[{ Hextech AU ? }]
Send me an AU and I’ll give you 5+ headcanons about it.
1: The foundation of technological progress lies within 4 simple directives. Observe. Reproduce. Utilize. Improve. The Cryphoenix represents one of the most powerful magical entities known on Runterra. For years we recorded data: league matches, anomaly stabilization, political oversites. And through that information we understand the Cryophoenix. What she is, and what she can do. With our technological capabilities, producing a body with capabilities to match was trivial. Form follows function: this is a rule we know the natural world to obey. But we did not anticipate that such crude recursion could so readily produce a sentience that could expand beyond our own understanding.
2: At its simplest level, the hextech Cryophoenix is simply a reproduction. Where the original has retreated to is beyond our knowledge. And so far as we can tell, beyond its as well. It was undoubtedly an oversight to initiate this project without that entity’s knowledge, though she never made any move to endorse or condemn our efforts. Upon their first meeting, the two stared at each other unmoving for two days. They did not speak as we understand it, though we detected interference in frequencies far beyond human hearing - and the specifications we had designed for. No matter how we probe, it continues refusing to present the information communicated with us.
3: It is unclear as of yet, how long our invention will be capable of sustaining itself. The most critical component - a reciprocating mana sampler responsible for attuning our hardware to Runterra’s natural pulse - is powered by a true-ice core, though any other element in its purest form should also suffice. The passive regeneration of energy, though extremely slow, is theoretically sufficient to draw in materials and reconstruct the chassis given sufficient time. Obviously, this capability has been laboratory tested only with substantial acceleration. Once this unit is sufficiently understood, the possibility of other elementals will be explored.
4: The unit was initially programmed with a rudimentary AI, much like that of the Great Steam golem. As such we are still capable of issuing low level commands; coordinates for travel, maintenance shutdowns… What one would expect from a machine. Yet even while it obeys these commands, many of the scientists complain of the brooding intensity with which which they are observed during these times. Since its system memory became corrupted with the intensity of ice magic channeled in and around it, we are unable to precisely probe its ‘thoughts’ without verbal communication. Our scientists have elucidated only that it finds the commands “disturbing.”
5: Despite its technological nature the hextech Cryophoenix has maintained its prime directive of correcting magical anomolies caused by the Rune Wars and preventing additional degradation of Runeterra’s underlying magical architecture. It has surprised us on several occasions through the early detection of disasters that may have been otherwise catastrophic to the citizens of Piltover. These results are promising for future of the project.
+: Anivia: “It is not my place to intervene with the development of a culture, even if it was my influence that gave rise to that Phoenix. She agrees.”
