Can I do this? (Yamatai FM/Co-FM answers strongly preferred)

[Amaryllis]

I would like to know if the fact that these comets contain zesuaium is knowledge my Ittô Heisho soldier is capable of knowing.
Can she set up a private operation with her friends to mine that Zesu with a ship?
Can I say this operation is performed by robots after first gathering the necessary data and obtaining a sufficiently powerful and trained AI?
Can my character run a business that simply owns a storage area that stores the ship and the goods it obtains on mining runs that is protected by robots and has a robot/AI secretary?
Can my robots double as simple workers that open and close the storage facility and load the goods on a truck upon payment and resume guard duty?
Would the government/military of Yamatai be willing to buy such Zesu at regular intervals and come to pick it up from my robots?
@Wes @Doshii Jun @Nashoba @Fred

I would like to note I have been told before by Wes on IRC that Yamatai didn't mind people building on and terraforming planets without a population.

 

[Wes]

1. Yes, I think it would be information your soldier could obtain. Since Zesuaium doesn't occur in nature, these are clearly some sort of artificial objects.
2. Since they're unusual and perhaps culturally significant, disturbing them is forbidden. If you want to mine, look to the frontier instead of in the homeworld's system.
3&4. Yes, you can run a robot mining business.
5. Yes, you can program robots to do that.

 

[Nashoba]

Zesu can't be mined.

Properties of Zesu....

• are always in a solid state (cannot be melted or vaporized)
• are incapable of any flexibility or warping (infinite rigidity)
• are incapable of being broken, regardless of forces exerted on them
• cannot expand or contract due to thermal conditions
• reflect all radiation, regardless of type*
• are not electrically conductive

To answer your question about exploiting resources on other worlds. Yes. But these comets are not natural and being made of Zesu, you can't mine them.

 

[Wes]

In theory you could "mine" Zesuaium by carving off blocks with aether blades.

 

[Nashoba]

And do what with them, build a castle? You can't tool it or make stuff with it.

 

[Fred]

*grumble* Why was I tagged for this?

Now I know that the Yamatai system has two comets entirely made out of zesuaium, just for kicks.

Ignorance was bliss. ~_~;

 

[Nashoba]

You could not make blocks out of the Zesu. Even if you could cut into the surface in squares, you can't cut them out as squares. Explosives won't break them free so you would have to slice at angles. And there is still the fact that nothing can be done with Zesu once it is given form.

If fact since it can't be vaporized or melted. Saying you could cut it with an Aether blade kind of contradicts that. But even if that gets ignored, you still get a chunk of Zesu which can't be reworked.

 

[Lamb]

So, how are Yui Scout Katanas made? Granted, the basic shape of the blade already existed in the form of the Yui's ramming horn. However, they've all clearly been cut much shorter with some method. On top of that, things are etched into the side of the blade. Is there some way to cut Zesuanium? And if there isn't, should we retcon this article?

If something as precise and shallow as etching can be done, I think basic tools can be made from zesuanium. Though impractical, I think their novelty would justify the expense of having, say, a Zesuanium screwdriver.

 

[Wes]

They're cut out of blocks of the Zesuaium armor with aether cutting tools. Zesuaium scrap can definitely be made into tools if you have the right machinery. The important thing to remember is you can't bend it or melt it, you can only carve smaller shapes out of existing larger ones.

Very useful tools one could make out of Zesuaium scrap:

• A blade that never dulls, for a razor, a saw, or a paper cutter
  
• Screw-extracting drill bits
• Tools for extreme or hot temperatures, such as ice axes and glassblowing tongs
• Tools for corrosive environments

Zesauium buckets and containers would be really useful for things like super-acids, but it's unlikely to find a block big enough to carve one out of, and it would be kind of a waste when you can shave off many thin slices to make hundreds of sharp things instead.

*Now I know that the Yamatai system has two comets entirely made out of zesuaium, just for kicks.

Ignorance was bliss. ~_~;

This is embarrassing, but somehow I missed it or missed the implications when I approved it, so I was taken by surprise as well.

 

[Amaryllis]

2. Since they're unusual and perhaps culturally significant, disturbing them is forbidden. If you want to mine, look to the frontier instead of in the homeworld's system.

Aw darn. Back to mining for easy money ideas.
Thanks for confirming everything else.

*grumble* Why was I tagged for this?

Now I know that the Yamatai system has two comets entirely made out of zesuaium, just for kicks.

Because you're one of the ancient keepers of Yamataian lore and I've heard you've had a huge impact on the setting by helping build/design things and by giving your opinions before or after the building process.
Plus I thought you might do this:

Ignorance was bliss. ~_~;

I'd also point out to Nashoba that in a recent thread Zesu Wes said we could damage it with plasma but not because of its heat since Shotty asked if lasers could also damage it.

 

[Nashoba]

Damage it yes, but mine it, not and cut out blocks. Because their is no way to cut the bottom free.

 

[Doshii Jun]

This is embarrassing, but somehow I missed it or missed the implications when I approved it, so I was taken by surprise as well.

You didn't miss it, so much as I didn't point it out -- I added them specifically to further highlight that the star system is not natural. They weren't meant to be mined (can't mine Zesu), but studied as part of a larger examination of how and why the Yamatai Star System was created (and, ultimately, by who).

 

[Amaryllis]

You didn't miss it, so much as I didn't point it out -- I added them specifically to further highlight that the star system is not natural. They weren't meant to be mined (can't mine Zesu), but studied as part of a larger examination of how and why the Yamatai Star System was created (and, ultimately, by who).

Aw, that's salt in the wound. Who doesn't want to mine their mysterious ancient alien creators' mysterious artifacts?

I'm glad I @ed everyone I did now with that extra piece of information.

 

[Fred]

Plus I thought you might do this:

So, basically, I was tagged so that you could mess with me. Yay.

 

[Amaryllis]

So, basically, I was tagged so that you could mess with me. Yay.

No, but I can't stop you from taking it that way if that's how you want to.
I guess I'll add a smiley next time.