#ruby oni

But there's good news too! This week, I found time to draw one request from yamperzzz. Ruby and Gossmann. Here's the art.

So, What Even Is the Printerceptor Anyway?

This is the 6th story trait available for ONI. It's all about the Printerceptor, a machine described as having been an "energy field disruptor", but was retrofitted with printing capabilities. Essentially, the Printerceptor redirects power from the Printing Pod to print certain items on demand -- mainly as a way to ensure certain plants and critters never go extinct in your save. Just make sure to supply it with data banks and printing pod charges.

Unfortunately, it's locked behind a 13-digit passcode, and one wrong input could lock the construct forever. Your dupes must find the passcode elsewhere in the planetoid to properly access this bad boy. You should be able to access various data entries from inspected structures along the way... ;)

In Leiu of the Loo

You might struggle at first. You might check computers or other items of interest, hoping that one of them randomly drops the passcode. In reality, the location is a lot more... conspicuous than you may realize.

Somewhere in your world will be a new structure -- a bathroom, believe it or not -- and it is here where you'll find your answer... after unclogging the toilet, of course.

From here, accessing the Printerceptor is as easy as pie. But the entry tied to this area is extremely peculiar, even with context. Before I cover that, however, I should build up to it.

Clearly Nikola Is Evil

Dr. Nikola Techna is who I'd argue is (or was, rather) one of the Director's most valuable employees. He is strongly associated with the early development of Duplicants alongside Dr. Dylan "Nails" Winslow. Not only that, but he seems to be quite the tinkerer himself. But all that glitters is not gold and even Dr. Techna himself couldn't handle the heat if we're viewing this strictly through the Director's lenses.

In the older entry I attached above, titled "Evil", Ruby recounts the time they had suspicions placed on Nikola for his odd behavior. He's observed as being extremely nervous and neurotic, seemingly deep into his work regarding the Time Containment Field, intended to act as a failsafe should the Temporal Bow fail. They find him at work sometime later, at the height of his mania, supposedly having not gone home for days. He cryptically warns Ruby of Earth's inevitable, terrible fate and practically pleads with them to activate "this machine" in case something goes awry with the Bow so that the Containment Field can be put in place. He rambles on, suggesting that not doing so would put more than just the Earth in danger.

He's unable to say much more before security personnel apprehend him and drag him away, leaving Ruby to ponder the things Nikola said and whether if what he said was true and, more importantly, if Gravitas was the real enemy.

When I'm Gone

Fast-forward to now, Dr. Techna's fate remains unknown. He's still "no longer present", so to speak, but whether he's dead or alive or some secret third thing is still a mystery. It's safe to say he no longer works at Gravitas. But the Printerceptor story trait at least starts us off with a message that sounds to have come from him, and with context clues suggesting the fact that he created the Printerceptor itself. Here, he warns anyone watching his tape to leave the facility immediately and to follow his instructions. He commands them to enter the "Giga Co-Op downtown" and to pick up an "order for D.H." Giga Co-Op is seemingly a shop of some sort for machinery with the slogan "Proactive Solutions For Timeless Tech". Who D.H. could possibly be, I was unable to define, though I assume this is another alias for Nikola.

He then states that the drive containing the passcode should contain instructions on how to find the Printerceptor and how to use it to redirect power from the Printing Pods so that he could "borrow" enough time to finish his Containment Field before everything goes wrong. He rambles on, announcing that they were not the first to have made a Bow and mulls over the likely existence of other Earths and timelines interacting and splitting from each other before finally ending the tape off by wondering just how much the Director sacrificed to get here.

The Handoff

The culmination of this is a very long entry explaining how the drive containing the passcode happened to get... stowed away in the way it had. Due to its length, I may have to take several screenshots, so I do apologize in advance.

The log details an event taking place within one of the bathroom stalls in the Gravitas Facility. Ruby, revealed to usually be referred to as "Dr. Reed", is apparently hiding out in the stall waiting for someone until an unknown Technician arrives. They make some small talk before the Technician quickly reroutes the conversation to the matter of Nikola's siphon/interceptor, to which Ruby announces that they have the access codes for it in the drive. Before they're willing to hand over the drive, however, Ruby interrogates the Tech.

The Tech mentions a very interesting thing. They state that they work for the people who "made the Director who she is", considering their relationship to her as "family". Ruby is quick to call bullshit as she mentions that the Director has no family, to which the Tech responds, "Maybe not in this lifetime". I would like to go over this, but first: the rest of the log.

