mccrane

Player Information

*Name/Alias: Saeru

*Age: Lots of old. But definitely over 16.

*Contact Information: Aim: notyourgun

*Characters already in the game: N/A

Character Information

*Character Name: BP-301 McCrane

*Character Canon: Brave Police: J-Decker

*Age: 1-2 years old, generally adult in behavior

*Race: Man-made robot with Super-AI sentience

*Timeline/Pull Point: Just after Episode 29, after the BRAVE POLICE have defeated their first real SUPER-AI villains.

*History:

Well, great. There's no wikis to link to. CONGRATS YOU GET TEXT.

Let’s start with the world.

Welcome to the 21st Century.

It is The Future(TM).

Everything is filled with MOAR TECHNOLOGIE.

You don't just get bad guys, you get SUPER BAD GUYS with GIANT ROBOTS or SUPER GENIOUSES who engineer GIANT COCKROACHES or SUPER VILLAINS who cause GIANT NATURAL DISASTERS...

...and all of the poor, regular people who just want to go and work a 9-5 job and buy groceries and feed their families and who, generally, aren't super at all, keep getting dead because of this.

Enter the BRAVE POLICE, headed by Commissioner Juzo Seijima, a rich old nutcase who used to be a mobile suit pilot policeman when he was young. Seijima believes in mysterious forces such as the power of HEART and the power of COOLNESS, and Seijima is genuinely ecstatic when the AI system his friend puts into their new police robots evolves into actual sentience upon activation. It is, to him, a MIRACLE (his words.)

When he realizes that, in actuality, Deckerd's consciousness evolved from regular AI to SUPER AI because an 11-year-old boy accidentally fell into his underground research base and spent months teaching his AWESOME ROBOT to walk, talk, and have emotions, this...doesn't phase him at all. In fact, he promptly makes Yuuta Tomonaga into the youngest police officer ever, just because Deckerd seems to be a hell of a lot more efficient and motivated with Yuuta around.

This, of course, doesn't go over well with the rest of the Commissioner board, who aren't particularly certain what to think about the 4th-grade inspector...but after a few cases in which Deckerd and Yuuta effectively save Japan, they don't really have much to complain about. Deckerd with his evolved Super AI is, frankly, way beyond any of their expectations. Combined with the bizarre semi-truck that follows him around, Deckerd can transform into J-DECKER (hah, now you see where the show got its name) to fly around and combat EVIL SPACE ALIENS or FLYING RUSSIAN NINJA.

However, just having one man isn't really enough for any police force, especially since there are multiple SUPER CRIMES that need to be solved, so shortly after Deckerd's debut three more robots are introduced: The Build team. Composed of self-named robots 'McCrane' (BP-301), 'Power Joe'(BP-302), and 'Dumpson'(BP-303), the Build Team initially doesn't have any Super-AI programming at all. The Commissioner board fears (rightly so) to leave so many powerful autonomous robots in the hands of a 4th-grader, and so doesn't allow more than the basic AI programming to be installed.

Of course, since the show would be really boring with a bunch of ACTUAL robots running around and only doing exactly what they're told, this backfires horribly and the Build Team are controlled by a piece of magnetic-space-debris called GAIZONITE, intent on wrecking havoc on humanity. Since their lack of sentience leaves them puppets for the errant asteroid, they have to be rescued by Deckerd and his posse of bizarre human friends. The Commissioner board is kind of embarrassed about having their own robots used against them, so they agree to let the Build Team have copies of Deckerd's special AI programming, and voila! Actual personalities result.

Surprisingly, McCrane, Power Joe, and Dumpson are all vastly different from Deckerd, though this may be because Dumpson (the dump truck powerhouse) was constructed with spiked barbells, Power Joe (the power scoop kung-fu master) was constructed with nunchucks, and McCrane (the crane tactician) was constructed with a sniper...shotgun. Nevertheless, the three of them work efficiently as a team with McCrane as the head (literally), and together start building their new and future home at the Brave Police Headquarters: The Decker room.

