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The Robotics Lab is a part of 
Township of Shinkou.
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Dr. Thomas Light [8] Angry and forgotten.
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There was a soothing sound that accompanied Thomas Light's work, here. Something in the air that softened the clicks and low whistling, something that made the hustle, bustle of his work bearable in terms of audio. He could see himself working well, here, among the mountains.
Across his scarred worktable were pieces of a gasoline powered generator, gears and cables sticking out all over the place, his large, coke-bottle glasses on and magnifying what he saw. In his hands were tiny instruments - modified clockworking tools - that he moved along the generator, manipulating the workings of the motor, fiddling, really.
The project for the township had begun once the townspeople had accepted his harvesting droids; sturdy square robots on treads that were able to lighten the townspeople's loads by large degrees. They were a short term solution, and only really good for moving things that were inconvenient to lift or heft from A to B, but there were five functional robots tinkering around the town, and demand for more. However, each of them ran on a small battery, lasting only a few days.
Which led to his design and creation of a small charging station outside his shop, and a further parameter that could be programmed into the droids. At the press of a button, the machines would head back to his lab, recharge, and go back to their scheduled task. He was working on building a second one near the center of the town, but that'd have to be powered by something much better than gas.
Which, naturally, had led to him taking apart the generator, and his current predicament. Clean power, without any usage of gasoline, wood stoves, coal. Solar was the easiest option, as was wind. But he'd need large panels, or an unsightly windmill tower.
A challenge, he thought, as he put down his tools, lifted his glasses off of his head. From the back of the lab, he heard a distant clanging.
"Xiao!" he called, wiping his hands on his apron. After a moment, the clanging stopped, and a young Losenyu assistant dressed similarly walked in, his hair spiked messily and oil on his cheek.
"How are the prototypes," Thomas asked in the boy's native tongue, scrubbing at a stubborn part of his nails, still smeared with grease.
"Working, but the plating's poor quality. The Matriarch is due today?"
"In the next hour or so. And you have the Reaver?"
The boy nodded.
"Okay. Put them in position. I have the designs for the labourers ready, too."
As Xiao ducked back into the back room, Dr. Light squinted back towards the generator, flicking a switch.
The machine sputtered to life on a whirring noise, the light bulb attached to it glowing softly, then stronger as the machine stayed on. After a few minutes, it was growing bright and hot, illuminating the shelves upon shelves of mechanical stock, tools, discarded projects. An android's face stared at him from one corner, a leg curled in another.
It was a mess.
It was his.
As the light bulb suddenly shut off and the generator belched blue tinted smoke onto his apron, the good doctor smiled.
Across his scarred worktable were pieces of a gasoline powered generator, gears and cables sticking out all over the place, his large, coke-bottle glasses on and magnifying what he saw. In his hands were tiny instruments - modified clockworking tools - that he moved along the generator, manipulating the workings of the motor, fiddling, really.
The project for the township had begun once the townspeople had accepted his harvesting droids; sturdy square robots on treads that were able to lighten the townspeople's loads by large degrees. They were a short term solution, and only really good for moving things that were inconvenient to lift or heft from A to B, but there were five functional robots tinkering around the town, and demand for more. However, each of them ran on a small battery, lasting only a few days.
Which led to his design and creation of a small charging station outside his shop, and a further parameter that could be programmed into the droids. At the press of a button, the machines would head back to his lab, recharge, and go back to their scheduled task. He was working on building a second one near the center of the town, but that'd have to be powered by something much better than gas.
Which, naturally, had led to him taking apart the generator, and his current predicament. Clean power, without any usage of gasoline, wood stoves, coal. Solar was the easiest option, as was wind. But he'd need large panels, or an unsightly windmill tower.
A challenge, he thought, as he put down his tools, lifted his glasses off of his head. From the back of the lab, he heard a distant clanging.
"Xiao!" he called, wiping his hands on his apron. After a moment, the clanging stopped, and a young Losenyu assistant dressed similarly walked in, his hair spiked messily and oil on his cheek.
"How are the prototypes," Thomas asked in the boy's native tongue, scrubbing at a stubborn part of his nails, still smeared with grease.
"Working, but the plating's poor quality. The Matriarch is due today?"
"In the next hour or so. And you have the Reaver?"
The boy nodded.
"Okay. Put them in position. I have the designs for the labourers ready, too."
As Xiao ducked back into the back room, Dr. Light squinted back towards the generator, flicking a switch.
The machine sputtered to life on a whirring noise, the light bulb attached to it glowing softly, then stronger as the machine stayed on. After a few minutes, it was growing bright and hot, illuminating the shelves upon shelves of mechanical stock, tools, discarded projects. An android's face stared at him from one corner, a leg curled in another.
It was a mess.
It was his.
