Solo Copies Galore!

[Thomas Cosa]

3rd of Winter, 512 AV

With a steady hand, Thomas slowly began the blueprints for a basic alarm golem. Nothing special or flashy, but still, it would be his first animation on Sahova.

"Even though I've been on this damn island for a whole season," Thomas whispered bitterly, hoping no one would call on him today. He was still finding it difficult to believe
he hadn't managed anything while here, and finding increasingly annoying that the master animation duo only saw fit to call on him for busy work. Or better said, work a Nuit couldn't be bothered to do.

He sighed again, using a compass to draw a large circle over the piece of blank paper. Honestly, Thomas had no idea what he was doing -- his animations on Mura had been limited to whatever he could get his hands on; small toys, clothes, he had even animated a door once -- but nothing he had built from scratch.

"THOMAS! C'MON O'ER HERE."

The gruff voice cut straight through the low rumble of the collective echo that was Lab 15. The clank of tools against hard metal, the scratching of pen to paper -- Cid's voice rang clear to the young pulser's ears.

"Of course," Thomas scowled, angrily throwing his would be blueprints away. Apparently, he wasn't getting anything accomplished today, either.

Cid was a pulser, and better yet, a human. Luckily, this meant Thomas got along much better with the old man then the two actual masters -- still, he was stationed directly under Filch, so Thomas couldn't get too friendly with the master apprentice. He would still have to do whatever he said, and with a smile. Oh, how the unconnected lived on the isle of the undead.

"Alright," the wrinkled pulser growled as Thomas approached, "Ya see those scrolls?" he gestured to a large pile of scrolls, various designs etched on the parchment, "One, yer gunna have ta copy all the blueprints. They're yer standard golems; y'know, witness, librarians, and observers. Nothin' too impressive, now, I want all them scrolls organized on to those shelves by TYPE. Got that, newbie?"

Thomas nodded, "And you want all of them copied and organized?" he asked, hoping he had misheard. This was not looking to spend his afternoon copying and organizing blueprints.

"Did I stutter? Nah, lad, you'll do all the copies and then organize them like. I. said. Understood?" Cid asked, and Thomas nodded.

"And take notes, you might learn a thing or two 'bout gadgeterring," The older pulser muttered, turning back to his work.

[Thomas Cosa]

"The Observer Type," Thomas muttered, reading the basic description for one of the many blueprints, "The binocular like eyes are signature of this type, many are built with four wheels for mobility, but three wheels are not uncommon," he repeated the written words aloud, making sure to learn the basic design. They were simple enough to build, and he had seen many of the other apprentices working on them. "Expendable," he laugh quietly to himself, the realization of the observer's value mimicking his own -- at least for now.

Thomas pulled out another scroll, blank, and stretched it out over an empty desk. He carefully went over the Observer blueprint again, and slowly began to trace the design. He focused on the rectangular base first, taking care to draw the lines with a ruler. Even still, Thomas' unexperienced hand strayed from the ruler -- giving the design a somewhat messy look.

He sighed, erasing the line. And again. And error. And again.

The blueprints showed the simple design from various viewpoints, Thomas supposed this allowed the builders a better idea of how to make an Observer type -- he was certainly getting a basic idea of the golem's layout, Thomas could only suppose someone with a greater understanding of gadgeteering who gain an instant understanding of a golem as simple as this but with a glance of the blueprints.

Grabbing the ruler, Thomas began on the wheels. He measured out the wheels on the original, noting the note on ratio, "3 inches for every 1 inch drawn"I don't know what unit of measure is used on Mizahar, so I just used inches. Hope that's ok, he muttered, wondering why they didn't just draw the unit to measure. Surely, it wouldn't take much more paper?

Sighing, Thomas grabbed the compass, and slowly began the wheels. Initially, the compass would stop, protesting the heavy hand with which the young pulser used to trace the circle. Eventually, Thomas managed the two circles, but they were rough. He needed to go back and erase the more rugged parts, trying to soften them as he retraced the lines with pencils.

[Thomas Cosa]

"The Communicator Type," Thomas repeated, reading the description word for word, "Usually one of the more smaller of the mobile golems, the Communicator type is typically nothing more then a mobile base. Standard is four wheels, but because of the golem's size and usage, little as two wheels would be acceptable," Thomas paused, glancing over the original design. "Standard," the young pulser repeated, noting the four wheels and the cylinder base. He supposed the cylinder housed the mouth, which, as the blueprinted stated, was 'vibrating chords, giving the golem an obvious artificial tone'.

Thomas grabbed a ruler, ready to start. Delicately, the young mage traced the square base, making tiny notes about the connecters to the wheels. FInishing with the ruler, Thomas roughly sketched the cylinder base, taking care with the top oval -- he would later add the the vocals cords as a side note, as did the original blue prints.

Carefully, Thomas retraced over his new copy, making sure to darken in the sketches, making the blueprint more professional looking.

Then, Thomas copied all the various notes that dictated the process, reading them aloud as he wrote, "It is important to keep the wheels at a small size -- too large wheels may inhibit the the vocals cords during the builiding process. It is also important to remember that, should you decide on less then three wheels, something will be needed to balance out the Communicator type," Thomas noted, then sketched a badly drawn balancing mechanism -- he would later trace it with a darker ink, taking the eye away from the first drawing. "The cords should be thin and tough. Metal is desirable, but leather would be acceptable."

[Thomas Cosa]

"The Witness type," Thomas read the words aloud from the original blueprint, setting aside the pages for copies. "Perhaps one of the more simple golems, the Witness type is perhaps one of the most useful. Normally built into the Lab or wanted area, this particular type of golem is built to mimic a brick or tile. Vocal cords are installed easily enough, and the animation is simple, even easy for most novices," the blueprint noted that most, if not all, Sahovan Labs were required to have them installed -- something that would be important to remember.

He traced the designs with a metal toolbox -- he was lucky these Witness types could be designed as bricks. All the more easier for copying.

It was easy enough to copy the blueprints, he made various tracings of the metal toolboxes in different point of views.

[Thomas Cosa]

"Done," Thomas sighed, glad to have rid himself of the task. He had managed ten copies of the Witness, Observer, and Communications types, and only had to organize the various blueprints on the shelves.

"This was the stupidest...waste of my talent," the young mage hissed under his breath. "Of course, the Nuit apprentices are animating. They get to actually do something. And I'm organizing, because I'm apparently using too much blood to pump my heart and not enough to work my brain," he laughed quietly to himself, stacking the blueprints by types. "This is busy work, and I'm a talent. Busy work is for idiots," he muttered, marking the originals with a red ink.

"I hate everything."

[Mirage]

Thomas Cosa

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Drawing	2
Math	1
Organization	1
Copying	1

Lores

•	Lore Earned
•	Observer Golem Mechanics
•	Communicator Golem Mechanics
•	Witness Golem Mechanics

It's Not What You Think...

Grunt Work thread 2 noted! There was not a ton of points available, but you got 3 very useful lores for your future . There was not any gadgeteering going on so I could not simply give a lore on it just yet. Keep up the good work though