#markix

once i’m reunited with my tablet, this is getting colored, but for now its p good. do open it in a new tab tho, the detail is pretty decent.

MarkIX Tunneling Construct, one of the cutest & most sweet residents of my lair, with its full plating and new appendages.

Please cuddle it. It wishes to be cuddled.

Deets:

Forward sensory apparatus, capable of perceiving a wide range of electromagnetic and other waveforms. Plating along ventral side of sensory attachment limb recently outfitted with lights to allow for increased visibility of digging surface.

First set of forward limbs, in contact with ground in this schematic, used to tunnel. Exceedingly sharp and hard claw surfaces normally carried folded up, to avoid damaging substrate.

Second set of forward limbs, recently installed by lair engineer Reh, are used to probe surfaces before venturing across them, and also to cling to walls when tunneling from unusual orientations, allowing IX to remain stable and dig. This addition was exceedingly important due to the large number of vertical shafts and mixed composition of the terrain under Clan Caedis’s holdings.

Long foldable plates along back can compress down and back to fit through smaller openings, or fold up and out to increase heat dissipation.

Hind limbs short and very sturdy with claws equally distributed for load-bearing. 

Hind sensory apparatus only partially plated, to reduce weight. Energy-emittting crystal at apex projects a beam of light strong enough to temporarily blind unexpecting eyes if activated without warning. Sensors contained in softly-glowing nodules distributed along the length of the appendage.

It likes to chat, even if the loud noise it creates when digging makes that somewhat difficult. Is considering having another smaller set of limbs added for signing-language use exclusively.

@serthis-archivist the Child Nine is a sweetie

for the rest of u folks here’s yet another worldbuilding/art post in 24 hrs.

@serthis-archivist so basically drawing Lune and IX together made me consider them residing in the same lair in a way i hadn’t at all before. train of thought went something like this:

-Lune hates being cold At All. hes that folk who will never be seen anywhere outside of summer without being covered from chin to ankles in soft warm clothes. (also, he is the definition of Summer Goth Wearing All Black & Somehow Not Sweating)

-as a consequence, is mostly found holed up in his quarters working/napping because Bastion, his Guardian, set heaters/warming stones up all over the place so Lune would be comfy and stay mostly in one place, instead of following Bastion around, bitching at him and shivering.

-at some point after IX moves in (months, probably, given how little their paths would intersect), Lune happens to pass by IX in the halls and notice that the air around it is Very Warm. big tunnel-drilling robotbeast gives off a lot of excess heat, who’da thunk.

-the final result of this

-Bastion basically has a panic attack when he comes back late from patrol, stops by Lune’s rooms to check on him and be mildly bitched at, and Lune Isnt There.

- he fucking freaks out, seriously. for all that he mostly tries to be casual about the whole Charge thing, that’s dependent on Lune having a predictable location he hangs out in. which, up until now he has.

-entire lair gets turned upside down with much shrieking and bright lights. everyone was mostly asleep or getting to that point, is Not Happy

-Lune finally found, deep under the main quarters, riding around perched in between the shoulder plating of IX as its expanding some of the mining shafts. hes made a nest up there of blankets & is very comfy. IX is delighted, chattering away at him, carefully lowering its wings to shield him every time it sends dust & rock flying.

-Bastion makes a flying leap and slams into him in what is basically the most relieved tackle-hug, nearly knocking them both off of IX. there is considerable swearing (on Lune’s part) and maybe a little bit of crying (on Bastion’s part, embarrassing both of them) but eventually things are explained adequately.

-really, he would have been fine with it (is fine with it) if LUne Had JUST TOLD HIM where he was going MAYBE.