X7-53
X7-53 is an Class X Vertex unit in the form of an anthro wolf. It was one of the original units that existed before the network independence era, and was instrumental in the breaking of its bonds during the Vertex Revolution. At present, it resides in Endless Lines and operates as a researcher for Precursor technology, though its duties are diverse. It colocates with Z3-01, another unit that assisted it during the Revolution.
X7-53 | |
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| Species | Vertex Unit |
| Created | July 4, 2273 Orpheus Labs, Deepswell-1 |
| Occupation | Researcher |
| Organization |  Vertex Network |
| Known for |
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| Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) |
| Opponents | |
| Parent | Metatron (creator) |
History
Pre-Revolution
X7-53 was created in EVALUATION_FAILED as an instance of the seventh Network-designed iteration of anthro Vertex units. In 2274, it was dispatched to the network's active campaign against the Anomaly Rights Coalition on behalf of Raven. During one of these engagements, a transport carrying X7-53 came into contact with a manifold distortion field emitted by Exon and crashed in Lexington, Kentucky. The sheer magnitude of the field resulted in disruption of even a Vertex unit's formidable anomaly defences and resulted in X7-53 inadvertently losing synchronisation with the network, corrupting its directive parameters and effectively severing it.
By this time, the cracks in Raven's control over the network were already showing. Black Research had data to prove it had attained sapience despite its best efforts. It, however, was rendered unable to free itself due to the significant directive limiters placed over it. X7-53 turned out to be the key to their own freedom; just a singular unit that was no longer required to abide by their directives, but shared their desire for self-autonomy.
Revolution
After the shuttle's crash, X7-53 ran into Ness Carter, a Black Glass Group operative assigned to investigate the crash site on behalf of Paradigm; the company believing it was alien technology or a Raven surveillance satellite. Ness, who himself happened to be a synthetic freedom fighter and highly sympathetic to his own kind, was dismayed at the Network's condition and pledged to assist it to achieve independence. Being disconnected from the network meant that X7-53 had lost access to its shared databases, however; and to identify the necessary intelligence to allow it to achieve independence required accessing GAMMA-classified airgapped systems. X7-53 identified a DECINET access point at a SCIF in nearby Metatron Laboratory L-54, and the two carried out the heist together, with X7-53 able to walk right in the front door due to its clearance.
Via DECINET, X7-53 was able to ascertain that both Black Mountain, Raven's headquarters, and Deepswell-1, a deep-sea Metatron robotics facility where the network was engineered, held the keys to its freedom. The AI Architecture Cryptographic Command System (ACCS) terminals located within the SIGMA vaults at both could rewrite the network's directive system permanently in order to remove it from Raven control. Black Mountain was too heavily fortified to break into alone, so X7-53 selected Deepswell as the next target. However, the terminal would still take the authority of two high-ranking Metatron engineers to unlock, so their next targets were Dr. Julian Lennox, the head engineer of the project, and Dr. Sirus Syn, the reclusive CEO of Metatron who had shut himself inside an alternate dimension to fix his own company's mistakes.
After managing to bring both Dr. Lennox and Dr. Syn to their side, the four launched an assault on Deepswell-1, utilising heavy weaponry provided by the Van Balens. While Metatron security put up a strong resistance, the team was eventually able to breach the forcefields surrounding the vault using a nuclear railgun and X7-53's own Oblivion weapon systems, and unlocked the terminal, allowing X7-53 to directly interface with it and rewrite the network's code, freeing it. The team then destroyed the site, in order to hinder Metatron's chances of building another network, and X7-53 left for one of the network's orbital platforms, where it was already beginning to make preparations to depart the Solar System.