OK, the simple truth is that it comes from my Sensai. He gave me the name as a reminder. He always told me that I wasn't one with my ki (spiritual energy) or the world around me, that I lacked Wa (harmony) with my surroundings, but instead fought like I was only a small part, like a cog or gear. "Ah, your kung-fu is good , but to be a master you must be in harmony with heaven and earth, not be like a little cog caught in the gears of the celestial bureaucracy"
Ever sense then, he and all the other pupils at the temple called me cog. Sensai said I would one day out grow the name, but that day had not yet come when Sensai died. So to honor him, I still use the name. His Death left me empty inside, hence the zero in the middle. I will continue to use this name, until his death at the hands of the imperial one armed guard is avenged.
OK, so the real reason is less interesting. It's only part of my manufacture code, the 'cee' connotes a composite droid, in that i was assembled out of parts of other projects and contain tech originally designed for other units. the 'zero' designation is given to all prototype projects, as I am not a manufacture model, but only a test unit built with the intention of trying out a new method of assembly. The 'gee' is a control code referring to my status as a fully functional self contained autonomous unit, operating out side of the laboratory environment.
In the Sadowrun novels by Nyx Smith about Striper, an asian assassin who is a tiger that can change herself into a human at will, lays the true reason behind my name. One of the supporting characters, who also appeared in several earlier novels by other authors is Cog. He's a mysterious shadow fixer, who it's hinted at is really a wolf masquerading as a human. He's called Cog, as he's an integral part of the machine that is the shadowy underworld of Seattle 2055, dealing in information, guns, stolen tech, and deniable assets (like assassins).
I just liked the imagery of it. I added the zero to imitate the
h@c|CeRs & W@r3Z t¥pe5 Wh0 u§E a|te®nat3 kh@®icTeRZ to 5pe|| tH!n9z, ße[Uz I thought it'd make me look more cool'n hip.
Society is a machine. I am trapped in that machine doing my little part in it's functioning. A cog is only the tooth on the gear, a part so small that it would not affect the functioning of the machine if it were to disappear. And that's why the zero is there, as a symbol that I am as nothing to the great machine of our culture.
That's how I see my self, as a little nothing part of a great wheel.
Webster's offers the definition:
cog vb.[obs c0g(a trick)]vi 1532
you be the judge. |back|