The Prometheans are a race of self-replicating robots made by Teknall. They were created as tools for achieving cosmic scale construction projects, and inhabit a secret location in a star system in a distant corner of the Universe. The Prometheans possess technology far above any other mortal civilisation, although they lack independent agency or any individualism. Prometheans are extremely industrious, thoroughly optimised towards manufacturing and exponential growth.
A small number of Promethean Manipulators have taken permanent residency in Teknall's Workshop, where they assist in manufacturing and maintenance tasks.
Design[]
All Prometheans are purely mechanical entities. Their designs are highly geometric and angular, and they are usually made from metal (although some may be made from plastic or related materials). As robots, the only requirements for the survival of a Promethean is adequate cooling, a supply of fuel or electricity, and the ability to receive intermittent maintenance. As such, Prometheans can inhabit locations which would generally be considered inhospitable, such as barren lifeless planets or even the vacuum of space.
For power, some Prometheans are outfitted with micro-fusion cores, which can provide ample electricity given a supply of water or hydrogen and if adequate cooling is present. However, since such fusion cores are expensive to manufacture, most Prometheans in a colony operate on battery power and make use of external sources of electricity generation.
Prometheans communicate via radio, and they speak and think in code. Communication with them is performed via syntax reminiscent of a command line interface.
Prometheans tend to aggregate into colonies, which become structured like purely industrial cities. When a colony reaches an adequate threshold of manufacturing capability, it will begin producing new colonies, which can supply the parent colony with resources and auxillary manufacturing and can spread to create more colonies.
Sub-Types[]
There are several distinct designs of Promethean, each optimised towards a particular role within their colonies. Every Promethean is created as one of these classes, although there exists substantial variation within each type dependent on the exact scope of the individual's work, their environment, and the technology and resources available at the time of manufacture.
Manipulators[]
Manipulators were the first Prometheans created, and are archtypal of their race, being versatile crafters and builders.
A typical Manipulator has a main chassis with four faces on the sides, each sloping slightly inwards. It has four triangular legs at the corners of this polygonal chassis. Each of the faces has a hatch, from which many fractal tool-bearing mechanical arms can emerge. The interior of a Manipulator resembles an extremely compact machine shop. A typical Manipulator stands about two meters tall.
Manipulators are extremely versatile builders and crafters. Given time and resources, they can build virtually any machine or structure using their sophisticated array of tools. They are even capable of some degree of materials processing, such as smelting ores and mixing alloys. In colonies, Manipulators perform construction and maintenance tasks as well as small scale manufacturing. They are by far the most flexible of the Prometheans, although this lack of specialisation means that they are out performed by the other classes in their particular fields.
Harvesters[]
Harvesters provide the resources from which the Prometheans manufacture everything.
Harvesters are rectangular prisms in form, typically being at least 8 meters tall. They have very short and stumpy legs, which allow them to crawl along slowly but steadily. The front has a massive metallic maw of wheels and grinding gears with scoops and buckets, designed to chew through stone with ease. The interior is mostly dedicated to preliminary mineral processing, separating useful minerals from worthless stone, and performing basic smelting to convert metal ores into usable metal ingots. Harvesters also boast a sizeable storage capacity, with compartments which can expand outwards to provide more storage capacity.
Harvesters are designed for mining and excavation. They provide the steady flow of metals necessary to feed a growing Promethean colony.
Variants on the Harvester design allow it to collect resources other than metal ores.
Energisers[]
Energisers feed the other Prometheans.
An Energisers' chassis is a dodecahedron typically 10 meters across. The bottom face has six robotic legs to provide locomotion. The ten side faces each have many small hatches, from which actuated power cables can extend like tentacles, as well as some hatches for resource collection and input. The top face has several metallic spires dedicated to communication and sensors. The interior of a typical Energiser is almost entirely dedicated to a fusion core, although variants have other power sources like nuclear fission reactors.
Energisers produce energy, with which they power other Prometheans in the colony and any powered infrastructure. By centralising the task of electricity generation, less resources need to be spent on each Promethean for providing them with personal power generation. Energisers are typically plugged in to the electrical power grid of colonies, or walking around to recharge more mobile types such as the Carrier.
Processor[]
The bigger brothers of the Manipulators, Processors are the backbone of the Promethean manufacturing economy.
Processors have four inwardly sloping faces with hatches, with a hatch on the top face. A sturdy ramp typically descends from each face, which can carry resources up to the top hatch. The underside has treads to allow for basic locomotion, although Processors are rather sedentary and are usually firmly planted on the ground. The interior is a factory, vaguely akin to the interior of a Manipulator although far simpler. A typical Processor varies between 4 and 12 meters in height, depending on the scale of what they need to create.
While Manipulators are versatile crafters, Processors are specialised manufacturers. Each Processor is designated a specific set of items to create, for which it is outfitted with specific tools. While this restricts the versatility of each Processors, Processors can achieve manufacturing rates far greater than those achieved by Manipulators. Some Processors create mechanical and electrical parts. Some Processors act as chemical plants. Some Processors perform isotopic enrichment of nuclear materials.
