Droid's Desire (Zrixtas)

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum was surprised to say the least. He had suspected that this was a droid who had been programmed to contain a human mind and that the organic who had created it had died, but evidently he was incorrect. It made sense, especially considering the statement about organics. He looked at the crystal curiously, he hadn't read about the Shards, though that tended to be the case until after he met a species. He set his HoloNet program to work collecting information on the species. Sentient crystals, what an intriguing concept. And they can live in droids! Must be specially built for them. That was part of the reason he would need the information, it would show him how to construct a droid that could work with a Shard.

"Well, I don't know if my droids can produce top notch, but we can certainly achieve better products than what is found in a scrap yard." Ultimatum replied with a smile. The speeder came to a halt and Legion jumped and opened the door for [member="Zrixtas"] while Ultimatum opened his own and stepped out. The air outside was probably hotter than at the spaceport, it being much closer to a lava river. His base's entrance was hidden within an outcropping of rocks that looked fairly natural, though not perfectly in alignment with the environment. "Welcome to Progenitor Facility, lovely view isn't it." Ultimatum said with another smile. In the distance one could see a large volcano erupting as they always did on Mustafar.

 

[Lord Zrixtas]

Zrixtas laughed a little at [member="Ultimatum"]'s first statement. "Anything is better than a scrap yard." He then said with a little chuckle as he then stepped outside the speeder after closing his chest cover. "Thank you." He said to Legion before he looked at the facility. Impressive wasn't even the word for it. "W-wow this is a very impressive facility." He said while his tone relayed how impressed he was, looking around however he grimaced a little. 'Not a fan of the locale though' He thought as he looked over the flowing lava river not for away from them. "Might I Get a tour perhaps?" He then said gesturing towards the facility, if he was able to crack a smile he probably would.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum responded casually, "Of course, if you're going to get a body here you should know how things are done." Ultimatum began walking to the rock formation. The far side was even more conspicuous, though because it faced the lava it was expected to be hardly noticed. There a metal door was completely visible surrounded by rock. Ultimatum hadn't believed that there would be much necessity for secrecy beyond keeping the general area hidden. He didn't even touch the door, as it slid open automatically making it appear that it was a regular sensor door. However, Ultimatum had programmed it to open to certain commands via his HoloNet program which allowed him to be anywhere in the galaxy be able to open it as needed. He beckoned for [member="Zrixtas"] to come as Legion walked quietly to follow Ultimatum.

 

[Lord Zrixtas]

Zrixtas hurried along and followed [member="Ultimatum"] into the facility, taking one last look behind him at the hellish landscape of Mustafar before he turned his head to look at were they were going. "I take it you are doing something here that the meatbags wouldn't like or something given how hidden it is." He then said as his head beeped a little and all optical sensors finally came back online. 'About time.' He thought as he "blinked" his eyes a little to adjust them to one another and then followed after Ultimatum.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum stepped into the facility, practically feeling the temperature difference. It wasn't much but he had the in door temperature about ten degrees cooler so that possible overheating with droids was kept to a minimum. He waited till all were through and then ordered the door to shut, which it did as silently as it had opened. The bright silvery gleam of clean metal was everywhere within the facility. Ultimatum had a want to keep everything tidy so as to avoid the problems of losing something. There wasn't much movement, the occasional droid walking by without so much as a sideways glance. Ultimatum also kept them busy, even while he wasn't working there was always something more to do. He had to keep a storage of refined metal, made in the facility, he had to keep a large number of spare parts, and at all times he had to keep expanding. This last was very slow as Ultimatum didn't mind expansion, he was more concerned with keeping up with demand. At the moment his droids were still producing the droids for Spaarti to take care of the new clones. It was a close call, but droids were trustworthy and they didn't quit, Ultimatum trusted they could handle it.

