Hello, I am back with a surprise update! I know its been a long time since the last update, but I recently needed a break from my current main story. So this little short chapter is a warm up to a proper one in the works, but also think of it as a mini arc within the main plot of the story. And before you ask, yes this is revelant to the main plot. Anyways it's time for me to return to my more dark villain deku story, and be warned there is a bit of gore in the chapter. Enjoy. The chapter, not the gore. I certainly hope you don't enjoy the gore.
Research Log 1: Series Gamma: Codename- Project Battlecast: Date Unknown.
[The camera opens up to footage of a man in a white lab coat blaring a kind smile. His hair is a soft black with the tips colored a dark green. The man is settled in a white and pristine laboratory with not a single speck of filth anywhere. The man waves to the camera kindly before speaking in a soothing voice akin to a Kindergarten teacher.]
"For the record of future research and development: I am Dr. Ippei Muto, head scientist of the research and development of the Geonosis Automaton Company. My research into the field of robotics is funded and at the behest of the company's CEO Akuma Shigechi."
["Dr. Ippei" gives a general outline of the purpose of the project, its goals and what they hope to accomplish for the betterment of Japan. Specifically, GAC wishes to create a body of Robots that function as a security force for both civilian and military use, and are to act primarily as an auxiliary force for frontline operations in villain attacks or military operations.]
"And most importantly , if the project were to reach its full potential then we would expect a decrease in personnel casualties by as many as 70%. A revolution, if you will, that will make our society...safer."
[Dr. Ippei gently clasps his hands together causing the footage to go briefly static. A new person takes the place of Dr. Ippei in the footage. The villain known as 'Mechanicus". He is in a very dingy and decrepit laborator. However, the usually clean and well kept appearance of the villain was dirtied with chunks of a pinkish substance while his hands and chest were coated with a dark red liquid. Mechanicus' blank face combined with the unknown matter brought up an unsettling implication.]
" The overall design of the skeleton of a Battlecast Unit brings many benefits in a combat scenario, but that also complicates things as brings us to the first roadblock in our progress. Normally, I would recommend such a machine be controlled by a small but powerful supercomputer, but Mr. Shigechi wanted something...different. "
[The footage of the entry changes to grainy footage of what appeared to be a break-in of some kind at a compound of sorts.]
"What you have just witnessed was the attempted robbery of the Nagasaki Nuclear Research and Development Lab by some mid-level villains. The NNRD is one of the most state of the art and secure facilities in all of Japan, boasting a security system that rivals few in the country. And yet…"
[The footage ends and returns to Mechanicus.]
"It was cracked open like any shoddy lock in a slum. A potential breach in national security with the leaking of radioactive material and sensitive information was thwarted by the timely arrival of All Might and other top ten heroes. Which brings up a simple question: Why did the security system fail?"
[Mechanicus shows a mugshot of a stereotypical looking thug.]
"Quirks. More specifically, a quirk called Firewall. It's function is simple, and that's the nullification of all and any processes of any computing device. With nothing more than a rub on his temple, this lowlife was able to bring about the infiltration of a place that would make anyone think twice about entering. "
[Mechanicus speaks in a tone that is lined with disgust as he gestures towards the police records of the incident. The footage distorts again causing it to return to Dr. Ippei, but he now has the cold emotionless clockwork voice of the villain.]
"The wild factor of quirks that target electronics and computers present a threat greater than any hacker ever could. It is an unknown variable that Mr. Shegechi wants to neutralize this project, especially given the role Project Battlecast is playing in combat settings. All it would take would be one Villain Mastermind with access to a quirk of that caliber to completely cripple our robots or even worse turn them against us. Luckily, our CEO and I came with a solution that doesn't require us to rely on hero scum.
[ A diagram of a human brain appears on the footage.]
"The simple solution to the problem is to change the source of computation, and thanks to trial and error we believe we have a breakthrough. The human brain is a supercomputer in its own right with its fast processing and complexity make it an ideal candidate. It cannot be hacked nor would it be subjected to electronic based quirks. However, it's very complicated nature has made it exceptionally difficult to connect to the nervous system of the exoskeleton prototype.
[The diagram of the brain changes and displays many cables, wires, and circuitry in various locations. Wires pierced the organ in a manner that made it look like it was being squeezed by a thing with many limbs. Two large cables looked like a pair of black snakes that were painfully burrowing in the cerebellum, and the circuitry looked like an alien scar that had been inflicted instead of integrated.]
"The biological weakness of the organ has also made it rather frail, and susceptible to disintegration when testing. It is likely that the mainframe of the body overwhelms the biology of the brain and incurs total cellar collapse as a result. But injecting the organ with a strengthening solution has increased the survival of the organ a whole 30%. My assistants will continue to develop a stronger chemical solution as the project continues. But as of right now, I believe I can find a suitable calibration between the brain and the mechanical mainframe. But the process will be slow and likely to incur a lot of waste. However, the worst part of the whole ordeal is the emergence of the human's previous personality in all successful tests.
[The footage distorts once again, and returns to Mechanicus. However, the villain now has the kind and soothing voice of Dr. Ippei.]
"The personality is unstable with various emotions and does not follow any orders combined with fits of violence. While my previous experiences have allowed the personality of a subject to survive transfer, Nullification methods have proven unsuccessful at the moment with effectively causing brain death in the complex functions of the brain. Subjects with these deficiencies can only control the motor functions of children sized exoskeletons and can only perform basic menial tasks. Perhaps they will have use as a simple laborer, but are extremely unsuitable candidates for a proper Battlecast Machine."
[Images of the failed experiments appeared on the screen. Most of them were in the child sized machines described by Mechanicus, and a few were humans with a twisting assortment of wires and cables that looked like they were half haphazardly shoved inside their open skull. All of them contain looks of terror with tears streaming down their eyes in a bucket or were contorted in an enraged expression with blood leaking out of their craniums.]
"I have formally submitted a request for more materials in terms of the chemicals needed to make the solutions and some of the components needed for the configuration process. At the current of our progress I believe a working model will be feasible in as little as two months. Thus more test subjects are needed as well to continue right on schedule. I hear that a music festival is occurring this weekend, and that little circus could very much supply our dwindling surplus. Perhaps All F- [Footage distorts] can send one his more psychotic lackeys to go and collect some "volunteers."
[The footage distorts like crazy and gets stuck in a loop that jumps between Dr. Ippei and Mechanicus. The image distorts the two into an eerie cross between the two individuals and their environment. Their voices also mix together into a single voice, but the corruption in the footage also injects electronic scratching into their words.]
"A final request is to try and bring as many living volunteers as possible, maybe our progress has been halted by the use of dead individuals. Living subjects might induce a different result. And if not, well I suppose fresher materials would avoid the complexications of rigor mortis in the tests."
[The footage distorts one last time and fully replaces Mechanicus with Dr. Ippei. The smile of the Doctor completely loses its appearance of kindness and is replaced with a much more sinister aura. His eyes and voice now appear to belong to a monstrous predator rather than a kind school teacher.]
"But no worries. Afterall, we are only just beginning and I have no doubt that this project will be a success! This is Dr. Ippei Muto, logging out until the next entry in our progress to a safer future!"
End of Log.
And so it begins, the progress of Mechanicus' army will be in chapters like these and will be scattered here and there. Next time, we have one last look in the pre-bnha timeline before jumping in that fatefull day where All Might comes to Musustafu. Let me know if you liked the chapter or are excited for the next one. Thanks for sticking to this story and I'll see you as soon as I can finish the next serialization.