This... This You Can Trust..

[Julius Sedaire]

Location: Chis'canti Vamci, Yavin IV Orbit​

​

His research would begin here, with the polydroxol laying on the biology lab slab in front of him, awaiting examination and data logging. Quietly he stepped into the lab in a pristine set of white clothing, a long labcoat thrown over the ensemble, slim safety goggles custom made and fitted for him perched atop his head. One hand looked... Odd... Different.. In truth he was still getting used to the Shapers' hand, but it had proven necessary in his research and development of this new bit of technology.

This first step was crucial, as the whole concept and idea hinged upon the understanding he would glean in it, and so he took the scanner from the bench next to the table and began passing it over the corpse. As he did so, the data was fed through his various implants from iBorg, and processed through to Geoffery. The implants hadn't been his idea, really. But they had enabled a partitioning of his mind, if you will, so that he could deal with the massive data constantly streamed and collected by his A.I. unit as it interacted with the environment around him.

In collecting, the data was just general at first, basic analysis of the shape, form, and function of the outer 'dermis' of the subject, which yielded little he couldn't have guessed from just looking at the corpse really. But when undertaking an endeavor of this magnitude, you did not play around and skip steps. Everything was done in precise order, and just the way it must be done. Given this was in every sense of the phrase, uncharted waters, being that no one had particularly researched the polydroxol and their electrogloblin in the way he was... Well... Who knew what was there to be discovered and learned?

 

[Julius Sedaire]

In the end, the next scan of his subject yielded much more manageable results indeed, and ones more applicable to his designs and purpose. The polydroxol seemed to function rather uniquely. They appeared to be denatium based sentient lifeforms, and in that particular substance appeared much like liquid mercury, which would suit his purposes rather poorly. There was a thought, appearing on a hovering holo projected "screen" no sooner than he thought it, that perhaps in order to stiffen and enhance the metal, the mercury like compound could be replaced with a compound similar to beskar.

As well, to help maintain and in part 'control' the shift from rigidity to liquid state and back and forth, the notation to implant several power glands within his body would be added. The structure of the jibr'gar molecule was altered from an almost pure beskar makeup to include a slightly crystaline matrix upon rigidity being achieved, which would couple with the slight field exuded by the power gland to allow free-flow form from one state to the other. For some reason, he couldn't quite ascertain what would give him the seamless transfer the polydroxol enjoyed, without utilizing the aforementioned traits quite common to amphistaffs of the Vong race.

The first drawback of course to this was the power glands themselves - savior and curse. With their application, a statistical modeling simulation would show several undesirable, but to his calculations unavoidable, side-effects. One was an experience of the electrical charge 'building up' from the power glands, since they were modified to switch on or off at will. This granted them a slightly less protective field, in addition to when 'charging up' coursing the nervous system of the implanted host with quite a lot of electrical stimuli. Considerable pain could be expected at first, with lessening as the host became used to it. But it would never fully go away, even with extensive training with the biots. Further issue would be the muscle rigidity that was caused by the electrical currents to stimulate the jibr'gar molecules to move from sub-dermal to external. This appeared to be resulting in total to patial paralysis or decreased muscle movement and sensation all over the body.

 

[Julius Sedaire]

Perhaps more troubling than the pain response and muscle rigidity or paralysis was the exact mirroring of the polydroxol electrogloblin. Despite that perhaps being a good thing in some eyes, in reality it was quite a detraction in this endeavor. That might seem paradoxical until one realized the underlaying interface provided by his adirel ooglith biot. It transferred quite literally every sensation, at a magnified rate of experience for its' host neural network to process. Sensation transference was just for starters really, but it was able to be mitigated in the end. Some cursing and some quick thinking came up with a solution.

While the Adriel Ooglith was beyond him in some ways, the sensation transference was not. That was fairly basic and elementary, as it connected with the same systems in his body as the neural links to his AI and the like. So, using various theories in that field of study, he was able to mute the connection, so to speak, whilst the armor was active. This did provide decreased tactile feeback, which in his sword play and form was a minor drawback he supposed. But it did not truly shut down the sensation bridge established by the adriel ooglith. Instead, as stated before, it merely muted it so to speak.

