MINIMCOM and Gunpowder

MINIMCOM has a device called a molecular sequencer. It can be used to make virtually anything since it assembles the target one molecule at a time. However, it cannot create life and there are other times when it fails, not because of the chemical composition but because of mechanical reasons.

For example, there came a time when MINIMCOM needed to make ammunition to restock Hanry Ta Jihn's M9 Beretta. MINIMCOM assumed that he could make gunpowder by simply mixing the chemicals, potassium nitrate, sulfur and carbon in the proper proportions.

However, he was wrong. Traditional black powder, gunpowder, does not just depend upon the chemicals but how they are mixed. You have to use charcoal, not carbon powder. This is because charcoal has pores and the potassium nitrate and sulfur have to fill those pores.

So the charcoal is not just an element of the chemical reaction but also the physical substrate which permits the reaction to occur in the first place. After a frustrating amount of trial and error, MINIMCOM finally synthesized a ball mill (the mixing chamber) and roasted some wood to make living charcoal.

After churning the substances together, in the right ratios, for the proper amount of time, MINIMCOM was successful and the Baretta was reloaded. It is used in Rome's Evolution but you will have to wait to see when and how.