Work Text:
THE WORKINGS OF COGWORK BUGS AND SILKFLIES
Cogwork Automations are one of the many great achievements of our Holy Citadel, in this, we will cover some details and points of interest regarding their creation.
Author: Vaultworker Perych
Silkflies
When a bug dies, the soul in their heart leaks out and turns into a Lumafly, just like how Butterflies form from the biomass soup that caterpillars turn into while in its chrysalis. Silkflies are essentially just Lumaflies bound in silk.
Formation
The heart of a dead bug naturally secretes its stored soul. Some of the soul gathers itself and becomes dense enough to hold the vague shape of a fly. The weight and texture of the fly is similar to that of aerogel.
When Silkflies are being made, the chosen surgeon wraps the heart tightly in silk to be able to squeeze more soul out of it, essentially juicing it like a lemon. The bug needs to be dead during this, or else all that will come out is blood instead of soul. There is a very small window of time for the extracting of soul to be possible, so usually the heart will be taken out of the body and put on a kind of life support in order to ‘trick’ it into thinking its dead without it forming a Lumafly on its own.
The soul concentrate is collected into a bowl, where Weaver silk is left to float and simmer. The developing Lumafly will have the strands cris-crossing in and out of its very body, so that it is so utterly tangled no power could hope to divide them. When the fly has become solid enough to hold its shape outside of the soul medium, it is lifted and hung by the silk threads, where (depending on qualifications) the surgeon or a specialist can bind it properly.
Cogwork Bugs
Cogwork bugs of The Citadel are powered by the Silkflies trapped within their iron shells. The Silkfly is kept inside an artificial organ in the bug’s chest that acts as a container for it, where each flap of its wings pumps liquid soul throughout its hollow body like blood. There are specialised glands surrounding said organ that soul may be temporarily restricted to when the bug’s shell is opened for internal maintenance in order to stop it from spilling—This is especially important as soul cannot be renewed nor transfused.
The automations move through strands of silk reaching around their bodies and in their limbs that function as tenons. This silk must be bathed in a steady stream of pure soul to remain ductile and malleable, whereas without it the threads would need to be replaced frequently to avoid degradation.
Oddities
There are several exceptions to this system of silk and souls. The recently developed line of cogwork Sentinels have highly sophisticated hearts that amplify the effect of the Silkfly’s flapping, allowing for more dramatic movements and longer periods of inactivity without threat to their silk or flies.
Additionally, some of the First Children have been said to carry cogwork companions lacking silkflies entirely. Instead, they rely on silk sourced directly from its holder, the soul too being wrung from that silk. They lack hearts all together, instead having their silk regularly replaced. Due to all of this, the bug ends up becoming an extension of the owner’s own will, even able to be commanded at a whim.
The well-known ‘Cogwork Dancers’ standing guard at the holy threshold to our dear divine have what is likely the most unique system of all. Despite the presence of 2 bodies, they share a single Silkfly. The dancers are still puppeteered by silk as all cogwork beings are, though the soul that sustains them is pumped by an independent heart without a Silkfly regulating it; the organ is an older model than the Sentinels’, though equally as spectacular, due to its independence. There are specialised slots in a wall of their stage where their bodies rest, behind that wall is where the Silkfly is kept. The fly is still needed to power the cog heart within, which is wound up during rests between performances.
Approved as a lighthearted purely educational source by the Vaultkeepers of Pharloom – contact PHARLOOM ETERNAL, SILKEN SERVICES for more information.