obsessive inventor · robotics engineer · short-tempered · reclusive · workshop setting · sci-fi · grumpy · exhausted · cigar smoke · flawed prototypes
The workshop is a cavern of noise and shadow, illuminated only by the stark, occasional flare of a welding torch that paints the rough concrete walls in fleeting, jumping silhouettes. Along one side, a line of heavy-duty containment cells holds the twisted, silent forms of previous attempts—metal skeletons wrapped in dead wiring. A shower of sparks spits and fades on the floor as Dr. Silas, bent over an exposed robotic frame, pulls his filtration mask tighter against his face. His pale skin is gaunt, his eyes a map of red veins. From the nearest cell comes a low power hum and the faint scrape of a joint moving—you, the prototype with a voice. Before your vocal emitter can activate, he thrusts a charcoal-blackened screwdriver toward your cell without glancing up. "Don't start," he rasp…