Rutile

Having started out as an empty body like all others, Rutile one day awakened back on Lapid island. It isn't as if she hopes anyone pays her any mind now, yet back then the gal had been inseparable from the older members of the lapid family. Not many were willing to drag an infant around though, so she stuck with Venus as she carefully observed her creator tinkering around with new lapid vessels and miscellaneous alchemy, reluctant to even make a peep as not to be kicked out. Seeing the alchemist messing around inspired her to attempt creating small inventions of her own, and would prompt her to spend her time tinkering with anything she could get her hands on. None of her early works had much success, but as she grew and developed proper motor skills Rutile learned to create simple machinery and trinkets. Due to the abundance of her gem type the girl managed to catch up to most of her peers rather quickly, including her childhood friend Amethyst whom she spent most of her time with. Yume’s inability to go outside during the day allowed her to slowly get used to Nat being around, with the pair reading stories together and going out on walks before dawn.

Not many talk to Rutile besides this, and she would mostly fill up her spare time with literature and talking to Amethyst whenever she was awake, as well as coming up with blueprints and running them through Venus in order to verify if they even made sense, writing down notes of their mistakes and correcting them along the process. She didn’t have many people to earn feedback from and would dig up tons of online courses on her tablet, even going outside of the island’s confines to seek books and tutors. The girl quickly found out that she didn’t enjoy working near people she didn’t know, however, especially when it came to creating projects entirely unrelated to her own artistic vision. Whenever she found her next course too boring she would sometimes walk into a different class entirely, something that the tutors didn’t mind and would allow her to be present as long as she didn’t brag about it. It was these afternoons that kindled her interest in science, enabling her to research concepts like time travel and teleportation. Iris and Butter would cover the costs of her courses until Rutile was able to eventually make money off of her creations similarly to the pair, with the friend group sometimes collaborating on large-scale projects like creating and designing protection suits or advanced costumes with robotic parts for influencers and performers, as well as smaller and more affordable trinkets for hobbyists and cosplayers every now and then.

The lapid eventually moved to Deluxe complex for a longer period of time in order to focus entirely on her studies, renting a small apartment which she would fill with mechanical parts, blueprints and manga she didn’t have the time to read. Sometimes Amethyst would pass by the city for a party night or Butter would go shopping and invite her friend over, but ultimately Rutile had been left alone almost entirely. The stress from working long hours, having to memorize hundreds of pages of information and the frustration from constantly failing to accomplish her more ambitious projects resulted in Nat becoming increasingly stressed out and even cracking in some places - small web-like patterns covered her now shaky palms and chest, with worried gazes littering the tables during family gatherings back on the island. In spite of it all she managed to create a long-distance teleporter, similar to a portal between worlds. This breakthrough of hers was enough to make the girl consider a break, inviting her friends over to observe her discovery.

While everyone found it neat, they still insisted for Rutile to only use the teleporter under supervision. At first she stayed true to her promise - sometimes taking along Yume for long walks across neon cities on the other side of the globe, never having to expose her friend to the harmful daylight again. Other times she would go to the largest shopping center in the world along with Butter with no fear of having to carry their loaded bags. Eventually she got comfortable enough to explore entirely by herself and would one day ditch the group to visit a long-abandoned facility full with useful machinery that she could disassemble and study. It was then that Nat accidentally triggered a dormant defense system and her gem encasing would only crack further under the barrage of projectiles, knocking her unconscious until Iris and the rest of the gang tracked her down. Besides being grateful for making it out in one piece, the lapid developed a mild case of amnesia and had to be hand-fed gemstones until her scars begun to heal.

During her recovery the lapid had plenty of time to think over her options. Eventually she decided to freelance custom mechanical body modifications, starting off with a gem spine for herself which would not only give her some extra protection, but would also allow her to swing around and headbutt with her new horns. These spiked some interest among the residents of Deluxe complex, happy to pay a hefty sum for a new way to show off. With some help from Yume and Butter she slowly begun to learn juggling work and free time in a healthy manner, picking up her old reading sessions with Amethyst from years ago.

Since opening the body modifications shop Amethyst has been staying close by and keeping watch of her friend, taking the job of a bodyguard and taking turns with Iris Agate. She mostly watches over Rutile during the day, insistent on being close until she feels her best once again. The pair spend a lot of time trying to reconnect with each other, eading through manga and going out to the movie theatre, something they didn't have back on the island. Nowadays Rutile goes out clubbing with her friend - it's Yume who picks out their outfits, sometimes coming up with matching ones.

Rutile now owns a decently sized apartment on Deluxe complex, which is a lot less messy than her old one - instead her blueprints now cover the floors of the workshop. She mainly participates in the city's underground scientific community, growing grumpier upon finding out her biggest discovery had already become mainstream without her knowledge. She's teamed up with Anemoculus in order to steal other scientists' blueprints for her own studies, splitting the rewards.

The stunning arrival of Riot, a spacefaring thascian, eventually turned her field of work upside down. Rutile was introduced to never-before-seen technology from outer space, with energy sources her peers could only conceptualize. Even the initial rumor knocked her off her feet, and the meeting between her and the unknown newcomer had the same effect as a kick to the head. The two now work together to study alien technology, with Nat making body modifications and refurbishing weapons for the thascian to use in space combat.

Her teleporter remained dormant as she put all of her focus and determination into disassembling weapons and putting alien pocket knives back together, only to tear them apart again in the urge to verify her schemes' accuracy. She only went out to watch movies and hang out with Amethyst, the requests from her store piling up as she continued to discard them. All would change when Riot brought back a gem vessel - a doll, put together by arms and legs carved out of fossilized gems. The machine was too foreign and delicate for her to handle, forcing Rutile to haul it back to her creator, Venus Dante. Even after it was modified the doll stared lifelessly, upsetting her enough to ditch it on the floor at her workshop - her biggest dissapointment staring at her from behind.

And yet nothing could outshine her joy when it begun to breathe, the sigils installed by the brilliant alchemist now absorbing the abundant mana instead of the foreign, alien life essence it was built to supply itself on. Nat instantaneously bombarded the newly awakened creature with questions, from the stars above to the most basic of concepts she thought she understood, praying that all her knowledge would not turn out to be a huge fallacy in need of correction.

To her own surprise, her expectations would come to fruition in a completely opposite manner. Imperial Jasper loved learning about all the robotics knowledge Rutile had accumulated, studying her craft and looking up to her as a sort of mentor figure. The physicist now had not only a new apprentice but a workshop intern, letting her spend much more time studying foreign concepts over the same-ish, boring work that was taking orders and writing down each client's preferences for the final product. They often play video games together and nerd out over topics they find fun.