Virtual Device (Activity without startup/shutdown sequence)

Can you allow for the creation of a virtual device? By this I mean a custom device made up of the buttons from any of the other remotes. For example, I want to have some buttons control my chromecast via bluetooth and others control the volume on the TV via IR. Yes this is technically what an Activity is, but I don't want there to include startup/shutdown sequences, I just want the remote to remain in this state. Either this or allow me to disable the startup/shutdown sequences of the activity, and just allow it to be 'on' all the time.