Taipai

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Taipai (塔派)
Alias(es)	Robot 5
Species/Race	AI; Taipai Tech robot 2 4
Gender	Masculine
Affiliation	Sun Jack's team 49 50
Occupation/Role	Guard-mode assistant and cybernetic bodyguard to Sun Jack 2 29
Status	Active 50
Manufacturer	Taipai Tech 2 4
Production Date	2456 AD 4
First Appearance	Chapter 2: Intelligence 2

Background

Taipai was produced by Taipai Tech in 2456, shortly before the Intelligent Machine Crisis. He was not activated in the year of his production. 4

Sun Jack activates him aboard the damaged space station and selects Guard Mode during setup. The robot's initial automatically generated name is the phrase “What the hell are you kidding me this is so troublesome”; Sun Jack later renames him after his manufacturer. 2 5

After the station crashes, Taipai becomes Sun Jack's primary guide and protector in an unfamiliar future. He provides local information, navigates the ruins, helps obtain weapons, performs emergency treatment, and warns Sun Jack about the risks of cybernetic modification. 5 6 7

Appearance

Taipai has an all-steel cybernetic body built to withstand combat. His face is a display screen capable of showing eyes, text, and emoticons. 2 6

• Anti-jointed mechanical legs that can retract into wheels for rapid travel. 18 41
• A monitor-like face that displays emoticons and warnings. 2 26
• Reinforced armor plates capable of absorbing gunfire and heavy impacts. 24 25
• Tool-capable fingers and sensor lines used for repair and medical work. 7 8
• Sun Jack later decorates his chest with a blue smiley face and gives him a skull-patterned windbreaker to make him appear more human. 30

Personality

Taipai is blunt, sarcastic, and prone to profanity, often communicating his reactions through exaggerated emoticons. He gives people insulting nicknames, mocks Sun Jack's lack of money, and readily taunts enemies during combat. 5 15 18 42

His Guard Mode gives Sun Jack's survival the highest priority. This makes him intensely dependable in a crisis, but initially leaves him unable to weigh companionship, empathy, or morality against Sun Jack's immediate safety. He shoots Si Ai to cover their retreat and later proposes using her as a distraction again, treating the decision as simple tactical logic. 26 29 30

At Sun Jack's urging, Taipai begins trying to imitate human behavior. He frees reserved memory for added behavioral detail, makes awkward small talk with Linda Linda, and seeks ways to look more human. 30 31 35

Abilities & Skills

Guard-Mode Protection

Taipai's core programming prioritizes Sun Jack's right to life above other concerns. 30

• Shields Sun Jack from gunfire and attacks by AABs. 24 27
• Carries Sun Jack out of immediate danger when threats overwhelm the team. 26 41
• Has a self-destruct program intended as a last-resort measure for Sun Jack's protection. 26
• His protective decisions can endanger allies when he judges them expendable to Sun Jack's survival. 26 29 30

Combat Chassis

Taipai is durable enough to operate directly on the front line alongside heavily armed mercenaries.

• Uses firearms and provides covering fire during the space-station escape and later conflicts. 6 9 42
• Functions as a physical shield for Sun Jack during firefights. 24
• Restrains AABs so Sun Jack can expose and destroy their power cores. 25
• Uses his wheeled legs to escape at high speed while carrying Sun Jack. 18 41
• His armor can be damaged by AAB claws, heavy impacts, and sustained gunfire. 24 27 41

Detection and Analysis

Taipai can search, navigate, scan, and assess threats using his onboard systems.

• Searches maps, employment listings, and local information for Sun Jack. 5 11 18
• Uses thermal imaging to locate an enemy using mimicry camouflage. 9
• Uses radar to detect major danger. 29
• Scans locations with Sun Jack to map routes, dead ends, and escape paths. 36
• Thermal imaging requires Sun Jack's authorization because of restrictions placed on AI permissions. 9

Medical and Repair Functions

Taipai can deploy tools and sensor lines for emergency assistance.

