Second Genesis

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Vessel: Tuned Jaw 0AJ22 Weight: 4.1kg

Faces: 503

Raw Materials:

Tempered Steel (any kind): 281 Faces

Flexweave Mesh: 200 Faces

Aurum Nullite: 22 Faces

—

"This is still Proving Class, but far stronger. The naming convention changed a bit as well."

The first mechanical jaw was designed extremely simply. It made Grey look almost like that one robot from The Iron Giant.

’Loved that movie...’ Grey thought absentmindedly.

This version wasn’t too different from that one. The only change was that where the bolts for the hinges should be were a trio of gears instead. It was a more complex mechanism, probably designed both for more precision and increased biting strength proportionally as well. Almost like a lever system but for your mouth.

Grey didn’t want another Proving Class mechanical jaw right now, though. What he actually needed was an Established Class one that he could convert to Curved Faces and hopefully get rid of the rest of this fat.

While Grey didn’t like the fat, he also wasn’t an idiot. He knew that it had a very real purpose.

If he could change the fat from something that felt like a suit stuck on top of him, to a true integral part of his body, there would be a real change.

He had seemingly completely forgotten about building a vessel for the Wolf Spirit. He honestly didn’t give a damn about that right now.

He flipped to the third page, and then the fourth. They were also Proving Class, and more powerful as well. But still not Established.

The fifth page, though, made him raise an eyebrow. This was the first of the blueprints that very clearly demanded Curved Faces be used. It was impossible to even use the normal Polygonal Faces to finish it.

The jaws had little differences here and there. At some point, they seemed to optimize for certain things, like there was one that used a hydraulic system to increase biting power but required a water type Spirit to be used.

There was another that changed the tongue as well as the jaw, giving you a long, whipping attachment similar to Barkeep Ji. Though, after seeing the frog man in action, Grey had a feeling that this Proving Class attachment was nothing to him.

There was one that even had fangs attached to it and was meant to be used the same way a poison snake would use theirs. When Grey saw it, he felt like that actually might have some pretty good synergy with the Wolf Spirit.

While it sounded odd, the Wolf Spirit seemed to represent the Vampires somehow.

Grey was unashamed to admit that he had seen the Twilight movies more than once. Was it just to get some? Maybe. He would plead the fifth on that front.

But what he could say was that if those fangirls ever found out this world combined the vamps and werewolves into one, their panties would explode.

’Well, if they’re anything like me, they’re finding out right about now anyway.’

This continued through, but when Grey tried to flip to the 17th page, it stuck and didn’t let him.

Grey frowned. He still hadn’t seen an Established Class mechanical jaw.

It didn’t take him long to figure out what was wrong. It seemed there was a safety mechanism.

He had only downloaded and succeeded in crafting one of the jaws, the tome wouldn’t let him continue for fear he would hurt himself.

’Fuck it.’

Grey wasn’t in pain anymore anyway, and as far as he saw it, even the more complicated mechanical jaws wouldn’t take him long.

Just in case, he started with the hardest one, hoping it would save him some time.

This mechanical jaw was interesting because its attachment went up to his ears, attaching to them and forming almost elven bronze ears. It continued and formed a shield over his Adam’s apple and throat.

It was the largest of them that he had seen, and the precision required demanded Curved Faces.

—

Vessel: Tuned Echo Jaw 0SSE01

Weight: 3.7kg

Faces: 1201

Raw Materials:

Tempered Steel (any kind): 671 Faces

Flexweave Mesh: 478 Faces

Aurum Nullite: 42 Faces

Tuning Crystal: 10

—

’Hm...’

Grey pressed a hand down on the blueprint and it was quickly downloaded into his Cyber Space.

—

Tuned Echo Jaw 0SSE01

Points of Error: 7

Modification Cost: 15,000 Energy Units

—

Grey paid the cost. No point in building something imperfect.

Once the modifications were done, Grey got to work.

The Form stage was a lot harder with Curved Faces. When you were working with Polygonal Faces, you only really had the three dimensions to consider: up-down, left-right, and backward-forward. It could only slot into one place, one way.

But with Curved Faces, there were more points of contact. While technically you were—obviously—still working in three dimensions, a piece meant to show up on the surface might have a piece within it that extended all the way to the core of the mech.

Rather than smooth, simple cubes, you had odd, irregular shapes with curved and sloping surfaces that accumulated errors a lot faster.

The more Grey worked with Curved Faces, the more he realized why Polygonal Faces were used. It was just... easier.

It was probably easier to craft a Polygonal Face Established Class, or maybe even Vector Class mech, than it was to craft this Curved Face Proving Class one. That said...

Grey had crafted a Prosthetic Mech before.

Sure, it was a Prosthetic Mech with only Polygonal Faces, but it was still far harder than any of this.

Still, Grey spent the longest on the Form stage this time than he had any time else, only to be greeted by a Loading stage that was its own headache.

This time, the Curved Faces wasn’t the issue. The software of this mech was just that complicated.

It was a sound type mechanical jaw. Not only could its ear components pick up far more sound than his ears could, transferring them directly to his inner ear, but it could amplify his voice, use sonar detection, and even attack.

The energy transfer balance needed was exceptionally delicate.

It took Grey three hours before he finally reached the Intent stage and fused Prometheus to it.

’If it takes this long to do every one...’ Grey sighed, why was nothing ever easy?

The mechanical jaw shimmered into existence and he placed it on his face, his body quaking as he fused it.

Prometheus began its rampage once more.

—

Sync Rate: 0.22%

Energy Reserve: 550.7/550.7

—

Grey’s head snapped up, veins writhing along it as his body convulsed.