[Coda]

SUBJECT: Robot Master Project Completion
AUTHOR: Dr. Thomas Light
DATE: May 7, 200X
FORMAT: Plain Text

We've completed the prototype of the Robot Master technology. The team has taken to calling him "Proto Man" in the absence of an official project code name, although I suspect it may end up becoming his official designation.

The intelligence core has met or exceeded all expectations. Proto Man is fluently conversational in a number of subjects and has even expressed opinions on matters that do not directly pertain to anything specifically programmed into his databanks. This ability to grow not only beyond his original programming but outside the scope of his original design is truly a groundbreaking discovery. Proto Man may be the first true artificial intelligence in the world, and I am humbled and honored to have been involved in this project.

The power core, on the other hand, isn't doing nearly as well. As a proof of concept, Proto Man's reactor is a success: it demonstrates that the technology can be miniaturized and still produce sufficient energy to power all of Proto Man's systems. Unfortunately, its output isn't completely stable, and there's concern about its longevity that the full-scale reactor design doesn't appear to suffer from. I don't think these issues are insurmountable, but there's apparently still more research we need to do to stabilize the micro-reactor system.

The weapons system meets the requirements set forth by the military contract helping to fund the Robot Master project. It does not involve any new technology, just the standard condensed energy "buster" system that is by now well understood and thoroughly tested. The power core produces a sufficient energy budget to support sustained buster fire alongside all other functions, meaning that a military Robot Master design will be able to think, move, and shoot simultaneously without needing to reduce power to any systems or pause to recharge. However, given the concerns with the power core's stability, and to help manage thermal dissipation concerns, we have limited the buster's rate of fire to operate in three-shot bursts with a cooldown period.

As a postscript, I have started designing a system to allow the adaptation of external technology into a Robot Master in the field. Given the intended non-military applications of the Robot Master project, this would be the most versatile way to use a mass-produced design in various industries instead of requiring a specialized design for each application.


SUBJECT: Robot Master Project Review, Next Steps
AUTHOR: Dr. Thomas Light
DATE: August 9, 200X
FORMAT: Plain Text

After demonstrating Proto Man to the investors back in May, we have had six orders placed for non-military Robot Masters. Two Robot Masters will be working in excavation, one will be assigned to power plant maintenance, one to forestry, one to waste management, and most excitingly one for Antarctic research and exploration. One request from the petroleum industry was withdrawn, and one request for a Robot Master to work in time travel experiments was rejected as we aren't sufficiently certain we could fill the order within the requested time constraints. (Albert disagrees with this decision. He thinks the project will require less effort than our estimates, and he is more optimistic about the safety of the product.)

The military has decided to proceed with the Joe series of combat androids instead of commissioning Robot Masters. While of course I am disappointed that this contract ended up falling through, I can't help but to think it's for the best.

Proto Man himself has... disappeared. While the company as a whole is able to write off the loss without significant impact, I personally am taking his absence rather hard. He seemed to look up to me as a sort of father figure. I had forged a relationship with him, giving him the personal name Blues after he expressed a fondness for that genre of music. I suspect that our inability to track his location has something to do with his malfunctioning power core, but I don't understand why he ran away. It may take a while to learn more about his motivations.

In Proto Man's absence, I think I'm going to need some more help in the lab in order to fill these orders. I think the best idea would be to build some Robot Masters to act as lab assistants. This will give me more experience in building them before working on the contracts, and having Robot Master intelligence helping me will make the work more efficient and less error-prone. I have already designated these two as "Rock" and "Roll". Their names are inspired by them being successors to Blues.

Details on these eight Robot Master projects will follow as the designs are completed.