Super Robot Quest

Defense Force Actions


1433, 7 April, A.D. 2070
Carlson Laboratories

"Alright, alright, settle down, I'll tell 'em," Sam grumbles as he turns back to the microphone. Flipping the 'transmit' switch to SEND, he says, "Sam here. Just so you know, the boss wants me to make something clear. For the folks who 'get it,' congratulations! You're successfully progressing mankind's inexorable march to man-machine interfaces!"

"Now, with that said, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you might've noticed that some of you are getting some headaches. That part you don't need to worry about; apparently the use of psychic powers just does that. But do not, under any circumstance, operate your helmets for longer than two hours. Maximum. That's when you approach 'splitting migraine' territory, and the medical folks think you might break something. Like Jack."

".mih dednammoc doG taht did eH"

"...huh. Book of Genesis. Okay, I seriously need to get him back to normal. *ahem* - With that announcement, do record when you get to that point. Everybody's grey matter works a little differently than everyone else's, so you might get there sooner or later than the schmuck next to you. And this is operating simple stuff, like block puzzles. It's probably going to be a whole new ballgame when we get to actually testing the man-machine interfaces for stuff like cars."

"Sam Carlson, we're done here."



So it's a good thing you had your officers network with the local leaders and law enforcement. Because security reported their first suspicious activity.

They did not come anywhere close to breaching the official perimeter, but a small group of people were noted to be setting up campsites decently out of reach of the official Institute grounds and along the treelines that are so common to this part of the continent. That by itself is not unusual, nor illegal; Morrison University was situated in a very nice and pleasant area if you liked outdoor activities. That said, sometimes your patrols would see the campers from time to time, but these individuals almost always moved to a more remote area.

But always within distance of the campus.

Your liaising officers compared notes with the local leaders, and those individuals did not seem to match anyone under their responsibility. Nor did the local sheriffs receive any notification that campers would be out in the area (though that in itself wasn't unusual; tourists did strange and silly things all the time, you see). But these campers' activities did not seem consistent with just an out of town tourist or even some of the more isolationist townsfolk.

Thankfully, the fact that the critical parts of campus are walled and have regular patrols have kept them well away. But now you wonder if there is actually a Westphalian cell operating in the area. More importantly, you want to know what the hell they're doing here, what they know already, and what they intend to do in the future.

You are now very glad that you invested early in Captain Sasaki's projects.

---

Engineering Actions


Excerpts from Variable Configuration video log

Log #1, 1943, 6 April, A.D. 2070

"Well, here we are!" Wilde said as he sat in the driver's seat of the CRX. "It works, but I was kind of controlling it with just the steering wheel, the clutch, the pedals and these-" he gestures to side levers he'd jury-rigged into the dashboard, "-thingies here." He made moving motions with them, all while humming fake 'mechanical' noises, and the stubs of where the shoulder joints would have had arms moved accordingly.

"Of course, this isn't exactly intuitive for people not us. And I know there's some in the engineers who think this just can't be done. So I say this to you unbelievers:

"We reject your reality, and create our own!"

The image cut out, and was replaced with an overlay of the original CRX.

Henry's voice chimes in as his portrait appears in the upper left corner. "So we discovered that standard shop parts can do the job, but they wear out really quickly and break on you. Not conducive for making a vehicle configure when you expect it to several times a day back and forth." The overlay then showed the mechanical insides that is the mess that the original was. "So we're going to replace all of this-" The innards abruptly change to their proposed new parts, "-to this."

Wilde's portrait joined him in the upper right of the screen. "Now, there's one problem with this approach: cars and other vehicles obviously were never designed to configure like this. We had to make noodles out of the CRX-01A to make it work, and it kinda collapsed on us after we were done." A video showing the arms falling off in front of Peters was shown to the side. "So we thought: what if we, y'know, just took out the driver's seat - " the overlay removes the driver's compartment from the rest of the frame, " - and rebuilt it from the ground up to work with a robot frame?"

Henry added, "We think that if we start with the cockpit and make that modular first, then we are going to have a much easier time modifying vehicles for variable configuration. The goal is not to take away anything from the vehicle, just add to it without saddling it with too many extra parts. We'll let you know in the next log what we find."

Log #2, 1138, 8 April, A.D. 2070

"Our first attempt didn't go very well."

A video of a standard EUDF patrol truck was shown as they attempted to have it configure to robotic form. It stood up well enough, but upon the arms attempting to unfold, a horrible screeching noise was heard as the frame literally ripped itself apart.