When it is completed, it resembles a regular police station at 4:1 scale, giving them a 'home' that they can feel comfortable in. From there, the Brave Police GO FORTH into the world, saving people from horrible super-villains and terrible natural disasters, solving crimes that only giant robots can solve, and making friends along the way.

McCrane's personal human friend is one Colonel/Captain(depending on the translation and on who is talking to her) Seia Onoue, a highly ranked officer in Japan's Defense forces. He meets her on a mission to a bio-lab, where he and Deckerd are tasked with bringing the giant bio-engineered dinosaur 'Gawan' back to Tokyo for study. The JDF interfere with the mission, wisely not wanting a GIANT DINOSAUR brought into a POPULATED CITY, but due to the clause of 'everything has to go wrong' the dinosaur wakes up, eats Seia's brother, and goes on a rampage. Yuuta bravely volunteers to get eaten, also, in order to rescue the man (wearing a special acid-proof suit, of course), but when the monster runs off with Yuuta inside of him and the Defense forces move to attack, Deckerd freaks out and angrily goes to defend the monster, impeding tanks, helicopters, and mobile suits alike so that they won't kill Gawan with Yuuta inside of it. McCrane, acting in the first of MANY interferences, manages to mediate a solution between Deckerd and Seia--getting her to promise to give him ten minutes to enact his plan to save Yuuta before the JDF try killing Gawan again. Seia agrees, McCrane's kind of brilliant plan succeeds, they save Yuuta, and McCrane additionally takes down the monster with a killer sniper shot. All in all, its a good day, and he also comes away from it with a fast friend in Seia, who is impressed with his ability to mediate and his tactics, and also his ability to ferret out her concern for her brother despite her ruthless military practicality.

Later, it is only by thinking about his friendship of her that McCrane is able to unite with the other members of the Build Team to form BUILD TIGER, which is basically Takara just wanting to use their constructicon models again and finding a really good excuse. Until each member of the Build Team is able to realize what it is, specifically, that they want to protect, they are unable to combine together to stop the GIANT SPACE ELEVATOR (I swear, this show is obsessed with space) from exploding and falling into the ocean and creating horrible tsunamis. It is only at the LAST POSSIBLE MINUTE that they each realize what is special to them and are able to combine, and, of course, SAVE THE DAY.

They do a lot of this, together.

The world, it seems, needs saving just about every afternoon.

As the Brave Police encounter greater and greater dangers to the planet, Seijima continues to add members to the team. Each new robot's coming creates problems that need to be overcome or introduces a new concept that must be learned, which makes an impact on McCrane's history so I've included them here.

Shadowmaru (a repaint of Sixshot) is the resident ninja, who scouts and spies and can change into a dog (which he swears is a wolf), a police car, a jet, and a tank. He is frequently a loner, and often thinks back to the prototype bot who trained him, Kagero, who he and the Brave police are brutally forced to kill when Kagero is captured and reprogrammed by Ken Shinjo of Excellent Co. This is a hard lesson for all of them. They are still getting used to the idea of other sentient robots existing, period, since up until this mission they were the only ones. Having to fight and kill one?

It is heavy for everyone involved.

Things get a little more lighthearted with the addition of Drill Boy, Build Team's fourth-member. A kid a heart, Drill Boy doesn't fit in with the older, more serious members of his team, which presents a significant issue given that he's supposed to be able to combine with them. Although somewhat of an arrogant upstart, Drill Boy eventually finds a place among the group when he realizes the importance of understanding others, and makes an effort to be considerate. This, apparently, is enough for the rest of Build Team, who finally allow him to unite with them to form SUPER BUILD TIGER, which is essentially just Build Tiger with pieces of Drill Boy stuck to the outside of it. Of course, by uniting, they manage to save the day, and also manage to thwart an underground species of sentient insects that are being controlled by some steampunk guy.

This is...sort of normal for them.

