Wechsler

## Overview

The Wechsler(pronounced Vex-lah) or Zahn are a race of sentient,autonomous, and transforming machines. Each one has two modes; a humanoid "robot" mode and a non-humanoid alternate mode. These alt modes vary greatly from individual to individual and can serve any number of purposes. They each have a unique personality and can range from friendly and personable to cold and calculating monsters. Their name was given to them by Gottmitt industries as they were the first to encounter the Wechsler. The second name is a direct translation of their self given name literally meaning cog. This appears to be based on the political views of their government.

## Biology

The Wechsler are entirely self sufficient as they do not require outside fuel to sustain them nor do they require any type of air to circulate vital fluids. Their transformation ability is a very complex and precise process requiring the moving of hundreds of parts many of which serve multiple purposes differing between modes. Some closely link Zahn are also able to combine with each other into another single unit. this unit only retains one of their alt modes. Their internal parts are built with an unnatural durability that allows them to operate for centuries at a time, with the oldest active unit predating the entirety of the sol system and only deactivating recently in late 2018. their mind is compartmentalized to avoid damage and corruption with age. Their "soul" is called a pulse, the pulse is a blue sphere of unknown energy. Upon deactivation the pulse appears to fade and disperse. These pulse are found in the ground of the Wechsler's home world in clusters known as "glow-spots" by the miners. it is unknown if these pulse simply activate dormant traits in a body or if they are alive on their own as studying them has proven impossible and far too costly to approve.

## Home world

The main home world of the Zahn , Machina Prime, is a now more of a planet wide factory than any real planet. The government has seen fit to utilize every resource it has and entirely depleted the surface of all organic life, many bots come and go without ever seeing an organic being. They have also seen fit to colonize their entire system which only consists of 4 planets each with 1-2 moons with Machina Prime being the second planet in the system and their point of origin.

## Politics/Government

All Zahn are ruled by an authoritarian state known as the functionalists. They believe that ones manufactured alt mode is their place in life and so they will fill that role until the day they go offline. The government's grasp is so strong that the word for their own people is "cog",done to emphasize everyone's role in society and to remind the populace that broken cogs are discarded. There is no single seat of power, instead a council of leaders meets to decide the planets next course of action. Each leader or is an expert on one of many highly specialized fields, this way the council as a whole functions like a small society with each member being the best there is at their subject and have full control over any organisations under its jurisdiction with only minor overlap between members

## Police

Only a select few ever become the internal police force of the cogs as only the most faithful can be trusted with the task of removing the "broken cogs" from society. They all are technically in one unit officially named Generation Two, often shortened to G.T. Nicknamed the "gear's teeth", a title they wear with pride,they are cold, brutal, but most of all, effective. No one who has been found by the G.T. has escaped to tell the tale, or so the reports go.

## Education

All Zahn are only trained in their field of work, but are allowed to learn as much as they wish within the strict view of their field with the best of the best having a chance to become council members.

## Society

State law declares that everyone's role in life is deiced by their alt modes. For example if a bot's alt mode was front loader then they would be a construction worker forever without any chance of changing careers. Most are happy filling their role in life and all at least pretend to be. Those that are happy feel it gives them a sense of purpose and use in life from the day they activate until the day they go offline. Of course like all life there are out lairs as some bots simply cant be categorized by their alt modes, when this occurs one of three options occurs.

* The Zahn is deactivated

Execution is avoided at all costs as its seen as a waste of resources and robs the world of a usable cog.

* They are put into a category made up quickly to ensure that there is a place for them

This is the most common solution as even a strange cog can still spin with the rest if used correctly and it requires no resource dedication.

* They are forcefully reformatted into a "usable" alt mode

Reformatting is extremely rare as it is seen as a sign of weakness for a leader to issue this order as the Zahn posses talent but the leader has not the creative thinking to find an application for them; this is the most cost intensive option as it also requires the Zahn in question to be mind wiped which is a long, grueling procedure.

## Birth

Once a pulse is excavated it is inserted into an empty chassis called a shell where it then gains an alternate mode and personality. Birth is seen as a beautiful thing to be celebrated as the cycle of life and the beginning of a new cog.

## Religion

Religion is seen as a distraction and overall against the councils intentions of a smooth running machine and as such is banned and has been for most of recorded history. Some find spirituality in pulses and often debate about where they come from and if they are limitless or not but this always becomes a scientific discussion rather than anything that could be seen as "enlightening".