The Machine

The Machine is a gargantuan construct that can be fought in several forms throughout the game in different circumstances, and has a slightly different appearance for each different fight they are encountered in. Each fight they are the primary focus of occurs on Floor 6, and a smaller Machine in the form it took before receiving power eternal makes an appearance at the end of the fight with Database. In their original, undamaged form, Machine has an appearance that vaguely resembles Monolith, with a dark and stone-like exterior, bearing prongs on their top that resemble horns, and long, sheer spikes downward, with a large white eye in their center.

Machine is canonically fought 3 separate times by ships currently playable in the game: Overlord and Chaos within moments of each other, who end up failing in killing Machine, and Null succeeding in killing Machine shortly before becoming Monolith and being killed by D-13. This results in the fights with Machine using Overlord and Chaos being very similar.

In each fight with Machine, their introduction card is a series of 8 letters that each randomly change several times per second, rendering their name unreadable. Machine is how they are referred to by their sprite names, and is called Unknown in the bestiary.

=Machine (Null)=

Machine when fought by Null begins with Machine encased in an arena filling slab of stone, with a glowing circle in the center where their eye is placed. Other than Overlord and Chaos, all ships fight this form of Machine on floor 6 on normal mode, including D-13 once difficulty is toggleable separate to ship selection.

Attack Patterns
The attacks for Machine in this form are for the most part highly scripted up to a certain point within each phase, or attack variety is low enough for difficulty to be consistent otherwise. Machine's appearance in this fight changes between phases, with a short pause between the second and third phases.

Phase 2
When the health bar for phase 1 reaches 0 health, the fight transitions directly into phase 2 without any pause, Machine clearing the arena of bullets and filling it with small explosions, the slab of stone that they're encased in cracking significantly, showing Machine's eye clearly along with other small parts of Machine being revealed.

Phase 3
When the health bar for phase 2 reaches 0 health, the arena is cleared of bullets and the slab of stone that Machine is encased in falls from view with smoke rising from it, revealing that the arena itself is also falling. Machine rises back into view and the slab of stone shatters violently, the debris traveling quickly upward, revealing Machine's true form, albeit significantly damaged. Machine's hitbox continues to be their eye, and they float around the arena and can move around quickly if they so choose.

After Machine reaches 0 health, the music cuts and the screen brightens a bit as Machine falls slowly downward with a storm of explosions radiating upward and downward from their sides, then exploding violently into a bunch of debris, leaving the arena entirely black while allowing the player to proceed to the next floor.

=Damaged Machine (Overlord)=

Damaged Machine is fought by Overlord in an arena with a background that resembles that lit backgrounds in the rest of floor 6, with darker elements closer to the foreground that move in accordance with where Machine is at on the screen, which can move both vertically and horizontally. This version of Machine can only be fought with Overlord on normal mode, or in the mirror.

Attack Patterns
Damaged Machine has attack patterns that greatly differ from those of default Machine. Damaged Machine still uses rune circles, however, often to similar effect to their use in default Machine's fight. Damaged Machine's attack patterns are often far more randomized than that of default Machine's. Damaged Machine's appearance stays the same throughout the fight, in contrast to default Machine.

Phase 2
After phase 1 ends, Machine darkens and becomes invincible for a moment, attacking similarly to how they did at the beginning of the fight, and returns to the foreground shortly after.

Phase 3
After phase 2 ends, Machine becomes invincible for a short moment, before alternating between two attacks for the entirety of the phase.

=Original Machine (Chaos)=

Original Machine is fought by Chaos in an arena that looks exactly like the one Overlord fights Damaged Machine in, due to the close proximity the two fights have with each other. Original Machine, however, shows no signs of damage whatsoever. This fight takes place in the canon immediately before Overlord's fight with Damaged Machine, and results in the death of Chaos, and the weakening of Machine. This version of Machine can only be fought with Chaos on normal mode, or in the mirror.