As the light bulb suddenly shut off and the generator belched blue tinted smoke onto his apron, the good doctor smiled.
Not an hour later, the Matriarch arrived on schedule. There was little spectacle or fanfare to her arrival, as she didn't want to make a scene out of her trip to the small township of Shinkou. Her presence garnered curious looks and speculative murmurs from the locals though, and no doubt there would be rumors following at her heels when she departed again - but such was to be expected given her position.
She might have sent a representative in her stead, but she wanted to see Thomas Light's lab herself, and to personally assess the situation in Shinkou. There was more to this deal for her than money signs and exchanges of goods. She was as interested in learning the character of the man she was to do business with as she was in his work.
His relationship with the people of Shinkou was a very telling factor, and it was perhaps this that had compelled her to meet with him.
A small entourage of her royal guard accompanied her, but she gestured for all but two to remain outside as she was escorted into the lab to meet with the good doctor.
She might have sent a representative in her stead, but she wanted to see Thomas Light's lab herself, and to personally assess the situation in Shinkou. There was more to this deal for her than money signs and exchanges of goods. She was as interested in learning the character of the man she was to do business with as she was in his work.
His relationship with the people of Shinkou was a very telling factor, and it was perhaps this that had compelled her to meet with him.
A small entourage of her royal guard accompanied her, but she gestured for all but two to remain outside as she was escorted into the lab to meet with the good doctor.
The dies and apron had been put away, the shop swept and polished to the best of his admittedly tiny amount of ability, and his hair combed back, beard tamed with oils. He wore a suit - an old one that had been bought for him a lifetime ago - that was too short at the ankles and wrists, exposed more of his calloused, heavy hands than he supposed was decent for a meeting with a higher power. But it was the best he could do.
He remained stone faced as the Matriarch entered the shop, his eyebrow twitching lightly as he took in the bodyguards that flanked her. To his right, Xiao gawked openly, his eyes wide as saucers as Avantia stood inside the shop. Light bowed his head lightly, nothing more than a slight inclination, acknowledgement of her presence.
"Matriarch," he said, in nearly perfect Losenji, "welcome to my shop. I am apologizing - we were working towards finishing your prototype before you arrived, and have left the shop in a poor state. My name is Doctor Thomas Light, and this is my assistant, Xiao."
Xiao bowed immediately at the waist, not commenting other than a strangled, excited gasp.
He remained stone faced as the Matriarch entered the shop, his eyebrow twitching lightly as he took in the bodyguards that flanked her. To his right, Xiao gawked openly, his eyes wide as saucers as Avantia stood inside the shop. Light bowed his head lightly, nothing more than a slight inclination, acknowledgement of her presence.
"Matriarch," he said, in nearly perfect Losenji, "welcome to my shop. I am apologizing - we were working towards finishing your prototype before you arrived, and have left the shop in a poor state. My name is Doctor Thomas Light, and this is my assistant, Xiao."
Xiao bowed immediately at the waist, not commenting other than a strangled, excited gasp.
"It is a pleasure to finally meet you in person," Avantia replied with the slightest incline of her own head in greeting.
Her own grasp of the Losenyu tongue was fluent, with only a light Volarian accent.
She glanced to the pair of avorians that flanked her, having taken note of the slight twitch of Light's expression. She offered him a reassuring smile in return.
"Rest assured that they accompany me not out of distrust towards yourself, but in the event that my trip here has reached the ears of those who might wish to act upon it."
"And please, do not apologize. I am the guest here in your home," she reassured him. "It is I who should be accommodating of your work."
Her own grasp of the Losenyu tongue was fluent, with only a light Volarian accent.
She glanced to the pair of avorians that flanked her, having taken note of the slight twitch of Light's expression. She offered him a reassuring smile in return.
"Rest assured that they accompany me not out of distrust towards yourself, but in the event that my trip here has reached the ears of those who might wish to act upon it."
"And please, do not apologize. I am the guest here in your home," she reassured him. "It is I who should be accommodating of your work."
Light nodded at that, then turned to Xiao, flicking his wrist idly. The boy immediately scampered off into the back room as Light approached the workbench that separated the two, folding his hands as he leaned upon it. He considered carefully the approach of his next words, then decided to be blunt.
"It is out of respect for you, Matriarch, that I approach these next words with as little hyperbole as I can manage. It is my understanding that you seek technology to assist you in terms of defense, which is part of the series of events that has led you to my doorstep."
His fingers splayed flat on the scarred wood, spreading apart slowly. "Before I am showing you any design, prototype, or plans for weaponry, I must be reassured that these creations are to be used for defensive measures only, and that lethal force would be the last option in any case of their use. I consider you a fair judge of action, and so I am seeking your promising on this."
