Video: UN - CentaursTesticle

[alternia_strength]

[Oh thank god. This one wasn't Equius' eye-blistering text message for once. Why? Well, because what Equius was doing right now required a visual aid, so video was more appropriate. The troll is standing in front of the camera, growling at an anvil and holding a heavy looking mallet. He is dressed in a pitch-black dyed leather apron along with equipment designed to handle heat. There's a towel hanging over a rack nearby, three of them actually, and he looks like he's worked up a sweat already. Setting down the hammer, he pulls out a stylus and holds it up so the camera can see it clearly.]

Residents of Trench. It seems I am made to continue to exist at the whims of others more powerful than myself, and for the time being I accept this condition. [Grunt] But I am a firm believer that idle hands are Troll Satan's playthings and accustomed to making myself useful. Rather than leaving my place of occupation, because for some reason I can't seem to find my way out of this district and am disgusted with the lack of direction everyone possesses around me at present, I offer my services.

This? Is a stylus, with which I can draw. [Snort. He took a piece of paper.] That is not important. What is important is that I possess a capacity I refer to as Alchemization. It is a ... gift I learned in more recent years. What I draw on paper, I can create. Thusly.

[He scrawled on the paper, before producing what looked like metal ingots, if they were drawn by a child. Emblazoned on them was the symbol Fe, for Iron. He dared the camera to speak about his skills at drawing before putting the paper down and reaching into the drawing, pulling out a set of metal ingots and setting them on the anvil.]

Complex creations take more energy, and there are limits, but I can create non-living things. I am skilled at assembling those things into others that are more useful. My specialty is weapon and armor crafting. I am told some of you have an interest in this subject.

So. Speak. I am looking for people to work with in the fabrication of instruments of death and destruction most fearsome and willing to create objects of necessity for others. Might as well make myself useful while I am trapped here.

...

And do not mock my drawing skills, or I will throw one of these ingots at you. I only need so much iron in the forge today. They make passable projectiles in my hands.

Comments

[obeir]

[ The response is met with a mild look of disappointment; that's more or less what he'd expected. Still, he's curious about the ability. ]

War effort. I'm guessing that's why you specialise in weapons and armour. Is it a self-imposed restriction, limiting yourself to the creation of non-living things?

[ Because those would be some impressive morals if so. K's own creators certainly didn't believe in such things. ]

[alternia_strength]

I made a quick, initial attempt at creating life when arriving here. In Asgard, I was able to construct lesser intelligence living creatures, hence the term "Drawing Life." Nothing sentient, however. But here living matter does not appear successful in application. So it is an actual restriction.

[Not that ethical, sadly. It was an actual restriction.]

As for the specialization, my people are a warlike race. The study of weapons manufacturing is natural to our kind. I am something of an expert and savant.

[obeir]

[ It's a relief, either way. Creating sentient life to serve others doesn't sit well with him. ]

So I've heard. Another of your kind explained your quadrant system and why it's so important in your culture. [ It had been very... illuminating. ]

What sort of weaponry? I'm assuming swords and axes and the like are a safe bet... and I might be interested, to see whether my elemental abilities could work with them. Do you know much about firearms or more advanced types of weaponry?

[alternia_strength]

[It sit a lot less well with Equius now, if it was any consolation. But he was still not exactly the most ethically minded.]

Ngh. That would be Karkat. Despite protestations to the contrary he likes to explain our romantic endeavors. I swear that man is an interminable gossip. [Mutter mutter] It is not a thing that matters much in my case. I am currently, as the humans might say "finding myself" and not seeking companionship for the time being.

I am expert in the fields of mechanical engineering, hardware production if not software and robotics. Metallurgy and the proper refining of rifling are within my skill set. This world is not exactly backwater, so I should be able to craft weaponry in keeping with... balst. What is the right terminology?

Twenty-first century Terran Technology. Yes, that. I may be able to move beyond this with appropriate technology and fuse with some of the methods here, but I'm working on that. With full schematics, I might be able to get more schamtics drawn into existence.

In short? Yes, I can probably attempt more advanced weapons, but some are likely out of reach.

[For example, he probably couldn't make a lightsaber. The explanations to properly conjure a kyber crystal would be too far outside of his understanding of plasma to draw.]

[obeir]

[ It isn't especially subtle, the way K's expression shifts following the mention of robotics: eyes narrowing and brow furrowing slightly in a cross between wincing and bracing himself. It's (unsurprisingly, to anyone who knows him) something of a sensitive topic. But also one he's curious about. ]

He made it sound as though it's an integral part of every troll's life. [ So it's surprising this troll apparently doesn't participate in the system. ] Interesting to meet someone on the outside of all that. If it's appropriate to do so, I wish you luck with your personal endeavour.

[ And if it isn't appropriate... Well, oops. He's still learning about their culture. ]

The advanced weaponry question was mainly just curiosity about what falls within your purview. And you know robotics as well? I've been studying robotics myself for nearly half my life. [ He pauses, eyebrows raised. ] Which is only a couple years, admittedly. Where I'm from, it formed the early foundation of android technology — and that's what I am. Do you have experience with anything like me?

[alternia_strength]

It is not inaccurate. It is also accurate to say that it is a societal expectation with dire repercussions not to fulfill. But that society does not exist any longer, and thus the imperative does not exist. I have just as much desire to be in a relationship, but let us say I have bad experiences with them.

As for fortune, I will leave that in the hands of those who consider such things.

[He grunted and shrugged.]

I have some experience with AI and sentience established through coding. I am more of a hardware expert in comparison to Sollux, but I am still capable of considerable programming. If you are at rudimentary android technology, you are approaching the level of technology we developed in the field.