An electro technician's life

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An electro technician's life

Post by Drakfot » Sun Nov 20, 2005 12:32 am

An electro technician's life.

She was late again, or well she was just on time as usual. But her boss always
seemed to think that his employees were slacking even if they ran for all their
worth. It was that console 37 down in D sector again. It always failed at this
time of the week. Perhaps if they for once abide her suggestions of buying
better hardware so she would not have to fix it regularly. If they were going to
buy crap at least they could get some good crap and not the fifth hand parts
they seemed to have used when constructing this section for she don't know how
long ago. But it kept her busy and being busy meant financial income and that
was reason enough for her. And beside to do a work that somehow comes naturally
for one was a benefit too.

As she ran along the walkways toward maintenance ladder 34, just down that to
the underlying air duct, through that to C-level and D-level and console 37 was
just around the corner. It was perhaps not the way the others took, but then
again, who wants to be as everyone else. She rounded a corner and saw a shadow
appear in front of her, thanks to her agility she quickly dodged aside to avoid
a full frontal hit. She then looked up to what it was that she had almost bumped
into.

"Sorry, I'm in a small rus... Oh hello Thosam didn't see you there. Well I must
be off, got work to do. And I promise that I will come by some day and finalize
your comm console, I am almost done with the circuit board." She said and turned
around and continues towards the ladder.

She had met Thosam once before, as she was out on another of her small jobs. His
comm board in hos lab had broken down and she had got the job to get it up and
kicking again. They had hardly spoken more than the usual greet when she had
entered is small lab and she had gone to do her job right away. As she had
disassembled the console revealing the small little board of transistors,
resistors chips and cables she found the error rather quick. As usual with the
GEX-D12 model communication consoles the long distance frequency modulator had
given up, a usual fault that appeared after a few years of usage. It made it
impossible to make communication from this console outside the buildings itself,
but since the short distance chip still was ok he could use it to make inbound
calls and therefore report it in as faulty. And now she was here to fix this. As
she lied there under the console, it was easier to reach the board that way, she
took a short glimpse at Thosam as he stood at the table surrounded by all his
tubes and chemicals. He had a focused and determined look in his eyes as he
poured one fluid from one tube to another to have it change colors as soon as
the two fluids met. "Heh, the world could tremble down around him and he
wouldn't notice" She thought to herself and continued.

There, the modulator chip was loose. It was in rather poor condition as she
looked at it. It was not as they were torn down by pure usage. It was in fact
based on the materials in the chip that was not actually made to handle the
atmosphere on the decks, this of course was nothing they had thought of when
they built the place. "Why not at least get good crap" she thought once more as
she placed the replacement modulator in its socket and a small click confirmed
that it was in place. Now the fun part began. She gnowently put everything in
its place and tightened the three bolts that held the covering shield in place.
Now to find the external com port and update some software. It was hacking time.

She plugged in the connector and started up the info terminal on her portable
device. As usual it complained over that there were no new software to install,
it always did. But that was done for with a small commando that sent the
software a deliberate signal telling it that it was inferior to the current
version at hand. It was perhaps not the most proper way to do it but heck , a
new chip that holds more capacity than a previous one deserved to be used to its
full intentions. The regular backup of the current software went as smooth as
expected and so did the transfer of the new one.
It was almost too east these days, perhaps it was due to the fact that she had
made these programs to upgrade herself. Or rather she had refined the existing
software a bit.

"There, need to reboot the terminal Thosam so it will recognize the new chip and
software. You'll be able to call whom you want in no time." She said as she
gathered her tools and gears.

"Hardware check complete, information database updated. Continues to boot" on
the display confirmed her good job and soon the familiar comm central logo
covered the background as all the icons for the usual commands appeared.
"I've given you a little extra that improves the sound quality even through
really long distant communication. Enjoy it"

She left the room with a smile, it was always fun to leave a good result behind.
Thosam still stood there looking at his tubes and the fluids and noted the
changes and reactions.


Yes that was her meeting with Thosam, why she remembered his name she did not
know. They just pop up as locations and whom to contact on the portable device
and often they are not much more than that. Well there was the ladder down to
the duct she was looking for. A short climb later she slided through the
slightly elevated duct and reached C-level. A few meters walk revealed the door
that separated C and D-level. She walked through it , closing it behind and then
continued down the walkway. A moment later and she saw the console she was
after.

The screen blinked with it, as always welcoming, "General Error in Decoding
Device"
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Post by Drakfot » Thu Nov 24, 2005 7:44 pm

There, a nice repair and a booting later the console now threw up its loading
screen and her work were done. "These consoles, as like the GEX series, made of
materials not tested for their actual working habitat." She though as she
screwed the last bolt into position and flipped the switch. It now stated
"Decoding Sequence Confirmed" and then continued to redownload the schedule it
was to handle, luckily it was not a heavy day and the transportals were not
overloaded. She had a final look at the console knowing that she would likely be
here in a few days again, geesh are circuit boards covered with airtight plastic
that hard to find. Or do they have a bunch of them lying around somewhere that
they want to use up before reinvesting? She decided to not think of it anymore,
the task was done and it received it's check on her Portable Device and was
moved to the "Fixed" queue. Now it was time to head back, sync it all over and
then get some rest.

She decided that she were to take the usual route this time, the walkway that
everyone else uses. I could be exciting to do it the way others always do it she
thought and closed the maintenance door behind as she emerged on the walkway for
D-Level. So then which way should she head. Take right and go to the
intersection and take the elevator to B-Level and from there walk about till she
gets to the Shopping area. Or she could take a left, head for compartment D12 by
the loading bays and then have a quick stop at the ... "Bah ! All this planning"
She thought as she took a right and decided to go where she wanted to for the
moment. At the intersection she gave the four paths a look, which one seemed to
be the most interesting then. She was not really an explorer, but as when it
came to electronics and computers, a little exploration now and then often
proved fortuneable. Strangely enough no one was traveling the lines here today,
it was empty and silent. Well except the little droid that passed now and then
it was quiet.

As a techie she knew most of the routes around the complex, not all but many of
them. And specially the not so usual ones as she often found short cuts to use.
Her min wandered off to a construction she was working on in her apt, it was
rather an small upgrade to her portable device mainly. But this one would have
so many goodies in it that it could be used to so much more. Well there were
still some parts missing for the main circuit, and she was in no rush. She ended
up close to a elevator and she joined it going up. During the rather slow ride
she grabbed her portable device from her pocket and fired up a small game. It
was a great relief for her, to play a bit now and then as it got her mind off
things. And the fact that it was her entertainment and friend most of the times.
From the start it was just a simple device to get jobs and check them when
cleared. Of course they got a bunch of information, sectors, levels, sub level,
contacts and all that they could use when finding the problem. But she had not
been impressed by its performance after a few days. And since she just happen to
have her tools and some other spare part lying around, all without intention of
course, it was in a whips disassembled, updated and reassembled. Now it flew off
in performance and she added a few small tweaks to give performance and make it
more versatile. Next was to add some interesting software to it, games ! She was
not the one for large and advance games, the classical mind twisters or the ones
based on reactions and reflexes was enough. Then the usual things she needed
like the updates software for comm centrals. So yes it was no longer just a
tool, or PDA as some would call it. It was her companion during the day, and
friend during the night.

As she played an old game where she was to terraform an uninhabited planet and
it was up to her to see to that the air and habitat was fitting enough otherwise
it will die out. She walked on a bridge between two main buildings, she was
headed for the apartment areas, she had already lost her thought of exploring as
soon as she started to think about her project, and the games took the rest of
her focus on the world around her. As she walked across the glass covered bridge
a light from a distant star somewhere reflected in the screen and made her look
up. She stopped on the middle of the walkway and looked out.

"The space is vast and endless many says, but what if it stops just where you
can see ? What is space is the mere field of view in front of you, that space
exists around you, where you are?" These questions hit her as she looked out
into the black open in front of her. She laid the thoughts aside, no use in
giving them energy for the moment. It was beautiful outside, the colors from the
planetarian dust that was created as light shined through them. Almost as
fractal calculations she thought.

After a moment of staring she returned to her normal self again, head filled
with thoughts about designs and improvements of random electrical gizmo's as she
walked along the walkway into the next elevator taking her down three levels,
still playing her game.
As she tried to go through a pair of auto closing doors she was stopped by a
beep and the fact that no matter how many times she pressed the button the doors
wouldn't open but a beep was heard instead.

"Oh well, I'm almost at home anyway." She said as she reached for her belt
grabbing the AX-3 screwdriver and started to remove the cover of the door
control..
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Post by Drakfot » Tue Nov 29, 2005 10:25 pm

An electro technician's life - part III.