"Well, the locals aren't the biggest on droid construction. But more importantly, my AI is specifically designed to jump from one droid body to the next as required. I test my abilities and expand upon my capabilities here, as far as I know nobody wants to have a droid who can appear anywhere at any time." Ultimatum walked for a meter and turned right, into a droid manufacturing room. This was their special one, built solely for Ultimatum's personal use. It had all the tools that one could expect from both hand making droids to manufacturing them. This was where he intended on building his own next body, so far it hadn't been used. Maybe today he could change that, make a body for his new crystalline friend.

[member="Zrixtas"]

 

[Lord Zrixtas]

"Amazing..." He mumbled as he kept walking with [member="Ultimatum"] into the facility only to glance at the occasional droid that passed them by. 'Why are they so autonomous?' He thought and then he got his explanation from Ultimatum. "Wow that ability would certainly come in handy." He then replied as they entered the droid manufacturing room and his pace slowed considerably. The room was like a toy being handed to a ten year old to Zrixtas the things he could do in this room. All the possibility's were quite literally endless, especially when it came to his body. "I take it we are going to be here a while then?" He then said as he reached out with the force to pick up a few droid parts and gently placed them on a table in the middle. "Well then I guess the biggest issue and change to a normal droid body is the interface between shard and body. I wish to show you this as well as show you that the body won't be needing as big a memory core as a normal droids however it will require two of the normal processors to keep up with sorting through thoughts and "commands" given to the body." He began explaining as he removed the chassis of his chest and began to show and teach Ultimatum about the systems that allowed him to control his mechanized body.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum nodded to [member="Zrixtas"]'s question. They would probably be there quite awhile, fortunately unlike organics they wouldn't be needing food or water. That is, unless Shards required such things, he didn't know. Apparently information on Shards was scarce enough to make his programs require more time than usual. Strange, especially when he had found supposedly rarer species on the HoloNet much faster, but then the HoloNet was a strange place, being controlled by organics it didn't always make sense.

He turned his full attention to what he was being shown, he burned every part and how it worked into his memory for long term storage. One thing he loved, learning. This was interesting, it made sense that the droid body would require less memory, though Ultimatum assumed that extra memory space was quite helpful. The processors were also understandable, after all to transfer thoughts from one lifeform to another was very complex. The droid would be most special indeed, he hoped that this crystal would find Ultimatum's more compact memory storage helpful. They had been intended for the terminal droids, however they could double as basic memory storage for this as well. The devices were almost half the size of conventional cores, however they had about three times the capacity compared to their size. They were technically still experimental, as of yet he had not pushed them to the breaking point but thus far they had succeeded in holding the intended amount without difficulty.

"It is quite intricate. I am surprised that you were able to make something like this in a scrap yard. How long did it take to make it?"

 

[Lord Zrixtas]

Zrixtas chuckled a little embarresd. "It took me around 2-4 years time sort of jumbled together during the gathering of parts and creation of the body. I also had to cannibalize the basic skeletal bodies that the others usually purchased from droid factories to hold my core inside of the body." He then explained as he was pointing out different components that would have to be custom made to allow for the transference of it all to happen. "I do hope it isn't off putting to you [member="Ultimatum"] but the body I hope to be able to make with you will be a battle droid so I can always protect myself but since we have such an impressive lab to use I'm sure we can have a little fun while we do it I also have been working on a new design for this body to make it better however it is mearly what it would look on the outside." He then said as he took out the memory unit in his chest and placed it on the table to be interfaced with showing the Design for the new body in a holo display.

 

[Ultimatum]

"It shouldn't be a problem battle droid or no we can have it built and the appearance isn't too difficult to customize." Ultimatum replied as he looked at the image. It was an interesting design, very similar to droids that another company had made for him, they were currently his work force. He had no problems about it, was just a resemblance. He sent an order to his droids for the special memory cores to be brought. He pulled over an empty diagram sheet, he began drawing out the internal component designs for the unique parts. His movements with the pen were precise and swift, he had had quite a bit of practice with this. He wondered how it would come out, in his experience sometimes it went according to plan and other times something else would come of it.

"Alright, I assume that you would like integrated blaster systems, like your current body yes?"