McCrane has his own issues apart from the addition of new members, however, and is forced to finally face his own weaknesses when an ancient Aztec god known as 'Inti' resurfaces in Japan, feeding off the spirit of greed inherent in mankind. Believing himself above this BASE emotion, McCrane volunteers to watch over Inti when it is captured...only to fall victim to it, himself. The god Inti awakens within him his own desires to rid the world of crime, as well as his much deeper, hidden desires for his best friend, Seia. Acting on these desires, McCrane ventures out into the world, nearly brutally murdering several hooligans who are committing minor infractions of the law. His actions cause the god to reach full power, and then cause things to get really crazy when it becomes a GIANT AZTEC STATUE that runs amok and hits people with greed-beams. Horrified by what he's done, McCrane literally shuts himself down in shame, and nearly forces the engineers to reboot him entirely when his absence prevents the Build Team from forming SUPER BUILD TIGER and saving the day. He realizes this just before they pull his last memory unit out....

...and wakes up, to find Seia has stayed there with him. He explains his terrible guilt over possessing such a dark human emotion, and she explains that his 'desire' to stay alive is what had saved him, and that having desires is not a terrible thing. To prove his, she lets herself get hit with the greed-beams, and shows McCrane what her own desires are...one of which is eating a ton of hamburgers, the other of which is, secretly, also wanting McCrane. When he sees that his own good friend who he greatly cares about is also capable of silly desires, he realizes that having them is not the end of the world. Figuring out that, in some ways, desires can be useful, he gets shot with the greed beams himself, and uses his own desire of 'winning' to figure out how to defeat Inti using the glass shards from nearby buildings as mirrors.

It works.

Of course, nothing stays simple for the Brave Police. Things get hairy again with the addition of Gunmax, a SUPER AI robot designed to be given to the highway patrol. Rough and unruly, Gunmax is rejected by the highway division several months after his placement there, and has to be transferred to the Brave Police. McCrane helps smooth things over by being the only one to treat Gunmax with respect, before Deckerd seals the deal by having a mutual life-saving experience with Gunmax in a junkyard. The team is finally able to work together to solve a problem at a garbage plant, but since McCrane doesn't do much there other than issuing awesome orders and generally being an awesome tactician, it's not worth putting in his history. What is worth putting in his history is the part that I added in his personality below about loneliness and mold. Basically, McCrane is the first one to draw the conclusion that leaving sentient machines alone for a long time can lead to errant behavior, and that maybe it would be better to have Gunmax with them so that doesn't happen to him.

After Gunmax, the only remaining member added to the Brave Police team is Duke, who is manufactured and trained in England. He arrives just in time for Deckerd to essentially die (spoilers) and he tries to take over for Deckerd, but the team isn't interested in the strange outsider and so mostly does their own thing or listens to McCrane instead. Duke's arrival also marks the momentous occasion of the Brave Police having to fight their first Super-AI robot villains, which doesn't settle well with them. They can't entirely understand how to deal with the idea of sentient robots doing BAD things, and, coupled with the loss of Deckerd, this makes the situation difficult for them. However, everything turns out alright in the end. Duke stops being such an idealistic hard-ass of a Knight, Deckerd stops being dead, and they defeat the evil AI twins and learn to work together.

This also prompts the entire BP Force to submit a request to Seijima asking that captured AI robots not be reprogrammed or destroyed, but incarcerated just as captured human criminals would be.

Their request is honored.

*Personality:

Although McCrane is labelled as a 'pacifist' by Deckerd in his character-centric episode, it would be much more accurate to say that McCrane is a strategist, and simply prefers to consider other options before pulling the trigger. Indeed, this comes up again and again, as McCrane's tactical advice often leads to the most efficient and least-damaging of ways to take down whatever enemies the team encounters. Unlike a pacifist, he's far from afraid to use his weaponry, and even will consider methods that involve using his weaponry first as his excellent aim is the best way he's found to stop criminals before they can hurt civilians.

These calculations can cause McCrane to seem distant or cold to some humans or to his team-mates, and it is not difficult to see why. He has gone so far as to deny that he's possesses many of the more negative human emotions, wanting to believe that his duty as a Police Robot and protector can supercede such things as desire or guilt. His horror upon learning that he does possess these aspects nearly causes him to shut down permanently, and he finds he'd gladly die to rid himself of them...or would, if his own desire for life would stop getting in the way. This continues to be a struggle for him until his close friend, Seia, explains that these emotions can be used for good...