Wilde continued his analysis, sounding a little embarrassed. "We kinda forgot that we custom built the CRX to do what it did, and we used a lot of cars to do it. We did modify in the parts that we needed to make configuration a thing for your bog standard Coyote patrol truck, but…"

"It didn't handle the stress very well," Henry continued. "But on the bright side, the cockpit actually worked very well." In the scrap heap that was the CRX-02A, the only thing that was not horribly crushed was the driver's compartment and the test dummy inside. "Our little friend inside there got scuffled around a bit, but all things considered, he's in pretty good shape."

"So! Our next test: completely disassemble a Coyote for configuration in mind." An overlay of the standard Coyote was shown in an overlay. "Factory standard, even if you stuff in the fabricated parts we put in? Doesn't really like it. But the good thing about Coyotes is that they're pretty modular." The Coyote's blueprints then split up into several different sections. "So we're gonna take 'em apart, rebuild them, then slap 'em together again like lego blocks."

"In theory this should work," Henry agreed. "But that's why we do these tests now before someone gets hurt operating it."

Log #3, 1427, 15 April, A.D. 2070

"Confirmed! This does in fact work!"

The overlay of the Coyote was displayed again, only this time with all the modular pieces separated and with the new fabricated parts inside of them.

"This is not cheap," Henry said, "And we burnt through some parts getting it right. Then we discovered that even if you got it to stand properly, the parts of the truck it does stand on wasn't meant to be putting pressure on it to begin with. So we took some extra armor plates and welded them on. It even fits right in regular truck mode."

"So! This time, we introduce, the CRX-02B."

A video overlay was shown as the modified Coyote sat in the motor pool. To the casual eye, it looked like a Coyote with the extra armor kit, but nothing unusual. If you snuck this into a convoy somewhere in the world, it would not look out of place.

Logistician: However, to the trained eye, certain parts of it looked...off. A vent here or there that wasn't in its usual place, edges that stuck out where the standard model didn't, and so forth. But otherwise, it would blend in just fine. In fact, it actually managed to stay within conventional maximum dimensions, even if it weighed heavier than the standard model. It could still be airlifted with a Stork-class really easily.

"Now, the second model is made with the Coyote as is, just with our modifications," Henry said. "But we discovered that as long as you can reinforce and modify the cockpit, the core of the configuration, it can handle just about any amount of stress you throw at it. You just have to make sure the rest of it is tough enough to go through with it too. And that's what we did."

"Case in point: look at the first one," Wilde said. Once again, the video of the arms falling off played, only this time pausing at the moment of fracture. "If you see here? We only reinforced what was breaking, not the stuff that you'd want a robot to use on a regular basis. Shoulder joints, fingers, knees; all still using kitbash. So it could configure really quickly, but it'd just fall apart after that." Wilde then giggled slightly in glee. "We fixed that."

The modified Coyote then abruptly burst into motion. The arms immediately unfolded as the torso immediately began shifting to become the 'chest' unit, the arms landed onto the ground as if it were doing a push-up, then immediately pushed itself into a standing upright position. It even had proper (skeletal) hands instead of the crane-game claws from before. The legs then unfolded and went with the momentum, landing with its left foot behind it while using the right as a pivot point. Finally, a drone camera unit sprang up from the top of the new torso, forming the 'eyes and head' of the unit.

The whole process took only four seconds.

"Bad news? We're still seeing stuff break a bit inside," Wilde warned. "It's more consistent than the CRX-01A, but about 40% of the time, something critical breaks when it configures back and forth. For this test, we also took the 'path of least resistance' to configuring it just to see if this works or not, so the inner parts are not all completely armored."

"The good news," Henry finished, "is that at this point we're just troubleshooting this. Now we know what went wrong, we can just work on fixing it."

"Now, I hear you asking: I thought we just asked you to rework the control layout!" Wilde said with a grin on his face. "And we hear you, dear viewers! A: we kinda went overboard, we admit that. This is a breakthrough, so you just kinda roll with the inspiration. But B? We made the first model while still thinking it was a car with legs. That just doesn't work with a full robot. So we had to make sure everything worked with that in mind first!"

An image of the cockpit was shown to the side. "While it's still a Coyote, it works exactly as you'd expect," Henry explained. "You still have a steering wheel, brake, pedal, and so on. If you know how to operate the regular one, this won't be too different." Two levers on the side that were not in the standard model were then highlighted. "But when you flip this?"

The same transformation sequence was then shown again from the inside perspective. The whole sequence was as quick as before, only this time with vertigo-inducing speed from within. It would have been easy then to notice that the dashboard withdrew to be replaced with what looked to be a twin-control stick scheme as the seats shifted ninety degrees upwards to account for the engine block shifting downwards to form a torso that didn't expose the engine block. "We took some inspiration from simulators and video games for ease of access. It's not perfect yet, and it won't be until we get the test pilots to give it a whirl."

