Kotoli

Kotoli

The Kotoli are a species of mechanical beings extant across known space. Relatively isolationist and utilitarian, they have forged loose bonds at best with other sapient species, and have otherwise been left to their own, enigmatic purposes.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Kotoli possess broadly humanoid anatomy, though with digitigrade legs.. Typical specimens stand at roughly 2.2m with a weight of roughly 190 kg. Their body structure is slender but dense, with materials depending on date of construction and their age, with older models paradoxically being more advanced in construction. Kotoli constructed later in time are typically built of lower-grade materials, and hence may weigh significantly more and/or have a bulkier form. Kotoli bodies have a distinctly skeletal appearance, lacking any form of molded musculature; however, they frequently have exposed hydraulic piping, mechanical joints, and impact plating, especially on later designs. Kotoli tend to have proportionally longer limbs, particularly their legs; additionally, some elements of their limbs vary from a human body plan, including an extra joint in each digit.
Kotoli have no sexual dimorphism, or indeed, even sexes; the typical chassis is androgynous in appearance. Kotoli “skin” is typically off-white with silver or bronze-colored plating, though some models (thought to be military in nature) instead bear black plating and darker skin.
Kotoli heads range through a dizzying variety of designs; though most follow a broadly humanoid plan, divergences such as omitted eyes, heavy plating, or unknown apparatus dot their features. Their eyes, shutter-like in design, range through the color spectrum. Their voices are synthesized from a concealed speaker, and are typically flatter than human speech, though with some pitch shifts still present.

Genetics and Reproduction

Kotoli “reproduction” more closely resembles artifice; specific Kotoli per site are designated to construct new units “as needed”, and typically do so without external assistance. These Kotoli are unlike the relative masses of workers and scientists, as they alone are programmed with the knowledge necessary to create new Kotoli consciousness; any other unit can build a body, but they cannot provide the spark of life. This results in a very low replacement rate for the species as a whole. The loss of an artificer is a grave sign for a site, and typically results in the dispatching of envoys to other sites in order to secure a replacement. Any site that cannot replace their artificer(s) will continue laboring regardless, doomed to a slow extinction by attrition and wear.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Kotoli lack a digestive system, and instead charge themselves inductively from nearby power sources. This makes them unpopular passengers aboard human ships, whose reactors often struggle enough to power the ships themselves without an added power drain. However, their internal batteries have sufficient capacity to allow extended operation without charging.

Civilization and Culture

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

As artificial creations, the Kotoli are more single-minded as a species. Each Kotoli is created with a particular directive in mind that its being is dedicated to. For example, three Kotoli are directed to protect and maintain a site of importance. One Kotoli may decide that the best way to do so is as a groundskeeper, keeping weeds from growing all over. Another may decide they need help from the outside and becomes a trader, preserving the site at the expense of material wealth and ensuring positive relationships with those who would otherwise threaten it. A third might, themselves, leave the site entirely; best to scout and find potential threats, even eliminate them before they can come close. As a result of these directives largely being tied to specific locations, Kotoli are quite sedentary by the standards of other species, rarely leaving their world unless no other options are present.
Some Kotoli's directives end, whether by the object of their directives being destroyed or the completion of a designated long-term task. These Kotoli frequently cope with crippling feelings of loss, and those that do manage to stay functional will often throw themselves into a new line of work with as much dedication, or more, as their previous mandate. These “free Kotoli” are the ones most often seen outside of their star systems.