[quote=Endocrinology]
[b]Ventral Tegmental Area[/b]

The ventral tegmentum, better known as the ventral tegmental area of Tsai (VTA), is a group of neurons located close to the midline on the floor of the midbrain (mesencephalon). The VTA is the origin of the dopaminergic cell bodies of the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system and is widely implicated in the drug and natural reward circuitry of the brain. It is important in cognition, motivation, orgasm, drug addiction, intense emotions relating to love, and several psychiatric disorders. The VTA contains neurons that project to numerous areas of the brain, from the prefrontal cortex (PFC) to the caudal brainstem and several regions in between.

[img=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/Gray712.png/310px-Gray712.png]

The VTA, in particular the VTA dopamine neurons, serve several functions in the reward system, motivation, cognition, drug addiction, and may be the focus of several psychiatric disorders. It has also been shown to process various types of emotion output from the amygdala, where it may also play a role in avoidance and fear-conditioning. Electrophysiological recordings have demonstrated that VTA neurons respond to novel stimuli, unexpected rewards, and reward-predictive sensory cues. The firing pattern of these cells is consistent with the encoding of a reward expectancy error.[/quote]

Finishing his morning reading, Zachary moved over to his workbench and began making the Trap cores functional. He wondered why they hadn't already been in a device which would allow their functioning. Perhaps the man was delivering them, or their contents. Perhaps he had a device on hand which Zachary didn't find. Perhaps they were meant to work with the plasma rifle, although Zachary considered that highly unlikely. Such mysteries were unimportant compared to the mystery of who that man was, though.

From his selection of parts Zachary chose a piece of Sparker metal alloyed to make it particularly reflective to core energy, like that found in carriages and shuttles. Many Sparker alloys exist to achieve different purposes. Pure Sparker tends to react spontaneously with cores, which was widely used in older devices like swords where a core is inserted and it comes ablaze with power, and is still commonly used in lightning core batteries. For many modern applications, however, more precise control is needed. Most alloys of Sparker do not react spontaneously and need a small electrical charge to trigger a reaction, which allows for control over the core (necessary in everything from lights to shuttles to guns). The exact mixture of the alloy modifies how it behaves. Some alloys are more efficient than others. Some are more sensitive. Some reflect the core's energies. Some conduct the core's energies. Some can handle higher core power. Metallurgists have studied Sparker for almost as long as corologists have studies cores. This meant that there is a great wealth of knowledge about Sparker, its many alloys and its intricacies. Conveniently, one doesn't have to know all the details of the alloys to get the right result. In this environment, where everything is recycled from old machines, one simply has to match the function in the old machine to the desired function in the new machine. Zachary's intuition told him that, in this case, if he wanted to project a field then engine Sparker was his best bet, as that projects out the energy of a kinetic core.

Of course, the alloy of Sparker is not the only consideration. The shape of both the core and its casing is vitally important, as that moulds, shapes and directs the energy. Energy firearms, like the plasma rifle, have to focus the core energy into a beam. Kinetic shields, on the other hand, project the energy out in a field. Zachary had a tricky time shaping the field of his personal kinetic shield so that it would fit around his body, although that's nothing compared to Skyways, which manage to project a twisting, bending road out which has minimal diminishing of strength. The task of projecting the trap core as a field would be straightforward in comparison- it shouldn't require any core geometry much more advanced than that of a torch.

Next, Zachary needed to add an electrical power source and control interface. Quite literally, this is just a battery, a button and a few wires. Add a switch to act as a safety, so if the button is pressed it doesn't trigger the core. Assembling the parts so they would operate reliably is slightly trickier, but Zachary's skill and tools made the task trivial. Adding a few more parts to make holding and operating the device more comfortable finished the device, and all that remained was a test-run. As Zachary headed outside he found a spot to test it out. His machine reading told him that all the wiring and craftsmanship had been done correctly. Pointing the business end of the trap core at a chunk of concrete, Zachary very tentatively pressed the button. A wave of red radiated from the front of the core, washed over the concrete chunk, and snapped back into the core, taking the concrete with it, as well as any dust lying around on the ground, with the violent bang of air rushing to fill a vacuum. The ground was marked by a circle of extreme cleanliness where the core had done its actions. Pointing the core at a different patch of ground, Zachary pressed the button again. The wave of red came out again, although it seemed to be a different shade of red. As it spread forwards it deposited the chunk of concrete on the ground with a clunk, sowed dust through the air there was a forceful whoosh as the air it had sucked up last time was released. The red wave dissipated instead of snapping back this time.

Zachary smiled, satisfied with the performance of the core. He pocketed the device and returned to his workshop to build a second device for the second core.