"Tune in next month, Sir!" Wilde said cheerfully.



Dr. Ignatov clearly was struck with whatever brainwave the Terrible Duo had caught.

You were able to get him the list of what he requested easily enough, all supplemented with more modern equipment that he's been asking for since the very beginning of the project. Once it all arrived, he'd drafted his entire team from Novgorod Computing Solutions from whatever maintenance they were originally tasked on in order to start assembling the older equipment. Captain Sasaki was slightly annoyed, but she understood the importance of discovering what was going on underneath.

The technical jargon that Ignatov and his team constantly spout at you whenever you ask for updates goes completely above your head, you admit. You can only conclude that this has become something of a passion project for them, and nothing short of a meteor falling on their heads is going to distract them. All you can really tell without seeing something tangible is that the servers they discovered are not even close to standard factory models, and held some kind of secret to miniaturizing...something. You honestly weren't sure.

That being said, one tangible benefit to all this? The beginnings of a supercomputer network using modern parts has definitely started underground, a step towards Ignatov's original vision when you recruited him. His team is already starting to slowly draw connection lines from where the hub will be throughout all of campus. Nothing is online now, but Ignatov makes it clear to you that all the key components of the Super Robot development team is going to benefit greatly from this when the complex is complete.

On a slightly unrelated note, the air conditioning was also restored underground.



0800, 24 April, A.D. 2070
Biology Lab Grounds

"Heheh. Kaiju Biotech in the ol' Biology Department," Sam chuckles as he stands next to you. "Appropriate."

"Mm." You remain noncommittal about it. "I'm just happy we're starting something on it. It's been nearly a year since I captured the damn thing."

"Oh, right, that was you at Pusan, wasn't it?" he asks. "Anyway." Behind you both are the familiar sounds of growling machinery and earthmoving equipment. For whatever reason, the kaiju had been very thorough when he rampaged through campus.

Which meant that half of the Biology Department's building was wrecked, the other relatively intact, if dusty.

The refrigeration unit, somehow, has been performing admirably well. You wouldn't be surprised if the thing caught a little bit of freezer-burn, but you aren't planning on eating it.

And you were making sure that no one in Sam's crazy staff would even try.

"You said you found something on this?" you ask.

"Oh, yeah," Sam says. He actually winces slightly. "So, check this out." The refrigeration unit in question is still connected by large, bulky cables to the power station and is covered in tarp and camouflage netting. "I've had some of my boys and girls keep tabs on the sample while we were poking away with ESP. Just to see if freezing really does just completely render it inert."

"And?" you ask.

"...not completely."

That was...not the answer you were expecting. "It's still active?" you demand.

"Thankfully, not yet it's not," Sam says with some relief. "But it's definitely adjusting to the cold. Almost like it's just trying to make itself more cozy while it's in there, not 'regenerate into a brand new kaiju and eat the university for breakfast' activity."

You inwardly sigh a breath of relief. "But how can you tell?" you ask.

"Easy. Every so often, we open up the unit and take a sample from the scales," he explains. The holoprojector he's so fond of displays the sample from later December, a few weeks before you both met. "This was right around when we just got the sample," he explains. A small video of a microscope sample is shown. "That was when it was still frozen." The cells, which look utterly alien to you, are practically stationary and barely moving. "Still kind of active, but not really doing much. Now this is when we heated up that tiny sample." The organisms inside are now moving quite agitatedly. "So at the time we concluded that it was an adaptable thing, but we didn't have the resources to pay too close attention to it. That, and it didn't exactly have anything to disintegrate like most kaiju bits do."

The next sets of videos then show on a week by week basis up to today. Progressively, the cells are moving more quickly, more fluidly, and more naturally. "You can tell that the cells are trying to do what they would normally do and decompose the scale and flesh beneath it since it lacks a proper body to draw support from. But it can't do that, so it's just trying to adjust to the cold so it's ready to do its thing for whenever it thaws out. So it's going to stay nice and frozen until we damn well feel like warming it up. Which I don't." You nod in agreement; no sense in losing your only kaiju sample. "So my initial thoughts on this before the facility is properly built is this. I don't see us making a one-to-one perfect copy of Sheol's monsters. What I do see happening is augmenting whatever the Engineers cook up with organs and muscle we can grow from this thing."

"...you think you can do that with just the scales?" you ask incredulously.

"Not just the scales, the skin and the blood still inside," Sam corrects you. "And the microscope tests we've seen show that this stuff can adjust to just about anything you want it to be. Sheol just wanted it to be giant monsters that kills lots of people for no damn good reason." He shakes his head. "Damn nonsense is what it is. Creating a giant monster is good science. Having said monster rampage around the world just because some old professor probably gave him an F on his paper? And wanting to rule the world? That's just murder."

