The God computer is proving hard to decipher. It uses a precise arrangement of matter to fuction, and we have about 70% of that saved in harddrives and images, but there's still other things we need. The God computer was akin to a {Redacted}-less manip, it's an amazing piece of tech but also one that requires us to get everything JUST right or it doesn't work at all. If a single wire or bit of code on the disk is out of place, we got nothing. So we're brute forcing it for now; which takes time. Lot of variables.
And if we were to cut open the head and study the brain of the person who made it, would that help?
Dangerously fast. The only thing that protects them from going ice-9 seems to be the fact that they have a exponentially reduced effect at distances. But if you threw one into a sun...it might eat the star, given enough time.
No. Nothing. No idea where the hell it's going or how it does it.
We can replicate it, but it requires atomic level engineering and each "Spike" needs to be of a minimal size. About 8 inches long, 2 inches thick.
For a spike of minimal size, what kind of distance can be considered 'safe', and how fast can it heat then
Also, what are its other physical properties (hardness and such)?
We don't have to. We've found that they're self reproducing. They bud off new copies of themselves if you give them enough time or feed them enough reality distortion. It seems, if their emissions are anything to go by, that there's an underlying field on background of reality distortion in the universe. Very limited though; about akin to the amount of energy required to raise a cup of water a few degrees with the microwave amps. We're not sure if it's uniform across the universe or if we might be effecting it by being around it in some way.
Do a test to see if having more people around it increases their growth. Do the same, but this time for sods instead of regular people. Send one to deep space and see what it does. Does being close to another planetary body affect it?
What are its other physical properties (hardness and such)? Is there a minimal effective size? Can you chop them up, and are they still active then?
Could I put a science team on analyzing the field data from using Green Storm? To determine better what kinda damage happens at what exposure time and what usage 'intensity'.
We've lost power to the growth tanks, so no more sods or organic materials for now. As well as a good amount of local manufacturing. We continue to mine resources though.
Anton better find a big cushion to tie to his behind to prepare for the ass-whooping he's about to get.
If you can find Ker.
safe distance is pretty small actually You can't grab it with bare hands, only a couple of inches away and you'd be fine.
The speed it can absorb heat is, again, limited only by how much heat you can get into the 'non-safe' zone.
It's pretty hard but also fairly brittle. Kinda like a big rod of graphite. Pull it at an angle and it will snap. It will, however, continue functioning even when broken as long as it is within that minimal size. You can't really make armor out of it alone, and you can't coat it to make it more resistant because that will prevent it from functioning.
From what we find, being near humans seems to slightly increase the distortion. Being near planetary matter seems to decrease it while deep space away from everything seems to increase it. They are odd things. They seem to become tougher as more of them grow atop each other. Individually they're not very strong. In fact, you could destroy them with a normal claw hammer. But after growing into a cluster of about 100, they have enough resilience to survive blows with a sledge hammer. They, however, will not function if their outer shell is broken up.
We can. If there's one around.
You can tinker of you want (Grumble)
((Don't worry, I'll stick to things you already know about.))
We've lost power to the growth tanks, so no more sods or organic materials for now. As well as a good amount of local manufacturing. We continue to mine resources though.
((Ah, that's too bad. Was going to try and requisition a custom brain. Maybe the Doctor will be willing to share some of his.))
Well, if the guys from the hero killer mission survive, we could dump them in there and see if they can find the thing. Maybe capture it. Maybe just recon it out. Your choice.
If we can recon with drones, let's recon with drones, even if they have to be made manually. Let the living people handle the capturing, and Anton is going to go with them because he's the one who built the thing at the center of it, and if someone has to destroy it, it'll be him.
edit: Procure information from ARESTEVE and the Doctor regarding what gear we can provide for the incoming mission people to use, and what we should expect from the frozen area besides the cold.
On that note, have a Robosod wearing an MCP-1 suit enter the frozen area and see if the suit can sufficiently protect it.
As far as tinkering, Anton is going to revise and redesign his Artee plans into this (this optional). Basically, just a robotic quadruped body with paws, wheels, a tail, and two hidden arms. The only integrated weapon it keeps is the metal cutter jaw, everything else is in modules.