With a small hissing sound the door finally opened and displayed a girl holding
a AX-3 screwdriver in triumph, she had done it again. And this time outside the
ordinary working hours. She placed the panel back and exited through the door
that now quietly closed behind her. She was not rather close to the quarters
that was set up for a long time ago, some of them had even acted as shelters
while the remains of the last catastrophe. But this was her home, she had lived
here for as long as she could, or wanted, to remember. She was not the one for
all fancy things such was caniom plates walls, freed wood on the floor and what
ever they chose to name things. She just had her bed, her favorite stool and
couch where she rarely spend any time. Then there was her largest time
consuming item in the apartment, the desk. On this desk, that some might find to
be a smaller chaos, was what caught her attention mostly. All her electronic
gadgets and gizmo's. Her computer's and all other things she enjoyed spending
time with.

She entered the apartment through the door and walked through the small hallway
as she unhooked her tool belt and hung it on the hook that was just in the
corner where the hallway turned into the main room. It always hanged there,
ready to be used for either work or when she got an idea she just had to finish.
Impulsive thinker some would call her, spontaneous genius was a funnier term she
thought and smiled to herself.
She unbuttoned her overall and stepped out of it and placed it in the Nimdra
cleaner, it was a daily routine to do as the maintenance crew often were
crawling around in spaces that was , wel lets put it, not that clean as other
places are. Though as she was the electro runner, she didn't have any problems
with that, unless he had taken a short cut again. Now it was time for the main
happening of the day, of every day. The Gas'o'cleaner, a contraption that looked
like a vertical tube where you stand in the middle, and it uses compressed gas
to clean the one in it. It was time for a simple shower and of course it had
been slightly modified which fooled the valves to believe that there was a
shortage of a component which in return made them use a little bit more air.
This of course made it all feel different as there now was more water involved.
And it felt good.

She spend a bit more time there today as she was tired. She got out with only a
towel around her and she walked over to the wardrobe and got herself dressed.
Then over to the desk and continue to think about her projects that all lied
spread out over the desk. She started to mess around in them as her screen light
up and told her that a new message had arrived. IT was nothing unusual, the
markets would have a sale and wanted as many customers as they could. The
reaction was rather a routine, in to the bin with that one.

She got up and stretched her back and legs a bit, she had a rather flexible
body. A perfect match for a not so tall girl, it was an aid when she needed to
get to those small tight spots that seemed unreachable. And someone always
placed something small, electronic there, that always broke. She went to the
small kitchen and found her way to the coffee maker, or well it did manufacture
a beverage that looked similar to it, same consistence and effects. But she had
long gone forgotten the real name of the device. She had started to call it
coffee machine since the day she was repairing a educational console and found
herself reading some of the very few historical documents it held. Much of its
information was clustered and damaged, though there were still small pieces
still available. And by mistake a copy had followed her home via her portable
device.

So now she sat there with her old mug, drinking a bit while staring at the
pieces on her desk as a 3d image of a blueprint of a device was rotating on her
screen. She then started to put some of it together , some soldering here and
there, and things started to take shape. Well for those that was not into
electronics would most likely called it a circuit board filled with condensators
and small resistance circuits. To her she could start to see how the machinery
was built up, and their functions came with them
The little board she had in front of her was the circuit board that was for
Thosam. She had started to remake the comm console , but just after a few
moments she had found a bigger challenge in making him a more versatile piece of
equipment. She had decided that she should make a portable device to him, one
that he might have use for when he was doing his chemy things. She had
intentionally given it a DAR-212 port, it was a rather common communication
interface for many devices such as portable computers, measure devices used in
medical departments or where accuracy and stable transmission was required. It
also had wireless communications except for the DAR-212 which increased its
areas of use. Yes it would be a really kickin' device. Oh yes and of course it
held the same communication circuit as the one she had placed in his comm
console. She was recently working on the screen part of it, how to attach it in
a good way that made it rough to bumps and still easy to use even if you were
wearing a space suit. Her mind wandered off again, sometimes to return to tell
her body that drink from the mug and eat from the Food plate. After an hour the
screen was attached and put in its place and all good to go. Though there were
still much to do before she would call it done.

A sound of something hitting the large window that was behind the desk, in fact
almost the entire wall in itself was a huge window that stretched from the floor
to the roof. It was one of the things she liked with the apartment. Just a small
rock or something that had hit the window, it happened now and then.
As she looked out she saw the light again that earlier had caught her sight and
taken her mind off things.
Her flower, or what it now really was, stood there on the small shelf at the
window. It seemed a bit worn, but it had done for the last month or so, still
stood there.
As she saw it she thought "I wonder what's with that. It was well when I first
got it. Full of life and colors but lately it has been loosing all that and
almost as if it was to throw in the towel.". Still she had tried what she could
do with it, surfing the knowledge databases for informations and ideas what to
do to get it back in its previous state.

"Perhaps if I show it to this Thosam guy he might know what to with it. But that
is for another time." She thought as she got up, placed the mug in the sink in
the kitchen and got ready to hit the bed for the night.
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Post by Drakfot » Fri Dec 02, 2005 10:51 pm

An electro technician's life - Part IV

The digits changed value according to a preset pattern, they were supposed to do
that. Steadily increasing for every time unit that passed, higher and higher
values were displayed. Until another preset value was reached, then a electrical
impulse was sent from the time unit towards a connection which in turn was
connected to an audio device. The alarm clock went off and after a few signals
caught her attention.
Why did it ring ? There was no work today, still it rang. She couldn't figure
out why it went off, she did not set it before hitting the bed last night, this
she was certain of.

Then it hit her, today was a day off indeed and she had decided that she would
try and enjoy it as much as she could. So she had set the alarm a few days ago,
thank you for the auto sync between the alarm clock and the portable device. So
she stretched out a bit in the bed, pressed a button and the curtains that
covered the glass wall gently slided aside and let the light from the far away
stars to enter the room. That sure woke her up and in the mean time stopping her
form falling asleep again. Straight from the bed to the Gas'o'cleaner and then
to find some more clothes. So once she was dressed she got herself some food and
had a short look on the blueprints and the circuit board. She was going out to
shop for things while she had the chance, today she would be there when the
shops opened. She mentally noted down some smaller parts that she needed and
then went to the door while placing her Portable device in her pocket and a
small multi-tool in the other one. You never know when you need one, and that is
often when you don't have one. So she had a habit of always carrying some kind
of tolls with her, be it her multi-tool or her belt.

Well outside her door she checked her portable device if there were any
messages, luckily there weren't, so while she took the elevator down to
Transport Level she did a quick sweep in the sites for the shops she was
planning in visiting today. Some of them sure did have some nifty hardware that
she would like to get her hands on, and as it seems as they have had a rather
large delivery a day or two back. This meant that the chance of getting hold of
everything was better and thus the need to pre-order was lower. Gah, she didn't
like to wait for parts that she had ordered, if she hadn't done it in time that
is.

The elevator stopped and she exited and headed to the platform where the trams
stopped. So then where should she start, the shops that had the longest distance
to travel, or the closest ones ? As she looked at the board of departures she
saw an familiar shape and she turned towards it.

"Tho.. Thosam ! Hey, you have a minute ?" She yelled, but she was to late as he
entered a tram and the doors closed. It started to move away from the platform
towards the rails it was set for. ".. it's about a plant... oh well, maybe next
time then".

So , where then, perhaps she would meet Thosam while strolling the streets. Nah
she would probably have bigger luck finding him in his lab than at the shops,
she thought to herself and smiled a bit as she entered a tram and sat down. It
was going to take a bit so she once more grabbed her Portable device and had a
look in her menu's. As usual the one that appealed her most for now was the Game
menu and she chose to continue her previous game, it was fun after all. Strange
though, how come that a simple game like this could swallow her up like this.
But on the other hand, she was not like other girls in her age, heck even in her
profession.

"Terra form construction complete. Deploying harvesting bots." She smiled when
she saw this. It meant that she now was able to get on with the fun part of the
game as the foundations for Terraforming now was done.

The tram gently glided along the rail as they got closer to the platform. As it
reached its docking point it slowly stopped and detached from the rail and moved
towards the platform, a small thud clarified that it had docked with the
platform and people could now exit it, or so they thought. The doors did not
open, instead an electrical sparkle met them when they tried to push the button
that opened the door. There was a small tumult, though she just stood up, saved
the game and put the Portable device back in her pocket and hailed out the
multi-tool.
It was nothing major, just a faulty cable that had been unplugged during the
docking sequence and as it was worn it had touched another connector and created
a small shortage. A few movements later she pushed the button and the doors
slided up. Some of the travelers thanked her as they exited the tram, some were
in a hurry and just rushed by. "Maintenance crew, we only exists when something
brakes." She thought and smiled to herself widely.

