October Rewards 6

Rose Machina

1.What about a old rusted machine designed to do tasks to help humans having corroded to the point it can no longer tell harmful from helpful actions.

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He's been mentioned several times before, but now is a good time to bring up the famed adventurer, inventor, alchemist, scholar, and hunter, J.C. Everly Atkinson once more.

Born in 1837 to a wealthy family of high standing in London England, he was an energetic young boy and possessed a curious and inquisitive mind, always looking to learn, expand his horizons and learn. It was at a young age that he became interested in building things, and taking them apart, starting with puzzles and moving on to mechanical devices as he got older, working on blueprints and inventing new gadgets and gizmos to help in every day life. As a teen he began getting into the occult and the various sciences, modern and classic, and also into designing various devices and technological equipment, and by 15 he went on his first expedition and became hooked on the idea of adventuring and exploring.

While over the years Atkinson made many discoveries and inventions that have been lost to time or that were too expensive to re-produce, he is considered to be among the brightest human minds to have ever lived. From deep studies into the hollow earth, inventing a new form of diving apparatus and several new types of firearm, being an accomplished monster hunter,  exploring several lost civilizations, and even going to the moon, many of his tales are told as just that. Urban legends or tall tales to expand his ego, however they are all for the most part true. Which brings us here, to his invention of a living, thinking automaton.

Created in 1857, the first automaton used Lodner D. Phillips' submarine armor as a basis and various information and tech that Atkinson had discovered and invented in his travels to allow the armor to move about on it's own and perform basic tasks. Though it wasn't very mobile or capable, it was the first of it's kind to be created by a modern human. It used designs for several smaller automated creatures ha had created in the year prior, and was used up until 1890 when it was damaged beyond repair and replaced with newerer models. It was the first automaton, affectionately named Proto, but modled simply as Proto-Automaton, and called sometimes Autosapien. 

The second used a similar chassis but was armored and had more mobility and range of movement, and a larger brain case to hold the workings and transistors as well as other equipment that would not exist to the public for many years to come. The second was named Alpha, and was created 3 years after Proto in 1860, and used in many expeditions. Though it wasn't all terrain and needed to be charged and carried in various pieces, when it would be assembled, it could collect samples, analyze them and provide various feedback on chemical compounds and compare two different creatures to one another in what would be considered DNA testing now days. He wished to improve it to a state where they could replace the commonplace slaves used in America, however it was not a feasible task due to how expensive they were. 

 The third model was named Rupert, after Atkinson's late butler after whom his personality was modeled. And was the final design of the automaton servants for a very long time. Created in 1885, this line was built with protection and terrain in mind. They had a powerful exoskeleton that allowed them to take gunfire as well as some TNT blasts, and maneuverable extending arms. Gyroscopic motion that allowed it to maintain it's balance and move it's torso as it's legs walked forward and it could also keep aim and walk through rugged terrain. Using extreme electromagnetism it could also draw people's weapons away from them, create a force field of sorts, and possessed the ability to fire bullets from it's hands like a gattlling gun, and several attachments in it's back compartment, as well as the ability to fly through combustion within a jetpack. It could even produce bolts of lightning emitted like a death ray from it's antennae. Not only did it possess these abilities, but it had the ability to perform general all around activities. It could make tea, cook, clean, make repairs to structures, speak over 78 different languages fluently and also read said languages by scanning a page through it's system, and it had the ability to perform surgery or medical aid. The first was taken with him on many journeys and expeditions and was shown off at the 1884 world's fair while it was still in creation in which Atkinson showed that it could replace 100 workers in it's efficiency, and found several investors interested in purchasing models in the future. Multiple models were created, and it is believed that as many as 35 were ever completed. Most of them were never activated, and only a few sold were shipped to their owners with at least two of them being lost at sea. 15 of them were utilized in the Nexus House, Atkinson's most stunning scientific achievement, which was a large building that resided within another dimension, and worked as a bridge between it and other worlds, and at his own home. 

While these machines worked well, after a while, or if damage was sustained to them, they could become incredibly dangerous, which was why he stopped creating them. Some would go rogue and begin killing, or simply become confused and use incredibly dangerous tools for mundane tasks, or for the wrong task entirely, such as using a chainsaw to cut hair, or firing a flame thrower at someone who says their soup is cold. On several occasions they also seemed to generate actual personalities, not all of which were the friendliest.

Here we have one depicted long after his passing, which has been left to patrol the nexus house and keep it tidy. It has lost it's mind however, and while it attempts to help those in need, it seems to be unable to do so without causing extreme violence. I has offered to take this man's coat (Which he isn't wearing) and has instead degloved his entire body as the machine grips his flesh and swiftly peels it off of his skeleton. Surely afterward the Rupert unit will hang it on a coat rack and begin cleaning up the blood. 

Machines this advanced would not be created on earth for a very long time after Atkinson had passed in the 1920's and for the most part his machines were unknown to the public and many of his inventions would be remade at a lower quality, or never be remade at all...

You'll be hearing more about J.C. Everly Atkinson in the future due to his adventures and contributions.....

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I love clunky old robot designs so this was fun! Plus I love the idea of a robot just yoinking someone's face clean off saying "May I take your coat sir".