--Three, Two, One, Activate!-- Unlike most of the Mechanics, Torus was actually "born" in Core, instead of finding their way here. Torus was initially constructed to participate in the Core’s own Combat Roblotics League, a splort in which remote-controlled robots fight to the death. One Blooddrainy night, however, Torus found themselves with a few new upgrades, namely sentience and a lust for pitching. The morning after, Torus’ owner found his bot missing, only to eventually rediscover Torus at the Pillars, practically begging to join the team as a pitcher. With plenty of training and some special internal adaptations, Torus was ready to take on a new kind of battle.
Torus’ current build, version 1.3, features modifications to Torus’ hefty pneumatics. This retooling allows their all-terrain wheels to readjust their height with more force, allowing them to buck, rear up or jump to properly aim and catch the ball. Torus also enjoys using this extra degree of motion to express themselves, and can often be seen hopping around when excited or interested in something. Another appreciated feature added is a miniaturized wetzel-shaped cold fusion reactor, giving them effectively unlimited power. Although Torus cannot currently speak, they communicate through surprisingly emotive pneumatic hisses and servo droning, and with a little help from a teammate that’s familiar enough with them, this can be translated into speech. When asked about why they don’t get a voice synthesizer, Torus violently declined, under claims of such a device being “unable to be afforded with this weight limit”.
Torus is a bit of an unusual pitcher, preferring to use their flipper in lieu of traditional pitching methods. Through some very careful positioning, they’ve developed a technique that allows the 60,000lb of force behind their flipper to actually throw the ball forwards instead of upwards. This technique means they aren’t the best at pitching compared to more tried and true methods, but this doesn’t stop them from doing their best with their form. The most effective part of this strategy, however, is the sheer noise created by 250lb of hardened steel throwing itself airborne, causing batters facing them for the first time to often whiff their shots.
Outside of the sport, Torus is still getting used to the whole sentience thing. They think gender is “neat” and have currently chosen to use they/them pronouns, though they are considering switching if they start feeling another way. When not participating in games, Torus likes to try and make themselves “useful”, often doing rapid runs between the Pillars and Mechland Burgers to snag refreshments for their teammates on the pitch, or greeting visiting teams very loudly. They’ve a very friendly personality, if a little overbearing.
Torus works as a self-professed “amateur aeronautics mechanic”, although this usually amounts to throwing large and heavy objects around the back alleys for fun, with washing machines being a favourite.