So then, shopping square, or Circuit Centre, or whatever the name was of the
place. It didn't matter as it was what it held that she was interested in. By
routine she went through her mental notes about what parts she needed and by
doing this she also knew what shops she needed to enter, and even in which order
too. She had been here quite some times, many owners in the hops knew her pretty
well as she often stayed and discussed just about anything that was about
electronic, computer's and whatever. Of course she had helped them now and then
to mend things, as usual. Perhaps it seemed as she always was working, in a way
she was. But if you have a talent and a gift for something it would be a waste
not to use it right.

"This was going to be an interesting day." She thought to herself as she entered
the "Robotics & Pneumatics" store.
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Post by Drakfot » Thu Dec 08, 2005 12:05 am

An electro technician's life - Part V

"Wow, this is a nd-shard for an flexitron right ? I thought those were extinct"
She said as she was rumming through some boxes, as she always did. She found
many parts that she knew, and some that she was not that familiar with. But what
can you expect from a box with mixed junk really. These boxes were often a gold
mine for her, there were always some things in them that she needed, and
sometimes things she did not need. But as soon as she held them ideas of what to
make came into mind.

"Oh there you are, you are late." And old man said as he entered from an room
behind the counter. " We have already been open for over five minutes." He said
and smiled.

"Haha, you're a funny one Jorg. I know I was late but I had faith in you that
you would keep all the goods until I arrived." She said and smiled back at the
old man.

Jorg was one of the older ones that still kept going on. He had been there for
some times and had also been involved in many of the rebuilds that had taken
place the last decades and it was from him that she had learned much about the
service tunnels, the walkways, small ducts to crawl through and more. And of
course he was a good opponent when it come to talking about most technical
things, he was conversant.
He had seen the most there was to see, the surroundings, the outside of the
rebuilds and more. And now he was the shopkeeper of "Robotics & Pneumatics".

"I have your things here, you want them now or pick them up later ?" He said.

"I can take them now, I'm not planning on leaving here with all your items." She
said and winked at him.

"Haha, you' re always a little electron aren't you." He said and gave off a
joyfull laugh.

Little Electron, how had she gotten that nickname she did not really remember.
But perhaps it was from when she first entered the store and had been caught
breathless by all the gadgets and gizmo's in it. She had wanted to look on every
thing and had moved between the shelfs and boxes and holders and looking at them
all. "You moved like an electron through a circuit" he had said to her when she
finally decided to purchase something. They had become friends since then and
she liked it. There was something special with this Jorg fella. He was old and
well knowing, but still he was young in mind and keen on things. Like he wanted
so much and only his body told him not to.

"So what took you so long to come here then?" He asked her as he handed over
the small cardboard.

"Electrical malfunction in the tram, an old one so it was almost called for.
Wear on the cables." She said and handed over her CredoCard.

"Ah, hehe yes that happens a lot these days don't it." He said and identified
her and added a small discount without her knowing it.

"I don't know, I rarely use the trams." She said and smiled at him. "Bye, see
you next time Jorg."

"Travel safe Little Electron, Hahahaaha" She heard behind her as she left the
store. That was most definitely an uplifting beginning of the day.

Now she had finally got the parts she was longing for. There were several little
items in the cardboard box, some for other projects, some good to have lying
around and some were for the portable device for Thosam.
Ah yes , that was quite the challenge to build so much into such small fitting
and she got eager to get home again and continue her build. But now she had a
day off and were determined to spend it in a good way, building and such , that
is what nights are for.

So now the small parts issue were settled, now to the fun browsing of the other
stores and perhaps have a small snack before leaving for home again. So there
were the Nan'o Matic, a store specialized in nano technology. It was sometime
used as maintenance drones in tight pipes and such areas where they could not
enter. Well nano perhaps is the most describing name, but it gave a good idea
about what was in the store. But today it was not much there that interesting to
her so she walked along down the street with stores and other shops. As she
walked by a store with seedings she thought that perhaps they had some good
things she could use for her plant.

"This will be the last try, then I have to ask this Thosam fellow, perhaps he
can help me in return for the Portable device I'm making." So she walked into
the store. She had been in these kinds of stores before, though perhaps not as
often as others but they still were a bit strange to her. Technology, computers,
electrical devices were her fort´e, but when it came to such simple things as
plants and flowers she was rather a lost one. But there is no harm in trying and
after a small talk with the lay behind the counter she got a bottle of
nutricions that she was to pour into the pot. That had to do for now.

As she exited her belly tolde her in an audible way that it was empty. She found
a small store and got herself some food and a energy boosting drink to it. After
a moment she was once more ready to move on, but now there was not so much left
to do before going home. She passed the small galleria, she had spend some time
here a long ago playing games and having fun. Then she remembered the old arcade
machine that she held the record in. It kind of reminded of the game she had on
her portable device. She wondered if her old record still was there as she
walked over to it.

"Yuepp , it's still there." She thought to herself.
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Post by Drakfot » Sat Dec 17, 2005 5:43 am

An electro technician's life - part VI.

The rest of the shopping that day went quite fast for her. She knew what she
wanted and where to go to get it.
She was not really the one to run around while shopping, unless there was a new
tech store opened or some special orders had arrived. In that way she was quite
efficient, and perhaps a little boring to some. But since she always went
shopping on her own, she did most things on her own, it was nothing she gave any
deeper though about. So she had got the things she was after, and of course some
additional items she had got her hands on while she was in the store. So after a
cup of energizing stimula, much like the one made in her coffee machine made.
She wondered how this "coffee" had tasted when it was done. The beverage these
days were all made of either pure combinations of chemicals or by plants that
had been genetically modified to imitate the past. The little she had gotten
from the educational console was that the original coffee was brewed on grinded
beans that was cultivated, not made in tubes or in suited habitats. Surely there
has to be a difference in taste and experience when drinking that.

Why was she thinking so much about this coffee thing ? It was over a thousand
years ago since they would have had any chance to taste it, and she was surely
not born then so why bother about it now?
So she had swigged it down and started on getting homeward. Now the tram worked
well and even the door that had previously stucked now opened fine, she noticed
that the Material Maintenance Team ( MMT ) had been there and seen to that it
was working as it should and replaced some parts.

Once inside her apartment again she opened the large wall revealing the big
window and the light from the faraway stars shined into her apartment making
patterns on the opposite walls. She had placed her bag with all the parts on the
table and then headed for the kitchen fetching her favorite mug.

After filling it up she had gone back to the desk and started to sort out all
the different parts she had purchased during the day, there were some fine
things as a DM-X4 controller chipset, a real kicker when it came to handling
many operations at the same time, an Q-DAC board, great for gathering connectors
into one common interface outwards, a NIM-9 GPU for more advanced displaying
features ( mainly for consoles of some kinds ) and the SRAM circuit that was
meant for the portable device she was making. After some quick soldering it
would fit perfectly in the unit, but before she did she checked her blueprints
and made a cross reference with what she could find on INFO-NET. She had three
options of attaching it, where two of them were better. So now it was between
connecting the SRAM directly , which in return would affect the neuron-net (
storage handler ) that it had to take an extra route when storing state, or she
could attach it to the main CPU and thus cut down just about all bottleneck
communication between the SRAM and the CPU, on the cost of that the storing
state was disconnected. So it was between safe storing and performance. There
were no huge differences in performance, but why not tweak it while she was at
it. So she sat there thinking about the two options at hand when it struck her
mind. She got up and went over to a chest of drawers and opened the middle one.
Usually one would find clothes and such things in these drawers, but not in this
one.

It was filled with circuits, wires, LED's. MEM-capsules and all other
things that was to be expected to find in a drawer of an female electro
technician. She looked carefully and did finally find the things she bought
extra a few weeks back when she was shopping, the Memory Cross Bridge ( MCB ).
Now her problems were fixed, and it was thanks to the MCB that she could
crosswire to act as a sort of routing unit for the SRAM. What it did was that it
got the signals from the SRAM, then it sent one pair of signals to the CPU and
another equal pair to the State Storing Device. This did that she got the
performance gain without the loss of safe storing.

"Well done" she thought to herself as she began soldering the MCB in place, it
was not a big chip and could easily fit into the holding of the portable device.
Due to its size it was a bit trickier to attach it, and add that she had to do a
small cross wiring of the chip to achieve the correct sending of signals. It
could be done via software update of the chip itself, though it would provide a
load on it as it had to emulate the routing. And since it's only purpose was to
diverse, or copy, the signals to two locations it was easiest and better to
place that change on the hardware directly. Once the chip was securely soldered
in place she decided to call it a day. Even a small chip can take its time to
place right and time had certainly flown away since she got back home. Though
she had no rush about things so she set it aside to let it cool down and checked
her message box. It greeted her with an empty picture, seemed as no one wanted
to send her messages anymore. Well except those that used it as an advertising
channel, but after she had applied her little own made "filter" even those
messages had stopped. It was an functional filter indeed.