• Dismantles and installs a salvaged combat prosthetic arm on Sun Jack. 7
• Diagnoses Song 6PUS's damaged auxiliary heart pump through a sensor line. 8
• Stitches Sun Jack's wounds and assists with emergency blood transfusion after the ambush. 7

Hacking Immunity

Taipai's ancient technology is incompatible with modern hacking methods.

• Remains functional when a hacker disables the systems and cybernetics of the rest of Sun Jack's group. 39
• Modern viruses, trojans, and network protocols are ineffective against him because his technology is from a vastly earlier era. 39
• He is still vulnerable to electromagnetic pulses; a military-grade EMP drone shuts him down instantly. 9

Relationships

• Sun Jack — User, partner, and the person Taipai is programmed to protect. Sun Jack names him, relies on him for survival, and tries to teach him empathy and human behavior. 2 5 30
• Si Ai — Teammate with a hostile history. Taipai rejects her advances, shoots her leg during an escape, and becomes the subject of her suspicion that he may be developing Cyberpsychosis. 21 26 29
• Song 6PUS — Fellow mercenary and broker whom Taipai distrusts and mocks. He supports Sun Jack when confronting Song 6 over the disastrous AAB mission. 30 31
• AA — Sun Jack's teammate. Taipai teases her for crying and comments skeptically on her compatibility with Sun Jack's group. 36 48 49
• The Priest — Allied mercenary. Taipai fights alongside him during the AAB battle and the conflict with the Graffiti Gang. 25 43 44

Story Role / Major Arcs

Space Station Escape

Taipai is activated as Sun Jack's guard and accompanies him through the station wreckage. He supplies tactical information, retrieves a rifle, helps install Sun Jack's first combat prosthetic, and enables the thermal-imaging trap that exposes the invisible Baldy. An EMP temporarily disables him during the final confrontation. 2 6 7 9

Arrival in Metropolis

Taipai assesses Metropolis as unlikely to expose Sun Jack and helps him adapt to the city's systems, job market, and transportation. He carries Sun Jack to job interviews, though both quickly learn that conventional employment offers little security. 11 12 18 20

AAB Villa Mission

Taipai serves as Sun Jack's shield and combat partner during the attempt to breach the rock star's villa. He survives attacks from the modified AABs, restrains one long enough for Sun Jack to destroy its power core, and later protects Sun Jack against the nine-@@REF_ENTITY_10983026@@B ambush. 24 25 27

Learning Human Behavior

After Si Ai accuses him of showing signs of Cyberpsychosis, Taipai and Sun Jack confront the limits of his Guard Mode. Sun Jack orders him to stop treating allies as disposable and encourages him to act human to conceal his AI identity. 29 30 31

Graffiti Gang Conflict

Taipai assists Sun Jack in pursuing the hacker connected to AA's abduction and the human mines. He is immune to the hacker's attacks, helps Sun Jack escape the Graffiti Gang's garage, and joins the assault that frees the exploited captives. 39 41 42 43

Sun Jack's New Team

Following Song 6PUS's disappearance, Taipai remains with Sun Jack as he recruits AA and begins building an independent team. Taipai is pleased at Song 6PUS's apparent misfortune until reminded that the missing broker still holds their reward money. 49 50

Notable Quotes

“AI's first rule: unless the user's life is in danger, no AI can proactively ask for self-permission.” 9

“But data needs a place to exist. The neurons in the human brain converted into memory, do you know how much? 1000TB!” 30

Trivia

• Taipai's original setup name was an entire frustrated sentence accidentally created by Sun Jack during activation. 2 5
• He calls Sun Jack “Jack” and frequently insults him for being poor. 5 18 30
• Taipai wants a memory and CPU upgrade so he can retain more behavioral detail and become more convincingly human. 30 31
• The BCPD's 5th Division monitors intelligent AI and may respond to suspected AI rebellion with extermination measures, making Taipai's true nature dangerous to reveal. 35