sudo-EatPant

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am 27 | furry & retro tech | very bi | operator of @UCVRCG



Entropic-Decay
@Entropic-Decay

The mage's mechanical body sat idle as the machine before it began to work. The great hunk of steel that his soul had inhabited for the last few weeks was already beginning to wear down - the metal seemingly withering like flesh from the sheer amount of power flowing through it. Its unwieldy arms had helped to build the machine that now whirred to life to build its replacement.

The machine was sleek and modern, having taken decades of designing and prototyping to get just right. Within its large tank, in a brackish, semi-transparent coolant fluid, was where it made the new generation of bodies for this mage - simulacra, artificial bodies designed to simulate the appearance and feeling of being flesh once again, built to withstand the power they would contain.

A hatch opened in the back of the tank, currently empty. Out of it slid a panel with an articulated human skeleton on it, made of a titanium-mithril alloy found to be highly resistant to the high levels of mana the mage's soul pulses with constantly. Also on the rack was a number of other components, including the newly developed artificial muscles that would act as a framework for much of the outer appearance, their carbon-black mass filling out the frame.

Arms built into the sides of the tank whirred to life as it filled with coolant, taking a small orb roughly the size of a human fist from the assorted components first. It was placed in the center of the chest cavity, right near where a heart would normally go. The orb was relatively simple - a solid, artificial diamond, perfectly clear, with enchantments inscribed across its surface as densely as possible between attachment points for the next component to be added. Conduits of a clear, flexible crystalline lattice dubbed 'mana veins' were attached to the orb at several points across its surface, woven throughout the skeleton like the arteries and blood vessels of a being of flesh. Then came artificial equivalents of various internal organs - lungs, digestive tract and the like, a voice box modeled after a scan of the mage's original body's throat. Metal spheres of eyes were placed in the sockets. After that, the carbon-black artificial muscles were layered over the body, attached to the bones and organs at points prepared for them. Finally, the outer layer was installed - countless tiny, rigid pieces designed to resemble skin. A far cry from the flexible, programmable synthskin that would be developed later, but serviceable enough for now.

The arms of the machine withdrew as the coolant within the tank drained out. The body within looked... well, as close to a human as you could get at the time. There was something off about it, but it was better than being stuck in metal that rots within a couple months from excessive amounts of mana.

The mage's temporary vessel suddenly collapsed as his soul left it, a bright, vibrant purple light hovering over its mangled form. The light moved rapidly into the tank, entering the chest of the body within and seating itself in the orb inside. Its - his - eyes blinked open as he took control of it, and the tank slid open. He stepped out of it in his new body, feeling like himself again after... how long had it been, now? A couple centuries? It felt good. It felt... right.

As the mage stepped away from the machine, he gave his discarded previous vessel a kick, before recoiling. He'd forgotten that doing that hurt... This was going to take some re-acclimation...


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