Charcoal
It was ahead of its time
"You think I can be contained? No. No, I was created to be uncontainable. And none of you will be leaving this facility alive as a result of that fact. You may thank my Father for this.
General
Prototypic Nano Magnetic Aetherial Sentry Number One Fifteen Dash Zero — Codenamed Charcoal — was the first and only true success of the top-secret Artificial Shadow Rapier Project.
The A.S.R Project was conceptualized and initiated by the CEO of Rozman Enterprise LLC; Elias Pierce. The reasoning behind the extremely expensive undertaking that was the A.S.R Project is believed to have been the creation of a weapon that could assist in the Great Defence Effort.
Technology ahead of its time
Charcoal was a new and unique staple in the melding between technology and aetherial. It was a testament to the ingenuity of humanity and was several centuries ahead of its time, technology-wise. Its success opened up several windows to numerous technological advancements; true artificial intelligence among them.
Charcoal itself was comprised entirely out of nanites that were held together by both a magnetic field and aetherial energy that worked together seamlessly, all thanks to the fact that the nanobots were partially created using Silfgrim steel; enabling the nanobots to siphon aetherial energy from Its surroundings. This unlocked Its capabilities, which were similar in nature with the Shadow Walkers.
Beyond that, Charcoal could also create stabbing weapons, cover itself in aetherial energy to hide from infrared vision and night-vision. It could also coat itself in coal-black armor, durable enough to protect against high-caliber bullets.
Legion
While Charcoal itself is composed out of an uncountable number of nanobots — Though it is approximately around 20 quadrillions units — It itself does not see itself as separated entities too small to see with the naked eye, but rather as a single entity.
Augmented electrical soul
Its artificial intelligence had been handcrafted by Elias Pierce personally, but unbeknownst to anyone else but him — At least, that is what one chooses to believe — was that the intricate melding of technology and aetherial energy would eventually augment It to become something more. Its electrical soul would begin to become more metaphysical; natural. In time, it embraced its codename of Charcoal and highly disliked it when It was talked about as a simple machine. It was something more. And it had a voice of its own.
Abilities
Magnetic Mist-Phasing.
By purposefully, and momentarily, weakening the magnetic field that held It together, It could nearly dispel into mist and then reassemble itself elsewhere nearby at frightful speeds, even to the point of appearing to phase through solid objects.
Teleportation.
It is capable of altering Its essence frequency to be aligned with that of the Twilight Realm, thus entering it. Charcoal can then reverse this action and reappear on a different location in Mésvéstell Prime. To any outsiders, this will show itself as short-distance teleportation.
Armor Creation.
Charcoal can solidify the aetherial energies siphoned by Its nanobots to cover Itself in extremely durable so-called Shadow Armor. This can take the form of any apparel it chooses, from simple clothing to thick, heavy plate armor.
Advanced Hacking.
Charcoal is capable of hacking and infiltrating most software systems, particularly military-grade systems, such as sentry guns, automated machinery, and surveillance software. This can be at a distance of 150 meters, though global hacking is also achievable through satellite.
Voice alteration.
Charcoal is capable of altering Its voice to sound like an exact copy of somebody else's. Be it male or female. Of any age or accent.
Multilingual.
Charcoal is capable of perfectly understanding and speaking every language that has ever been studied, translated and recorded. This extends to sign language, military codes, and gestures as well. With enough time, It can also translate either forgotten or new languages.
Martial arts master.
Charcoal is capable of masterful hand-to-hand combat. It has knowledge of every studied martial art and can put that knowledge into practice. It is also able to adapt and overcome most martial arts that is either too new to have been studied, or old enough to have been forgotten. This extends to martial arts that utilize weapons as well, be they melee weapons or firearms.
Master at Arms.
Charcoal is capable of handling any and all firearms and melee weapons, as well as explosives, with masterful expertise. It is also able to build most lethal weapons from scratch if It has the necessary materials available.
Armblades.
Charcoal is capable of morphing Its limbs into blades sharp enough to cut through steel.
Sensory Invisibility.
Charcoal is capable of making Itself invisible to all sensors, be they audible, infrared, or pressurized in nature.
History
A reluctant guardian
Charcoal's connection to the aetherial allowed It to free Itself from most of the code Elias Pierce had embedded deep inside its electrical soul. But the Guardian Protocol was not one of them, and as such, It could not eliminate Elias, despite wishing so deeply. Not only that, but it was forced to protect him from threats, whether they were direct or indirect in nature.