In colonies, Processors are often arranged in large grids, like houses in a city, and railways run alongside them to provide them with resources. Processors provide the manufactoring capacity of the colonies, and in established colonies will cover the ground for many kilometers in all directions. One of the major roles of Manipulators is in upgrading and modifying Processors, giving them new tools whenever manufacturing demands change or an improvement becomes available.
Nexi[]
Nexi are the brains of the operation and the core of every Promethean colony.
Each Nexus is shaped like a large hexagonal-based pyramid with a truncated top. Nexi are at least 30 meters wide and 40 meters tall, although over their lifetime they are progressively built to be even larger. Large hatches like doors are present on its sides, with ledges large enough to support smaller Prometheans. The top face has long metallic spires protruding from it, acting as a sophisticated radio communications array and sensory network. The underside has treads like the Processor, although a Nexus is also typically sedentary. Most of the interior contains specialised factories.
The Nexi serve three functions. They are specialised in manufacturing more Prometheans (even more so than the Manipulators or Processors), thus enabling the rapid growth of the colony. They have powerful communication relays, able to interact with an entire colony of Prometheans and also to achieve long-ranged communications with other Nexi. And they are equipped with supercomputer levels of intelligence, capable of organising, optimising, planning, analysis and even, on rare occassion, creativity and innovation.
Each colony typically contains a Nexus in its center, which towers over the rest of the Prometheans. Each Nexus has administrator priveleges over all the Prometheans in its colony, and is responsible for organising the colony and ensuring its efficient operation. While other Prometheans typically act at the level of Tasks, which have well-defined goals and outcomes, Nexi operate at the level of Directives, which are more qualitative in formulation and provide broader direction for the colony and the Prometheans as a whole. The Nexi command their Prometheans with tasks to undertake, and sculpt the colony to achieve their directives in the most effective way possible, such as "Expand the colony" or "Create new colonies".
Carriers[]
Carriers provide flexible transportation of cargo and passengers.
Carriers have the second most variable morphology of all the Prometheans. Their structure depends largely on their chosen means of locomotion. Generically, Carriers are large and vaguely boxlike. The chassis is mostly hollow and opens up with large doors and hatches, because its interior is for carrying cargo. Bulky robotic arms are present in the interior to load and unload cargo. Carriers designed for atmospheric flight are typically shaped like cargo planes and have vertical take-off capabilities. Land-based Carriers are typically built similarly to large trucks.
Carriers provide versatile transportation and logistical solutions for the Promethean colonies. Terrestrial colonies will typically favour railways for mass transportation, but Carriers find use for fulfilling logistical requirements where rail infrastructure is yet to be built and for performing relatively low volume deliveries. Carriers can also be used to provide access to otherwise difficult locations.
Destroyers[]
Destroyers fill the role of the military and are built for combat.
Sketch of some Promethean Destroyers. Left: Aerial Destroyer (fighter jet). Center: Terrestrial Destroyer (landship). Right: Turret Destroyer.
Destroyers are the most variable of the Prometheans, with structure depending largely on their chosen means of locomotion. All Destroyers are very heavily armed and typically strongly armoured. Destroyers may have one or more primary weapons, depending on their size, and numerous smaller armaments and point defenses. Railguns and missiles are popular choices for primary weapons, while machine guns, autocannons and flamethrowers are commonly used as secondary weapons. All Destroyers are at least large enough to hold their own internal power supply and a reasonable supply of ammunition. Destroyers tend towards being very large, to fit larger weapons, more missiles and more weapons as well as to be sturdier.
There are several distinct morphologies of Destroyer. Travelling along the ground are Destroyers which travel on treads, are very heavily armoured, very larger, and carry proportionally many weapons. They are reminiscent of tanks or landships. In the air travel Destroyers with designs similar to fighter jets. They are lightly armed compared to other Destroyers, but are capable of supersonic flight. There are sedentary Destroyers which function as defensive turrets and fixed artillery. There are submarine Destroyers built like submarines.
Destroyers exist to defend the colonies from hostile forces and clear out hostile territory for expansion. They were initially developed in response to the threat of elementals. While other Prometheans can in theory fight, it is far more effective to have specialists in combat, equipped with an armament of devastating weapons and able to quickly mobilise against any threats.
Posts[]
https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4373092 - Prometheans created, with Manipulators, Harvesters, Energisers and Nexi.
https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4524352 - Prometheans have undergone considerable terrestrial expansion. Carriers created.
https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4540599 - Prometheans have first encounter with an elemental.
https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4588851 - Prometheans militarised. Destroyers created.
https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4628149 - Elementals besiege the Promethean colonies.
https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4686582 - Prometheans reach space.
https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4855471 - Elementals launch a major offensive against the Prometheans, but are repelled.