Esmeralda: Journal

A/N: This chapter describes Esmeralda's workshop in the Fontaine Research Institute in the overworld. She can occasionally be found there and interacted with. Each chapter of her messages can be found scattered around the area as collectible texts.

Project Oracle: Chapter 1

Purpose: Cybernetic Eyes creation.

Project Leader: Esmeralda (me)

Engineering Leader: Also me

Design Leader: Still me.

Other Helpers: Daisy, Aether, Paimon, Martin, and some other researchers. Note: Ask for their names.

References Used: A lot.

Project Oracle: Chapter 2

Version 1.0: Basic Prototype.

Appearance: Two plain metal spheres.

Functionality: Basic visual display. Poor color detection. Poor visual quality. Occasional lag. Overall crappy performance. No future compatibility. At least it works. (In the short term. The battery won't last more than a week.)

Comments: I was literally blind when making this, ok?

Project Oracle: Chapter 3

Version 2.0: Realistic Design.

Appearance: Two realistic-looking-ish metal eyeballs.

Functionality: Mostly similar to real eyes. Full-color vision across the standard visible spectrum. High resolution. Negligible signal delay. No advanced functionality nor upgrade compatibility. Improved battery life.

Comments: Nope. A little too realistic. Touching them felt weird. Sometimes I kind of forget that they're artificial and get a small heart attack. I think that the next version won't quite have the same look. I've had quite enough of shoving things into my eye sockets. Ugh. Fortunately, Martin did a great job with the base, so there should be no issues there. In the meantime, I also need to find a better power source.

Project Oracle: Chapter 4

Version 3.0: Multifunction Base.

Appearance: Plain metal band, wraps past my eyes and ends around the sides of my head. Like a shiny visor.

Functionality: Basic visual stuff for now, just a platform to add more stuff onto. Retains same functionality as 2.0.

Comments: This one is pretty different from the ones before. I came up with a great idea while designing this - what if I made two parts, a basic part and one with advanced functions? So that's what I did - basic eyeballs and this outer layer that can do more stuff. Or, well, it can do more stuff eventually. Now it just looks nice, like fancy glasses. As for the basic part, I've redesigned it to be able to display all kinds of data into my mind if the visor is active. Theoretically. It should work. Also, I've managed to use my Vision as a catalyst for the power issue. Just like Daisy, it'll passively draw elemental energy from the surrounding Leylines, meaning that it can be powered indefinitely. There'll be no need for maintenance, hopefully. I never want to be putting things into and taking things out of my eye sockets again.

Project Oracle: Chapter 5

Version 4.0: Fully Functional.

Appearance: A thick metal and glass visor that wraps around my eyes, over my nose. Kind of like thick goggles, but opaque. I painted it silver because it looks cool. Under it, I've got realistic-looking artificial eyeballs. Honestly, I don't think many would notice that they're fake unless they already knew about my accident.

Functionality: All of it. Increased visual spectrum beyond human levels, including ultraviolet. Night vision capability. Adjustable optical zoom, up to 16x. A variety of filters. Customizable HUD. Real-time automatic targeting and synchronization with other devices, including Daisy. It can also be deactivated and removed, leaving me with the basic vision from the basic module underneath. Both are self-powering off of Leylines.

Comments: The final output, for now. I could still add a few modules (like X-ray, if that's even possible), but that's a job for later. Making this was not easy, but fortunately the previous version worked as intended and the upgrades were simple enough. I ripped apart a bunch of Mek optics and Kameras to get the materials for this. As for maintenance, I designed it to be self-contained, self-sufficient, and resilient, so there should be no need for me to disassemble it anytime soon. Thank goodness for that.

(optional) Talk to Esmeralda.

Option 1: About the eyes...

Esmeralda: Oh? They're working fine, thank you for asking. It's great, actually. I can see things that I never could before. It's actually quite nice.

Option 2: About the scattered notes...

Esmeralda: You collected my notes? That's fine, you can keep them. I've stored them digitally here already. Hmm... I should clean this place up a little. Maybe later.

Option 3: About your plans...

Esmeralda: I'm more or less done with this eye business. I think my next objective is to learn more about the Guardmeks and the Pnuemousia that powers them.

Option 4: Goodbye.

Esmeralda: See you around.