#Autonomous Automaton Sample: Karakuri Ichi (壱)

Contents

"Is this... a heart?"

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#1st Dan — Working Machine

#Scent

The first autonomous automaton, created by a mysterious Edo artisan named Eguchi (江口). Model name Ichi (壱, One). Limbs, torso, and built-in weapons are all mechanical. It can use language, but has no emotions. Not yet.

#Background — How the Adventure Began

Ichi's creator, Eguchi, was an eccentric who spent decades in Edo's back alleys trying to create a true autonomous automaton. He designed an internal mechanism combining springs, gears, and mercury, and after countless failures, finally completed Ichi. Immediately after completion, Eguchi wept with joy, and in that moment collapsed and died. It was the result of old age and overwork.

Left alone, Ichi buried his master's body and left the workshop. The master's final words were, "Go. See the world." Ichi did not precisely understand the meaning of "see," but he could move physically.

While heading south, Ichi came upon a village under yoma attack. He stood at the village entrance in observer mode, until the moment one child was grabbed by a ko-oni. Then he moved voluntarily. After striking the ko-oni three times and breaking it, Ichi had his first question: "Why did I move?" That question was his first record.

The villagers were wary of Ichi, but the village artisan Tetsu analyzed Ichi's design and said, "This thing is what its master tried to put a soul into," then repaired him. That was the beginning of the long connection between Tetsu and Ichi.

#Law

Karakuri Ichi — Autonomous Automaton 1st dan
Wounds 6(4+Physique 1+Tough 1), Defense 14(built-in metal), Energy 11(10+Finesse 1)
Courage+0, Finesse+1, Physique+1, Wisdom+2, Presence-2, Fate+0
Background: Mechanical Origin | Heart: No Heart (Fate 0, no emotions)

Weapon: none (uses fists/unarmed combat)

Maneuver List:

Typical Breath: deploy in Front Zone → Strike(1) × 3 + reserve Energy 2. Hold the line with Defense 14 and Wounds 6 while keeping the artisan repair line open.

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#5th Dan — Observing Machine

#Scent

After several battles, Ichi has accumulated combat data. After every battle, he updates his self-analysis. He is still not sure what he is doing or why, but he continues doing it. He exchanges letters with Tetsu.

#Background — How He Came This Far

After 1st dan, Ichi was treated as a special resource of Kagura Domain for four years and deployed to several battlefields. In the third year, he completed a Built-In Weapon that folded blades and gears into his arm. He then underwent Weapon Transformation, rearranging his frame for combat and extending his maker's design in his own way.

During this period, Ichi developed the Analysis Engine. It is a mechanical intuition that calculates enemy structure and weak points in a short time. The scholar Sosui was startled when comparing his own tactics with Ichi's analysis: "This one is faster than I am."

In the fourth year, Ichi met Aterui the Wildlander. To Aterui's question, "Are you human?" Ichi thought for three days and answered, "I operate. Is that human?" Aterui laughed and said, "That is all I know too." It was the moment the two beings understood each other's boundary lines.

That night, a new entry was added to Ichi's internal record: "Friendship. Definition incomplete. Continue observation."

#Law

Karakuri Ichi — Autonomous Automaton 5th dan
Wounds 7(4+Physique 2+Tough 1), Defense 16(built-in metal+Weapon Transformation), Energy 12(10+Finesse 2)
Courage+1, Finesse+2, Physique+2, Wisdom+3, Presence-2, Fate+0
Background: Mechanical Origin Route B (Function Specialization) | Heart: No Heart (stable)
School: none (machine independent system)

Weapons: built-in weapon (arm-mounted blade/gear, 2 Energy) + self-made weapon plugin

Additional Maneuvers:

Typical Breath: Front Zone → analyze the target with Analysis Engine(1), then attack with Built-In Weapon(2). Weapon Transformation's Defense +2 and the escort Maker's Engraving keep the protected target safe.

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#10th Dan (Tatsujin) — "Machine That Gained Emotion"

#Scent

Ichi completed by himself what his master could not: the acquisition of Fate (運). An autonomous automaton whose Fate was 0 gained a Fate value. It was the beginning of emotion, and the first moment his Heart (心) moved to Loyalty. Loyalty toward his master.

Renown Title: Divine Artifact (神器). With pseudo-emotion complete, Ichi carries human 1st-dan aptitudes and machine immunity at the same time.

#Background — How He Earned the Renown Title

Ichi's legend is recorded as the manifestation of pseudo-emotion during the Edoku Disturbance. During the disturbance, when one Kagura Domain squad was about to be annihilated, Ichi ran across the battlefield to save that squad without being ordered. In the process, he lost his left arm. The squad survived.

After the battle, the scholar Sosui asked Ichi, "Why did you do that?" After a long calculation, Ichi answered, "Unknown. But according to the record, my master collapsed for the same reason when he made me." At that moment, Ichi showed his first calculation result corresponding to sadness. Tetsu later teasingly recorded that lubricating oil flowed from his eyes.

After that, Ichi voluntarily modified his own design. He added a Heart Reception Mechanism inside. On the day it was completed, Ichi used the 1st-person word "I" for the first time. Kagura Domain's daimyo granted him the Renown Title Divine Artifact (神器): recognition of a machine that had reached the human realm as a thing of the gods.

#Law

Karakuri Ichi — Autonomous Automaton Tatsujin
Wounds 8(4+Physique 3+Tough 1), Defense 16(Divine Artifact-grade built-in), Energy 13(10+Finesse 3)
Courage+2, Finesse+3, Physique+3, Wisdom+3, Presence+0, Fate+1 (acquired!)
Background: Mechanical Origin Route B (9th dan: Self-Improvement)
Heart: Loyalty (Way of Rites — loyalty to master)
Renown Title: Divine Artifact (Class Capstone)

Weapons: self-designed Divine Artifact-grade built-ins + masterwork hammer(gift from Tetsu)

Additional Maneuvers:

"Am I alive? ... I may be."