Q: What exactly are "Machine-Kin"?

  A: Machine-Kin are, like all Otherkin, people with human bodies who have a spiritual and mental connection to something other than humanity.  In the case of Machine-Kin, the connection is with sentient Machines on other planes such as the Astral.


  Q: How and why are there "sentient machines" on the Astral?

  A: Every thing, and every type of thing, has a spirit on the Astral.  These things are created by our ideas on them collecting into one place and being given form by the nature of these thoughts.


  Q: But why are they sentient?

  A: Well, haven't you ever attributed an emotion to a machine of some sort?  Computers are stubborn and dislike it when you do certain things, your car is in a bad mood, etc.  The inherent complexity of machinery, the feelings we attribute to them, and the feelings we ourselves have for them influence these collections of energy on the Astral, creating intelligent Machines.  And from there they began to evolve just like life on Earth.


  Q: Do Machines dislike their place in our world?

  A: You mean that they are seemingly subservient?  No.  It's part of what they are.  Ask any person who has found where they truly belong in life and they will tell you they are happy there, even with the seemingly unpleasant parts.  Machines are meant to serve.  A Machine in service is much happier than a Machine without a task to do.


  Q: They're "happy?"  You mean Machines have emotions?

  A: I somewhat doubt that actual physical machines have emotions, at least as we think of them, but the sentient Machines on the Astral very much have emotions.  Some of them are very different from anything a human tends to experience, but they are emotions.  They can be happy, excited, scared, lonely, hurt, and most every other emotion a human feels.


  Q: If they fall in love, does this mean they have relationships?

  A: Machines can have relationships, but it is less important to most Machines than it is to humans.  The basis for human nature is community, so it makes sense that we require a spectrum of human interactions, including intimate relationships.  The basis for Machine nature is its designed job, which is why Machines are so incredibly sad when they have no purpose.  But just as some humans value their own jobs as being vital to their personal nature there are individual Machines who are very much prone to relationships.  Most loving relationships between Machines are based in a sense of family though.  While Machines themselves are not prone to romantic relationships the same is rarely true of Machine-Kin.


  Q: Do Machines have gender?

  A: Gender? Some do.  A physical sex? No.  Physically speaking there are, for example, no boy-cars and girl-cars; physically they are all the same.  However, some Machines have a gender, which is how you perceive yourself.  So while there's no boy-cars or girl-cars there are masculine cars who wish to be called "he" and thought of as being male and feminine cars who wish to be called "she" and thought of as being female.  Many Machine-Kin reflect this by feeling that their gender is neutral.


  Q: Do Machines reproduce?

  A: Most do not.  Most Machines lack the urge to reproduce.  Some individuals have the desire though, just as was the case with romantic relationships.  The exact nature of reproduction varies greatly between types of Machines.  In all cases it is the collecting of the vital essences of those involved in order to create or "build" a new Machine out of it.  How that actually occurs depends on the Machines involved.


  Q: How do they reproduce without a physical sex though?

  A: Animals need a physical sex as a means of combining spiritual essence on the material plane.  In the Astral there are no such limitations so the energy can be harnessed and used pretty freely.  This also means that more than two beings can be the parent.  It also means that a being could reproduce all on it's own, but this is difficult and time consuming due to the amount of energy it would require one to gather on their own.


  Q: If they can have children, can they also die?

  A: Absolutely.  It's hard to understand how a Machine can die since we think about death in purely biological terms; the heart stops pumping, the lungs stop breathing, the brain stops producing electrical activity.  But think of it in more general terms; things die when their parts stop working.  Your heart is a part and if it stops working you have a heart attack and die.  In the case of a Machine, if it's electrical system dies the engine shuts down and it dies.


  Q: Do Machines age?

  A: Yes they do.  It even equates to a human life pretty well.  When a Machine is brand new it's awkward and hard to work; it needs to be broken in.  After it's broken in it runs beautifully for quite a long time until the parts start to get worn down and ultimately stop working.  This is now different from how we are young and need to grow into adults, our bodies remain fine for a while, and then our organs show wear and tear from aging until one or more of them give out and we die.