"...and the chance to punch those monsters in the face is good science?" you ask.

"Nope. Using his own creations to create even better machines than his is good science. Using those machines to punch his kaiju in the face? That's just karma."

---

Science Actions


1440, April 27, A.D. 2070
Carlson Laboratories

"Good news first, test subjects: we have a good idea of what gives psychic powers!" Sam cheerfully notes over the intercom as you walk into the lab. "Works like a muscle; some people are born with better ones than others, but the longer you work at it, the better potential it's going to be. The bad news: it's highly unlikely anyone is going to set things on fire or read anyone's minds."

You hear an audible groan of disappointment from all the test subjects.

"I know, I know, sad news. But buck up! You've just contributed a head start in this great field of Science!"

"SCIENCE!" the usual crowd roars.

"So now that we've established that, we're going to cook up ways to make use of the psychic potential you do have, and you're gonna test it! This is Sam, we're done here."

It's not long before you are admitted into his office. "Like a muscle?" you ask with some curiosity.

"Just so!" A diagram of the mutations are displayed to you. "Turns out that some people had that mutation like that because they tend to think in specific and intense ways. Uses literally a lot of brainpower that leaves you drained, kind of like a crap day at work. But like I said, it's very unlikely that we're going to see comic book manifestations of psychic powers for at least a few generations. We're too early in as a species for that."

"So what does this mean for the Super Robot?" you ask.

"It means we better understand who has good psychic potential and how to increase it," he says. "But I'm still going to want another month before I can comfortably say how far they can go and what the upper limit is."



Broadcasting Live - Ongoing Report

"How about those main tests?" you ask.

"Getting there," he says. "Going in line with what we discovered about increasing psychic potential, it helps explain how our test candidates are improving."

A variety of videos display showing test subjects operating all kinds of machinery. "The simplest is just operating a servo arm, kind of like what you saw last month," he explains. "It's the easiest to start people on, since it just requires them to move an arm with their minds. The only hazard is smacking someone in the face."

At that moment, another researcher in one of the videos is done in with just that mistake.

"Next," he continues on, not paying it closer attention, "are more complicated things. Such as RC cars, flying drones, and computer interfaces." Additional videos of the candidates operating those machines, all with greatly varying degrees of success, are shown. "Turns out, the biggest obstacle is that a lot of candidates keep saying that split perspective is a bit of a problem. But they're making some headway on it. Some have said that it's easier to think of the machine as just an extra body part you move with a limb you never knew you had. Others say they just imagine that's how the machine would work, and the machine rolls with it if it can. We're still nailing down what the best perspective is, or if there even is one."

One specific video shows one candidate, and what look to be model RC tanks.

Entire army groups of them, on opposing sides.

All moving independently and 'firing' at each other.

"...is that-?"

"The Battle of Kursk from World War II, yeah." Sam also is slightly puzzled. "He's from the second group I just talked about; he's apparently a big history guy, so he's narrating how the fight actually went down, if you just abstract it to tanks. He can't do this for any more than ten minutes, but that's the biggest success we've had all month. I'm suspecting he's operating on a more macro-level system of control that he justifies as a history narration, but I don't know enough just yet."

"...keep me informed," you say quietly. "We don't just ignore talent like this."

---

...Screw it, OMAKE TIME!
"So Lucy Renais, that is your name correct?"
"Correct."
"You uh, having a bit of trouble with that servo arm?"
"No."
"You sure? You're not moving it nearly as...energetically as some of the other canidates do."
"I'm trying to be certain I understand what precisely I'm doing. It's...Strange."
"Can you elaborate."
"Yes."
"Errm..."
"The first time I attempted to control this machine, I assumed it had two motorized servos in it's construction-the obvious elbow and rotary joint where it's 'shoulder' would be. However, roughly 13 minutes into my third session I discovered the claw to have a wrist and-That right there. I keep calling it Elbow and shoulder and wrist joints, instead of thinking of it in terms of what the machine's construction actually is. A task made considerably more difficult by your incessant questions!"
"Apologies, just making sure you're not running into any problems or having difficulties at this early stage. Some people just aren't good at this."
"Shut. Up."
"Hunh? Oh! Sorry about that! I didn't mean to imply-"
"I SAID SHUT UP!"
*CLONK*
As Lucy rounded on the researcher, the arm swung around and clocked him right in the face, dropping him to the floor.
"Jeffery talking too much again?"
"Yes...I'll be moving on to the RC cars now I think. Given that last exertion felt less like I was controlling that servo arm and more like it was my arm."