Attack Patterns
Original Machine's attack patterns are almost identical to the list of attacks in the fight with Damaged Machine, save for one new type of attack, and the difference between how this and the fight with Damaged Machine begins. The fight otherwise is exactly the same in how it's paced and how attacks are chosen in their respective phases.

At the beginning of battle, the screen will be dark, and Machine will appear in the background from the bottom similarly darkened with a wave of red particles, and a music cue synced to their appearance. They and the background brighten after a short moment, and the battle begins.

Phase 2
After phase 1 ends, Machine darkens and becomes invincible for a moment, attacking similarly to how they did at the beginning of the fight, and returns to the foreground shortly after.

Phase 3
After phase 2 ends, Machine becomes invincible for a short moment, before alternating between two attacks for the entirety of the phase.

=Cutscenes=
 * For Default Machine, once the boss is defeated, the player ship is prompted to move forward and descend down. After dashing forwards two rooms, the player is prompted to move forward a few screens that then show an Upgrade Terminal. When the player uses the Upgrade Terminal, the only option that will be shown is Power Eternal, with the text description "This is what you came for, isn't it?" and tabbing will open up the tab description and show the words "This is it." When selected, energy pours out and into the player ship. This ending only happens in normal mode and the only ships that can have this ending are Null, D-13 (if normal mode is selected), AB, and Skully.
 * For Damaged Machine, once the final burst of lasers happen, Machine will fire a large conical laser down at Overlord, completely destroying the ship. It will then prepare two, then four runes to aim at Overlord. Before it fires, Chaos Ship will blast in from the bottom, ramming into Machine's eye and breaking it. The runics will fly out and converge on Chaos Ship in a method similar to when a ship obtains the Runic Weapon, and the screen then goes white.
 * For Original Machine, once the final burst of lasers happen, light will pour out of Machine's eye, before the entire screen turns white.

=Story/Lore=

As a faction of rebels wages war against the Council, the Grand Pyromancer desires a demonstration of their power be made. He wishes to channel the Power Eternal into a machine vessel of the Council's making; he desires to give the Power Eternal mind and body. Despite resistance from other members of the Council, those in support of the plan see it through.

With only three of four Seals in their possession, and without means of giving the machine a mind, those in support of channeling the Power Eternal commit a ritual that channels the Power Eternal into a machine of their making. When it awakens, it goes berserk.

It is uncertain whether the presence of all four seals would have made a difference in controlling the Machine, and presumably a Machine that had been granted mind would be more similar to Monolith, and thus more dangerous. As it stands, the Machine is more like a feral animal, delivering unceasing, indiscriminate destruction when engaged.

=Notes=
 * All rune circles that Machine summons are immediately dispelled and do not fire anything if the player has the weapon Grasp of Entropy, and count toward charging the runes in the weapon. This may allow for a player to comfortably do nothing or next to nothing during certain attacks that Machine makes, and even get through entire phases without firing their weapon.
 * Machine is shown in the fight with Database during the Point Zero portion of the battle in a smaller form, after being created by the Council to be a vessel to channel Power Eternal.
 * Machine is the only boss in the game to have multiple fights that take place at different times in the game's canon.
 * Machine's different forms cause floor 6 to have 4 unique fights that can be encountered alongside the fight with Monolith, despite the high similarity between damaged and original Machine.
 * Machine's different forms are fought in backwards order in regard to the point in time each fight takes place.
 * One of Machine's sprite names is Machina, which is similar to the name of the boss battle music, 'Ex Machina.'
 * The song name 'Ex Machina' is likely a reference to the Latin phrase 'Deus Ex Machine' meaning 'God from the machine.' While normally taken as a phrase referring to an act of god resolving the conflict in a story, it may be taken literally here as the Machine is considered a machine instilled with the power of a god. It can also be seen as an ironic name in that the creation and existence of the Machine is a central source of conflict throughout Monolith's story.
 * The large conical laser that fires at the end cutscene of Overlord's fight with Default Machine is not too dissimilar from the large conical laser that Chaos God produces in one of their normal attacks.