Demitrio Mardini

Demitrio, the main villain of Dual-Matrix, is a man obsessed. As the Executive Vice President of Earth Robotronics Union, he has quite a lot of wealth and power, but it simply isn’t enough for him. He wants the secret of the Third-type robots, and he is willing to go to any lengths to get it. The clever Demitrio has already made near-exact copies of Armitage, and covered up his experimental failures with the First Error, getting rid of evidence and promoting the interests of his employer at the same time. He appears to have manipulated Colonel Strings and his men into destroying the anti-matter plant, then killed him later to cover his trail. Demitrio is, in short, ruthless and intelligent.

He has produced two working copies of Armitage, except for the ability to reproduce which eludes him until the end. The first question that springs to mind concerning his Third-type experiments is, how did he discover the Thirds’ existence and how did he get enough material to begin his experiments?

As a high-ranking executive in a robotics corporation, it seems likely that Demitrio first learned of the Thirds through a contact in Conception or Hu-Gite, whether through blackmail or payoffs. Given that all of Demitrio's Thirds appear to have been based on Armitage, it is likely that a Conception employee stumbled on a hidden data archive of Dr. Asakura’s work, and sold it to Demitrio. Armitage was the link between Assassinroids and Thirds, after all, and working schematics of her could exist from before the ability to bear children was perfected and added, before the rest of the Thirds had even been created. This seems most likely, and would explain why the copies look like Armitage but have more weaponry and are slightly faster--they are based on an earlier, more Assassinroid-like version of her.

Regardless of how he did it, Demitrio resurrected the Third project for his own ends, if even for a short time.

Body: 4        Mind: 6       Soul: 3

Health Points: 35               Energy Points: 45
Attack Combat Value: 4   Defence Combat Value: 2
 
 

Attributes	Level	Points
Highly Skilled	4	4
Mechanical Genius	2	4
Personal Gear (Luxury home, lavish cars, etc.)	3	3
Own Big Mecha (Demitrio's Robot, possibly others)	3	12
Organizational Ties (Earth Robotics Union)	4	12
Wealth	4	12
Skills	Level	Points
Biological Sciences (Genetic Engineering)	2	8
Business Management (Recruitment)	4	8
Computers (Artificial Intelligence)	3	15
Intimidation (Business)	2	8
Mechanics (Micro)	2	3
Physical Sciences (Biochemistry)	1	2
Social Sciences (Psychology, Sociology)	1	3
Defects
Conditional Ownership (Demitrio's Robot)		1

Own Big Mecha: Demitrio’s Robot (50 Mecha Points)

This dangerous machine was first encountered by Armitage when she invaded Colonel Strings’ hotel room. The unexpected ECM caused Amritage some difficulty, but the robot proved to be no match for her Touch Control abilities and was quickly disabled.

Body: 8        Mind: 2

Armour: 20    Health Points: 80

Structural Sub-Attributes
Heavy Armour - 2 (8 MP), Toughness - 2 (8 MP)

Mobility Sub-Attributes
Speed - 2 (2 MP)

Other Sub-Attributes
A. I. - 3 (6 points), ECM - 2 (Robotic Input Jamming, 2 MP), Sensors - 1 (Analytic, 1 MP), Sensors - 2 (Standard, 2 BP), Stealth - 2 (Sensors, 2 MP), Super-Strength - 3 (9 MP)

Weapon Sub-Attributes
Weapon Attack - 4: Arm Cannon (45 damage, accurate, penetrating (armour), short range, 16 MP)

Mecha Defects
Awkward Size (2 MBP), Cannot Talk (2 MBP), Reduced Capacity (2 MBP)

Colonel Strings

Commander of Earth’s 404th Mobile Troops and an anti-robot zealot, Colonel Strings led the attack on the anti-matter facility that later became known as the First Error and executed the last of the Third copies there himself. Colonel Strings believed himself to be a patriot, helping to save his ailing homeland by ridding it of a dangerous robot menace. He had a prejudice against robots that went to the very core of his soul, and proclaimed to the world in an interview that human rights are reserved for humans, and should not be given to robots. This echoed the sentiment of many of the people of Earth, and Colonel Strings had the support of many in the military, corporate, and private sectors, acting as a figurehead for widespread beliefs.

Colonel Strings was also popular among the men he commanded, as he asked nothing of them that he was not willing to do himself. His men shared his beliefs, and were willing to sacrifice themselves for them by helping during the First Error attack and, in the case of one Sergeant, by decoying Armitage and confronting her.

Though a good officer and skilled soldier, Colonel Strings’ greatest value to his supporters was as a symbol and an example. His actions during the First Error attack finally gave the people of Earth who were against robot rights someone to look up to, a ‘real man’ instead of politicians and businessmen. His death at the hands of Demitrio’s thugs created a martyr for the cause and undoubtedly affected the outcome of the Chicago Summit Robot Rights Bill voting. A brave and stubborn man, Colonel Strings went to his grave serving his home and following his beliefs, and continued to serve them even after death.

Colonel Strings was likely just an ardent an opponent of robots in the military, having seen on Mars what could take place if a military placed too much dependence on robotic support. Human soldiers were few and far between in the Martian military compared to the number of robots serving there, and the idea that strong human soldiers were pushed out of their jobs and humans bereft of opportunities to serve Mars as soldiers made him angry and ill. What meaning does war have if it becomes merely a game played by robots, after all? Such thoughts likely drove Colonel Strings to take the actions he did and believe as he did. It is a short line from an anti-robotic military policy to an anti-robots policy, and it appears that Colonel Strings crossed that line easily and never looked back.

Though he is portrayed as a ‘bad guy’ in Dual-Matrix because he is opposed to Armitage’s view and murders her sisters, Colonel Strings is not so much evil as dedicated. He fights for what he believes in, what he believes is best for the Earth, and he is an enemy because his beliefs conflict with Armitage’s. He and she, however, have much more in common than either of them would admit, however, and are like the two sides of the same coin.

Body: 6        Mind: 5        Soul: 5

Health Points: 55                Energy Points: 50
Attack Combat Value: 5   Defence Combat Value: 3

Attributes	Level	Points
Aura of Command	5	5
Heightened Awareness	2	2
Highly Skilled	17	17
Own Big Mecha (Elite Trooper Battle Armour)	3	12
Skills	Level	Points
Computers (Intrusion/Security)	1	5
Demolitions (Artificial Structures)	2	6
Electronics (Sensors)	2	8
Interrogation (Physical)	2	6
Intimidation (Political)	3	12
Law (Political)	1	3
Military Sciences  (Intelligence Analysis, Strategy, Tactics)	6	20
Navigation (Urban, Wilderness)	2	6
Stealth (Camouflage, Silent Movement)	5	21
Swimming (Scuba)	1	1
Wilderness Survival (Desert, Forest, Mountain)	2	4
Wilderness Tracking (Desert, Forest, Mountain)	1	3
Combat Skills	Level	Points
Gun Combat (Pistol, Rifle, Autofire)	5	27
Melee Attack (Knife)	3	12
Melee Defence (Knife)	3	12
Ranged Defence (Personal)	3	15
Thrown Weapons (Blades)	1	4
Unarmed Attack (Strikes, Throws)	3	13
Unarmed Defence (Strikes)	3	12
Defects		BP
Conditional Ownership (Elite Trooper Battle Armour)		1
Red Tape		1