"Well, tomorrow was another free day so why not get some good rest and get
prepared for it" she thought, almost said out loud, as she headed for the bed.
Tomorrow she would continue attaching the SRAM to the portable device, after
some testing of the current ones of course.

She poured the nutritious fluid in the pot for the flower and then threw away
the empty bottle. Hopefully that would take care of it, in one way or another.
But for now it was time to get some good sleep and the bed looked too
comfortable to ignore any further.

Something was flashing in front of her, and a distant irritating sound caught
her attention. But what was it ?
Was she dreaming or just awoken by the irritating sound ? She opened her eyes
and found the source that was the cause of it. Her portable device was lying on
the desk next to the bed and it was flashing with its display light and buzzing
loudly. That could only mean one thing and a quick look at the display confirmed
it ;

"Error in Genetubes 1-20, D-Level Subsection 9 - 11, Emergency state initiated"
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Post by Drakfot » Sun Jan 01, 2006 11:47 pm

An electro technician's life - part VII.

Weren't those genetubes examined just a few weeks ago ? And nothing wrong was
found on them. So why now all of a sudden, if they hadn't been examined for some
time it would make more sense if they malfunctioned without any notice in
advance. But these ones had the new surveillance monitor chip in them, she knew
for she was the one that assembled it. And it was all fine. All until now it
seems.

She quickly got up and found her way to the wardrobe for her clothes and as she
ran out through the door she grabbed her belt. D-Level was a distance away and
she had to get there quick, usually this would not be in such hurry. But now
these genetubes no longer were unused, since the examination and adding of
monitoring device they had resumed their function. There were embryo's in them.
Of course each gentube had a standalone backup for such occasions. But even
those batteries wouldn't last that long, 20 minutes was an average estimation
that was made. But it was all depending on how much of the life containing
functions they were to uphold. As as the initial report she read on the portable
device while traveling down in the elevator it seemed as there was little time,
all functions were reliant on the backups now.

As she got out of the elevator she took a hard right, there was an maintenance
door there, it was time for another shortcut. Through the door, follow the short
walkway until the D-12-7 intersection and there follow it for about 100 meters
and a ladder that brought her to the upper section of D-Level. Might seemed as
an detour, but as the genetubes sections were built in a parallel state, at
least when it came to the maintenance tunnels it meant that if you were at
Section 2 you could reach both 1 and 3 via a ladder.

The display told her that three genetubes changed state from light green into a
yellow color, tinted a bit red. It told her that she'd better haul ass to these
tubes first as they were the ones that was in the worst state and had lesser
backup left. She climbed a ladder, then stopped and looked at her portable
device. She had been running a diagnostic software in the background while
running here and it showed that even though many circuits were broken at least
four genetubes could get axillary power rerouted from a nearby circuit. A few
commands later and some relay's switched and the status of these four tubes
changed from "Emergency" to "Stable state". It was a beginning, they would hold
on until she had had a look on the others.

Well on the lever she was met by an EO ( Emergency Organizer ) , there was
always one when these things happened. And luckily they rarely happened. He told
her that MMT was on their way and diagnostics bots were deployed on the outside
to investigate if there were any breaches that might be the cause.

She got to the first tube that was in critical state and she whipped up her AX-3
screwdriver and opened the panel. It was not a pretty sight, not at all as
cables were melted and transistors and resistors were either exploding, melting
or fallen of the circuit board. What a mess this was, and it could not happen by
itself.
These were the signs of a massive overload of energy. It must have been quite a
big one as there are fuses for these kinds of things, and that this surge seemed
to have passed them and gave the circuits this treatment.

Another good thing with being an electro technician is that you don't only know
all the shortcuts, you also know where the backup devices are. At the beginning
of every ten tubes there is a rack holding a device that was the size of an
average suitcase, this was the emergency backup unit for controlling the tubes.
She got hold of it and threw it on the floor then opened it, yes it was a backup
unit alright. So now she needed some power for it to boot while she was
connecting as many tubes to it as she could.

"Error, POST fail.. code 23 : Bad Mem Cap" The screen said.

"You got to be kidding me!" She said and gave it a kick.

"Continuing to load, POST check OK. Initiating post BOOT sequence."

Finally the thing booted up, perhaps it had been struck by something which
caused it to malfunction. As far as she could remember these units were not
included in the previous checkout. Heck, she didn't even know that they were to
be taken live so short after the inspection at all.

Now the first ten broken tubes were finally connected to the unit and she
carefully started to transfer the control to the unit from the backup functions.
As soon as one tube got its state set to "Stable state" she sat the backup to
recharge. One would never know what could happen, especially if you were working
with old circuits such as these.

She gave the same treatment to the next broken tubes in the second row.
If things were simple she would be back in her apartment now, resting. And of
course things are never simple. One panel was struck hard by the surge, or the
probable surge as it had a major meltdown internally which had affected the
connector for external support. She couldn't use the standard port to connect it
to the backup unit.

She brought up the connectional schematics on her portable device and gave it a
quick look, then did the same with the backup unit's circuitry. She found that
the connector had 25 cables in them, where three were power and the rest was
sending and receiving data for life support functions. She also noted that
almost all cables were straight through, though only four had to switch place
for it to work as in intended.

She found a cable nearby that suited her needs and she grabbed the Insta-Solder
tool as she opened the circuit panel on the tube. She quickly found the places
where to sold the ends of the cable, it still took time even if it only was 25
soldering spots that was to be done. She worked on her instinct and didn't
notice all the other personnel that had come to the scene. She was almost done
in getting this tube back on track.

Finally where was some sort of stable state for the tubes and now the repairs
could begin. Once more her portable device proved indispensable as she selected
what parts that was needed beside what was already at hand on the spot. And as
an emergency technician she was approved to claim emergency shipment.
But what was the cause ? It seemed as there were too many things that had
malfunctioned to make it an accident by worn out materials, specially
considering the recent inspection.

While waiting for the parts to arrive she gave the backup units a quick look,
she was no doctor but she did know that as long as the units were up and
kicking, so was the tubes.

She walked over to the main power circuit panel and opened it.

"What the !" She said out loud. "Still that old PWR C6 PSU?!"

"Error, post BOOT state OK. Mem Cap status : unstable"

This was going to be a long night..
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Post by Drakfot » Wed Jan 11, 2006 11:59 pm

An Electro technician's Life - Part VIII.

A long night, now that was not an understatement. It had taken both its time and
toll to get things back in a fair stable state so that the initial repairs could
begin. But as a common fact things needs power to be up and running. And with an
old PWR C6 PSU unit, it would bring higher odds to achieve life by drinking
random fluids in a lab with your eyes covered then letting this old unit power
more than 9 units. Heck, its limits was at 8 but 9 were doable.

How come this section was added to its power route, the last 10 tubes should
have their own power supply, why was this one loaded by them then? A check told
her that the backup units still were functioning as intended so she decided to
have a look in the other tubes power transmission unit and she was not surprised
about what she found. Another PWR C6 PSU unit.

Her device blinked and a shiver told her that it was confirmed via her NeckLink.
"Damn, i am never getting used to that" she said as she removed it. The NeckLink
was standard issue for everyone, but for some reason she had never got used to
it, she could wear it if need be. But for now a wireless link to her portable
device did a good job enough sending and receiving information as needed.
It seemed as the parts for the initial repair of the life support for the tubes
were on their way so she had some time to give the backup units a quick check
and then to do a search for something that has caught her attention.

"Backup Life Support status : Working at 87%. ETA on backup unit life cycle is
1h 23m 12s."

"Keep it that way" she said as she grabbed her Portable Device and made a quick
search in the documentation made for D-Level Subsection 9. As she was scrolling
through the reports from the inspection. She found the reason she was looking
for. Or at least what was the probable cause.

The PWR C6 PSU units are power units that are powering Genetubes and aiding
power to the life support units of the Genetubes. Once more standard issue, but
there was a difference. These units were often used when constructing smaller
habitats of Genetubes, not to use with more then 8 tubes per PSU unit. That made
two PWR C6 PSU units powering 20 tubes and that is 2 tubes over the limit. She
found that when they were doing the inspection they were notified that the PWR
C6 PSU was to be replaced with the PWR C11 PSU units whom are both able to
supply to more tubes and gives a more stable current. Obviously this had not
been done before the section was taken into production.

"I bet that there had been no problem in the beginning, but these old things
tends to burn out the monitor circuits before a meltdown happens." She thought
to herself as she read the report. That was also a reason to get the C11's, they
had protection against these kinds of things and better built in monitoring of
both the unit and the tube.

"Power fluctuation in tubes 3,5,6,9 monitored" The display on the Portable
device suddenly said as an image of the 20 tubes was displayed and the numbered
tubes shifted from green to yellow status.

"What now" she though and looked at the backup unit. "You are not going to give
me a easy night are you" she said to the backup unit.