Basic Artee
Body - robotic synthoid, quadruped, animal-like. Combines feline, equine, humanoid, and reptilian features, in that order.
Control unit - organic brain (front torso), supported by two CPU blocks (head/rear torso) for multitasking and automation.
Power supply - 8 TPU generator, compact. (mid torso)
Features:
- Extra storage: Internal bays in sides of middle torso, under hinged "wing" covers. External bays over rear torso.
- Extra limbs: Two fully articulate arms with hands, roughly human-strength, with custom double-joint shoulders. Capable of fully folding into the internal bays, under the wing covers, with some space to spare, for concealment. Fully articulate prehensile tail, body-length.
- Mobility wheels: One in each leg, retractable, electric powered.
- Weapons: None integrated in basic form.
- Armor: Minimal/similar to standard robobody, with some reinforcement of "wing" covers.
- Tools: Mechanical crushing/cutting jaw (head). Universal holsters (sides of front torso). Boosted communications antenna (back of neck). Battery recharge ports (inside torso bays).
- Misc: Folding handgrips (back of head) and folding footrests (sides of torso), allowing a single person to drive the unit as one would a motorcycle.
- Equipment/Addon slots: Head, Muzzle, Neck, Back/Spine, External bays, Tail, Outer shell.
Equipment/Addons:
One set of equipment can be installed per slot, from the provided choices, for extra cost.
Head slot: Fits equipment inside a vertical mount through the top of the head.
-> Kinetic Ram: Gauss-accelerated ramspike with kinamp tip, intended to put the entire mass of the unit behind a single impact (headbutt).
-> Catapult: Gauss-accelerated launcher for custom-fitted grenades, grappling hooks, and any similar ammunition (bought separately).
Muzzle slot: A small equipment slot in the center of the unit's faceplate, aimed forward.
-> Small Electrolaser: A customized version of a Red Hand, feeding off the internal generator.
-> Cutting torch: A high-intensity short-range utility laser, with limited chemical fuel cell.
Neck slot: Fits equipment into a compartment behind the outer panels of the neck, extending into the bottom of the skull ("lower jaw").
-> Universal Sprayer: A compact, shorter-range modification of the handheld weapon, installed in the lower skull, feeding from flexible tanks fitted in the neck compartment (up to 2 different substances, small tanks).
-> Medical Suite: The neck compartment is fitted with a custom version of the Advanced Medical Kit, including a small tank of Fleshknitter. The "lower jaw" is fitted with a combination injector (for Fleshknitter/painkillers/boosters) and dispenser for medical tools and supplies.
Back/Spine slot: A series of connectors and attachment points hidden under outer panels, allowing installation of external gear. Installing gear in this slot prevents carrying additional cargo over the back of the unit.
-> Turret Hardpoint: A Pawn-like 360-degree turret, with options to be controlled externally or by the unit's own AI. Weaponry varies.
-> Flight Unit: An assembly consisting of a series of rocket verniers and a large fuel tank, affording the unit flight akin to that provided by a Mk3 suit.
External Bays slot: The two compartments on either side of the rear torso can house a variety of gear instead of being used to store cargo.
-> Grenade Launchers: A pair of single-barrel 40mm grenade launchers, with some elevation/traverse capacity and automatic reloads fed from a rotary magazine, 8 grenades per launcher.
-> Technical Suite: A collection of enginnering and assembly tools similar to an extended Advanced Toolkit, including all necessary peripherals for directly interfacing with a variety of computer systems.
Tail pylon: The prehensile tail's tip can have extra gear installed, to leverage its strength and dexterity.
-> Small Electrolaser: A customized version of a Red Hand, feeding off the internal generator. Acts as an independent 360-degree turret controlled by the CPU systems.
-> Grasping Claw: A mechanical grasping attachment, for carrying small amounts of cargo, towing/dragging vehicles or teammates, or reaching into difficult spaces (among other things).
Outer Shell upgrades: The powerful onboard generator, processors, and high strength/endurance of the quadruped body allow some extensive modifications to the unit's carapace without hampering its other functions.
-> Heavy Armoring: Hexsand/Sharkplate plating around the body's surface, extra ballistic mesh around the joints. Extra reinforcement of "wing" covers.
