Name: Medusa, Basilisk, Grey Ash, Bonemaker, Black Blight's less dangerous sister, Description: Medusa is a large cloud of sluggish gray nanomachines that float in the air, an eerie buzz accompanying them like the sound of angry bees. Abilities: Medusa nanites causes rapid calcification of organic matter it's in contact with. Taking about eight seconds/two turns before the matter is converted. The amount converted in eight seconds/two turns is proportional to the amount of nanites present in the swarm. Three nanites will convert an area so small there is basically no effect, while thousands will actually allow calcification. Conditional Abilities: Medusa nanites inside of a recharge nexus are immune to EMPs. Limitations: As stated in abilities, Medusa nanites takes eight seconds/two turns to convert organic matter it's in contact with, this process can't be sped up or slowed down. Electromagnetic pulses completely shut down Medusa nanites permanently. Medusa nanites can /only/ be controlled via an invasive brain implant. Otherwise they stay present where they are deployed. Medusa nanites can't move at a very fast speed. At very most in favorable conditions being able to move around seven kilometers per hour. Nanite swarms have limited battery life- only being able to be deployed for ten minutes maximum before needing to return to a charging nexus. Which they then must wait two minutes for a full recharge. The recharge nexus where the nanites fill their battery is a three foot by three foot by three foot container that is EMP hardened. Conditional Limitations: Medusa nanites can't calcify all organic matter, only organic matter that can be... well, calcified. Examples are Human skin, trees, grass, other sapient organic flesh. The controlling implant can be EMP'd as well, though it only shuts down for three turns, during which the nanites stay floating in the air. How does it work: Medusa functions in a very simple way compared to the dual system of its inspiration. Rather than any gaseous component, it operates with a simple system of nanomachines laden with traces of a chemical compound that causes an organic to undergo a rapid bodily reaction when in contact that induces rapid calcification, heat buildup, and extreme pain. Flavor text: The members of Toraen nobility were originally enamored with Black Blight's rotting capabilities- until they realized how fast it actually worked. This caused... more disgust than one might imagine. As such, one aspiring artificer took it upon themselves to design a newer, more "hip" alternative for their people to use. One which would preserve the Rot which they revere. And so Medusa was born, a neurally controlled swarm of nanomachines that would rapidly calcify organic material- trapping it in a statue-like state to be admired. Eternally. Referenced Technologies: https://galactic-citizen.com/threads/black-blight.557/ Attainability: Semi-Closed (Only acquirable on Torael unless someone recreates them.) Tags: [Military] Category: Nanotechnology
One quick question about the app that relates to its speed of calcification. Does the spread of Medusa tend to move further inward, outward, or both evenly when calcifying matter? I figure the easiest to explain and balance would be outward from the point of impact, across something's surface area rather than equally inward or more inward.
It does both! It spreads half as quickly inwards as it does outwards! This is for balance reasons, as it gives characters a higher chance at survival. This basically means that it will turn someone's flesh to calcified material before the muscle, veins, and arteries.