Overclocked

8/29/2011 03:19 PM
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Starscream Robustus
(Repair Campus, Polyhex)
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Starscream flings the door to the repair bay open and walks in with an air of confidence. He's here for his checkup and looking none the worse for wear after his tussle with Skywarp the cycle before. "I am here." he announces to no one in particular.
Robustus comes out of the storage room, having been working on checking on the parts needs. "A good cycle sir." he offers, acting as if nothing happened the last cycle at all. "Take a seat."
Starscream flicks a wing and heads for a nearby seat. He sits down and stares at Robustus thinking about the fact that this mech snatched the med out his hand the night before. He huffs a bit as he thinks about that but doesn’t say anything.
Robustus pauses by a box that he prepared when he first got on shift then moves to stand before the mech. "I've put you down for the neural destimulation solution. This will last you for approximately 14 solar cycles if you remain on a once a cycle dose. I hope you find it sufficient to your needs." he intones.
Starscream is mildly surprised by Robustus' comment and simply nods. He does appreciate it. "I will let you know either way." he comments quietly as he watches the repair tech closely.
Robustus inclines his head. "Good. Now then, let's see how that new wing of yours is doing." he notes, taking out his scanner and passing it over Starscream. "Have you had any issues with it? Any sort of odd feedback or your ailerons not responding to commands?"
Starscream shakes his head. "No. It has settled in perfectly. And functions as well as the one it replaced."
Robustus checks the scanner readings as he nods his head a little, "Very good."
Robustus punches a few things on his scanner and holds it next to Starscream's helm to take a different scan, which he looks over with a slight frown. "How long have you had neural net issues?"
Starscream studies Robustus' face for a moment. "I haven't really paid much attention to it. It’s been going for.. a while. Why?"
Robustus looks up from his scanner readings. "It’s important to know if it is recent or has gone on for an extended period of time. It is also important to know if there may be a source for the issues other than hardware or software issues, which can be remedied much easier than say stress caused issues that affects the neural net."
Starscream snorts and says sarcastically, "Perhaps you should have works with /lord/ Megatron to stop thrashing me around, eh? Maybe he broke something..." he’s trying to bluff away his concern but he's probably not doing a very good job of it.
Robustus peers hard at the mech as he sets down the scanner, "That accusation would have to have proof to back it up sir, you know that as well as I. If you were beaten by our Lord and didn't come here right away to deal with your injuries, then sorry to say this but you brought your neural net issues upon yourself." he pauses as he gestures to the scanner, "I would like your permission to visually check over your neural net, check for any chips that make have been damaged as well as check all the connections and the neural net board itself plus all the wiring."
Starscream narrows his optics as he hears the med tech more or less blame him regarding the comment about Megatron. Then he shrugs slightly. "As you wish." he comments giving permission for the further tests.
Robustus nods and moves behind Starscream to work the clasps of his helm in order to remove it and get a better look at the neural net. Once the helm is off he begins going over it visually with a keen optic, tracing every wire, checking every chip and connection, surveying the wiring.
Starscream sits very still and is silent as he feels his helmet removed and by the mechs silence, he doing his visual inspection.
Robustus taps on his own forearm to open the compartment within that holds his own medical tools. He takes out a small chip remover, "Do a backup of your neural net sir. Once you are done I'll pull out this chip that appears to need replacing."
"Very well." Starscream says and can’t help but feel a bit nervous. He’s having to trust this mech but the fact that he’s a repair tech means he has to be on the up and up. He does as he’s told and sits there a bit tense as the work continues.
Robustus notices that tension and intones, "Relax. Acting like I'm going to pull your net for good." he notes, tone sounding a bit amused at the very idea. He pulls the chip carefully free and then shows it to Starscream. Oh it's bad all right. The part that was connected to his net is very black. A good amount of the silicon wafer has melted and fused with the gold filaments. "This is a result of overclocking." he explains.
Starscream looks at the chip and his optics widen a bit. "That was in my head?" he blurts out stupidly. "And are you telling me to stop overclocking?" he pauses barely a beat and adds, "No."
Robustus nods his head, "Oh yes, in your net. Possibly causing the beginnings of your net issues." he notes and sets the chip down to examine the socket it was in, "If you overclock too much, you will continue to literally fry your own neural net. If you do it long enough without being checked.. the consequences would be dire."
Starscream frowns, "What do you mean, consequences would be dire?"
Robustus looks at Starscream seriously, "As in your neural net goes into full on cascade failure, which will in turn affect your laser core and eventually extinguish your spark."
Starscream can’t help but turn and look at Robustus, "Whawhat?" he stammers, the surprise on his face plainly visible.
