Nano-thorn

Nano-thorns,<ref name="I26"/><ref name="26.2">Sting 26.2</ref>, also called nanotechnology,<ref name="8.4"/><ref name="16.5"/><ref name="28.5"/> blurs,<ref name="12.7"/><ref name="26.2">Sting 26.6</ref><ref name="I26"/><ref name="16.5"/>, growths,<ref name="29.3"/> nanomachine thorns,<ref name="16.y"/> or nanobranches,<ref name="11d"/> were a disintegration weapon devised by Armsmaster.<ref name="11d"/><ref name="29.7"/><ref name="28.5"/>

Appearance

Nano-thorns appeared as a gray cloud<ref name="11d"/> or blur<ref name="26.2"/><ref name="I26"/><ref name="8.4"/> around the object generating them. The blur was strangely static around the object, even as it moved.<ref name="8.4"/><ref name="11d"/>

The ends would turn a lighter gray once the nano-thorns had reached optimum length.<ref name="29.3"/>

The Azazel suits could turn their nano-thorn blurs bright colors to warn people not to touch them, bright red, orange and purple, making them resemble "frozen flame".<ref name="16.5"/> The blurs created by Crawler were red.<ref name="I26"/>

Technology

Nano-thorns were nano-structures engineered to slide between atoms and sever molecular bonds.<ref name="8.4"/>

The process of creating them generated heat, which needed to be vented.<ref name="16.y"/> It was possible for a nano-thorn knife's air intake to become clogged, causing the nano-thorns to "start knuckling together". It would then have to be opened, baked at five hundred degrees, and thoroughly vacuumed to clear it. However, Dragon stated that this wouldn't happen within a single day.<ref name="29.3"/>

Abilities

Nano-thorns could shear through most materials instantly, without resistance,<ref name="I7"/> turning them to clouds of dust.<ref name="8.4"/><ref name="I26"/>

These materials included human flesh, steel,<ref name="I26"/> fiberglass,<ref name="I26"/> the tail of an Azazel craft,<ref name="I26"/> Lung's claws,<ref name="29.7"/> rubber,<ref name="I26"/> and chunks of Endbringer flesh.<ref name="8.4"/><ref name="26.2"/>

It produced huge clouds of dust when used on Scion's flesh.<ref name="29.7">Venom 29.7</ref> Crawler could be summarily reduced to a red mist if he fell into a cloud of nano-thorns, despite his powers.<ref name="I26"/> Although it was never seen to come into full contact, if it got close enough to Mannequin's armor it would begin to smoke and produce a dark patch.<ref name="11d"/>

If two nanoclouds met, they would press against each other, resisting the movement but not destroying each other.<ref name="I26"/>

Weaknesses

Armsmaster claimed that they were "vulnerable to forcefields, fire, and other intense energy".<ref name="I7"/> They were quickly cleared away by a blast of "superheated" air.<ref name="16.5"/> Defiant warned that nano-thorns should be kept away from heat.<ref name="29.3"/> Skitter found that a match caused them to burn away with a "whoosh".<ref name="16.5"/> A laser from the Azazel was sufficient to burn them away in an instant.<ref name="I26"/>

Although nano-thorns damaged their outer layers, Endbringers could still push through the damage and hold them in place.<ref name="8.4"/> The material 70-80% deep into an Endbringer was too dense for nano-thorns to penetrate.<ref name="26.2"/>

Floret's crystals could form a protective cocoon around small amounts of them; they would eat through the crystal if it was crushed against them, but Taylor speculated it somewhat reduced their efficiency afterwards.<ref name="29.7"/>

Known Examples

Armsmaster created a halberd of plain stainless steel with nano-thorns surrounding its blade tip. He wielded it against Leviathan, creating plumes of dust so great they briefly obscured him.<ref name="8.4">Extermination 8.4</ref> Armsmaster finished the nano-thorn halberd only the night before the Battle against Leviathan.<ref>To be fair to the man, though, Armsmaster did only create the first iteration of the disintegration Halberd with Dragon that very morning. - Comment by Wildbow on Extermination 8.4</ref><ref name="I7">Interlude 7</ref>

He later created a miniaturized, pocket-knife version of the same device for Emily Piggot to use in demonstrations, which he kept on a stand on his desk. It was stolen by Mannequin and used to escape through the wall.<ref name="11d">Interlude 11d</ref> He later wielded it against Skitter in her territory.<ref name="12.7">He reached into the hole where his neck and head were supposed to be and withdrew a small knife.

I adjusted my posture. He was a tinker, and that knife could be anything.

He pressed a switch, and it was soon surrounded with a gray blur. I recognized it as Armsmaster’s tech.

A weapon with that exact same visual effect had done horrendous damage to Leviathan. - Excerpt from Plague 12.7</ref>

The Azazel Dragon suits could create nano-thorn "barricades".<ref name="I26">26.x (Donation Interlude; Saint)</ref><ref name="16.5">Monarch 16.5</ref> They could lay down telescoping rails from which nano-thorns sprung,<ref name="I26"/> which unfolded in milliseconds like a stick of bamboo growing leaves and shoots.<ref name="16.5"/> They could do this quickly enough to intercept a moving bus.<ref name="I26"/> They could extend over and around a person in seconds. The blurs they created were five or six feet across.<ref name="16.5"/>

A Crawler clone, half his body destroyed by nano-thorns, regenerated it with red nano-thorn blurs around his arm, shoulder and leg. When he deliberately disintegrated his other arms, they grew back with similar alterations.<ref name="I26">26.x (Donation Interlude; Saint)</ref>

Defiant built a nano-thorn generator into his leg,<ref name="16.y">Interlude 16.y</ref> allowing him to chop Bonesaw in half by kicking her.<ref name="I19">Interlude 19.x</ref>

Defiant equipped his armor with shield-like panels on his forearms, shoulders and knees, each three or four feet long, marked with designs like a dragon’s wings, or with a dragon’s face engraved on the front, mouth open, with red lights glowing from within. They could become a "whirling flurry" of nano-thorns, which he used to strip away most of an Endbringer's body before turning to other weapons. He could also generate the blur effect around his spear.<ref name="26.2">Sting 26.2</ref>

The Simurgh copied nano-thorn technology and integrated it into the Endbringer Leviathan, along with other improvements.<ref name="28.5">Excerpt from Cockroaches 28.5</ref>

With Masamune's help, Defiant created a number of small nano-thorn knives. He gave one to Taylor.<ref name="29.3">“Keep it away from heat. If the growths start knuckling together, then it’s probably clogged at the air intake. You can unscrew the cap at the butt of the knife and access the air intake there. Bake it at roughly five hundred degrees to clear it, then thoroughly vacuum. Pay attention to how long it takes the growths to hit maximum length… you’ll know because the colors at the ends are a lighter gray. Three point seven seconds is the optimum time. If it takes shorter then you’ll know something’s wrong with-“

“The knife won’t degrade too much in the next day,” Dragon said. “And we have spares, thanks to Masamune.” - Excerpt from Venom 29.3</ref>

Trivia

Jack Slash probably couldn't use his powers on nano-thorns, as the effect consisted of a cloud of nanotech rather than residing in the knife itself.<ref>Haha. Funny thought. But the blade isn’t what has the disintegration effect. It’s the cloud that grows around it. - Comment by Wildbow on Interlude 11d</ref>

References