Peacekeeper Automaton prototype, codenamed "Ryujii", is the latest, and most advanced project of the Ryoushintatsu national corporation. Project lead Minato even claims that "it is his magnum opus", and has gone on to state that it is his most passionate and intensive creation yet, with his team working with the highest level of diligence and precision they've ever used. And with their hard work, it is not difficult to see the results.

Ryujii, as they currently stand, is a supposed competitor project to the United States' Defender, Russian Republic's Monolith, and United Kingdom's Crownsworn projects, as much like their Roosevelt, Moscow, and Excalibur prototypes, Ryujii is a several hundred metre-tall, bipedal combat machine, designed to patrol and protect large human settlements from emergent, single-target threats of excessive magical, technological, or extra-terrestrial power, such as dragons, leviathans, planet-killers, or the rumoured "Invading force". The United States president has expressed grievance with the Ryujii project, claiming that the Ryoushintatsu corporation is "Trying to make a cheap copy of the Defender initiative, in an attempt to show us up.", whilst the project lead of Russia's Monolith has stated that he is "concerned about the reliability and loyalty of such a bizarre machine". The UK has yet to make any statements on the matter, however Minato has been quick to dispute these complaints, stating that "Asia requires defense of its own, and my creation will be our mark on this blooming industry." He has even requested to "not underestimate Ryujii, they are much more powerful than you realize."

Regarding the Ryujii prototype themself, the actual functions of the machine are indeed rather bizarre. Instead of a traditional pilot, onboard AI, or even a chosen spirit like their competitors, the Ryoushintatsu corporation has instead opted to utilize a unique, bio-mechanical internal membrane and organ system, incased in a robotic exterior. Ryujii is effectively a gigantic cyborg, with most of their body composed of a machine-like construction, with the brain, heart, and mannerisms of a living, sapient creature. There is no information currently available as to what exactly this internal system is comprised of, nor how the corporation had managed to construct it. Some theories state that it is cloned flesh, artificially grown in a homunculus fashion, whilst others claim that the corporation has captured and reverse engineered highly magical biomass, potentially illegally. The Ryoushintatsu corporation has been questioned thoroughly on this matter, however they have been adamant on keeping that information classified, claiming that it is "sensitive information vital to company copyright and ownership, and therefore must remain private".
Whatever the method to achieve this internal membrane was, the power it possesses is where the Protype's true potential lies. For actual weaponization of the machine is rather low, especially in comparison to their competitors, seemingly relying more on unarmed combat and non-lethal plasma. The Ryoshintatsu corporation claims that this is intentional design, as "Ryujii is meant to be a protector, not a destroyer, thus he should be friendlier, and kinder". However, from numerous reports of the Ryujii prototype being deployed into active combat, this is not all the machine boasts. These reports claim to have witnessed Ryujii, often during or before combat, quote "Growing bigger" and "Growing flesh", seemingly transforming from a machine to something much more bestial. Studies of the events prove these reports to be true, as whether triggered by the corporation's remote link, or perhaps by Ryujii themselves, the internal membrane within their systems starts to mutate, with rapidly expanding biomass sprouting, overtaking, and even breaching the mechanical exterior, in a fashion not unlike shapeshifters or lycanthropes. This completely transfigures Ryujii from a simple competitor product, to something almost identical to the various monsters or "Kaiju" the prototype is designed to face, albeit with full allegiance to humanity. Reports of the exact specifics of this transformation are conflicting however, as some claim the form to sprout hundreds of spikes, some claim it to sprout wings as well, some have reported that the form bursts into flames, and the exact size and mass of the transformation wildly fluctuate from report to report.

Project lead Minato has stated however, that this transformation, and its inconsistency, is the full intention of his vision, and has even shared the base concept of the project itself. In essence, the Ryujii prototype is designed to be a "Perfect challenger", one that "Rises to meet their foe on equal terms". Many of their systems are designed to analyse and study whatever opponent they are presented against, and then adapt to counteract or mimic them. The internal membrane is designed to be malleable, capable of an incredible amount of energy and magical absorption, and then using that stored energy to change and evolve in near-perfect response to whatever situation Ryuijii is placed in. If the opponent flies, Ryujii sprouts wings. If combat is underwater, Ryujii sprouts gills. If the opponent uses ice, Ryujii mutates blubber insulation. Ryujii can even copy the abilities of whatever opponent their facing as well, such as developing fireballs, phantasmal forms, psionic prowess, and of course their gargantuan size. The potential the Ryujii prototype sports is incredibly vast, and incredibly promising, with Minato even boasting that "he could be more versatile and powerful than all of his rivals combined". The Ryoushintatsu corporation has even expressed approval of this design, though it claims that the costs of repairing the exterior shell and calming Ryujii down are far from ideal, and hopes that future iterations will have more reliable methods.