Robustus finds a new chip after having cleaned out the socket from the old one and slips it into place. "You would die. I cannot be more clear than that sir." he intones, voice grimly serious now. "There, that's one down." he notes then pulls out the next one over, it's nearly as bad as the first one. "MMm, maybe we need to give you the newest chip set available to balance out your overclocking sir. Or perhaps install better ventilation for the neural net so you don't slowly fry your own circuitry to death."
Starscream is still in shock over the fact that he could die because of his over clocking. And now there another chip bad? "I..I.." he says shakily, "What.. do you think is best?" he asks all bravado gone. He is the patient now and has no intention of upsetting the doctor.
Robustus moves over to the storage area to find the very best chipsets they have on hand and brings those out. "Both would be a good thing to do sir, to be honest with you." he notes. He pulls out a chip and shows it in comparison to the older ones, "As you can see these are higher quality and the newest thing out there. I spared no expense for this army." then a pause, "Hmm, you know, I think I could get some ventilation out here and here." he states, raising a hand to point to either side of Starscream's head where there are decorative vents already. "Just would cut a small slit in the vents and put in a small fan to draw in the air to cool you down that way."
Starscream looks at the new chips and sees they are indeed of higher quality. Then he looks at the vents on the side of his helm. "Excellent idea." he comments with a slight nod toward his helm. "Since they are already there, make them fully functional."
Robustus inclines his head with a smile, "Glad you approve sir. First though let me get you your neural chips all replaced then I'll set up that helm of yours for ventilation." he intones.
Starscream nods slowly so as to night upset anything in the back of his head. Then he gets a bit more comfortable in the chair as he’s going to be sitting in it a bit longer then he initially thought.
Robustus moves back to behind Starscream and begins pulling out and replacing a chip at a time. The old ones set down where he can see them. All have damage of one sort or another. Each socket is cleaned out before the new chip is put in place as well. It doesn't take overly long as he is well practiced in this sort of work. "There we go. How do they feel hm?" he asks as he moves over to the helm to take it aside. He produces an arc welder and sets it to a low setting, shifting it to cut mode then drops down his 'welders visor'. Facing away from Starscream as he cuts into the helm at the vents, to open them up.
Starscream smirks slightly, "My head is sore but I think they are settling ok. Things seem a lot clearer now, faster to process.." and he can't help but wonder how much faster it’s going to be when he starts overclocking.
Robustus focuses upon his cutting task fully, though he intones. "Glad to hear that sir. Take it easy on them for about a day cycle. Let your systems get used to them, they'll run differently than your old set as you probably noticed already."
Starscream watches the work being done on his helm as he speaks. "Yes there is a difference -- for the better. And I will take it easy." for once he’s going to listen to the suggested down time. This is his mind that needs a break and he certainly doesn't want to lose that...
Robustus cuts a few slits into the vents on either side of the helm then raises up his visor and turns off the arc welder. "That should do it. I'll find a couple small fans to mount in there and hook them up to your neural net, then you can give them a trial run."
Starscream grins. "If you insist." he says mischievously.
Robustus head back into the storage room, rummages around a bit and finds what he needs. He comes back with two small fans and sets them by the helm. Luckily they already have a mounting bracket so all he has to do is drill a few holes and slip in a screw with a holding net to put them into place. "Oh I do insist."
Robustus finishes mounting the small fans into the helm, then splices in a little extra wire. Once that is done, he carries the helm over and positions it just slightly off kilter so it won't set down just yet, allowing him to pull the wiring he needs down into place. While holding the helm there, he uses his free hand to connect the wiring to where it needs to go. Starscream may even feel his systems sending inquiry pings to the new hardware. Then he pulls his hand away and sets the helm right on his head, pushing it slowly down into place. "All right sir, let's give those fans a little run to see if they run correctly." he states.
Starscream sends the new mental command to the new hardware in his form and the fans suddenly kick on. His optics widen just a bit as he feels the cool air wash through his processor array. "Woah." he says suddenly, "That feels nice." he grins. "Very good job, Robustus -- very good." it’s rare he gives compliments but this one he means. He still can't believe the potential complications his overclocking could have caused.
Robustus listens carefully to the fans and gives a nod of his head, a pleased smile upon his lips. "Glad you approve sir. Those should kick in on their own should they sense the heat in your neural net go near a certain threshold. If you want to kick them on your own just to prevent that threshold, then that's fine. As for the solution I am going to still give you, only use it if you develop the issue again then report to myself, Shred, or Lifeline to have us check your hardware then potentially the software as well. It's highly possible you may need a software patch eventually, so keep that in mind."
Starscream nods and stands from the chair. "Will do." he says, "If everything else checked out then I’m free to gooo-- to my leave since I am to take the cycle off." he almost forgot about that. But now just the thought of what he could process and the work he could do now and in short time just intrigues him.
Robustus inclines his head, "You are free to go sir, take a cycle off from hard thinking. Maybe take a nice flight to relax a bit." he notes.
Starscream smiles. "As you... command." And he closes the door behind him.
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