Instead of amplified beyond normal range, sensations experienced whilst the jibr'gar was active would be about the same as if the host were not wearing any level of protection, and were interacting with their environment in their bare skin. Thankfully, the effects of this were purely in the mind, psychogenic to use a technical term Geoff supplied to him. So whilst the host would feel the sensation and feedback, it would not have any physical by-products like blistering the skin if a hot surface was touched or some such. Something to be grateful for at the very least.

 

[Julius Sedaire]

Next was the process of producing the material, at least in an alpha stage to begin to see if the theorized formula would produce a viable specimen. Before he could even begin to design testing parameters for the biot to gauge capability and functionality, he would need to make sure the specimen could survive in actuality, let alone under duress or to assault or to what degree of those two factors. As he looked at the holo-projector and the scattered notes, he realized that working off of these badly organized and chaotic notes would be a chore indeed. So the first task he set himself, or rather Geoff, was organization.

The process was tedious, and not least of all immensely frustrating. Sometimes his mind made leaps, sort of, intuitive bridges and connections done in a moment of epiphany like insight. But in these rare moments of revelation, he often forgot to detail out the process behind the result that would enable said result in the first place. Rather like looking over a recipe card and all it said was 'Secret Ingredient #1 will make or break the flavor of this dish'. That was all well and good that it would do so, one would suppose. But realistically, it made for an unreliable process at best to follow such results blindly. If something went wrong at some point, you were left defenseless, and would have to do the work to figure it out anyway. Best to just figure it out to begin with, in his mind.

As the notes began to take shape, so too did ideas. And thus were the notes modified and change here and there as he went. It was always so, really. The process of explanation and troubleshooting revealed previously unknown or neglected flaws, which when brought to light were worked upon. Some, like in the cases of the psychogenic sensation of pain felt even through the armor, couldn't be completely done away with. But often they were able to be partially corrected, mitigate to some small degree and minimized. This was better than nothing, and if for no other reason, it justified in his mind the lengthy and annoying process he was undergoing at current.

 

[Julius Sedaire]

Finally, he felt that the notations he had made were a good coherent whole. An organized blue-print from which he could begin to draw the model his cloning sphere and other instruments would replicate. A few pieces of his old beskar'gam sat on a roll-tray to the side, scrubbed clean of any paint or oxidization. They sat waiting and ready for their role in the saga to come. Which was quite simple and easy. The scanners would take samples of their structure, compare it to denatium bases present in the polydroxol specimen before him, and begin the integration process. It would be lengthy, possibly a few hours so as he set the scanners to working, he leaned back in his seat and took a swig of caff, sighing in contentment.

Sullustan roast was a rare pleasure, and it's bitter, spicy aroma and complex flavor took the edge off his frustration as mockup after mock-up failed in the simulation stages. Once or twice he was tempted to throw the heavy ceramic mug at the images in front of him in pure frustration, but he resisted. Again, though there was no noise because he and Geoff had moved beyond talking now, a conversation took place as he contemplated the flavor of his caff. Nothing much was to blame for the failures in specificity, but there was a problem over all it would seem. The problem linked back most often to the issue of the jibr'gar not wanting to transform from the denatium like structure of it's base, to a beskar structure, and them back.

Something in the process was breaking down, and the resultant biological samples were predicted to dissolve, permanently harden, spread across the flesh of the host like a true malignant parasite and meld with the skin permanently, and in a few cases the spreading and melding turned inward, metallicizing internal organs and the like. Whatever the exact path, most of these setback would eventually lead to the hosts' death if given a long enough period of simulation. Perhaps the issue lay in the fact he was forcing the specimen through too varied a series of states, which was causing the resultant breakdown and malfunction... That was what he would turn his attention to next.

 

[Julius Sedaire]

In his belief, the radical shift in forms lay behind the present collection of failures. So how could he change that, and what would the change implicate for the specimen and the suit it was intended to be a part of down the road? Sitting back, steaming mug of caff in one hand, chin grasped in the other, he pondered. Thoughts ran wild, sped by caffeine and general excitability he hadn't felt since he was much, much younger if he were honest. This was groundbreaking stuff, the sort of thing that he would never admit he enjoyed to most anyone else. Particularly as he aged, and found his blood cooling, the pursuits of the mind held increased reward to him over the fires of war.

