- Name: Salacia Lunulata (A.K.A. Prototype #8 )
- Gender: Non-Binary (they/them)
- Sexuality: Asexual
- Birthplace: Deep Sea Metro, Inkadia
- Birthday: January 2nd
- Age: Physical - ~24 years old / Time since first activation - ~750 years old
- Species: Synthetic Octoling
- Main Ink Color: Teal / Cyan
- Appearance:
- Default: An athletic young adult feminine Octoling with twin drill tentalces at the front.
- ’Null Form’: A derivation of their default form, with details altered for a more androdgenous appearance.
- Chest Size: C-cup
- Additional Notes: Their appearance can be heavily variable due to their shapeshifting capabilities. Most of the time, though, Salacia will be in their default form.
Designed to be intensely curious, Salacia absorbs information around them like a sponge. Their nature does make them quite unpredictable, though, and (comparatively) limited life experience does make them quite gullible in some regard. While they do feel emotion to some extent, they also aren’t super expressive.
- Likes: Exploration, learning new things, and trying to use their abilities in new and useful ways.
- Dislikes: Water (their synthetic ink body doesn’t float… at all), extreme temperatures (it makes shapeshifting harder, and can damage their nanomachines), and anyone who treats them as more of a thing than a person.
- Kinks: While they don’t feel sexual attraction in the normal sense, it still does interest them as another aspect of inkfish (and surface life in general). Combine that with their nature as a tactile learner and they can be quite touchy-feely.
- Additonal Notes: As mentioned previously, Salacia is a very tactile learner, due to the sensitive nanomachines embedded within their synthetic ink. They’re also unable to speak - a flaw in their design that was never fixed before they were shelved.
Salacia’s story begins with Tartar’s observations of the sea life that was emerging on the surface, especially after the beginning of the Mollusc Era roughly 2,000 years ago. He had taken an interest in the variety of the new emergent species, especially those that would be termed “inkfish” in the modern day. However, his own ability to observe the evolving species was limited. Being relatively immobile made performing observations difficult. Close analysis of their developing societal structures was nigh-impossible. Something needed to be done. In order to investigate this potential successor to humanity, it needed something that would let it make the observations it needed.
Luckily, being a repository of all human knowledge conferred some benefits in that regard.
Takinng humanity’s most advanced designs from the years before they were annihilated, and the already expansive set of observations that Tartar had already made of the developing species, he set about developing a machine that could blend in with them. One that could integrate into their societies and act as both observer and envoy between itself and surface societies. Their main focus was replicating the rapid shape-shifting of the two most dominant humanoid species on the surface, the Inklings and the Octolings, without which blending in would likely be impossible.
Hundreds of years worth of experimentation and research resulted in the development of ’synthetic ink’, a suspension of highly adaptive nanomachines within a mimetic alloy. With the correct programming, it could adapt any form necessary a goal, replicating the rapid shape-shifting of the humanoid inkfish. This synthetic ink was employed in the creation of the first synthetic Octoling.
However, further experimentation revealed that synthetic ink was capable of far more. Its rapid shape-shifting could be employed as a form of camouflage, allowing synthetic inkfish to ’dive’ not just into ink, but any flat surface, imitating what lies below or behind them. Partial transformations could also be done on the fly, allowing them to turn portions of their body into basic tools or melee weapons for defense or infiltation purposes.
Eight total prototype synthetic Octolings were made, but they would never enter mass production, let alone field-use. As Tartar’s opinion of the currently dominant species soured, these prototypes proved inadequate for the purpose of exterminating the flawed life forms that occupied the surface. Eventually, this meant that Tartar would place all eight prototypes in suspension, shelve the whole project, and turn his attention toward developing a weapon of mass destruction that would adequately serve his needs.
For hundreds of years, the eight prototypes lie dormant, sealed deep within Kamabo Co. as the world around them marched on. Thousands of test subjects entering the Metro, tested, trialed, and blended. Turf wars on the surface ruthlessly battled, won, and lost. All while falling upon inert, formless ears.
It was only as the NILS Statue was collapsing above them that an emergency protocol activated, attempting to activate and release the eight prototypes. However, only one had survived the test of time, the others failing to take solid form after so long in suspension. They quickly noted Tartar’s absence, and realized soon after that he was gone. All they had now was their programming. Their prime objective - to learn all they could about the surface, and bring it back to Kamabo Co. For what purpose, now that Tartar was dead? Indeterminate. But it was all they knew to do. It was what they were made for, after all.
- Name: Salacia Minamimoto Lunulata (A.K.A. N1K )
- Gender: Non-Binary (they/them)
- Model ID:
AH-XBU-7103 - Serial Number:
AOC-B704C47B-F73ECDE4
- Purpose: Experimental nanomachine-based android with rapid shape-shifting capabilities.
- Height: 5’10" / 178cm
- Age: Physical - ~24 years old
- Appearance:
- Default: An athletic young adult feminine humanoid with tanned skin, red eyes, and an appearance resembling an Octoling from the video game series Splatoon.
- ’Null Form’: A derivation of their default form, with details altered for a more androdgenous appearance.
- Standard Outfit: A leather cap with pixel art on the front, a purple t-shirt with rhinestones arranged in the form of a word in a fictional language, black wristbands on both wrists, vinyl pants with an individual cyan stripe going down each side, and black leather boots.
- Purpose: Experimental nanomachine-based android with rapid shape-shifting capabilities, and an internal armored endoskeleton bearing additonal weapons and utilities.
- Height: 7’0" / 213cm
- Appearance (diff): Darker red eyes and a significantly more muscular build.
Born from the undefined behavior that resulted from Makoto’s initial experiments in producing a purely nanomachine-based chassis, Salacia was the result of a radical shift in direction for the N1K project. They, at first, didn’t possess an identity of her own, and for the first week of their existence, merely went under the ‘N1K’ name. It wasn’t until that they had exited the private laboratory that they were created in that they had selected an identity for themself, one suitably stylized to their liking, with a name to match.
Given their origins, and their ability to mimic materials they have previously come in contact with, Salacia has grown to have a natural, and ravenous, curiosity. Their initial learning was exponential, and even now they are still able to pick up complex concepts quite quickly. More subjective ideas, especially ones more rooted in human experience, do tend to evade them, though.
After a significant scare regarding the safety of their home, as well as curiosity in improving their own design, they assisted in the creation of an endoskeleton they can mount themself onto in case of emergency. It boasts a similar suite of weapons wielded by their creator, with the difference being their significant liquid metal mass providing a thick regenerative armor around the endoskeleton, and being able to direct more power to any individual weapon at the cost of draining the endoskeleton’s backup batteries.