[member="Zrixtas"]

 

[Lord Zrixtas]

"Yes that would be an advantage to have though I've been wondering if I could place boosters into the forearms that would shoot out he palms as well as the legs to allow for a limited flight or a very long jump? the boosters in the arms could also be modified to fire a few blaster bolts?" He then said as he put up a side by side internal designing of his own body next to the one [member="Ultimatum"] was drawing so he could see what his body was capable of now. "What I would like most for this body to be able to do is move faster and be stronger than a humans if that is at all possible to do?" He then said as he had just made his current body out of scrap so he didn't really know that much about the current droid technology.

 

[Ultimatum]

"We can certainly build a droid stronger and faster than organics, though it won't be speed of sound fast or strong enough to stop a speeder. I could probably a half times stronger than a Zabraak of equal body structure in good conditioning. I can't make it too strong or there is the slight possibility that in the event of some sort of system compromise, such a substantial hit to the main cores, the mechanisms that give you your strength could backfire and push all that force into the main body instead of out the arms. With a droid it is fairly easy to handle as you can reinforce the chest area so as to minimize damage allowing the droid to be salvaged. In your case we have to take away and add somethings, which changes the internal configuration, because a processor and memory core are different size and shape. I could probably reinforce the same area, but it won't be to the same degree as larger stronger droids, because of this I don't want to add too much strength or an accident may lead to the force being put right on the crystal, I assume that fractures are not good for your health so I want to avoid this." Ultimatum took a moment from his drawing, he looked up at the wall. He thought on that before going back to drawing.

"If we took a more durable metal than what most use in droid construction in that area that might counteract it. Let's say we use Durasteel, that would increase durability and I might be able to safely put your strength to two times an a Zabraak like the one I told you about. Of course, this would put more weight that is normally preferable, especially if you are thinking prolonged flight. Short bursts will require a little more power than usual but it would get the job done. As for the thrusters, I've worked with similar stuff before. I think we can put thrusters for limited flight, probably ten meters or so, though using those thing over and over again will wear the droid out and it will require time to recharge. Making thrusters into weaponry is plausible, though it will take some work stop it from sending you backwards. I'm good to work on this, it will just take some time. You up for it?"

[member="Zrixtas"]

 

[Lord Zrixtas]

Zrixtas listened and then nodded to [member="Ultimatum"]'s comments. "Well the last time I checked Zabraks are around the same strength as humans the only real physical difference I know of is the horns and two heart that the species has. Though double the strength of a human is better and what I was going for anyway." He then said before he chuckled a little. "Well unlike most meat bags we have nothing but time." He said before he began to show that the case around the crystal core should be spherical or similar so that it could protect the core as the only backlash that it should suffer from would be and ion one that would fry the system. Going over it a bit more he thought that he might use the same technology that allowed Ultimatum to express himself into the finger tips of the design to allow for claws to come out as a last resort type of weapon perhaps.

 

[Ultimatum]

"In regards to Zabraaks, they tend to be in better shape than a human of equal size, but yes think two times the strength of a man." Ultimatum said after the demonstration. It was an interesting design, it made sense but it would take up more room than a crystal itself. It was fine, Ultimatum would make do with what they had. He pulled out a drawer that held basic schematics for droid parts. He grabbed a few of the papers and laid them out on the table. Most of the pieces were general parts from the Clone Wars era droids, nothing of the specially made droids that had been produced during that time. It would give him a basic idea of what they would need and allow [member="Zrixtas"] to choose whether he wanted specific parts or otherwise.

