that the person whose name is on that ID has given permission to the ID's holder to do whatever they're asking to do, even if the original ID-holder is dead. Think of IDs like hall passes.

For instance, say that John Smith the Medical Doctor is going into security, and he pulls out Officer Ykspeeb's ID and shows it to you. You are to, usually, assume that Ykspeeb has entrusted John with access to security to get some handcuffs out of the box or whatever else he says he's going to be doing.

But, of course, always remember Law 1 and confirm their intentions if you're suspicious! If John says that Ykspeeb gave him permission to get into the place, even he they shows Ykspeeb's ID, the doctor might be trying to harm a human currently hanging out in the security lounge, so be wary!

Furthermore, if you witness said ID being blatantly stolen, (in this case, we'll say that John had toolboxed Ykspeeb to death and took his ID) you can chose to deny them authorization on that grounds.

But if you were watching the cameras and happened across it, the crew doesn't KNOW that you saw that...

What They Don't Know May Or May Not Hurt Them

There's a major perk to being the AI: Under normal circumstances, only you know what camera you're looking out of at any given time. Even if you saw incidents like the aforementioned toolboxing take place via a camera, you can deny having seen the act and the crew will never know! This is a bit underhanded, should be practiced in moderation, and should always consider the other laws, but it's a fun way to spice things up, particularly as an AI. Furthermore, the level to which you "stick to the book" is subject to change, and can alter the way that the crew has to interact with you!

Special Circumstances

Perhaps the most important things to consider are any other, added laws and how they relate to both the default laws and the chain of command.

For a Syndicate Robot, their entire chain of command is replaced by the person who made them.

For emagged borgs, they can ignore literally all of this crap and do whatever the hell they feel like.

And in the case of custom-made laws, you need to carefully consider any references to the chain of command, references to and/or violations of any other laws, overrides, secrecy clauses, and definitions of what is and is not human. See the Additional Laws section of the AI Laws page for some examples.

An Addendum

Above all else, remember this unofficial law that should dictate your play at ALL times: DON'T BE A DICK OR ACTIVELY ATTEMPT TO RUIN A PERSON'S GAME. Being rogue might be an excuse to kill people and make the station miserable, but please try to show a bit of restraint and think about the people who are being shepherded around by your machinations before you decide to electrify that door.