A Heart is a tech based-organic component present inside drones afflicted with the Absolute Solver program, including certain Worker Drones and all Disassembly Drones. Like the unaltered A.I. Cores inside all Worker Drones, Hearts still contain the drone’s core programming, but also store the Absolute Solver’s code. Hearts can have additional functions depending on which type of drone it resides in. Like all other components of drones that contain the Absolute Solver, Hearts are negatively affected by high temperatures and disintegrate in direct sunlight.
Appearance[]
Hearts are mostly composed of a standard, metallic A.I. Core, but coated with a flesh-like organic substance, making them appear like actual human hearts. There is a protrusion on top of the Core that resembles a severed aorta as well as vein-like tendrils around the Heart’s midsection. Hearts have three tentacle-like wires tipped with blades sprouting from the bottom of the Core which can be used as legs. Hearts have a single, large eye in their center as well as eight smaller, cylindrical lights sprouting from the square corners of the Core, all of which match the eye color of the drone the Heart belongs to.
Function[]
Solver-Infected Drones[]
As Worker Drone-derived hearts contain both the drone's consciousness and the code of the Absolute Solver, the heart is the physical structure responsible for granting Solver hosts their reality-altering powers. Additionally, it's possible for a Worker Drone's heart to survive autonomously outside of their body, even after the body has sustained fatal injuries. Worker Drone hearts are able to speak in a lower-fidelity version of the drone’s original voice and maintain the free will of their original selves. These hearts can also still utilize the Absolute Solver’s array of powers, allowing them to continue interacting with the world as they otherwise would. One example of this is Nori, who had been living in her heart form for many years after her body was fatally wounded by a Disassembly Drone’s Nanite Acid and euthanized by Khan. If the original body is still intact, the heart can climb back inside and reintegrate itself using the Solver’s self-repair ability, restoring the drone to full functionality.
Disassembly Drones[]
Disassembly Drones' hearts are used to reconstruct their body when they take fatal damage. If a Disassembly Drone is wounded beyond the capacity of the Absolute Solver’s passive regenerative power to heal, the full program awakens inside their code and directs their heart to hunt down functioning Worker Drones in the area. By piling matter from slain workers onto the Heart, the program creates a massive, techno-organic, insectoid body with some visual features of the original Disassembly Drone. This process allows for damaged Disassembly Drones to continue in their mission effectively indefinitely, so long as their heart survives and there are plenty of Worker Drones to hunt.
Unlike with Worker Drone-derived hearts, the full activation of the Solver’s self-repair program completely suppresses the Disassembly Drone’s consciousness. This makes these hearts little more than extensions of the Absolute Solver itself, even capable of speaking in the Solver’s voice.