"Backup Life Support status : Working at 12%. ETA on backup unit life cycle is
0h 06m 09s." the display said.

It seems as something had happened to this unit too as it had likely reported
wrong battery status. And it seemed as the battery on it was damaged too hence
the power fluctuation warning. It was still working good and kept the life
support going, but the voltage probably shifted which placed the tubes in danger
and the warning was displayed on the Portable Device.
A busted PSU unit, the other on the way down and now a broken battery in the
backup unit. She looked around to see if there was something she could use as a
replacement battery. She could not connect the power directly from the circuits
in the wall as the current was too unstable in terms of peaks for the backup
unit, she had to use something that leveled the peaks out, and that was the
battery's job here. But what could she use as a replacement?

She looked around, thoughts of solutions swirled in her mind but there was
always a vital part missing or that she could not get in time that rendered all
her solutions unusable. Then it appeared to her. She knew exactly where to get a
temporary battery. She looked around the corner and found her solution. Gah, how
stupid of her, why didn't she think of this right away.

"Hey you, battery come here" She said.

With a small blip and beep the ChimpBot turned and looked at her.

The little Bot staggered up to her and gave her a scan with it's built in
identification cam.
Then she removed a panel which held the power switch. She was an Electro
technician after all and they have the access to the ChimpBot's for maintenance.
Her AX-3 screwdriver did its job again and she removed another plate that was
covering the battery, it was an easy thing to remove the battery from the bot
and soon she was connecting it parallel to the broken battery before
disconnecting it. When looking at it, she was surrounded by
malfunctioning units that screamed for repair, and the backup's were a mess. It
is a fun job being an electro technician sometimes.

Things soon got back into order, as the new temporary battery was in place the
tubes soon got back to good statues and green indicators. She could sit down and
rest and wait for the replacements to arrive. While she was sitting down she
looked at the ChimpBot.

"I wonder how tweakable that bugger is..." she thought.
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Post by Drakfot » Mon Jan 23, 2006 4:05 pm

An electro technician's life - part VIIII.

Finally a moments peace as the replacement battery did its job and the backup
unit once more showed that things worked as intended. A continuous scan of the
genetubes told her that there seemed to be no unstable reactions in the circuits
and that the status was green once more. She sat there staring at the ChimpBot
that had become the savior for the moment. "Never thought that when you
activated this morning did you" she thought while staring at it.

How much sleep had she got since she had the alarm ? It was not much, perhaps an
hour or two on her floatbed before. And now she felt that it was not much left
that kept her going as it had calmed down. She opened a small bag that was
attached to her belt and picked a StemPatch and injected it. Almost instantly
she felt refreshed and ready for what could happen next. "I have to thank that
Thosam fellow, these are some good ones." She thought as she closed her bag and
stood up. It seemed as this Thosam started to become reoccurring now. And well
she still have that Portable Device she was making for him so why not.

She put her Necklink back around her neck and stretched out. Soon she got told
that the replacement materials was on the way and the addition was well on the
way too. So it was just to wait until they arrived. Then she remembered the
transmission logs that she had received from Thosam's NeckLink when he had been
down into the older mainly unmaintained parts of the Tower. Since she had some
time she started going through them again. It was more a test if the current
equipment was able to send and receive well down there. She had to remember to
thank him for giving her the logs.

She took some time and made a few questions to execute on the logs to see what
result there was. It was rather the normal readings, the materials down there
was as usual the main metal components found throughout the Tower, no bigger
changes than the common corrosion. She thought that she should inquiry some more
unusual data, mainly for fun and to benchmark her Portable device, and to see
what she found. Still the same usual data of the metallic composition. But it
was not what was in the metal that interested her, it was how it affected the
transmission signals. Mainly the signals were moved via compressed radio waves
that carried the transmissions quite far, but since the introduction of the
CommunaChip2 <tm> a small addition was made which means that when there are no
available route for the transmission to take via the radio, it could use the on
board circuitry, not interrupting the usual communications since it worked on
another frequency and bandwidth.
So the readings there was quite usual for the composition and the lack of
CommStations to send the signals further. Working in small teams was not a
problem since the short ways was not interfering the signals, but longer
distances could prove to be a issue.

She kept on sending in query's to the data to handle and to extract the
information needed. All ended either as expected or with no result.
A message telling her that the gear was incoming and should arrive in a few
minutes so that she could be ready. She accepted the message and sent off a
receipt that the message was retrieved and read.
The display on her Portable Devise gave off a blink and a beep as information
was found. Strange, she had not asked for any biological data on the surfaces
but still it had reported some strange composition that was not belonging on a
metal surface. Now things started to get more interesting, why should it report
a reading about organic materials on a metal surface in an almost unused and
uninhabited area ? She continued to query the logs as she tried to reveal more
data and information.

Another interaction from her NeckLink reported that the replacements were
inbound and that she should get ready to receive and repair. She hurried to send
a mail to Thosam thanking him and attached a note saying that it held something
that he might found interesting and that she would like to see what results he
gets from it. She also mentioned that thanks to the data in the logs she had
another idea how she could modify and add things that would make his Portable
Device more usable, especially in such areas as the unused tunnels and levels.

"I'm from MMT, you had ordered some parts and backup units to this location?
Yikes, what have you done to the place ?" A young man said as he approached her
followed by a floating carriage holding some boxes branded with some model and
serial numbers she was glad to see.

"Yeh, it has been a fun night. So you got all I see." She replied as she
received the transfer log from his NeckLink.

"Yes everything is there, as ordered and wanted. Is there anything else you need
while I'm around?" He said.

"Nah, no need at the moment, hopefully I've had enough fun for one night." She
replied and started unloading the boxes registering them.

Soon the young man walked off with his empty cart and she was working on openin
g the boxes and planning in what order she should install the replacements. It
would take some time, the second backup unit should be no problems exchanging as
soon as she had that part of the Genetubes up and working on the normal power
grid. The second was was just garbage and had to be replaced too. After the
ChimpBot had got it's battery back of course.
It would take it's time.

"I've definitely deserved a bath or two after this night" She thought to herself
as her AX-3 screwdriver touched the screw on the power panel of the second
section of Genetubes.
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Post by Drakfot » Thu Jan 26, 2006 3:37 am

A Electro technician's life - Part X.

Now finally the last panel was back in place again, the faulty backup units
replaced and new power supplies in place. The junk was sent off to recycling as
usual and the ChimpBot beeped when it started up after getting its battery back.
It took a while to get everything sorted and cleaned up, it had been a real mess
alright.

She stretched out while giving everything a good last look before the tiredly
started to wander back for some rest. The steam baths seemed like a real treat
and she decided to take a detour round them to get some of the stress off her
and hoped to get some energy back. Said and done and half an hour later she was
in the bath closing her eyes and just let everything go. It felt really good to
lie there, or levitate in the water. She hadn't take any relaxing drugs since
she never really liked them. She didn't know why she was not appealed by them,
there were no side effects for her which she had tested. They were not effective
for her in some way, and if they are not effective then there was no real use in
taking them. Perhaps it was she that was wrong in some way, still all tests and
trials had come out as normal when done. Except for some particles and microbes
that did not belong to a human body but the reason for that was simple; it was
just ordinary dirt that stuck on her when she was running around fixing things.
She were often a bit dirty but that is to be expected when there are lots of
things to be done and even less time to do them.

When some more people started to join her in the bath she got up and dressed
herself. She did not mind others, just that she wanted to be a bit for herself
for now. As she was walking in the corridor towards the elevator she had a look
at her portable device and did not notice the one that was coming in the
opposite direction a bit down the hall. They bumped into each other.

"I'm sorry I was looking at the screen, I should have...." she said to the one
she met..

But there was no reply and the one she had bumped into just kept continuing
walking down the corridor towards a door a bit further down.
She looked at the person for a moment and then let out a silent sigh and
continued towards the elevator.

"I guess there was something important at the other end." she thought to herself
as she punched the code that called for the lift to take her a few floors up.
She still had her Portable Device in her hand and she found herself just to
stare at it. It was not an ordinary issue of a comm device or anything like
that. It was something she had made herself in an attempt to create a multi user
tool to have when CommConsole broke down or accessing rerouting units and look
at blueprints when in haste. All this had, in a way, resulted in the device she
held in her hand. Not standard issue but an effective device nonetheless and
that was the whole point. Efficiency.

She was not sure if it was because she was tired from all the work, after all
the drugs can only keep you going for a certain amount of time before the body
rejects. Like a machine it can be made running above its common capability, but
only for some time before the cooling or controlling starts to fluxuate. It was
a natural reaction of the machinery.
Still she walked a bit slower than usual and her mind was not as focused as she
wanted it to be. Suddenly she found herself at the walkway that was covered with
glass and she looked out a moment before continuing towards where her floatbed
was.