-> Electrified Surface System: Similar to the robobody upgrade, allows electrifying specified surface areas selectively as an offensive measure. (i.e. electrifying the tail for melee attacks or grapples)
-> Optical Camouflage: A layer of electrically controlled "paint" that can change color and even emit light to mask the unit's presence in almost any circumstances, though it does not render it invisible.
In addition to the above, the unit can carry two regular handheld infantry weapons on the Universal Holsters, and aim and fire both simultaneously thanks to the support CPUs taking some of the sensory/coordination load off the brain unit. The unit can carry and handle other equipment that a regular humanoid could use, excepting anything requiring Exo skill.
Cost of the unit, its optional gear, and the exact skills and stats is would possess are to be determined if the concept it cleared.
((TL;DR: It can handle two one-handed weapons without issues, as well as anything that requires hands; it can operate as a Sod would, and all gear that in previous concepts was just built in, is now made into optional gear that is added at extra cost, much like soldier abilities or genemods in XCOM:EW - one per slot, mostly selecting between combat and non-combat applications.))
Since Anton can't procure a brain for a prototype yet, he is going to start with assembling a body for it. That should take him long enough (without production capacity to spare) until the M22 survivors and/or rookies who are going to be helping him reclaim the frozen North anomaly section arrive.
There's limited work that can be done with drones. A lot of blockage.
As per gear, as I said in IRC, basically anything you want thats not totally op or nonsensical.
What you can expect to find is something they can't tell you with any degree of reliability.
And yes, at least in the outer layers, it seems to be.
We'll assume you're assembling, but I dunno about the designs. Have they made it past the council? If I remember right there were concerns about the Artee, at least in terms of mass production.
Okay, got four assignments, an in-class project and an upcoming exam so my posting rate's fucked. I'll be damned if I don't do my part for this investigation mission though.
Inquire about the following:
- We know the facility's internal structure, right? We can figure out where ARM units are at all times assuming nothing weird is going wrong, right? Is therefore hypothetically possible (for Saint) to code an MkIII program that takes over the exoskeleton and thrusters, and uses them to fly itself along with it's wearer and whoever it's carrying out of the facility as fast as possible since it will be able to combine the two pieces of information to know what its surroundings are and what path to take?
- Can the same be done as an exoskeleton-only program? In case burning fuel too close to the region is dangerous or isn't possible.
- Going back to the thoughtsphere concept (the sod brain that can be used to control a robobody it is hooked up to), is it possible to create a kind of sod-brain that is designed to run away from and escape danger as quickly and efficiently as possible? Can it be used to create a thoughtsphere that can be attached to robobodies and MkIIIs? Can a braincase mobility system be modified to act as a thoughtsphere? Alternatively, can this be implemented using Snowglobe hardware as a kind of user-activated automated system?
- How are the staff, particularly the Q'Bajans, reacting to this? Or do they not know about it yet?
- If whatever is causing the anomalous effect (since Charles has no IC knowledge regarding its true nature) is reactivated, do we have enough coolant ready in the area to halt it again? If not, how long will it take to set up such precautions?
- How cold does the coolant have to be? I don't suppose blowing on it will help much.
- "Wait a minute, it's, it's almost like that time when... Wait no, that needed heat to stop, this needs cold. Don't we hav- whereisitwhereisitwhereisit...
...
Here. The 'elemental infuser'. Please have it, please have it. It's got to have it right? It wasn't all for naught, right? Right? It's here. It has to be here." Can the elemental infuser infuse objects with Ice. That is, does it have an Ice-9 battery? If so, would it be safe to use it to create cooling devices for use against the anomaly?
Theoretically yes, but that assumes the facility is still in the same shape and that there aren't blockages.
Well, the ones that didn't get killed by it are reacting in about the same way you'd react to any industrial accident. It's scary and they're mourning lost friends but they don't see it as being directly our fault. Probably because we're lying about what it is.
We're getting coolant back into the area now, just in case. Also, priming the final countermeasures for if we need to really get rid of this thing.
Pretty damn cold.
It can infuse things with extreme heat and cold, yes. Using it as a weapon might be possible.