The Tech pushes for the drive again, but Ruby continues questioning them. They ask for Nikola's whereabouts, to which the Tech admits to not knowing where he is yet, but that they're "working on it".

Before they could continue, a firm knock was heard on the stall door, and they assumed they must be security guys who'd followed the Tech. And with that, before the Tech could stop them, Ruby flushed the drive down the toilet, leaving the Tech infuriated and Ruby explaining that it had to be done.

Unfortunately... The person at the other end wasn't a member of security but merely Catalina. She chooses not to question what it was that the two could've possibly been doing in there, but she does request that she have the stall. Ruby relents, though Catalina has to be a bit more pushy with the Tech who's more reluctant to leave.

They do eventually make their way to the hallway, and the Tech quickly pulls up blueprints to the facility's plumbing system in an attempt to locate the drive. They let slip about the "unpatented trillion-dollar technology" that Ruby had just flushed away, and Ruby is furious that the Tech intends to sell the technology. The Tech doesn't budge, though, and thanks Ruby for their help while simultaneously warning them against speaking up.

Uh, Jackie, You Ok?

The entire story trait is exciting to me on multiple levels. Although what attracts me the most here is what was said about the Director and, namely, her supposed family. The phrasing and statements that she has no family raised a lot of eyebrows for me, and I wanted to offer a few theories on what this could mean:

Director Stern wasn't raised normally: This one is probably what I expect to be the least likely outcome, but the first idea that came to mind when encountering this. It mainly stems from this entry:

I mentioned this before, as I'm still unsure if "Giselle Jackie-Lin Stern" and "Jacquelyn A. Stern" are even related. I had originally thought they were the same and that this new baby announcement just contained a really weird interpretation of Jackie's full name, though I know now that isn't true. It's still an incredibly odd entry to me, especially with the mention of wishing the parents "on a safe and healthy incubation". No normal human being would say that!! I theorized a long time ago that maybe Jackie was a clone herself, though I highly doubt it. Maybe she was just some otherwise ugly lab-grown baby? Also doubt that. Although it would make for a crazy plot twist!

They're simply close: Jackie and the Tech might've just been really close young and in the present day consider each other as family. It would make sense if the Director pushed her real family away. Or perhaps Jackie was merely adopted and the Tech is or is connected to the people who perhaps adopted her? Who knows!

They're children/relatives from the future/another timeline: The Tech, or the people they work for, could already be very aware of the Bow and the existence of other Earths and Timelines, and could even possibly be relatives to Jackie that don't exist in this present timeline but do in another. Would be extremely cool if true imo, and would make sense as a motive aside from money, I feel.

You're overthinking it, Yam: Yeah... I probably am. :')

Closing Thoughts (About Techna)

He had more relationships with other duplicantes, but they were no less interesting.

Again, all I'm doing is sharing my theories and headcanons!

Jorge.

They are best friends and colleagues at the same time.

It seems like they are just colleagues, but in reality, they are loyal friends to each other. Their duo can be described as “one is more positive, and the other is more serious.” But even a regular little tea break can turn into either a very heartfelt conversation about new discoveries and fun, or about things that may bother them deep down, even to the point of being psychological. Liam is often the listener for Jorge, calming and supporting him.

But even such friends have very funny moments related to work. As a result, both end up getting hurt.

Mae.

They get along well with each other and respect each other.

They are a very creative duo, albeit a very rare one. As they say.. “one speaks, the other draws and thinks through the idea!”

Ruby.

They are best friends.

They often have heartfelt conversations after a long routine. Ruby sometimes helps Liam with his problem of “staying clean” for as long as possible, noticing his fear of germs/contamination.

Gossmann.

Although Gossmann may be neutral towards him, Liam may feel admiration and respect for this dublicant.

And now it's time to think about who he could be in contact with others, in my opinion!

Banhi.

They are colleagues.

They most often meet during working hours. He often helps her draw blueprints or explain how to improve a particular mechanism.

Freyja.

They are friends and get along well with each other.

After the events with Ceres, they found they had a lot in common and became friends. There are funny moments, such as when Freyja throws a snowball at him or she slips on the ice and makes Liam laugh. But this only strengthens their friendship.

Otto.

Suddenly, but I consider them friends. Their relationship is quite comforting.

On Liam's side, he understands that Otto doesn't mean any harm with the random insults that might slip out of their mouths, and he tries to support him.

On Otto's side, they completely trust Liam and try to calm they anxiety and lighten the mood with conversation.

Relationship chart. (I'm lazy at drawing.. Sorry)