Pater-Mater

Pater-Mater (パテル＝マテル) is a Gordias-class tactical archaism built by Joerg Rosenberg of the Crossbell-based Doll Studio, one of Ouroboros' Thirteen Factories.

Background
Pater-Mater is the first machine produced by the the Gordias-Class Tactical Archaism Development Plan. The goal of the development plan was to develop a cutting-edge archaism that inherits the DNA of the rest of the Gordias series while containing a more advanced control system, in order to retain the same tactical effectiveness that was the primary development goal in previous models while allowing for more flexible and precise strategic usage as well. The archaism was intended to be accessible across the whole continent. Powerful main and sub engines would allow Pater-Mater to operate for several years without resupplying.

While Joshua Bright was in the Ouroboros society, the war machine was still in development.

Pater-Mater first appeared after Renne revealed herself as an Enforcer of the Ouroboros Society following a suspicious tea party, grabbing the Gospel from the tank used by Kanone Amalthea. It later escorted Renne to the Ouroboros headquarters at Grancel, where Renne thanked it for its service and allowed it to shut down and rest.

It later appeared to defend Renne from Estelle and company at the Amberl Tower, but was defeated. Renne used Pater-Mater to escape following her defeat.

When Renne, Bleublanc, Walter and Luciola attacked Grancel, Renne kept trying to convince her fellow Enforcers to bring Pater-Mater along, but they refused to let her do so. Walter claimed that it would "ruin all the fun", while Bleublanc stopped Renne from doing so after realizing they had spent too much time as their forces were repulsed from the capital.

Following the siege of Grancel, Pater-Mater accompanied Renne to the fourth floor of the Axis Pillar, where she activated its combat mode after Estelle Bright refused to give in to her demand that she made the right decision to remain with the society. Although vastly improved since its previous combat encounter with the party, it was eventually defeated alongside its owner. The damage sustained during the fight caused its legs to buckle under the strain, rendering it temporarily unusable for combat. Estelle was able to reconcile with Renne following the battle. Confused and unsure of what to do, Renne decided to head back home to ponder Estelle's words, departing on Pater-Mater.

Ries' party discover a copy of pater-Mater within Phantasma. Upon awakening Renne from her crystal, she is able to work out how to control and interface with Pater-Mater relatively quickly and use it within Phantasma.

A golden copy of Pater-Mater is used a guardian of one of the wings in Castle Phantasmagoria, however it is eventually destroyed.

Renne brought Pater-Mater back to Joerg and asked him to repair it. He was more than happy to comply, fixing its legs so that it could resume combat functions. He also gave it a rudimentary form of sentience, making it able to communicate with others in a series of sounds and the ability to move on its own. Pater-Mater still remained loyal to Renne.

After Joachim dies, Estelle and Joshua are able to catch up with Renne, although she intended to leave Crossbell as she believed her presence could cause further problems. The two offered Renne to join their family, even though she could return to her original one, as she had no more regrets in her hometown. Before Renne could give a proper answer, Pater-Mater walked up to the pair and dropped Renne off in front of Estelle despite her objections. Joshua interpreted that Pater-Mater also cared for Renne and believed that it would be the right choice to join the Brights.

Renne, Estelle and Joshua engage the new Sept-Terrion powered Aion Type-β in battle, with Pater-Mater acting under Renne's direction. The unlimited power bestowed by the Sept-Terrion of Zero, in combination with the enhanced specifications of the newer model Aion resulted in a situation where Renne's life was critically endangered. Ignoring Renne's orders to stand down, Pater-Mater grapples the Aion and brings them both high into the sky. Pater-Mater activates its self destruct function, taking out both archaisms in a suicide attack. Renne and Pater-Mater have a few moments to say their goodbyes before all signs of activity in Pater-Mater are gone.

Development
Pater-Mater's Production Code Number is N810010-66.

Pater-Mater was the first Aion to use the Mars integrated orbal arithmetic logic unit to allow for advanced autonomous combat and effective identifying of targets. In addition, the archaism's control system uses the operator's nervous system, allowing for reflexive, instinctive movements in combat. The operator can communicate with the Pater-Mater without being in physical contact with it. This will require a compatible candidate to be found and chosen.

Pater-Mater's primary weaponry is its orbal energy cannons. It also has other kinds of orbal weaponry and even several gunpowder-powered weapons as backup. It also has a Revival System, which will use an orbment to generate healing energy to heal or revive its operator in times of danger. The armor plating is made using kurdalegon alloy, which was the most fitting material to use, given that it is the most capable at the time of Pater-Mater's construction.

Development proceeded smoothly in line with the plans drawn up by F. Novartis. Tests confirming that they capable of providing power to the actuators led to Novartis raising concerns about the low responsiveness of the flight engine, which was especially true for the anti-gravity generator. He concluded that the engine as it stands could not be put into actual use. The possibility of using boosters to provide additional propulsion was under consideration.

Development of the actuators was experiencing significant difficulty, as it wasn't possible to simply use the same ones as other archaisms. The increased size of the main weaponry meant that the archaism's weight during combat was significant, resulting into problems during durability tests, especially with the leg joints. The possibility to make improvements in this area by using precise control to spread the weight burden evenly rather than focused on one point was explored.

The orbal energy cannons that would serve as its primary armaments had been successfully tested. However, by order of Professor Novartis, they developers were forced to analyse the possibility of them becoming twin mounts, leaving them to postpone equipping the cannons to the main unit. The new orbal engines were expected to be able to provide enough energy to compensate for the necessary increase in output.

Control system
Experiments regarding the control system initially resulted in failure: none of the test subjects were able to realise the expected level of precision the development team were aiming for. The results of the main tests conducted by Novartis and his team resulted in multiple cases of comatose and cardiac, as well as instances of insanity and mental breakdown. Ouroboros ordered development to be temporarily frozen since the stability of the control system is in question. From that point onward, only test subjects carefully chosen by Ouroboros were allowed to be taking part in connection tests.

The first test subject to complete all four testing phases was Subject R3, Renne, who succeeded in communicating with Pater-Mater but also did experience a small degree of flashbacks.

Trivia

 * The words "Pater" and "Mater" are translated from the Latin for Father and Mother respectively, reflecting the archaism's role as a surrogate for Renne's original parents