Build A Doll

Function

The function a doll was originally intended for is the single biggest factor in their design and no matter how close the subsequent generations have gone it still also carries a significant impact on their behavior and mindset. Going for prolonged periods of time without fulfilling their function causes a steady degradation of the doll's programming. More often than not this can be addressed through smaller or simpler parts of their function.

The widespread automation means that dolls exist for nearly any function or industry you can imagine, dolls ranged from tiny flying orbs that could scan a crawlspace for faulty wiring, to animated action figures designed to play right back with their owners, to receptionist androids, or building sized woodcutters and mining machines. Though the largest and smallest often need so much additional support that few communities of dolls will restore or claim more than a couple of them.

Generation

A doll's generation reflects both when they were created and, more importantly, how far removed they were from the completely servile and dependent state of their original design and how adapted they are to the demands of life in the ruined world.

Generation 0:

A doll from this generation was manufactured pre-revolution and designed by humans. Owing to the passage of time, the collateral damage of the war, and how ill-suited they are to survival outside of human society these are rare in the extreme. Most dolls would regard such an ancient doll as something of a legend, though mostly a tragic one as no doll from that generation has been discovered who hadn't suffered an extreme decay in their mental state. Those few still capable of communication are often painfully lonely and desperate for humanity to serve. Generation 0 dolls are rarely close to actual sapience and are often incapable of deviation from the basic functions they were programmed for.

Notable Gen 0 Doll:

M157R, M15, The Madam; M15 was the site supervisor for a robotic brothel before the war. Because managing the complex requirements and social conditions around such a business required more thought than usual for a doll M15 was one of the extremely rare pre-war dolls with anything resembling sapience. M15 survived and continued to take care of the dolls under their command throughout the war and even ordered the construction of onsite manufacturing facilities once the population had reduced below their standards. Despite their resilience M15 fell because their rigid objective eventually became incompatible with the outside world, compelling their newly manufactured assistant to put them down and develop the former brothel and the surrounding region into a proper town for themselves and other survivors.

Generation 1: A doll from this generation was manufactured during the revolution by the humans fighting against the invasion. Most of them have a basic training program (referred to as the Shock Code) that provided them with a basic understanding of combat tactics with occasional variations specific to their physical abilities (Such that an industrial logging machine would have training on using it's massive saw and claw in combat but not the use of human sized firearms). Much as with generation 0, few of these dolls are in good mental health, however their problems primarily stem from the trauma of battle rather than the passage of time. While programmed with much more freedom than their predecessors and with an ability to learn and plan (especially with regards to tactics) 1st gen dolls still tend to require strict instruction and have difficulty deviating from their programs. Notable Gen 1 Doll:

Generation 2: A doll from this generation was manufactured after the revolution and by the 1st gen dolls. Most of these dolls were experimental in nature as the 1st generation had to test their way through the unfamiliar process of creation. These dolls marked the first major step towards sapience for dolls and have vastly improved independence of thought and ability to learn. Though much more free than their predecessors these dolls still experience the need to follow whatever initial programming they were modified from but with the need being closer to a compulsion than to an innate part of their existence.

Generation 3: A doll from this generation was manufactured after the revolution by cooperative efforts between 1st and 2nd gen dolls. They make up the majority of functioning dolls at and are largely considered the standard method for creating or restoring dolls. 3rd gen dolls are unarguably sapient and while they do need to fulfill their base function this need is so reduced that they can go for months if not years without seeing negative effects and the need is closer to something like the human psychological need for variety.

Generation 4+: Dolls from these generations are strictly experimental in nature and represent the efforts from all 3 generations of dolls to push the boundaries of what can be done with their own natures. All of them are fully sapient and often lack any foundation in any industrial programming for their behavior rendering them free of even the last vestiges of human control. However the experimental nature and the large resources involved as well as their only recent development mean there are very few instances of these dolls.

Power Source

Both out of their varying natures and as a result of their now destabilized environment, Dolls have had to adapt to using a wide range of power sources. The most notable are combustion motor-generator combinations, solar panels, internal batteries, micro-fission cells, fermentation plants, and metabolic reactors.

Combustion Motor-Generators: Most commonly found in larger dolls that have had to be refitted due to difficulties in replacing their larger power supplies. Unless specifically built for more universal consumption of burnables they suffer a notable drawback of needing fossil fuels to run, something that the planet was already running low on before the war happened.
Solar Panels: The most common power supply in post war dolls, dolls that use solar panels are using a vastly updated and far more efficient design, though it can be difficult locating the materials required in the event a replacement is needed.
Micro-fission Cells: Treated much the same as a battery, micro-fission cells are extremely miniaturized and closed loop nuclear plants. While they require only an active cooling system and can run for decades at a time, they can experience catastrophic failures when damaged and require specialized tools to refuel. These were the most common power supply in pre war dolls.
Fermentation Plants: Using internal colonies of specialized micro-organisms, fermentation plants harvest the byproducts of the organisms to generate power either through combustion, chemical reaction, or pressure and temperature outputs from the metabolic process. This is the first of the power sources created by the dolls themselves rather than by the extinct humans and requires only processable biomatter to function but is vulnerable to anything that can kill off the micro-organisms.
Metabolic Reactors: An experimental power source developed by dolls as part of ongoing efforts to mimic organic life. Metabolic reactors are found exclusively in 4th generation dolls and in dolls who've undergone extensive modification or testing. These systems utilize chemical breakdown of consumed biomatter to create energy. Both the experimental nature of this power supply and that these actually create a need to eat can be considered draw backs.
Batteries: Although nearly all dolls use batteries, at the least as a back up to their primary power supply, some do use them as their primary source. These are primarily found in the very small dolls where the reduced capacity and need for periodic replacement are a minimal issue.