 

[Lord Zrixtas]

Zrixtas nodded to [member="Ultimatum"] and then went to look through the papers that he had laid down on the table. He went through some quickly ignoring them as they held useless parts for him to use and he also pointed at a few others to save for later. He picked two good processors that didn't take up too much space as well as some servos and motors to place in the joints of the body. "There certainly are a lot here but this seems to be everything from the clone wars era.. Do you have any that come from this era or has the galaxy not caught up with the clone wars era after the plaque?" He then asked as he looked at Ultimatum and cocked his head to the side quizzically.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum opened the drawer and pulled out some more sheets. "There have been some advancements, but overall the technology hasn't gotten very far. It is surprising actually that organics haven't attempted making a weapon more advanced that blasters." Ultimatum had always marveled at the organic societies that continued to fight one another but failed to actually make an substantial progress with their technology. It was as if they were trapped and incapable of escaping. Ultimatum put away the sheets that had been passed over and put the ones kept to the side for use later.

[member="Zrixtas"]

 

[Lord Zrixtas]

"Well in a way they have, apparently they call it the force or some such nonsense." He said as he used the force to lift ultimatum gently off the ground and then placed them down again. "The only real advantage the meatbags have is the force and with a force sensitive shard that advantage is lost." He then said a sense of pride in his voice though it might as well be a little foreboding of the future as well. "It's also why I like droids as much none of those petty politics just facts and truths that hold sway." He then said he noticed a small paper that depicted finger tips that would turn from what looked like human hands into razor sharp tips. "This would come in handy." He then said as he placed it to the side to be kept for later.

[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

"I suppose you are right," Ultimatum responded as he picked through a few sheets, perusing their information. He didn't intend on storing any of their information in his own memory because he had physical and data copies of every piece of paper in the facility. He had never really seen the Force as an advancement. It was not strictly speaking technological, but from Ultimatum's limited understanding he thought that the Force was biological in nature. Maybe at some time in the future he could discover a way of negating that one advantage and possibly add it to the droid's abilities. That would require these midi-clorians and enough time and resources to experiment with them. Probably it would require some type of partial conversion of the midi-clorian so that it would obey the droid's commands. At least that would like take a month of non-stop experimentation and research.

When [member="Zrixtas"] pointed out the specially built fingers Ultimatum looked at them for a moment. "Basically the same concept as retractable claws on a feline. Their useful for covert operations or as a last resort of protection. Wouldn't suggest using them against men with blasters." Ultimatum said with a smile, the last part being a joke. "So, we have a lot of pieces, would you like to begin work on building then?" He asked, there certainly was enough to begin and anything more could be decided upon as they worked it needed.

 

[Lord Zrixtas]

Zrixtas nodded as he then waved his hand towards the tool's in the room and brought them up floating towards them. "All right I must admit I am looking forward to building this body with you." He said his tone something that one would use while smiling. "The claws can also be used for climbing if one thinks that way." He then said as he raised the papers up into the air around them as well. "Are there any places that we could place these around us so we can quickly reference them, it requires quite a bit of concentration to do this all, the one drawback to using the force." He then said as he stopped focusing on using his body and used it to hold the tools and papers up in the air floating around them.

[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum stood and moved over to the wall opposite them. He slid aside the wall's schematic covered surface, underneath a black sterile looking white wall was revealed. "Just use these magnets and that should hold them against this. Should be easy to look up once in awhile." He had worked this once before, making the memory cores. He had found from experience that organics had a little difficulty distinguishing small figures from the work table to the wall, thought he had no trouble because his vision was slightly better than that of regular humans. Plus a droid's photographic memory tended to be better than that or organics, or so Ultimatum had found.

He moved back to the table and moved one of the tools absentmindedly for a moment, thinking about what was going to be built. It was a strange thing that happened when he began work on a new droid, it just seemed like making a new life. He shook his head before asking, "Alright, where would you like to begin?"

[member="Zrixtas"]

 

[Lord Zrixtas]

Zrixtas moved the papers against the wall like [member="Ultimatum"] had suggested and then placed the tools neatly on the table. When he was on the opposite end of the table he leaned against it a little and then looked at Ultimatum. "Well we could start with the housing chamber and from there work our way out until we only need to place the outer shell." He said as he began looking around for fresh parts and the like to begin. "I usually but my core near where an organics heart would be and have the main processors and the very essential internal components there, such as the cooling system, memory core..Ect."