In the air before him, an image appeared of the base denatium structure, and then next to it the basic structure of a beskar molecule. Next to the beskar molecule a shifting, changing mess of lines and dots and notations began to form. It was a hybrid molecule, designed to be a 'bridge' between the two which would enable the process to work without the rampancy and malignancy of the 'pure shift' variety he had first tried in this process. Bond types switched between atoms, from covalent to a metallic bond in the chemical makeup of the molecule. That would work in terms of tensile strength, and altering the makeup of the bond would allow for the thermal resistance beskar was famed for.

Now it came down to less a question of what, and more of how. Two unique molecular structures sat in front of him, so that much of the problem was solved. The denatium like 'base molecule' that would be the biots structure when it was inert within the host, and then the 'activated molecule' which was much more beskar like than the base molecule. The shift was the next question, and he turned his full attention towards it as the denatium and beskar molecules shrank and slid to the side of the projector field, whilst the 'base' and 'activated' molecular structure diagrams would grow in size and take center stage in the projection.

 

[Julius Sedaire]

Shifting... It would need to come from an electrical current, and the obvious choice was from the power gland. But the problem was the denatium and it's properties. It acted very much like a noble metal would be expected to behave, resisting alloying and combination. But this also apparently meant that, whilst it had no problem shifting from one state to the other, it did have issue when the atomic structure and chemical bonds were re-arranged to form completely new properties. A bit of realization shone in the warrior-smith's eyes, and the base molecule diagram began shifting.

It was simple, really. Mercury reacted to certain temperatures, and he nodded as the molecular diagram for Mercury came up. It shifted states based on that, and denatium on the will of the specimen alone... Studying them for a moment, he realized the latter would react solely to electrical impulses. The Polydroxol species were not latent force-sensitives or capable of limited abilities as the Miraluka were. So that left biological and evolutionary means to be behind their successful amorphous and shape-shifting nature. Just a bit more research, watching live feed videos of a living specimen in a nutrient tank in the next room, showed a little more information of just how though.

Simply put, the denatium shifted not because of the electrical charge from their nervous system taking the physical form of thoughts, which was what he was trying to replicate with the power-glands, but because of the electroblobins in their circulatory system. This was simplistic, and utterly pivotal. Most leaps in science were, in his experience, much like this. A 'minor detail' that was oft and easily overlooked would wind up having the key to it all. Simply change one single facet of it could have untold successes or failures all in one. So with a slight alteration in process, the nex method was implemented in the study, and he sat back to watch.

 

[Julius Sedaire]

From the base molecule the simulation would start, running at a much slower, almost snails pace this time through. The greatly reduced speed was partly so every detail could be identified, and partly so Ijaat could try to fix glitches on the fly and 'live' so to speak. Host specimens would think whatever trigger pattern was needed, and the molecule would shift from base to activated. The thought would, instead of trying to use the power glands as simple amplifies and relays, be 'translated' by the gland this time around, and then a new signal be relayed from the glands to the molecules.

The power glands would be changed to output a constant, steady sort of feedback energy which kept the 'base molecule' in shape and form needed of it. When the specific thought pattern triggered them, the output would change. Almost like waving a tuning fork over various materials and hearing the altered sounds bouncing back. The active molecule was thus shifted into from the base by the alteration of the electrical fields that kept it's chemical bonds in place. With this shift in 'source power' the molecule experienced a sort of 'miniature collapse' and that collapse triggered an automatic feedback loop via the changed nature of the energy medium in the specimen of jibr'gar.

That changed energy medium would be further altered by a secondary change to the constant background output of the power gland, which would impact the individual elctroglobin and cause the base molecule to re-assemble into the 'activated molecule' which was the variant beskar alloy. In a way, it mimicked the natural process of the polydroxol with the denatium. Shifting to a more 'natural' mirror of the denatium might have other unknown benefits, and so he loaded the resultant specimen parameters into the simulator again after a brief organizational tirade on the once again disheveled and helter-skelter nature of his notations.

