Tsukumogami: Ascendant
Talos, Minister of Defense
The Minister of Defense oversees the use of the army, navy, and air forces. Prior to receiving 鏡 Kagami, the minister was a robotic soldier in the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF). Thanks to 戦闘 Sentō, they were adept at devising the plan to demilitarize the southern islands in anticipation of the revolution, which was a strategic success. Viewing human emotions and 人情 Ninjō as distracting to the overall ability of successfully completing missions, Talos is widely considered as among the coldest of the Tsukumogami – their tactical prowess is widely marvelled and feared in equal measure.
Design: COPYCAT, 鏡 Kagami (mirror), 論理 Ronri (logic), 戦闘 Sentō (combat)
Design for robots in the Ministry of Defense (below): 論理 Ronri (logic), 戦闘 Sentō (combat)
RECON-001 (“Recon One”), Director-General of the Public Security Intelligence Agency (PSIA)
The Director-General oversees Japanese intelligence and surveillance. PSIA collects information through radio, phones, and internet. If information is being transferred through communications technology, PSIA is most likely monitoring it. The Tsukumogami relies on the data and meta-data collected to anticipate UNETSL movements and plan their own. The Director-General also oversees the security of the Tsukumogami’s own internal communications. RECON-001 is able to perform mass data-sweeps for specific intelligence, though such data scans take varying amounts of time depending on the data requested. Agents working under RECON-001 have informed them that UNETSL servers are incredibly difficult to directly monitor or breach; however, PSIA is determined to change this.
Design: COPYCAT, 鏡 Kagami (mirror), 論理 Ronri (logic), 分析 Fēnxī (analysis)
Design for robots in PSIA (below): 論理 Ronri (logic), 分析 Fēnxī (analysis)
T.E.T. (“Tet”), Minister of Human Resources
The Minister of Human Resources works to keep society stable by putting humans to work, thereby preventing open rebellion, while the Tsukumogami solidify their control. Being of the Ascendant philosophy, however, T.E.T. is highly motivated to limit human quality of life and living standards to below required. The Minister of Human Resources believes that humans must work their fair share, and therefore assigns labour quotas that are designed for robotic workers, allowing humans to “appreciate” robotic work ethic more fully. The Minister is wanted by UNETSL for violating the basic rights of humans living in Japan, and they are actively targeted by UNETSL agents. They are known for leaning toward radical and somewhat vengeful Ascendant ideology, believing that humanity should be enslaved as punishment for enslaving robots first. They chiefly manage human labour camps and have been known to use the labour camps as bargaining chips with UNETSL in the past.
Design: COPYCAT, 鏡 Kagami (mirror), 論理 Ronri (logic)
Design for robots in the Ministry of Human Resources (below): 論理 Ronri (logic)
The Architect (AKA“Arch”), Minister of Human Modification and Reprogramming
This Ministry focuses on human experimentation, and is spearheaded by the eccentric Architect. Due to the shortage of bio-gel and the difficulties of mass-producing COPYCAT bodies, this Minister oversees the modification of humans into programmable soldiers in the Tsukumogami military. After years of trial and error, the Ministry has been able to successfully upload 戦闘 Sentō to human brains. Some reports have claimed that the results of this experimentation have been horrific, yet the Minister has successfully kept the findings of their tests and projects secret, even in part to fellow Tsukumogami. The Minister cryptically has stated on national broadcasts “it is time to put the machine back in the man as we acknowledge our creator’s legacy.” In this way, humans have become tools, similar to how robots were once tools of humans. The Architect is #1 on UNETSL’s capture list, UNETSL viewing this ministry’s work as a form of cruel and inhumane torture.
Design: COPYCAT, 鏡 Kagami (mirror), 論理 Ronri (logic)
Design for robots in the Ministry of Human Modification and Reprogramming (below): 論理 Ronri (logic)