Zor
More of a Zor than You
In this scenario on January 1st 3051 a Capellan Merchant class ship makes a stop around a minor Red Dwarf system near Glasgow with asteroids when they find something unexpected. A jumpShip of an unknown make and model named the Robert Johansson. She's about 400 meters long and mostly 80 meters wide, save for a central centrifuge section which is 120 meters wide and 80 meters long, this is leaving aside six solar collector panel arrays which extend radially out up to 400 meters from her primary hull near the rear. She's fastened to an asteroid with her front, which has a maw. She has no weapons, but she does have four docking ports for dropships. She can make up to 1 G under full acceleration, carry up to 10,000 tonnes of cargo and has a compact K-F Drive. The crew figure that this will be a big payday for them and so decides to try to salvage it. The Merchant's crew board it and find their way it's bridge where someone find's a in the chair console that is still lit up with a palm reader active, asking for someone to insert their palm and speak her name. The leader of the boarding crew does this and the Robert Johannson identifies her and declares her the captain. It also has a feature which she decides to use after taking note of it even though it will mean spending another year and a half in this system as it would mean a far bigger payday.
In short, the Robert Johansson begins devouring the asteroid it's hooked up to, smelting the ore, processing the material and begins producing components using a variety of mechanisms from 3D printers to robotic assemblers. From the hatches come a variety of mechanisms, some of which unpack and unfurl around the craft's frontal section while fleets of drones begin to assemble into a number of mechanisms and sets of scaffolding connected with umbilical cables. They build a new computer core, a structural framework, a new set of fabricators (which are soon put to work aiding the process) additional drones, solar arrays, a device which forms a new K-F core, fuel tanks, drive sytems, a variety of technical systems from maneuvering thrusters to power conduits, life support systems, habitation system, sensors, hull and more before finally the scaffolding breaks apart, revealing a ship identical to the Robert Johansson which the Captain of the new ship names the Susan Wei after her girlfriend. Together and using the existing scaffolding they build the Light of Liao in five months. In short the Robert Johannson is a Von Neumann Machine, as are her daughters. Up to four ships can work together to assemble a new ship faster. Plenty of video is recorded. The maximum speed at which a new craft can be assembled is two months if four of these ships work together around an already complete scaffold. Beyond that they just get in each others way.
Soon the Robert Johannson and the Merchant class ship make their way to Sian and after that the Susan Wei, Light of Liao and the Merchant makes their way to Capella. In both cases the capacities of this new class are demonstrated to local officials and handed over for a considerable reward, including it's capacity for Self Replication while impressing the new Sun Tzu Liao considerably even if his software people are (after a Replication Cycle) unable to reprogram the onboard fabrication systems to produce anything other than ingots of metals, alloys, ceramics and polymers and additional Robert Johansson class ships due to that being firmware. Still a most pleasing turn of events even with the threat of The Clans still looming.
What happens?
Zor
In short, the Robert Johansson begins devouring the asteroid it's hooked up to, smelting the ore, processing the material and begins producing components using a variety of mechanisms from 3D printers to robotic assemblers. From the hatches come a variety of mechanisms, some of which unpack and unfurl around the craft's frontal section while fleets of drones begin to assemble into a number of mechanisms and sets of scaffolding connected with umbilical cables. They build a new computer core, a structural framework, a new set of fabricators (which are soon put to work aiding the process) additional drones, solar arrays, a device which forms a new K-F core, fuel tanks, drive sytems, a variety of technical systems from maneuvering thrusters to power conduits, life support systems, habitation system, sensors, hull and more before finally the scaffolding breaks apart, revealing a ship identical to the Robert Johansson which the Captain of the new ship names the Susan Wei after her girlfriend. Together and using the existing scaffolding they build the Light of Liao in five months. In short the Robert Johannson is a Von Neumann Machine, as are her daughters. Up to four ships can work together to assemble a new ship faster. Plenty of video is recorded. The maximum speed at which a new craft can be assembled is two months if four of these ships work together around an already complete scaffold. Beyond that they just get in each others way.
Soon the Robert Johannson and the Merchant class ship make their way to Sian and after that the Susan Wei, Light of Liao and the Merchant makes their way to Capella. In both cases the capacities of this new class are demonstrated to local officials and handed over for a considerable reward, including it's capacity for Self Replication while impressing the new Sun Tzu Liao considerably even if his software people are (after a Replication Cycle) unable to reprogram the onboard fabrication systems to produce anything other than ingots of metals, alloys, ceramics and polymers and additional Robert Johansson class ships due to that being firmware. Still a most pleasing turn of events even with the threat of The Clans still looming.
What happens?
Zor