"It is out of respect for you, Matriarch, that I approach these next words with as little hyperbole as I can manage. It is my understanding that you seek technology to assist you in terms of defense, which is part of the series of events that has led you to my doorstep."
His fingers splayed flat on the scarred wood, spreading apart slowly. "Before I am showing you any design, prototype, or plans for weaponry, I must be reassured that these creations are to be used for defensive measures only, and that lethal force would be the last option in any case of their use. I consider you a fair judge of action, and so I am seeking your promising on this."
Avantia pondered his words a time before she spoke.
"I understand your concerns," Avantia replied. "And it is for those very reasons that I sought you out. But you must know that if war comes to Shintenchi, matters of defense are not so simply defined in colors of black and white. Often the defense of ones people weighs equally on the strength of their offense. If I can send cybernetic soldiers to the field to spare the lives of soldiers that might have gone in their stead, then I will not hesitate in my decision to do so."
"I cannot promise you in what manner these units will be fielded, but you have my assurance that Volaria remains as always a peaceful nation. If war comes, it will not be of our doing."
"I understand your concerns," Avantia replied. "And it is for those very reasons that I sought you out. But you must know that if war comes to Shintenchi, matters of defense are not so simply defined in colors of black and white. Often the defense of ones people weighs equally on the strength of their offense. If I can send cybernetic soldiers to the field to spare the lives of soldiers that might have gone in their stead, then I will not hesitate in my decision to do so."
"I cannot promise you in what manner these units will be fielded, but you have my assurance that Volaria remains as always a peaceful nation. If war comes, it will not be of our doing."
The doctor nodded, his expression serious. "I expected nothing less. I appreciate honesty in customers and clientelle. Now,"
With the declarative statement, he flipped over a hidden panel on the workbench, reaching inside for two rolled up blueprints, muttering to himself in English for a few moments. He withdrew the larger of the two rolled up rectangles, spread it wide, and gestured for her to sit at a worn looking stool on her side of the work bench.
"Let's start with our most expensive option, and we'll working down from there. This," he said, pointing at the drawing of what looked like a building, "is the first phase of option one. I'm going to be laying out each phase of the project, so you can be getting an idea of costings. An idea of price," he said, correcting himself absently, "for the entire defense solution. The end result of option one is this."
He unrolled the second square of blueprint, depicting five drawings of a robotic life form in various poses, detailed both material and cost of each piece, and what it'd take to build them.
"The result is a fully functional single battle droid, which operating in seven manning-" he frowned, started over, "The result is a fully functional single droid, which operates as a five man unit. Excuse me, brain going to fast for words."
He rubbed his temple, absently. "Friend or foe detection, thermal vision, cybernetic detection, and fully coordinated, squad style tactics. Each unit communicates to every member of their squad for completely accurate battlefield analysis, and each squad communicates with every other squad to share the information and make the best tactical decision. Further, you are to be getting - apologies."
Light took a breath. "Further, each squad can send you real time battle reports to a station of installation of your choosing. Any questioning so far?"
With the declarative statement, he flipped over a hidden panel on the workbench, reaching inside for two rolled up blueprints, muttering to himself in English for a few moments. He withdrew the larger of the two rolled up rectangles, spread it wide, and gestured for her to sit at a worn looking stool on her side of the work bench.
"Let's start with our most expensive option, and we'll working down from there. This," he said, pointing at the drawing of what looked like a building, "is the first phase of option one. I'm going to be laying out each phase of the project, so you can be getting an idea of costings. An idea of price," he said, correcting himself absently, "for the entire defense solution. The end result of option one is this."
He unrolled the second square of blueprint, depicting five drawings of a robotic life form in various poses, detailed both material and cost of each piece, and what it'd take to build them.
"The result is a fully functional single battle droid, which operating in seven manning-" he frowned, started over, "The result is a fully functional single droid, which operates as a five man unit. Excuse me, brain going to fast for words."
He rubbed his temple, absently. "Friend or foe detection, thermal vision, cybernetic detection, and fully coordinated, squad style tactics. Each unit communicates to every member of their squad for completely accurate battlefield analysis, and each squad communicates with every other squad to share the information and make the best tactical decision. Further, you are to be getting - apologies."
Light took a breath. "Further, each squad can send you real time battle reports to a station of installation of your choosing. Any questioning so far?"
Avantia brushed her finger tips over the blueprints as she perused them intently.
"How quickly can you have these made?" Avantia asked. "And do you have any prototypes already completed?"
She was going to need a large quantity of the droids, and she needed to weight cost effectiveness against speed of production. She also was wary of beginning mass production without first viewing them in action.
"How quickly can you have these made?" Avantia asked. "And do you have any prototypes already completed?"
She was going to need a large quantity of the droids, and she needed to weight cost effectiveness against speed of production. She also was wary of beginning mass production without first viewing them in action.
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