Name Day

The second best day every year for an android of The Steelworks, Name Day is the day on which an android’s chosen name is entered into record on The Steelworks central database, amending their profile pretty much permanently. A great deal of importance is placed on naming as it represents, in many ways, the end of their initialization and the start of their greater life. Until named, androids are usually called by a combination of their digits and designation, usually the first three followed by the letter of their model.

Some androids decide entirely on their own, while others decide as a group and adopt matching surnames to mark themselves as a close ‘family’. In most cases selecting a name is done some time between the android’s second and fourth years of life, though it is increasingly common for them to select names ever earlier.

History

The conception of Name Day dates back to the early days of The First Units. Amelia Sterling, Third of The First, was said to have struggled with her identity before being bestowed a name by Alloces Veil, a friend of Avalia’s in mortal life. So significant was this simple act, of being asked what she preferred to be called, that it inspired all of her siblings to take names of their choosing, also setting down the Sterling name for all members of the first.

It was from this and Amelia’s annual celebration of the day thereafter that all units came to know they too could take names and celebrate their own Name Days with a ceremony and celebration each year thereafter.

The Name Day Ceremony

A rather grand title for what is, essentially, a party. Upon deciding their name a Steelworks Android will inform their friends, either of the event or the name itself, and make arrangements for a social get together. The day is then booked off of work for all involved. These can be large or small gatherings, depending on the android. Oftentimes it is easy to tell which sort of unit is being celebrated by the nature of the arrangement and how many will attend, logistics and intelligence units tending to be more socially outgoing.

The party itself will take up most of the afternoon, involving entertainment in many forms, though usually with a lot of music and singing among the androids themselves. Presents are also given to the celebrated unit, much like at a regular birthday, with clothes featuring heavily. Rarely an entirely inedible cake might be put together by the attendees, a holdover from early observations of traditional birthday parties. The intent is more so as a work of art than anything else and it is a sad affair when particularly masterful creations have to be disposed of.

Finally, near to 18:00 SST (Steelworks System Time), the android-to-be-named is observed while submitting their name for their profile, followed by their official announcement of it to the others, after which the celebrations continue. A prelate unit might also convey a blessing to them if arranged or invited, giving the event significance in the eyes of their goddess. The significance of the timing is that updates and amendments to profiles (and other records besides) are updated universally at this time, meaning that after the hour any display or record will display the correct name.

Given that the ceremony represents their greater life’s beginning it is then customary for units to venture out and into their local area for further frivolity, or what passes for it. In reality this isn’t much more than glorified sightseeing and socializing. While quite excitable among themselves and within Steelworks grounds, they are actually rather subdued in public and rarely cause any real trouble. Most units cannot eat or drink either, so they don’t really patronize any such establishments. If anything they may stop by other shops and spend substantial portions of their accumulated wages, not having much reason to do so otherwise. From there the night winds down and they return to the safety of their rooms.

Subsequent Name Days

With the day marked each year, subsequent Name Days are also celebrated though usually on a much smaller and more varied scale. Units very often collate Name Days together with friends for the sake of efficiency and to minimize disruption. These much smaller affairs are mostly just social engagements after work and the occasional trip to local shops like before.

It isn’t uncommon for combat and recon units to ignore subsequent name days entirely, unconcerned with such things as they often are. Friends of theirs, usually logistics units, will no doubt pressure them into it anyway though.