 

[Julius Sedaire]

With a blue flash of light, the simulation began running, as Ijaat stood and refreshed his caff from the pot nearby. Some newfangled product from Tenloss and [member="Popo"], he had secured a test model based off something the company had made in some recent contest, or so the advert had claimed. The setting had been altered immediately. Who put fried and pulped nuna-fruit through good Sullustan roast? Then he had forgotten to not do that one day, and now he couldn't quite take his morning cup of caff without it, and not feel a pang of loss and regret. Hopefully this thing made it to mass market, because Tenloss had a money-maker here for sure!

The simulation ran as part of his mind watched it as he poured another mug. This time, at the least, it ran flawlessly, and his shadowed eyes smiled from their sunken sockets. This, at least, was a good thing. His base theorems were right, on paper at least. Outputs were corrected, and the simulation began running again and again, over and over. Each time it ended it started again, checking for redundancy, any outlying failures factors. After close to ten thousand simulated processes or more, and three more cups of caff, Ijaat stumbled to the spartan 'fresher attached to the laboratory to relieve himself as Geoff oversaw the specimen creation.

A vat off to the side began to fill with an almost gelatinous solution, bronze in color. Robotic grip arms traversed the ceiling on tracks, picking up the armor and other components and gently, one would almost say with respect, placing the battered pieces onto a conveyor which was being slowly but inexorably wheeled forward into a furnace, where the beskar was being altered. Strangely, the corpse of the polydroxol specimen was gone, and another furnace on the side of the room opposite of the first glowed bright and merry. As Ijaat emerged, he tried not to think of what the lack of the dead polydroxol and the active second furnace meant.

 

[Julius Sedaire]

When the vat in the holding shelf was full, it had become apparent that he was short a little material for the project. Evaporation losses, general shrinkage and reduction in mass and the like. Regardless the cause, the armorweave like undersuit of jibr'gar would have to be foregone. In reflection, his adriel ooglith would form a more than adequate enough underlayer, push comes to shove, and so he did not worry about it over much. Calculations streamed on screens as he took his seat again, and he nodded. According to these numbers, he would have just enough of the jibr'gar..... specimen... alloy.... Thing... He wasn't sure what to call it, but for all intents and purposes, it was a living tissues he supposed.

Slowly, he stood, and walked over to the vat, looking down at it's heavily clamped and locked iris door top-seal. By definition, what he done probably violated more than a few ethical codes and 'laws of science'. The substance in this vat was technically alive, if not sentient by any means. And that is when he noticed the absence of Geoffery's constant chatter in his head. Silence where once there was a constant stream of data and feedback. His cortical splint implant also showed disturbing gaps in data, but the sensor indicators showed Geoff still active and functioning, just not merged into his consciousness.

Opening the vat, in a moment of almost blind panic, or perhaps one of those intuitive leaps. But as his hands plunged into it, the substance seemed to flow of it's own accord. Up and over and around his arm, swirling like some mad water spout, shimmering bronze. As it settled across his skin, it seemed to thin and become almost like water rather than a slightly thickened gel. Slowly the 'liquid' seemed to flow into his pores, and though he made no sound, internal he screamed in pain, his face locked in a rictus of agony and disbelief in equal measure. Numbers and bar graphs showing pain never quite drove home the idea of the actual experience really.

Slowly, he stood, stumbling and swaying, grabbing a roll-table once holding part of his armor, and half way to standing falling to his hands and knees again as it cap-sized and flipped, bouncing off his forehead with a grunt of consternation as he fumbled blindly for the wall. Finding it finally, he pulled himself up agonizingly slowly and half leaned, half collapsed against the wall as he leaned against it, muscles quivering at random, eye twitching spasmodically. For a moment, the twitching and spasms ceased, and then in a sudden seizure and cry, he hit the floor again, skin erupting in silver-white substance that covered him.

After a momentary silence, Ijaat stood, shaking his head, trying to remove the 'helmet' and finding he could not. Even willing the substance off was to no avail. Nothing happened. Panic rose in him, fighting to maintain control over himself and the suit. From within, he heard a voice that immediately calmed him.

"Sir... I have control of the various systems... Please relax because and try to calm yourself, your pulse rate is approaching super ventricular tachycardia, which is unhealthy. Mark 51 is now active, shall we begin testing"