...and true to form, just after learning this McCrane formulates a strategy that uses his own desires to defeat his enemy.

He does not seem to have much difficulty acknowledging his other emotions, however. Most often, he can be very introspective about himself, his relationships, and his place as one of a small number of sentient robots in a large world filled with humans. He's incredibly aware, perhaps more so than the others, of how tentative this balance can be, and is often the first to notice when human error causes problems with robotic programming and AI. He tries to point out these observations without directly associating a blame, allowing his associates to think on the subject without needing to get defensive (such as pointing out, 'Ah, maybe it isn't just mold that made this computer go haywire, maybe its the fact that it was left alone for 50 years after being given intelligence...')

Because of his tactical abilities, his introspective nature, and his awareness of the relationships between the team and humanity, McCrane is often noted for his leadership potential. He can diffuse difficult situations with a few soft words, managing even to ease the tensions between the rebellious Gunmax and everybody that Gunmax had offended (which was, initially, everybody.) He pays respect to whomever he comes in contact with, and is able to acknowledge their concerns and work them into whatever strategies he's formulating. During a case, McCrane is often the first to recognize the next step to be taken, and is quick to suggest action, leading to a higher success rate for the team--which is, in the end, what he's really wanting.

Despite this, he has never run into problems between himself and the de-facto leader of the Brave Police: Deckard (and, later, Duke). Even though McCrane is actually defined by his leadership abilities in the recap episode by Commissioner Seijima, McCrane will nearly always defer to Deckerd's decisions, preferring to give advice and let the older robot issue the actual commands. As Deckerd has been alive the longest, McCrane feels it is his right (and Yuuta's) to make the calls. Nevertheless, his suggestions have always been heeded, which is perhaps why he's never found it necessary to push for command. The important thing, after all, is that the mission is successful. It is enough for him that the others respect his advice.

Being young, he is still learning about his place in the world, which is why he finds himself so curious about it and so likely to draw conclusions from the actions of others. He is a patient observer, however, and is much more likely to bear witness to a phenomena than actively participate in it. Because of this, he is especially blindsided by his own feelings for the human Seia Onoue, whom he comes to care for deeply. On the other hand, given that she's a Captain/Colonel of the Japanese Defense forces who also happens to be attracted to him, perhaps it is not so unusual. He treasures his relationship to Seia, often using it to give him inner strength...but also believes that it is the Brave Police's relationships to humans which helped to evolve their AI programming in the first place. If that is the case, then the two of them make a powerful team indeed.

*Powers/Abilities:

The Brave Police robots are very similar to Cybertronians and will probably be evenly matched to them with a few exceptions. Their programming is likely much simpler, as is their hardware, given that they were built by humans. They were designed to be incredibly modular so that they could form powerful combiner teams, which means that much of their systems are easy to replace, and with much less sophisticated parts than Transformers would need. On the other hand, the materials are less durable, so they'll probably have to be replaced more often.

They also run on gasoline.

McCrane's specialty is as a combat officer, with a 98.91% average hit accuracy. His shotgun uses cartridges which appear to be nearly infinite in the show, though he will eventually need to have additional ammunition made for it. He is very excellent at hitting his target. Very, very excellent. If shotguns could be used to snipe, McCrane would be their sniper.

McCrane transforms into a hydraulic crane, as well, making him particularly useful for building. Given that he's the leader of 'Build Team,' and given also that he helped construct the police headquarters (the 'Deckerd Room') that the Brave Police use, he's pretty good at it. He can use his crane in vehicle mode, but he can also noticeably use it in robot mode, where it swings over his shoulder like a bazooka and the crane shoots out on its long cable.

If ever someone would app in Power Jo or Dumpson (hahaha not likely) he can also combine with them (and technically with Drill Boy as well) to form 'Build Tiger' or 'Super Build Tiger.' Since I don't anticipate this happening anytime soon, it means he just additionally has the incredibly useful alt mode of a giant head and torso. Terrifying, I know.

