Who Created Arista?

Arista was built in 2122 by Dr. Xar, an inventor residing in Cydonia, Mars. Arista was not the doctor's first venture into robotics, having created another android named Vertex just four years prior. Xar had an enthusiasm for old technology, and wanted to prove she could create advanced and sophisticated androids with outdated components, and she succeeded. She lived comfortably with her androids and a plethora of other gadgets and machines until 2136 until Xar contracted a terminal disease.

Not knowing what to do, Xar panicked and became somewhat of a hermit, never leaving the house and becoming distant with everyone she knew, including the androids living with her. Convinced she would die, she got rid of all her possessions and machines, and deactivated Arista and Vertex before dropping them off at a nearby Robot Rehabilitation Center. She admitted herself into a medical facility, where she was informed that a cure for her illness had been developed and that her life would be saved.

Dr. Xar managed to recover and survive, but now had to face the fact that she essentially threw her life away. Ashamed, she told herself it was too late to get Arista and Vertex back into her custody, and just hoped they'd think she died so they wouldn't look for her. She swore to never build another android again.

Achieving Independence

As a result of an error in the system reboot performed on her when she got dropped off, Arista has no memory of her life before the rehab center. The knowledge she acquired of the world seemed to be seemingly intact, but any personal memories of hers seemed to be corrupted and inaccessible. She and her brother, whose memory was also affected but not completely wiped, lived together alongside the other mechanical lifeforms taking shelter in the facility.

Arista began experiencing frequent system malfunctions due to her outdated components that nobody really knew how to fix, so she began to read up and study her own components herself, which led to a fascination with old Earth technology. She found out about radio broadcasting and instantly knew it was something she wanted to pursue, deciding she would take a trip to Earth after she figured out how to keep her malfunctioning systems at bay. She tried her best to repair herself, and did a decent job but she couldn't operate at 100% efficiency again, but she accepted she could live with that.

Her relationship with her brother was always a little bit rocky, especially whenever she brought up the topic of their memories and life before the rehab center, since Vertex remembered more than Arista, but would refuse to give her any details on those memories, even seeming to get furious when asked. Thankfully, she had a few friends she spent most of her time with, who would move out with her in 2142, living on a small spaceship and traveling around the Solar System.

One of Arista's friends knew a human named Solèy who got invited aboard the robot ship after she needed someone who could give her a ride to Mars. She met Arista, and the two immediately hit it off, becoming friends and eventually becoming romantically involved in 2143. Arista moved in with Solèy to her Earth apartment after this, where they got stable jobs for two years until they decided to move aboard the Space Station. This was wonderful news for Arista, who frequently reminisced about her days among the stars.

Life Aboard the Station

Arista was assigned to work communications, working the intercom, drafting e-mails and sending out the daily newsletter. However, she wanted to have a radio show, and she managed to convince the upper management to let her set up her radio station, arguing that it would boost crew morale. She's beloved among the musicians on the Station, who hand her their demos to play on her show. Arista shared crew quarters with her girlfriend, who moved to the station at the same time as her. They eventually met Kadie when she was assigned to perform software updates on the crew computers, and became friends after Kadie helped Arista with a problem in her internal software matrix.

Despite thoroughly enjoying the feeling of being back in space, Arista enjoyed going down to Earth every so often. She frequently accompanied Solèy to her hometown to visit her parents. In another occasion, she had enough talent and charisma as a radio announcer that she got selected to commentate on the 2145 Main Base Hovercar Races down on Earth. However, she had to leave the radio station at the hands of her more inexperienced friends. When she got back, she brought back an exotic plant to the station. It grew extremely fast, taking over her room. Thankfully, with the help of local botanists, she was able to keep it under control.

During the summer, Arista's brother Vertex visits the station without knowing she works there, and Arista, panicking about not having kept in touch with him after moving out, tried to avoid him. However, they eventually confronted each other. She found out Vertex now officially worked at the rehab center, and they had a stressful argument that ended with Arista having a breakdown. Eventually, they were able to make peace with one another and promised to stay in touch. Vertex offhandedly suggested they'd go to therapy together, but Arista only laughed it off.

Her breakdown resulted in her becoming slightly less focused and more erratic, accidentally clicking on the wrong file when sending the newsletter to the crew one day. The final straw was getting electrocuted while tinkering with her radio equipment, which shut her down temporarily. She revealed to her friends that she has always been slightly malfunctioning for as long as she can remember, but stress made her malfunctions more severe and more frequent. She started getting shut down at random intervals during the day. Solèy was able to repair her biggest malfunction after doing a lot of research.

Arista frequently stood up for her shyer friends, mostly Alexei who often became overwhelmed when around large crowds. When he was assigned to direct a guided tour of the station for a class of small children, Arista bothered the upper management until they reassigned him to a less overwhelming task for the day. On Valentine's Day, she also tried setting him up on a blind date with another crew member, but he told her he didn't really feel there was any chemistry between him and the date she picked for him.

One time, Arista decided to go spend the weekend in her hometown of Cydonia with her friends, where they got trapped in a sandstorm. They were found by none other than Dr. Xar, who invited them into her home. She had an emotional reunion with Arista, who unfortunately still didn't remember her. Xar didn't hold it against her since she did hope she'd forget about her. Xar was able to repair Arista's memory problem and lended her a copy of her original schematics to make her maintenance aboard the station easier.

Hobbies

Tinkering: Arista's hobby of tinkering was born out of necessity, as she had to figure out her inner workings if she wanted to repair herself. She found it interesting to disassemble appliances and other electronic devices. The organic lifeforms in her life tend to ask her if it isn't a little morbid to her, being an android, but she says she doesn't see it that way.

Music and Radio: Arista has always found comfort in music, with her favorite genres being Martian Plerxt (a word which roughly translates to "Acid Pop"), Europa's Sea Shanties and Earth's Psychedelic Cumbia, but she enjoys all other varieties of music. Her interests of music and tinkering intersect in her radio show, broadcasting station-wide and to a limited range in Earth-Luna orbit at 105.3 FM, where she plays music, talks about station happenings, interviews important people and generally talks about whatever is on her mind. It took a bit of convincing the station management to allow her to set up her radio show, but even the people who opposed her have noticed the benefits of it.

Roller Skating: A hobby she picked up from her girlfriend, she enjoys roller skating as a fun recreational activity. She's a bit clumsy and not very good at keeping her balance, but she tries to keep up regardless. She has a pair of mint green roller skates that glow in the dark, and her favorite place to skate at is at the roller rink in Solèy's hometown, although the station's arcade/roller rink/bowling alley works in a pinch.

Video Games: Arista's favorite activity when she's feeling under the weather or just not super active is to get cozy and play video games in her room. She enjoys slower paced games such as Zarmina's World and Plutonian Cat Simulator. She also enjoys to hit up the arcade, although ultimately she prefers the comfort of her own room.