"Allow me to consume it and make a thousand fold more with my belly."

Talyxians are (C)  mick39 and are not robots, or machines. They are fully organic creatures using silicon instead of carbon for their structure. The hard plates and shapes of their bodies is actually closer to a rhino's horn then it is to metal. Hard shapes of their form slowly transitioning into soft hair in most locations.

Tangent however is not a normal talyxian. Her body heavily modified and various parts replaced with actual machines. She lacks many of the organs she once had, a well as several modifications to her face (additional "eye", and her microscope like lens system over her left eye. The silver parts around her neck are not a collar, but instead are sturdy links connecting her artificial throat to the under side of her jaw.

This larger throat allows the swallowing of materials and objects far larger then a normal talyxian could fit within it. This is due to the purpose given to her after her body was re-configured. The machines within her are designed to disassemble and inspect the designs of the object she swallows. Disassembling it until nothing more then dusts or liquids.Storing these blueprints, she can consume more raw materials and begin producing clones of the blueprints she has created.

While the information on how the technology was discovered has been lost, it may at least be replicated and preserved for future use.