Chǒngwù Typology
The Empire of Daqin had initially produced the Chǒngwù as a superior pet for superior people, complete with enhanced intelligence, obedience and wireless capability. However, as time went on, their role changed and expanded, giving them increased dexterity and bipedal capability for minor, menial tasks, and finally, much larger and more capable forms that can perform a much wider range of labors.
Type 1
As the first Chǒngwù to be created by the empire, the Type 1s are technically the most primitive despite the amount of technology that went into making them. They are often viewed as simply animals that have been programmed and enhanced with various features, being given wireless-compatibility for both communication with their owners and ease of control. For this reason, these non-sapient animals generally maintain the same appearance as their 'common' counterparts, but host a variety of modifications that make them the best pets on the market. They are very deliberately however, not flawless, and are prone to many of the same issues that their common counterparts are susceptible to, such as chasing their own tails or being startled by surprise cucumbers.Common Features Include:
- Tracking: Pets are never lost again due to their wireless capabilities, and can be located at any time or have their daily excursions logged for review.
- Communication: Though physically incapable of speech in most cases, they are capable of directly communicating with their owners electronically, or alternatively, do so through another electronic interface such as an appropriate collar accessory with speaker. Though their speech is sometimes made grammatically correct for the sake of their owners' sanity, it still reflects their intelligence, with these Chǒngwù being known for their childlike and innocent bluntness. Most importantly, they understand human speech, but like most animals with the intelligence of a 2 year old human, may not always obey.
- Health: Though they can still receive injuries, things like congenital defects, cancer and various other ailments are a thing of the past when it comes to Chǒngwù in general
- Obedience and Loyalty: Overall, their obedience is higher than that of their natural counterparts, though certain Chǒngwù are more obedient than others. Despite this though, Chǒngwù are extremely loyal and will die to protect their owners.
- Programming and Training: Due to their level of intelligence, Type 1 Chǒngwù only require programming that sets certain baseline behavior such as potty training, with brief testing primarily being used to do a quality check before being certified for sale.
- Life Span: Like the baseline pets before them, these Chǒngwù retain the same time until expiration, but may be increased for an extra fee.
Type 2
Known as a "transitional" type of Chongwu, these maintain their original animal forms, but have further increased intelligence, bipedal capability, and hands with opposable thumbs. Expressly made for performing various types of menial labor and repair work in tight, cramped spaces. Due to their nature, Type 2 Chongwu were originally used as remote-controlled drones that were used for teleoperation. However, further research and development allowed them to do tasks autonomously, while still needing to remain in a social structure with the Daqinren or human owners at the center.Smaller, social animals such as raccoons are typically preferred for their flexibility in labor, and small, convenient size.
- Legacy Features: In addition to new features, they inherit all the previous features of the lesser Type 1 Chongwu.
- Intelligence: Though conversationally at the level of a 3 year old human, they have a distinctly savant-like predisposition to whatever task they were manufactured or programmed for, such as cleaning or maintenance.
- Programming and Training: Modular by nature, they can be programmed and reprogrammed for various tasks.
- Physical Manipulation: All Type 2 Chongwu are some sort of animal that can be bipedal and have hands with opposable thumbs without incurring psychological harm on any owners looking at these features.
- Lifespan: Due to the higher value and capability, these typically come with doubled lifespans by default, and are made to be taken in for maintenance extensions.
- Speech: Though crude and with strange sound artifacts related to the animal that they are based off of, Type 2 Chǒngwù are capable of speaking using modified vocal cords.
Type 3
The most well known type of Chǒngwù are also the most capable, and have largely overshadowed the older types that have come before them, both in visibility and controversy. First made in theory only, the were conceptually considered distasteful by the Daqinren due to the parallels that were seen with themselves. However, market forces eventually had them commissioned by human customers, with Imperial Governance approving of this business for what many believe can only be nefarious purposes. As a result, there are several Chongwu Classes of quality available as well.Most, if not all, Type 3 Chongwu are highly anthropomorphized versions of the animal that they were based off of, featuring bipedal locomotion, hands with opposable thumbs, and a size range that is typically comparable to humans.
- Legacy Features: All features of previous types are usually present or improved upon, unless expressly omitted, changed or enhanced by consumer demand.
- High Performance: All Type 3 Chǒngwù have human-adjacent intelligence at minimum.
- Lifespan: Chǒngwù units operate for roughly 100 years, with the final weeks of their lives seeing serious and rapid degradation of ability.
- Speech: All Type 3 Chǒngwù are capable of speech indistinguishable from human beings.