This brings up a final concern, however, that being Ryujii themself. For with the advancement in automation, artificial life, and the legitimately organic mind housed within the machine, many reports, encounters, and even interviews with the prototype have proven that Ryujii themself is sentient, intelligent, and even free-thinking. Their personality heavily resembles that of a shy, sheltered, and socially awkward young man, and despite being very talkative and friendly, psychologists studying encounters with the Prototype have stated that their mannerisms heavily express discomfort and insecurity. Similar studies preformed on footage of Ryujii in deployments have claimed that the Prototype is often terrified of many of their opponents, and perhaps the settlements their deployed to as well, constantly apologizing and whimpering every time their involved in collateral damage. However, once the transformed state occurs, psychologists have noted that their is a significant shift in tone, going from fearful and apologetic to excited, playful, and even boastful. Some even say that, during the transformations, Ryujii seems to express intensive arousal, or at least seems to deeply enjoy the process of changing, despite the damage it causes to their robotics. The prototype does appear to have a fondness for the media coverage and attention it gets in both forms, often posing for cameras, bantering with fellow law enforcement, or even taking time to assist or rescue civilians in need, but during combat, there does seem to be much more fear and reluctance to fight then their is enjoyment, at least in most cases.

Due to this, many concerns have been raised as to the ethical nature of Ryujii's living conditions, with some activist groups even accusing Ryoushintatsu of mistreating or emotionally abusing the Prototype. The corporation however has denied these claims, stating that they give Ryujii "the most amount of care it needs". Project lead Minato, has refused to comment. Ryujii themself, has also refused, stating that "I-I-I don't really know if I can actually answer that, um...I don't know how to feel about this, m-maybe later? I-..I'm not in the mood right now....are you writing this down, like, everything I'm saying? Hh-h-how are you writing so fast?"
No further answers or theories as to Ryoushintatsu's project have been presented to us at this moment, so the most we can do now is wish noble Ryujii good luck in their work, as we watch things unfold from here.

Global Gossip Paper, daily news of the globe.

---

...so remember this?

https://www.furaffinity.net/view/49647715/

Just yesterday, I was in a bit of a bored miasma. I was feeling horny for something, I wanted to, but just couldn't really lock my brain down for anything specific. So I was just idly browsing through FA and my socials and etc, when I suddenly stumble across this piece of art I had commissioned previously. And right there, I was in the mood for basically anything, and when I thought about it, I realized: ...hey, maybe this is actually a really good idea. Maybe I should do something a little more with it.
However, this was fanart of an established character, from an established IP, and if I wanted to do anything with them, I'd have to build a story that adheres to the continuity, research all the background lore, figure out what these Kaiju drones can and cannot do and-....eeeuuugh, I didn't want to do that. I love the Pacific Rim franchise, truly, in fact the first film is my all-time favourite film. But maaaan...some of the franchise sucks ass, Uprising had Disney actors and that went about as well as you expected that would go, and frankly I normally don't really like to do stuff with established IPs, I find that could be too limiting at times.
But I loved the idea a lot, as one of the biggest things I have about my kinks is variety, I love thinking about new ways a foot could burst out of a shoe, or a sock, or...well, in this case, another foot, that's teeechnically a shoe...kinda. Hell, I don't even like the idea of "flesh overtaking a robot" normally, as that invites a lot of "OoOoOOo nAtUrE aLwAyS wIiIiNs" themes and types of narrative, and I fucking hate those. But, if the robot was designed with that flesh stuff from the get-go, if that was like, the intention of the robot, in lore, then I feel like I'd actually enjoy that, because I love technology in all forms, even biopunk...so long as it isn't post-apocalypse or solarpunk-

So I said fuck it, I'll make my own.

This, is Ryujii, a new macro themed character inspired by stuff like evangelion and those kaiju infected drone jaegers from uprising, except made into something more wholesome, cute, and lovable, like most of my OCs. As you can tell from the image, this likely isn't his final design. Or gender, even, I'm still unsure of whether to make him a male character, or my first Non-binary character, or even just genderfluid. I don't know enough about the subject to really decide yet, so...I guess he/they interchangeably for now? However that works? I apologize, I'm not really as informed about gender identities and the nuances of it as I should be, so I'm not sure how to properly include the topic. I'm also not sure on this design either, like whether Rujii should be plantigrade or digitigrade, if I want to stick with that head design, if I should have more decorations to better translate how they're meant to be a Japanese machine, what colour their lights are supposed to be, or hell what even kind of lore they're supposed to sport. That blurb up there is just to get the general ideas down, like "Big robot controlled by cyberpunk corporation to fight kaiju by turning into a kaiju, likes being a celebrity but is intensely shy, has a shoebursting kink because of course they do, basically just legally distinct Godzilla, something something parental abuse themes despite me not really being abused at all just liking how they can be portrayed in stories." you get the idea. I thiiink they might be in the same setting as Bentley, but right now the setting is vaguely "Urban fantasy but with a lot more fantasy and everyone in the setting is aware of it", like a dnd setting but it advanced to modern day, that kinda thing. Or the Will Smith movie 'Bright', except....good.

So, consider this a "First draft" submission of this character. I never expected to post unfinished concepts on this page but I suppose why not, this is an idea I'm really keen on, I just don't know much about what to do with it, and frankly just wanted to get them out there.

But if any of you got any suggestions, maybe, that might help.

...maybe.