Some PV02 style updates (Patreon)
Content
Considering my hypothetical plans, I wanted to give the cast some small outfit updates and style tweaks to make things feel a bit more thematically fitting.
Lore bits below, more walls of text:
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There's some big chunks of story that I'd like to change. For some context, Vigil (originally Vigilance) is dedicated not to dealing with crime within the city, but rather stopping phenomena known as 'Glitches' outside the city (which, they can only operate and carry weapons outside the city walls). Glitches are essentially corrupted AI, capable of infecting a Basic via a short-range signal, and essentially subsuming it into a hivemind. Androids, however, are merely stunned in the event of such an attack; their more complex programming makes them resistant to such attacks.
Pivot would actually would have been originally found, activated, and recruited by Vigil following an initial shutdown of the factory, before the story starts. She'd work initially as a communications operator, and thus would have a uniform closer to a fixed style (like Relay). Also, someone gave Pivot some leggings in fanart recently and I kinda love them, so. Leggings. When out in the field, she'd have a more practical outfit, not shown here. (but drawn recently, still)
The events of the factory from the webcomic would begin during a period where Pivot requested time off to try and learn about her origins, and like before, the factory would reactivate under her presence. Originally it was shut down and abandoned due to glitch corruption, and with its reactivation, glitched AI are now being produced dangerously close to the city en masse, something Pivot and Axle can't stop. Coupled with her newfound capabilities, this would prompt her to transition from an operator to a field unit, to try and 'solve the problem she created.' As a comms unit, she also can scramble any signal attacks by Glitches to prevent further AI corruption.
Socket received some small tweaks to her outfit (so soon, I know). It's slightly more revealing now and has some accent bits that give it a bit more cyberpunky feel. A lot of her lore would be changed so it's less... out of place, I guess? And less melodramatic. The setting would also shift a bit so the darker sides of her origins would feel more grounded. I was never happy with how people kept saying in comments about how she was a sex bot or something; that wasn't what I was trying to imply with her, but I was trying to keep it vague.
Relay's outfit was adjusted to make it feel less like a cheerleader outfit and more match with Pivot a bit. Her legs also got changed somewhat, but functionally she's still the same otherwise: a flight-enabled communications unit. She had attempted to become a field agent in the past, but was unable to properly install combat training programs, due to a flaw with her personality core.
Axle got a new (actual) outfit, that's a bit more suited to field work. Pivot's field outfit is somewhat similar. He's pretty much unchanged, though his reasons for being at the factory initially would be a bit different and more coincidence than convenience.
Flux mainly got altered socks. I think it's time to ditch the original stripes, to be honest; they felt very out of place on her design. Everything else is the same with her, design wise. Story wise, she wouldn't be working for Vigil at the start, and thus wouldn't recruit Pivot. However, she would arrive from Central following the reactivation of the factory, and offer her aid under Vigil's payroll.
Gyro got another visual update, pulling inspiration from Mech Warrior. One thing I realized, since his purpose in Vigil would be a bit more solidified, and he'd be able to operate outside the city, there's no reason that they wouldn't be able to equip him with heavier weapons as an anti-armor unit. It can be risky deploying a basic to fight glitches on the off chance they have a signal attack, but if accompanied by a communications android (like Pivot), there's no risk.
All chars also got a bit more greeble in their designs. Originally I designed them for animation, so I left such details off to make them easier to animate and draw for comics, but considering my potential plans, that restraint is no longer necessary.