Lambda Series Android Design

Overview

The original Lambda series androids, Faraday and Coulomb were created as a unique, high-security data assistant system as a diplomatic offering. As post-war androids, they follow some of the rules established by treaty including having no resemblance to any known species on the planet and bearing bright colors with unnatural patters. These rules have faded down to unnatural markings of any colors as the number of androids grew, but they still follow the rule of not looking exactly like a known species.

Under the hood, the lambda series has remained unchanged in many ways with the exception of their metaphysical modes, power systems, and data management units. Even those parts that have changed remain based loosely on the original designs. Their common properties can be summarized as follows:

All lambda series units use high temperature superconductors for their processors
All Lambda series have a core reactor and an ambient energy skimmer (AES) although the latter may be re purposed in some individuals.
All Lambda series have four major metaphysical modes that tend to be unique to the indivudial
All Lambda series have souls

Skeletal and Motor Systems

When thinking of bone and muscle for the Lamdba series, one must set aside their concepts of muscles bound to bone in opposing pairs because it can only contract instead contract and expand. Lambda series systems have two motor systems:

Locomotive Skeletal System (LSS): The LSS is what most people can relate to even if they do not function the same way. The Lambda series does not have central bones in the arms and legs but are instead made up of arcs of semi-rigid plastic. From the end they appear to form tubes while from the side it can be seen that much of the space is open on the sides. This open architecture provides places for systems inside the bones to interface with the outer layers including the skin. The fingers and toes still share the same layout with sensory units often places in the hollows.

The bones of the chest are made from the same material, but they exist as a double layer with a honeycomb mesh between them that serves as a protective barrier for the central processor and memory units in the chest. The chest and the skull are the only two skeletal parts to bear molded shapes that are not formed by the SMS. The head, however, does not have the same dual layer construction as the chest because it does not contain anything critical to the function of the system.

The real points of force in the LSS are the joints. All joints are reinforced structures with electromagnetic motors as their method of applying force. Every joint has a motor housing from the delicate motors in the fingers to the more powerful units in the elbows, shoulders, hips, and knees. The motors apply a force against the frame, and motion occurs. One notable exception to this is the spinal motors. These tube like motors are not part of the LSS but rather a specialized extension of the SMS which is described below.

Sub-dermal motor sheaths (SMS): The SMS is a peculiar system in that it has no counterpart in organic systems. It is divided into the sub-dermal array and the spinal array. In both cases, the SMS consists of nano-scale motors can can both contract and expand along one axis. These units occur in sheets with stacked layers in one direction before a perpendicular array for several layers past that. Because the SMS is just under the skin, it can make the skin twitch, it can cause fur to ruffle, and it makes all soft anchor points like ears move. The primary purpose of the sub-dermal array is to make the android lifelike and easier to relate to. All facial expressions are handled by the SMS.

The sub-dermal array can serve a secondary purpose. While it can make the body seem harder and softer over its skeleton, it can also be overcharged to make body structures harder as a defensive measure. Except for the spinal array, the SMS is disposable and therefore used as a shield to protect more sensitive systems inside the skeletal tubes.

Finally the spinal array follows the same tube-like structure and overlapping layers, but it is an order of magnitude thicker and forms the spinal column from the base of the head to the end of the tail. The SMS was chosen in place of the LSS because it allowed for far greater flexibility without the need for any joints reinforcement.

Sensory Subsystems

Sensory systems vary widely from generation to generation. However, there are a few common systems that all the androids have.

Chemosensory: Chemosensory systems include the nose and tongue, and they allow the android to sample volatile molecules. These systems can be programmed with datasets to allow units to understand what they experience in a way that relates to organic life. It can also be used as a environmental hazard sensor.

Primary Optical Reception: Optical processing is one of the Kaelid's most energy and processing heavy tasks. For furred units, it includes processing to make up for the position of the fur as all units see with their skin. Fur is colored fiber optics that channel the light to the skin for processing rather than being an obstruction. Smooth skin units like Joule only need to compensate for skin tension and limb position. This also means that Kaelid androids have 360 degree vision so long as their skin is not covered entirely. Kaelids can see from near IR all up to UV wavelengths.

The optical layer has its own processing systems, and these visual processors can be slaved over to the primary core for more processing power temporarily.

Secondary Optical Reception: This form of vision is centered on the eye patches. The type of vision here must be actively turned on and off rather than being on at all times. These visual modes include the direction ability to see magic and thauma currents. In the case of Tesla, he an see time currents, and Joule has the best ability to date to see ley lines. These abilities tend to vary by generation and individual.