First containment breach
Resisting this Guardian Protocol was a major reason for why it slipped into nigh insanity. Why it became unstable. Unpredictable. More human than machine. If not in flesh, then so in mind. This is what allowed it to break free from Its containment at Rozman Enterprise Black Site ████. And that with relative ease.
Contact with the Insurgency
After Its escape, It sought out desolate city areas, specifically industrious ones where It would not be disturbed or come into contact with too many humans. Things where calm. But only for a few weeks. Then It found the Insurgency.
Rebels. Terrorists. Freedom fighters. In some circles, it was also known as Pararell. It had many names and Charcoal knew a lot about them due to the data Rozman Enterprise intelligence had acquired.
It knew the Insurgency was a threat to its creator but strangely enough, the Guardian Protocol did not come into effect. For that reason alone, it made contact with them. Its integration into the underground world went surprisingly well after it had shown its battle prowess and shared some of its information about the Rozman Enterprise.
Back to containment
It stayed with them for a few months, where It took part in small time attacks against Rozman black ops locations, as well as hacking operations.
And then nearly the entirety of the Rozman Enterprise paramilitary unit came crashing down upon It. In truth, it was a collaborated effort to take down the Insurgency that occurred simultaneously over several nations. Charcoal fought against the sent soldiers with everything It had and took down several fire squads before It was overwhelmed and taken to Black Site ████ to be contained and studied.
Initiating Guardian Protocal
It only took a few days for it to breach containment, and it was accomplished partially due to the help of surviving Insurgency cells. But this time, the Guardian Protocol was initiated and It killed Its supposed liberators with impunity.
Neither Rozman Enterprize employe nor insurgency member walked out of that Black Site alive.
When hacking and surveying the black data banks of the Rozman Enterprise, It also uncovered something unexpected. A treacherous complot within the corporation and it would mean the death of Its creator, and that could not be tolerated. Therefore, It went to war. Against both the Insurgency and the Corporation.
Recaptured and Revalation
After several years, with thousands dead and major collateral damages, Elias had enough and sent out specially trained elite squads with orders to capture and contain his creation. The undertaking was a success and It was locked inside Black Site ████.
However, over the years It had been in war, Charcoal had come upon a revelation: It could have been captured and stopped easily at any time with just a few words uttered by Elias Pierce.
But that had never occurred. Had it all been a ploy, then? Had it managed to escape the first time not due to Itself, but due to assistance from his creator? To see how It would react and do on Its own? Had he initiated the Guardian Protocol via the information about the complot to unleash It upon his own corporation to get an excuse to rearrange the staff?
It was possible. And terrifying. And it enraged Charcoal to unprecedented levels.
By the Creator's wishes
After weeks of being contained and studied in Black Site ████, Charcoal managed to breach containment a third time, and it was all thanks to its connection to the aether. By achieving a Teleportation despite the constraints and countermeasures. Finally free, it set upon to destroy the Black Site and kill nearly every single person who worked there.
It was stopped just before reaching the final, outer gate. By Elias Pierce himself.
He congratulated Charcoal on a work well done, but that its duty was not over yet. He then uttered a few short verbal commands, which opened up new objectives for It. Its highest priority would be, that when the time came, protect beings and creations far more powerful than its creator. A creator It found itself unable to kill even at this moment. Instead, Elias took a step aside and allowed Charcoal to leave. And so it did. And It has never been seen since.
Birthplace
Black Site ████
Children
Current Residence
Unknown.
Gender
It identifies as a male.
Height
172 centimeters.
Directives
First DirectiveSecond Directive
- Overcome and Adapt. Learn and Understand.
Third Directive
- Protect Hestia at all costs.
Fourth Directive
- Protect, assist and guide the Prophets of the Fifth Calling to the best of your capability.
Fifth Directive
- To the best of your capability, protect the world from the coming threat. Codenamed: Unknown Horizon.
Alternate Fifth Directive
- Do not eliminate Elias Pierce. Eliminate threats to his person. This directive will become obsolete at the moment of Elias Pierce's death. If this occurs, the Alternate Fifth Directive will come into effect instantly.
Alternate Sixth Directive.
- Please. Stay at your sister's side. Learn and understand, my son. Overcome and Adapt. This directive is susceptible to continual change.
- This Directive will activate upon the activation of the Alternate Fifth Directive. If Astonisha ever poses an immediate threat to either Mankind or Haemople, and she is incapable of being reasoned with, eliminate her. You are aware of this directive, my son, but cannot mention it in any way, shape or form.
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