Technocracy Ray Gun Orthographic

I had enough positive comments on the previous illustration that I decided another illustration was in order.

Originally, all this stemmed from the idea that Al One is in his mid-50s. His character often has themes of generational conflict. In RL, I got the idea from noticing how my dad hates wearing seat belts and how I hate seeing kids (or adults) being forced to wear bicycle helmets. When my dad was in his teens, seat belts were not mandatory by law and our state had no speed limit. Likewise, bicycle helmets were before my time, and when I was a kid if you fell off your bike (which we occasionally did because we were still learning HOW to ride a bike), you cried and then got back on your bike. 

As a result, Dad STILL bristles at the thought of being told to wear a seat belt or obey the speed limit because in his day, folks got along fine without them. When I was younger, I had lost some respect for my dad because he was breaking the law, but now that I'm middle-aged, I get it. I get why individuals take offense at being told they're not allowed to do something anymore, and it's even more insulting when we're not the ones who ruined it for everybody in the first place.

ex. When laser pointers first became available at places like Target, I bought one because when I was a kid only NASA employees, my high school physics teacher, and fictional sci-fi heroes seemed to own lasers. Nobody ever got their retina burned out because of me. I loved that laser pointer and the fact that the future had arrived! Yet, years later, places such as stadiums and schools forbade anyone from carrying one. When you're trying to teach in a classroom and your students scold YOU for using a laser pointer to point out items on the blackboard, it's a slap in the face.

Al One's POV is the same. Technically, he's not supposed to have this gun anymore, but from his viewpoint, he's not one of the idiots who ruined it for everyone else in the first place. He's accustomed to how it works and isn't interested in re-learning how to use an inferior newer model. He's got more important projects to work on. When he joined the Technocracy decades ago, lots of personnel in the Void Engineers were given this model of weapon, and he sees no reason to give his up just because of another administration change. Such a thought would have seemed downright treasonous to him years ago.