Finally she reached the little space she had made her own, well inside she got
out of her overall and placed the belt on its hook. She sat down and looked at
her Education Terminal, or computer as she preferred to call it. She had found
that name once while browsing through the history data file of TAU. Quite
interesting so see how things were sometimes. For now she just looked around
herself, was she still tired or what was the cause of this. Seemed as she
wouldn't get a clear answer on that one so she let it aside for now.
She looked at all the things that was around her, the Education Terminal which
of course had undergone some modifications in order to improve it. It is a shame
to waste good hardware and not let it work at its fullest potential. The machine
that made the beverage that reminded, according to the history files, of coffee.
It seemed that the only thing that was of standard issue there was the floatbed
that was still untouched and would remain so.

All these standard equipment around her, almost everything modified and changed
to improve performance and to cream out more effect. Why was it like that ? Why
was it that what others found to be working efficient enough to fulfill it's
purpose she found ways to improve, even if it was a little. It was a bit
strange, still it seemed so logical to be as efficient as possible and according
to the data it was why things were as they are in the Tower, efficiency is the
future.

She looked around as she sat down leaning towards the wall, not on the floatbed
as expected.
She looked at all the equipment, everything had its place if not in the room but
in the Tower.

"Perhaps I am the one thing in here that is at fault..."
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Post by Drakfot » Sat Feb 11, 2006 7:00 pm

A Electro technician's life - Part XI.

Slowly the next day, if you could call the next shift that, arrived and the
covers of the windows were slowly retracted into their compartment displaying
the vastness of what was on the other side of it. Slowly the luminance increased
in strength lighting up the little room, creating shadows that followed the
obstacles that interfered with the line of the light.

Gently she opened her eyes and leaned backwards. She had not slept well at all
this night, and it was no wonder since she had fallen asleep with her head
resting towards her knees. She was still sitting by the wall. She rubbed her
eyes in attempt to get the sleep out of them and she was partially successful.

"Achievement 70%" She thought to herself and sighed at her attempt to be like a
machine.

She stood up and stretched once more but still she felt tired and torn. She
should probably had slept on the floatbed as usual, but she didn't. She had
spent most of the night, since she came back, staring at the things around her
in the apartment. Analyzing them and their use. She didn't really remember when
she had become so tired that she had fallen asleep but she recalled that some of
her last thoughts were that the things in this room were important, perhaps not
directly for the Tower itself, but for her. And if they did good for her then
she could use that to do good things while doing her job. It sounded like a bad
excuse in attempt to justify them, or perhaps it was the reason for them being
there. She decided that the latter answer was the best and filled another cup
from the machine. Damn she was tired, perhaps she would have to use a StemPatch
to get herself going.
She had a quick look in her bag and noticed that she only had one half left, it
had leaked out. She recalled that she might have hit something in all the fuzz
while fixing the Genetubes, quite a lot had happened recently and the injector
itself was not of the newest kind.

She injected what was left and just moments later she felt how the tiredness
faded off and she felt more concentrated and up for a task. But what to do then,
there were not much around to fix it seemed, her NeckLink gave a sensation
telling her that Thosam had received the message she sent.
"That would probably keep him busy a moment or two" She thought and smiled a
little when she recalled how he had looked when she was repairing his
CommConsole. Always staring at the tubes and the liquids. So why not try and
swing the Device together, its better he get it now then later and in fact there
were not much left to do on it now. Just some assembling and testing of the
internal hardware and then its all good. But except for one thing, the screen
itself needed some better coverage to be able to work in tougher environments
since she knew Thosam were often out running around collecting samples and all
that.

She had some ScreenPlaster somewhere in all the mess and she soon found it.
Quite efficient to be able to locate and t retrieve something this small in a
mess this big. And soon it was shaped as needed to fit the screen. After
applying it and let it dry for about 10 minutes, standard time for this kind of
covering plaster, she could assemble the screen part into the top cover. Which
in fact was just a small metallic edge around the screen so it could be fitted
with the backplate of the device.

Now it was time to do a initial run of the internal software of the device and
she connected it to her computer and sent over the BootPROM to extract itself
into the BootChip. Since things were quite well optimized it didn't take long
for the BootPROM to get loaded and she was met with a Controlling System Not
Found error. That seemed well and it was now time to transfer the Controlling
software to the on board memory, said and done she started to transfer a
standard system over to the unit. As soon as some values returned showing that
it had been registered in the memory a small edit made the BootPROM to look at
the on board memory for further information after doing the initial boot
sequence. A reset of the unit ( mostly repair techs were able to do it, but it
was not intended for the common user to initiate the command ) and it turned out
that the BootPROM did look at the memory for further information and soon the
device was up and running as expected.

She wondered how many times she had done this procedure, how many terminals had
she reflashed due to broken hardware. It was not time to add the support in the
Controlling System so it could detect and use the extra features she had added
to it. And while doing so also applying some changes to the system itself for
better performance.

"Additional Software Installation : Complete. Applying Updated Software :
Complete. Applying Self testing : Complete; no errors found. " That was also
the message telling her that the installation and upgrade had gone well. Seemed
as everything was up and running now and she did some simple tests with her
Portable Device. She opened the message that she had received from Thosam via
her NeckLink and extracted the message header to find the unique ID of Thosam's
NeckLink.
She entered it as the pairing device which now implied that it would only
respond to Thosam's NeckLink if he chose to use it. She never forced things on
others.

A few more tests later and she was all set to go. She got her belt on , grabbed
some empty injectors and threw away the faulty one for recycling. She headed out
through the little door and down the lift while finding the best route to
Thosam's lab on her device. " I wonder if this will be a function that Thosam
will use, if he will use the device that is." She thought to herself. Well even
if it was not used she still had learned a few things from making it, so in
every aspect it was worth it.

She walked along a corridor past the garden and stopped by a window and had a
quick look. In there some strange plants grew, tree's rising from the ground and
in the far distant she could glimpse the holographic image representing TAU.

"Could be a nice place to relax I guess" She thought and continued to walk along
the corridor heading for the lift.

Soon she was not far off from the lab where she had fixed Thosam's CommConsole,
she used her NeckLink to verify that she was a Technician and thus had access
and the door slid up with a silent hiss. The lab was empty and most of the
equipment was left turned off. Perhaps he was out doing something important, it
was hard figuring him not to be in here.

"Well if he needs and wants it, he will find it." She thought and left the lab
leaving the device on the desk next to a report of some kind.
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Post by Drakfot » Thu Mar 02, 2006 9:45 pm

A Electro technician's life - Part XII.

Reoccurring, redundant, repetitive are some words to tell how certain objects or
things can seem to be. Reoccurring; it always happens again and again and mostly
on the same places as before. Redundant; Well what can one expect when using
outdated tools and machines in order to get it done. Repetitive; as a circle it
continues on an on.

Well, perhaps not the most lucrative description of the job, but it fitted in
there somewhere. And what would it be without a challenge ? Fixing the same , or
similar, things one after another might seem quite monotone , but it can also be
seen as a good practice.

Perhaps it had been her strongest force and motivation when she was training her
skills and learning more for her knowledge. She had always had that small tint
in her telling her to continue, to solve the problems at hand. But why
electronics and electronic engineering ? She had never quite figured that one
out herself and didn't really put much energy into it. She was good at it, had
an understanding for it and that was enough. It was effective enough.
She had some time over since Thosam had not been there when she came to hand him
the Portable Device. She hadn't bothered to seek him via the NeckLink either, he
was probably out doing something important, or staring into another set of tubes
or something.
A smile went over her face as she imagined him standing, staring on some tubes
with some strange fluids in them and then suddenly jump up because of his
NeckLink and her message.
She had been looking forward to tell him about all the little extras she had
been adding to it. But it seems as it has to be for some other time. She just
hoped that he would notice the message she had attached to it, with the
information that she had discovered while going through the data from the
communications log. Perhaps he could make something out of it, or perhaps she
will get a message asking her why she attached samples of hydraulics fluids or
something. Still she smiled for what ever it could turn out to be.

So what to do now then, she was not really that tired as she thought she would
be. The Jab's had done their work and soon was due to wear out. Perhaps she
should take a stroll to the room with the small bridge or something, perhaps
there was something there to do. And besides, she hadn't been there so often so
she did not really know the place. So she started to walk along the corridors,
by the pathfinders towards the longer tunnel heading upwards and slightly taking
a left turn to finally lead out onto the bridge. Perhaps not the best view,
still even large machines depends on the small screws which makes them as
appreciated as the nuts and bolts.

As she came out on the bridge she noticed that there wasn't much to notice at
all, it was all the same as when she had left it a few days ago. Still it was
kind of nice to be here, she had wanted to go here so at least her goal was
reached. She sat down and let her legs swing from the edge. It was quite nice
sitting there for a moment leaning towards the rail and just looking forward at
something or nothing. She got her Portable Device up and had a look at the game,
she had been neglecting it a bit lately, but now seemed to be a nice time to
continue it.

