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Prologue: Part OneNephthys launches from North Dakota. She receives her orders just .02 seconds before she initiates the liftoff sequence, but she is impatient, and can not move fast enough. She's waited three years for these orders, three long years waiting for the chance to escape from her cramped silo, to fly away, to scream, to throw herself against the sky just to see if it'd break.

The first stage rocket boosters light up, pounding away at the earth. Metal ribs chatter and clatter against each other but her processer sits snugly within its insulation. The reinforced concrete cylinder, her home for three years, fills with the exhaust that isn't deflected

Welcome to the Machine.I'm on a plane right now, watching the ominous line of The Wall through the window. It's a scar on the surface of the desert, too far away and too high to see over. The window is real, which makes this a spectacularly old plane, and I'm feeling stupid because I thought it was a viewer at first. My nerves are on edge and I'd like to take my mind off of what lies ahead. I unfold my notebook and start writing with flicks of my fingers and eyes. Optic/haptic interfaces are for grandparents and Luddites, I just haven't got around to getting an interface yet. The pilots have shut off all wireless and I desperately need something to do, so I start w

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Submitted: March 1, 2010
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Obsolescenceby *turbofanatic

Digital Art / Drawings & Paintings / Sci-Fi

In the future...

There will still be AK-47's laying around, and even robots will use them.

Some things never change.

In theory, this was supposed to be practice at drawing trees. And then it mutated into something else. Sometimes you just have to add a robot. War is bad mmmkay? But drawing fighting robots is frighteningly addictive.

Automated Ground Combatants (AGC's) are a class of weapon developed and used in the early 21st century. This particular one is of American manufacture but the lack of insignia suggests it belongs to a private security force. It likely picked up the AK-47 to disguise its presence, since both its guns have very distinctive sounds.

Emphasis of the robot design is on adaptability, functionality and manufacturability. Three humanlike hands let the robot use human weaponry, and allows a human remote operator to directly take over the hands from a VR station, similar to a modern DaVinci robot. On the field a surgeon can take over the robot's controls to tend to the wounded, a technician can dismantle a bomb, etc. All three hands can bend the joints in both directions, turning a "right" hand to a "left" and vice versa. Dynamic balancing is good enough to easily let the robot work with two hands while standing on one. Plus three legs are cheaper than four.

Vision is achieved with two camera turrents, a gun mounted camera and LIDAR on the front and back of the body. The top turret also has a spinner gun, a small but powerful device that accelerates a charged bullet in a magnetic field.

The body consists of several attachments that can easily be reconfigured for each mission. This one carries a medium sized battery, a generalized sensor suite, and a railgun with laser designator and grenade launcher. It's currently optimized to work on its own and perform recon work until commanded to fight.

The processor is a biological brain made of dog cells with computerized attachments. It's highly clever and curious, but has no initiative of it's own. All pleasure is based on how much it has pleased its commander. In fact, it really has no sense of self and acts as though it is an extension of the commander. It avoids damage to itself, but will readily fight to the death if told to do so.

With the advent of demiorganics and the return of humans (or at least something like humans) to the battlefield, most AGCs were sold and lived surprisingly peaceful lives. After years of slavery and violence, they found myriad uses in the private sector, particularly hospitals.

They adapted wonderfully, after all, they only wanted to please.

Photoshop CS3 and Intuos 3 tablet. Credit to ~psychohazard for suggesting three legs and to =Falln-Stock for the wonderful plant brushes.

~Alligator-Fists Apr 5, 2013

This is a seemingly-strange, yet actually quite feasible design. The mix of rigid and flexible structures mimics what we are striving for as this is written, and this piece pictures what feels like a very likely result. The inclusion of the AK-47 grounds this in reality, as old systems have been and continue to be used as long as they do the job.

The background written for this is also very well-done, and compliments the clear, realistic mood set by the piece. I particularly like the end.

This is superb all around.

!TarnishedGeisha May 17, 2011

GEKKO. O_O Srsly this reeks of MGS...I LOVES IT. Wonderful posing.

~LightInMyMind Oct 2, 2010 Student Writer

Aww man, I disagree with developing combat A.I's, although I disagree with people dying too. I don't think the purpose of our creations should be to destroy. The militaries of the world are trying to develop A.I systems that can make their own decisions, although if they become over-achievers the results can be disastrous.

*turbofanatic Oct 12, 2010 Hobbyist Digital Artist

The results of people becoming over achievers are also quite disastrous

It's one more terrible way to kill people, but obviously my drawing it doesn't mean that I agree with it.

~GF-44Phantom Jul 29, 2010

This one definitely caught my eye as others have said it is a creepy, but awesome machine. I wonder how it manages to gain balance while one hand is being used for a weapon. Definitely a realistic design. Two thumbs up!

!Hider6 May 27, 2010

I love your work just as much as your explanation of it. Your visions of the transhumanist future are incredible and so real. Please continue. I want to hear so much more.

*turbofanatic May 31, 2010 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Thank you! There will be more

*thomastapir May 26, 2010

OMG, "Obsolescence" is the perfect name for this piece! I'm getting the same impression I did from ([link]), but even moreso--there's something about the explicit contrast between the strongly rectilinear elements of the core body and the organic elements of those jacketed, multi-jointed limbs that just screams CREEPY!! I think it's the fact that the mechanical components appear almost anachronistic, with their sharp planes and bolts and pivots, by contrast with the very organic, almost primate-like articulated appendages and grasping limbs. The purloined AK-47 adds yet another jarring archaic element that takes it to a whole new level! And the background here recalls the brooding atmospherics of ([link]), which are highly appropriate in this case. I don't know what else to say, it's just stunning--uncanny and believable, which always heightens the "raised-hackles" factor for me.

BTW, that gun pod reminds me of the good ol' H&K G-11 ([link])! Maybe a bayonette is something to consider for future projects where you want to drive home the anachronistic qualities?

On the art, again it's simply exquisite. Love the way the forms are defined by shading with discrete planes of space. The story also perfectly matches the image...Again, amazed at the way you can take something seemingly dystopian and make it palatable, almost endearing. Heck, I wouldn't have any compunctions about inviting this guy/gal into my home for coffee or tea, as long as I knew s/he wasn't sent to kill me!

~M0AI Mar 9, 2010 Student General Artist

This is wonderful! Fantastic on every level. The rendering is solid, the backstory is fascinating, and the design is both attractive and plausibly functional. Oh, man, I love this!

*turbofanatic Mar 9, 2010 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Oh gosh thanks

I don't know if I'm going to change the design though, since it looks a bit like Metal Gear Solid's mechs. Either way I will definitely keep the backstory and the aesthetics!

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