Taxibot Gamma
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| On duty in the Hollows, at the Atlas Park gate | |
| Taxibot Gamma | |
| Origin: | Technology |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Defender |
| Security Level: | 50 |
| Identity | |
| Real Name: | Taxibot Gamma |
| Known Aliases: | None |
| Nationality: | Made in the U.S.A. |
| Occupation: | Taxibot |
| Place of Birth: | Paragon City, RI |
| Base of Operations: | Paragon City, RI |
| Marital Status: | n/a |
| Known Relatives: | n/a |
| Physical Data | |
| Species: | Robot |
| Age: | 7 |
| Height / Weight : | 5' 8" / 260 pounds |
| Eye / Hair Color: | None / None |
| Known Powers | |
| Radiation Emission, Radiation Blast, Teleport | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Speaks three languages, friendly and courteous in 20 more | |
| Equipment | |
| Boot jets, color-changing paint, multi-band radio | |
| PTS: Helping Heroes Get There Faster | |
| Updated: 8/30/2019 - Player: @Megajoule | |
What will eventually be done with the atom? It is up to us to give the story a happy ending. If we use atomic energy wisely, we can make a hero out of a villain.
-- "Our Friend the Atom", Walt Disney and Heinz Haber, 1956
Contents |
Affiliations
Taxibot Gamma belongs to the Virtue garage of the Paragon Taxi Service.
Personality
Taxibot Gamma is programmed to be unfailingly courteous and helpful to heroes and citizens alike. Always friendly and cheerful, Gamma is dedicated to the PTS Mission: Helping Heroes Get There Faster. It is even polite (but firm and disapproving) to the criminals that it sometimes encounters in its duties.
Powers
Taxibot Gamma was constructed with the generous assistance of the Terra Volta Power Authority to showcase the many beneficial and safe uses of atomic energy, as well as giving back to the community and especially the heroes who have done so much for the Terra Volta facility. In addition to a large grant, this assistance took the form of a custom-built compact fission reactor housed within Gamma's torso. The heat and radiation produced by this reactor is channeled through a series of pipes and conduits to special emitters that make up most of the robot's oversized "gauntlets." By carefully controlling the type and intensity of radiation released, Taxibot Gamma can produce many useful and helpful effects.
Radiation Emission
As everyone knows, unlocking the power of the atom was one of the great achievements of the 20th century, and it continues to benefit us in the 21st. Small doses of radiation can greatly accelerate the natural healing process and metabolic functions of patients. Radiation can also temporarily and safely incapacitate criminals, leaving them too weak to do wrong.
Radiation Blast
In some cases, higher levels of radiation may be required to render particularly powerful enemies of goodness and freedom harmless. Taxibot Gamma is equipped to give these super-foes a faceful of atomic fire! Rapid-fire blasts, tightly-focused beams, and full-circle bursts are all part of Gamma's arsenal. (Extensive testing by the TVPA has shown that no significant radiation remains in the environment one hour after offensive deployment.)
Teleport
The ability to teleport is essential to any Taxibot; in a sense, it is the real primary power. Taxibot Gamma is equipped with a high-performance, high-capacity portable teleporter system (state of the art as of 2005) which can transport the other seven members of a full eight-person team in under a minute. The system can also move the robot itself in jumps of up to 160 yards, cycling every three seconds (for a theoretical sustained air speed of 108 miles per hour).
Abilities
Taxibot Gamma is fluent in English, French and Spanish, and knows about a dozen phrases (mostly related to fares and its duties) in twenty other languages, including Cantonese, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Russian, and Turkish.
Weaknesses and Limitations
While it would be quite possible for Taxibot Gamma to draw operating power from its internal reactor, and this option was considered during the design phase, the decision was made to use the same system of chemical batteries found in other Taxibots manufactured during the same period. This preserves the reactor's full output for offensive and defensive use and minimizes power fluctuations. (It also allows Gamma to continue functioning and get to safety in the highly unlikely event of a reactor emergency and shutdown.) The disadvantage is that Gamma must periodically return to the PTS garage for recharging, just like its metal "brothers" and "sisters," rather than being sustained by the limitless power of the atom.
Gamma also has other weaknesses common to androids and robots - it is mostly metallic in construction, and thus is both magnetic and much heavier than a human of the same size and build; it cannot swim (though it is waterproof and can walk along the bottom); and it is vulnerable to strong EMP.
Finally, there is an infinitesimally small chance that catastrophic damage to the robot's torso might breach the shielding around its reactor, with some leakage of radiation into the surrounding environment. Be assured that all necessary and prudent safety measures have been taken to prevent this or any other reactor emergency.
Equipment
Shortly after entering service with the PTS, Gamma was refitted with boot jets that allow limited maneuverability in the air. They are mostly used to maintain a safe altitude while teleporting long distances and surveying a destination.
Gamma has an internal multi-band radio duplicating many of the functions of a standard-issue hero communicator (police-band functionality was added in early 2007). It can transmit a live television feed from its cameras and microphones back to the PTS garage, and has enough onboard flash memory to store up to five minutes of such footage for later playback.
Trivia
- Gamma's voice and personality owe a great deal to Robert Picardo's performance as "the Doctor," also known as the Emergency Medical Hologram of the starship Voyager (and, of course, "Johnnycab" from Total Recall).
- Gamma has begun to dream while on the recharging rack at the PTS garage. It has not told anyone of this yet.
- Gamma displays the "Nuclear-Powered" badge title.
- Someone once said of Gamma, "You're very... yellow." Gamma's proud response: "Yes I am."