The terraform units were up and running so it was time to lay the resources on
finding minerals to harvest. So clicking the engineering unit and selecting
hardware construction was the next step to do . Said and done and soon a small
little drone were driving back and forward on the little screen in its search
for minerals and other usable things.
But it was not that much fun, perhaps she was a bit tired anyhow. Or she had
just played it for so long that it was no longer a challenge or something new.
Placing the Portable Device back in the pocket as she got up and started to walk
she decided that she might just as well go to the garden and see if TAU have
anything interesting to read, or anything other that might be good to spend some
time with. It was better then nothing at least.

So down the corridors again, through via pathfinders and hubs, actually making a
short stop in a hub only to repair a broken circuit board and some wires hanging
loose. Quite old hardware again it seemed, but it would at least hold for now or
until the next tech came along. Repetitive and redundant.
Soon she noticed how the colors of the walls changed, even the looks and it
meant that the garden was not far off. She looked through the glass showing the
insides of the garden and she could catch a glimpse of the TAU hologram as she
moved along the corridor and soon the lights of the pathfinder displayed the
entrance. She walked into the garden and found her way to the TAU hologram
standing there in the center of it. She had a look and found that there were
some bits of information worth to know, some newly formed rings and
administrators that had got their seats replaced. Perhaps seemed as strange
information for an electronic tech, but it is always good to keep order of whom
one can contact for different materials or tools. Or what was needed to get the
job done in fact. It was not that she was so much interested in it, she just
wanted to have a hint on where to turn if needed.

She sat down leaning towards the wall a few meters away from the TAU hologram
and let her head fall back while looking at the trees.

"So this is how it could look like..."
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Post by Drakfot » Thu Apr 06, 2006 12:13 am

A Electro technician's life - Part XIII.

As she had sit there for a little while, staring at the trees and the ceiling,
she heard the voices from the garden entrance. It was four persons, three came
from the MMT section as noted by their clothing and the Ring symbol on their
jackets. With them they had some toolboxes and materials of all different kinds.

"Excuse us ma'am, it has been scheduled to replace this current hologram as
noted in work order WA-MECH-D2-43" One of the men said to her as they stopped in
front of the holographic projector.

"Ok, well I'd better get moving anyhow." She replied and stood up. " I bet there
is an infoconsole somewhere that needs my attention."

"Are you an electrician?" One of the other men asked her.

"Yeah, well its an field I like to work with at least." She replied and set her
NeckLink to transmit her contact info over to the man asking.

"I see that you are not part of an Ring, are you interested in joining ?" He
asked her as he looked at the information she just sent him.


"Nah, for now I will just settle with getting my jobs done." She smiling as she
started to walk towards the entrance.

"Alright then, perhaps I'll ask you to come here and have a look when we are
done then." The man shouted after her and laughing.

She lifted her right hand and waved as she left the garden and too a right
following the corridor. Even though the tower is large, its not endless and
still you meet new persons almost daily. Its quite convenient to have the
NeckLink then, to send and sort the information you send and receive during the
day. And of course a self custom made Portable Device.
Soon the characteristics of the garden faded into a small corridor that led to a
Radlock and to the left a Hub. She had hardly been to the Radlock here, except
for the times she needed to get into the canyon for repairs. But it was a
radlock known to be prone to errors. Often the doors did not shut properly or
the rotating lights in it did not rotate accordingly to the set schedule.
Thankfully the device itself handling the transfer had so many failsafe settings
it always worked as intended. And of course its a priority to keep that
machinery up to date and working.
She took a quick look at the little service panel next to the door that was
connected to the open and shut buttons. Through her Portable Device she noted
that it had recently got serviced and that tests had turned out that it was
working as usual.

"Heh, seems like I cannot go anywhere without thinking or doing a job" She
thought to herself as she wandered down to the Hub to have a look at its current
status.

The status showed that everything was green, but a the voltage control of the
circuits had given off some strange readings so she decided to have a look. She
removed a small panel on the wall in the Hub and revealed the fusebox panel and
circuit board. It seemed as one of the fuses was in bad shape causing the
voltage and ampere in the specified circuit to wander up and down. It might been
a ordinary thing when it came to the old classic alternating current, but this
was sensitive communication devices, some were connected to the Radlock up the
corridor.

As she touched the Fuse a tingling sensation went through her hand and up her
arm. It continued out into her body as she retracted her hand quickly. She had
gotten current in her and it seemed that the fuse were either badly damaged or
malfunctioning. She grabbed a tongs and grabbed the fuse. Just before removing
it she bypassed the circuit so it would use a temporary backup fuse while she
was replacing it. It was common that redundant devices had a way to connect
currents when need of repairs. A sparkle and black smoke from a panel not far
off told her that the fuse was far off from doing its work. It seemed as it had
short circuited another circuit while it was removed. So now she had two broken
fuses to replace. She found some fuses in a nearby maintenance locker and
replaced the first one so that the circuit could be activated properly again
before she moved to the second panel.

As she opened the second one she found that it was covered in something
strangely daub matter.
She used her cleaning sponge to remove most of the daub but still it was strange
that something like this were in a panel, and it seemed as it was the cause for
the fuse to activate. She had a quick look at the first fuse and now noted that
there were some small residues around the fuse socket that resembled the one
found at the second fuse.

She decided to send a mail to a scientist to look it up. She thought about
Thosam and decided to send him a message to his NeckLink.

--
Hi there Thosam sir !

I was just in Hub Rec-Beta2 near the Radlock to the canyon when I noticed a
fluctuation in a current. It was a fuse gone bad in panel D4-C1, but as soon as
I touched it it shorted out another one in a nearby panel and when I removed it
to change that fuse too I found it was covered in something strange. I just
cleaned up around it and changed that fuse too, but perhaps its something you
want to have a look at ? Ill attach the coordinates to the message to.

Oh, perhaps you can make use of that little thing I left in your lab too. And
have you had any time to look into the results I sent you from your
communication logs ? If so what did you find ?
--

*message sent*
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Post by Drakfot » Mon May 01, 2006 11:16 am

A Electro technician's life - Part XIIII.

And so the message was sent off into the air reaching the built in wires in the
hub whom traversed the electrons to the nearest routing unit and from there
moving further down the hallways until the destination was reached. As you move
through the hallways your NeckLink automatically updates your location, this
information is stored in the central communication hubs ( Mostly labeled
DCC-HUBX-CXX ). In these lines and machines the message was now traveling in
order to find its destination, if the communications didn't brake that is.

She put her Portable Device away after notifying the MTT that one fuse had to be
added in the hub in order to keep the supply on a decent level. Suddenly another
panel burst open due to a built up pressure inside it. It was an exhaustion pipe
that had broken and build up a pressure and the moist from it had found its way
to the electronics whom in return had malfunctioned. Nothing new really, at
least not for her so she connected her Portable device, after grabbing it again,
to the panel and noted that it was set to be repaired. It was routine when
fixing things, to flag then under reparation so that if there was pipes with
dangerous chemicals they were routed around the hatch, same goes for heavy duty
circuits. All in order to protect the one doing the reparation. Of course the
hatches has a built in sensor that notifies TAU when they brake so its done
automatically, its also a way for the maintenance system to report malfunctions
so the repair tech can get to them fast. Still it was a measure of security to
do this in case the automated shutdown of the hatch didn't work properly.

She put on her goggles so she could see through the thick mist the broken pipe
was generating and picket up her cleaning swab in order to get some metal
surface she could use to mend the pipe. Moments later it was clean enough and
she grabbed the plate splitter and started bending the pipe right. It was quite
the burst and just getting the pipe back in order would take most of the repair
time she thought to herself. Fixing the electrical part first could have been
done, but the chance that the moist from the pipe would once more affect it was
too great, and she liked to to the jobs properly. A bad repair would mean that
it had to be redone, or well at least sooner then if it had been done properly
from the start.

With a snap a piece of the pipe loosened and hit her over the arm swooshing
beside her head.

"Damn" she said as she kept holding her tool even though it did hurt where it
had hit her she kept the plate up in order to get it in place.

Unfortunately it seemed as the sensor that had closed the hatch when it brake
had been damaged by the moist, or perhaps even by the same daub that she had
found in the previous hatch. It was not just a frontal pressure that had been
built up but also on a secondary pipe behind the panel had got itself bended due
to the explosive character when the hatch brake open. It had got a small leak
and had slowly let out some gas. And as the plate splitter had gone to work it
had ignited it causing a smaller explosion behind the panel.
All of a sudden the screws in the corner whom held the panel in place had busted
and the entire panel fell down over her. Luckily she noticed it and was able to
meet the panel halfway and pushing it back into its place using both her hands.
But now a dilemma appeared, the plate that had loosened had hit both her arm and
in its trajectory hit the NeckLink damaging the communication circuit.