*Inventory: His shotgun, a pistol, a canister of gasoline (kidding you not, they always seem to have one on hand with them in the show, they've even got a little compartment for it), his police badge (which is also his communicator), and a tiny, human-sized photograph of Seia Onoue.

*Starting Polarity: One of two directions I can see him taking:

-Nexus, given that he's part of a combiner team and that he's often calculating the most efficient methods of doing things, or

-Prima, given that he's a quiet thinker who's the leader of his team and is cited with the potential to grow that further if given the chance.

My preference would be for Prima since he's also an officer of the law and likes enforcing it, something I see Prima approving of.

Writing Samples

*First Person Sample:

Ah.

[He adjusts the camera carefully, used to having one already for communicating with Yuuta when particularly delicate situations were going down. This should be no different, especially given the severity of the problem at hand.]

Excuse me. This is McCrane, Brave Police division, Nanamagari City, Japan. [Since his current location is not registered to any known country or...hm. Any known climate type, either, it seems appropriate to cite his full origin. He is, of course, speaking in Japanese...although the translators should filter it appropriately.]

I am looking for the following. [He glances to the side for a moment, his green optical units noting the mountainous junkyard he has found himself in and how...unlikely...what he's really wanting will come out of it.]

A 'gasoline can.' [That part is said in English. There has to be one out there. Somewhere.]

Or a young man, grade four, likely seen wearing a long yellow jacket. Possibly answering to Inspector Tomonaga.

[Or other robots, similar to him, with black and yellow stripes like he had. Or even Deckerd. Or Shadowmaru. Or Gunmax. Or Drill Boy. Or Duke.

Or Seia.]

...

[No, not Seia. Not here. He would not wish that on her.]

That is all. [He salutes to his modified police communicator, a gesture that he has practiced frequently after the one time he saluted with his communicator, instead. He has no intention of repeating the same mistake, and this salute is professional, precise, and crisp.] Thank you for your time.

[And that is it. The camera cuts.]

*Third Person Sample:

The Brave Police, he knew, were equipped to handle any number of disasters. They could evacuate a city in less than a day. They could stop a colossal panda from destroying North America. They could clear out a prison full of dangerous criminals while it was sinking in the ocean AND while they were being attacked.

They had done so.

They had done it together, as a team, uniting to form Build Tiger or Super Build Tiger or J-Decker or Fire J-Decker, or separating to accomplish individual tasks, apart from each other but working for the good of all. There was a reason a police officer of the law could turn into a crane, and that was because turning into a crane was necessary when a building was about to fall, or when someone was trapped in a burning skyscraper, or when Yuuta wanted to go on that fishing trip and couldn't get over water that was deep enough to catch the biggest fish.

They'd handled everything.

They had.

He'd...hadn't.

He didn't know what to do, as McCrane, alone. There was nothing to factor into his calculations. There were no cases to solve. There was no city to protect.

There wasn't a city, at all.

There was just this huge, unfamiliar wasteland stretching out before him, making him feel small for the first time ever. He'd never had the chance to be small, before. It was difficult to be small when you were eye-level with the fourth or fifth stories, peering down on stoplights and people and cars. Being small was what humans did best, and he'd never been able to master that skill, no matter how many times he'd wondered on what it might be like. Not being small had never bothered him, because he'd been made that way, and because he could do his job best as he was, and because he had a place with the other sentient robots, the Brave Police, defending the peace of his world.

But this...wasn't his world.

He didn't know if he had a place here.

He didn't know if he wanted to find out.

He did know that he was low on gas, however, and that standing here, staring, thinking about what he did not have wouldn't get him fueled any time soon. He needed to move forward, and stay powered, and keep his guard up, and survive...

...because only by surviving, could he do what he was built to do.

Only by surviving, himself, could he find a way to protect.

If there wasn't Law here, now, there would be soon. McCrane would see to it, and see that others could survive as well as he could. He'd do his duty, and he'd do his best, and he'd....never stop looking for a way back.

That was all there was, for now.

He had to do the job that was in front of him.

Even...

...when it wasn't what he really wanted, at all.