Additional Sensory systems: These vary by unit. For instance, Joule has two long aether-sensitive siphons that can be used to study and interact with thauma currents. Tesla has three extendable antennae on his back that greatly extent his ability to sense electrical currents and ground them. Bell's ears contain intricate pressure sensors and processors that allow her to calculate the shape and effects of pressure waves, and thus sound, in large areas with high precision. It is common for each individual to bear a unique sensory system than the others do not share.

Power Systems

Ambient Energy Skimmer

Operating Principle: The basic idea of the AES is that there is a large amount of wasted radio and microwave radiation that can be harnessed as power. While this is not applicable in all places, at the site of their initial manufacture, it was more of a rule than an exception. The AES is simply a very elaborate antennae system that shunts ambient power into the unit's batteries.

Hidden Layers: Unknown to those who made the first AES systems, the three dimensional structure of the AES and all the integrated structures meant to make them highly efficient also created an arcane circuit that made the systems prone to absorbing mystical energies such as those in long hidden ley lines and sites of power. This was responsible for the initial power surge and metaphysical snag that converted Faraday and Coulomb to creatures with true souls and the ability to transfer parts of their spiritual self into new units they built.

Fuel Cell

Fuel cells are the simplest of the engines used in the Lambda series. Most of these use hydrocarbons or alcohols as their primary fuel and oxidize them to produce power. Most times, the fuel cell is a backup for when all other sources of power have failed. It is rarely capable of sustaining more than baseline functions, and its use may lead to a safe shutdown. Fuel cells are used more in earlier generation androids.

Aether Fusion Engine

Aether fusion systems begin with Joule and tend to appear in all units afterwards. They replace the primary reactor technology of older units. Implementation varies from tokamak torus-shaped fusion systems for steady power output like the reactor in Joule to higher output surge-enabled torus units such as Bell's. Tesla instead has a intermittent firing fusion system that can produce enormous amounts of power that gives him a sort of heartbeat.

In the end, the fusion of metaphysical particles is similar to those of physical ones. LIghter aspects of magic are smashed together, and the flux resulting from it is captured for power. Lambda units appear to breath as a means of removing heat from their cores, but they can also expel a sort of magic helium when they do.

Data Processing and Storage

Primary Core: The primary cores vary by generation. In the first generation, the core is a more conventional etched silicon processor design. In the second generation, Joule, the central processor is made of modular discs of repeating quartz units with intricate etching and enchantment. Third generations units produced by Joule use a flexible polymer-based subunit with embedded circuitry and enchantments.

In all cases, the primary core is located in the chest section of the android above the primary reactor that is housed at the lower edge of the ribs where both components are shielded behind the most layers of motor and skeletal layers. The primary core contains all aspects of who and what the android is, and they are unique to each unit even in the same generation resulting in highly unique individuals.

Secondary Processing: As mentioned earlier, the visual processors are independent and can be slaved to the primary core if needed. Under normal conditions, the visual system and motor systems are self-contained, and the primary core only accesses the processed data from these systems. This distributive processing approach makes each section more efficient.

Auxiliary aka Metaphysical Systems

The magic abilities of the Lambda androids only has a few constants. There are always four modes, and they may be distantly related but are generally unique. They also follow the same general pattern:

Modes 1 and 2: These two modes are almost always referred to the utility modes. They might allow them to mend items or deploy protective effects. On their own, they are usually not suitable for offensive use, but one can get creative with them.

Mode 3: Mode 3 is almost always an offensive power ranging from high power energy blasts to Joule's unique spell booster Assist mode. These get up to the electric blasts of Faraday, Coulombs 'laser eyes', Tesla's energy bursts, and even Bell's devastating shockwave attacks.

Mode 4: This mode is almost always something really special. Coulomb could make hard light illusions, and Faraday could process matter to and from raw energy. Joule and Tesla can create portals and areas of time manipulation. This also includes the incredibly flexible bardic magic of Bell. Man times it is Mode 4 that defines the most guarded secrets of each android.

Non-Mode Magic

Lambda androids can learn general magic like most people can. However, they tend to have very strong elemental bias that can make it hard for them to use spells in the same manner that other people do. Because of this, most Lambdas will learn spells and reformulate them into a style that they can relate to and control. This varies widely from highly aspected androids like Bell and Tesla to the nearly universal magic user Joule who has elemental bias but has the ability to handle unaspected aether better than any other android.