So there she was standing holding the panel up as good as she could while trying
to get it back enough so that she could grab her tool. But as it were now she
had to let go in order to reach it and that was not an option for now. Quite the
predicament.

"Hey, you need help or somethin' ?" A voice behind her asked.

"yeah, that would be great, you mind shimming the screws here. It kind of
loosened." She replied as she turned around trying to see who it was that had
talked.
The girl , dressed in a green suit with silver-ish hair, grabbed the shimming
tool from her belt and quickly started to work on the mounting screws. After a
moment the panel was somewhat back in place. They now switched place as she was
trying to fix the pipe behind the panel. She could barely reach it with her
plate splitter, but it was close enough to do its job and after some poking the
pipe was back in working order. She thought to herself that this panel and pipe
had to be reported to the MMT for a full replacement as it was so badly damaged
that the repair they did now couldn't count to more then as temporary fix. As
soon as they were done that is.

Finally tightening the last mounting bolt was in place and the panel was firmly
mounted to the holder again. Now the electrical damage had to be dealt with and
with the aid of the girl it went quite fast and soon they could close the hatch
again, getting the covering plate back in shape was some job though. But now it
was there and the hatch was back to 70% use, she had intentionally limited its
use since it was in so bad shape and an order to MMT for a replacement was sent
off via the Portable Device.

"So, thanks for the help, much appreciated." She said to the girl who sat down
next to her. "What's your name ?"

"Absinthia" She replied as she looked around. "I haven't been here before, its
so big."

"Yeah, the complex you see here is just a part of Reqspace, there are several
other complexes you can see too." Drakfot replied as she checked her arm, it had
taken a dent from the plate but nothing seemed to be broken. Still the wound had
to be looked at so the bleeding would stop.

"Oh.. I guess there is much still for me to see then." Absinthia replied noting
the wound. "That don't look too good."

"Nah, I'll tend to it soon." Drakfot wrapped some bandage around it. "It happens
when repairing, you get pinned between things or get smaller cuts, it's nothing
serious. If you want I can show you around the place ?"

"Oh yes, that would be great thanks" She replied with a happy voice.

"You are pretty handy with that shimmer there." Drakfot complimented the girl.

"Uhm, I don't know. Haven't done so many repairs really, just took it since you
told me to." Absinthia said as they walked through a corridor heading for the
garden area.

"Say, want to team up for a bit? I could use a helping hand now and then it
seems." Drakfot said straight out.

"Sure, sounds fun" she replied.
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Post by Drakfot » Tue May 23, 2006 9:22 pm

A Electro technician's life - Part XV.

Drakfot took a walk towards the garden again, funny how one often ends up there,
to see if there were anyone that could have a look at the bruise on Drakfot's
arm.

"Darn" Drakfot said as she had reached at her neck to scratch it but stopped and
felt on her NeckLink, which was broken. "I knew there was something not right
with it, well seems as there are more repairs to do."

"I wish there was something I could do, but I kind of lacks the skills for that"
Absinthia replied as she also noted the broken NeckLink.

"No worries, I'll get it back in order in no time when I get to my tools."
Drakfot said.

Soon they reached the starting corridor at the garden, passing a window heading
towards the entrance. The Garden was a popular place for seedlings to gather,
not only were there factories and sharepoints, it was also a TAU unit there whom
many had inquires to. So it turned out that many had it as a central meeting
point. As they passed the window they saw that some seedlings were acting a bit
strange towards a ChimpBot, as if they were afraid of it. Moment later the
portable device gave off a buzz and a sound telling Drakfot that an repair order
was received, she picked it up and looked at it.

"Well this will be fun, follow me and hurry up" She said as she quickened her
pace.

"wh..what ?" Absinthia asked as she just tagged along.

"Seems like we have a stray ChimpBot in the garden area. Probably have a broken
Object receptor." Drakfot said with a little smile, it was time to bring out the
heavy tools and work.

"The object what thingy ?" Absinthia asked as they both reached the entrance.

"In short its an optical censor that scans the area around the ChimpBot and
tells it if it can walk there or not, if there is a wall or a box or anything
else hindering." Drakfot said as she placed the portable device back in its
pocket and scanned through the garden. There was no ChimpBot around.

"You know anything about a busted ChimpBot around here ?" She asked a man
standing in the entrance.

"Yeah, I was the one reporting it." He answered.

"So, what happened to it, you know anything about it ?" Drakfot asked without
taking her eyes off the garden.

"Think it walked by a hatch when a containment accident happened. A chem pipe
with minerals and nutrition for the garden broke due to overload, and the bot
was close and probably got drowned in fluids." The man said as he removed his
goggles. "I was called here to fix the containment issue, its back on shape but
there will probably be minor leaks that needs to be fixed until it can be fully
replaced."

"Notified MMT" Drakfot said. Absinthia was just standing beside them wondering
what they were both talking about.

"Yeah, done that, would take some..." He was just abrupted by a metallic "clunk"
emanating from the garden.
"There it is! Follow me." Drakfot shouted as she saw the ChimpBot staggering
around by the sharepoint.

Absinthia followed her through the garden, stopping just after the TAU. The
ChimpBot just walked forward, to the left, to the right, back around in
irregular order as it bumped into the sharepoint or the factory nearby. It was
drowned in some green daub too, what seemed to be the fluid from the chem pipe.

"100 ap's to the one that first catches it." Drakfot said with a smile.

Absinthia understood what was going on now. The ChimpBot was damaged so it could
not see where it was going, it was clearly noticeable by its behavior.

"These are sturdy, but well the fluids in the pipes are sometimes purely eating
through them. That is why we have the protective gear to wear when around them.
Seems as this one was hit with both a shower of chem's and a shockwave. Usually
the ChimpBot's just turns off and reports in damage when something happens to
them. This one seems to have got some shortage in the movement controller."
Drakfot said analytical. For some reason she often worked like that, seeing a
problem analyze its root and then plan the repair. All in order to do a good job
as possible.

"Uhm, sure ok. Now what?" Absinthia replied. She was new and did not know much
of all the different things so she just agreed and waited for more instructions.

"Well, first we need to get it to stop bumping around like that, we need to
catch it somehow. Second I need to open the service hatch on it, its next to the
battery hatch, then see if I can fix it." Drakfot replied getting in position to
jump on the ChimpBot.

She took a firm grip on the ground with her feets then ran towards the bot
jumping up. As she approached it she tried to grab it in her arms. The fluid the
ChimpBot was covered in made it slippery and she lost the grip and fell off. The
gyro system treated it as an ordinary bumping and quickly regained the balance
moving forward. It bumped into a lower wall then somehow got its direction down
towards the TAU.

"Ouup... *bang* ouch!" Drakfot said as she flew off the ChimpBot hitting the
nearest wall. "Didn't expect that to happen."

"Haha, it is covered in liquids you know." Absinthia said laughing at the show.

"Oh haha" Drakfot said as she got up and looked at the ChimpBot whom now had
found a cornered place to get stuck in. "Ok, I think we should try and lock its
legs somehow. If we can remove as movements as possible for it the gyro system
will shutdown. Its like its getting stuck in a hole or something with its legs,
instead of trying to forcefully remove itself it shuts down the movements in
order not to damage itself or the area around. We need to try and imitate that
behavior."

"But how?" Absinthia asked, still giggling over seeing Drakfot fall and now
having green fluids almost all over her overall.

"Use your wrench, if we can attach each others to its back legs it will think
that its stuck and shutdown the movement." Drakfot said as she grabbed her
wrench.

"I don't have one." Absinthia replied as she grabbed towards an empty belt. "I'm
new remember."

"Get one from the sharepoint, you will need one later anyway." Drakfot said as
she pointed to the nearest sharepoint a floor up.

Said and done now both Absinthia and Drakfot had each wrench and was moving up
towards the ChimpBot which still was calmly walking and bumping into the corner.
It didn't suspect a thing of what to come.
Moments later they had successfully attached their wrenches to the back legs of
the ChimpBot and was watching it as it changed its movement from walking around
to some sort of climbing as if it was moving up from a hole. It tried for a few
seconds before the sensors kicked in and it subsided into a resting pose. Now
was the time to get to action and Drakfot walked up to the bot, connected the
Portable Device to the connector and immediately shut of the movement system for
it. She let the rest be running since she needed the feedback for repairs.

"Yeah, its badly damaged in the optical sensors, it even got to the vibration
reception. It didn't "feel" that it was hitting things, that is why it kept
moving around." She said looking at the diagrams and data flowing by on the
screen of the device. That fluid had some pretty nasty components, if you are a
circuit board I mean."

Absinthia sat down next to the ChimpBot while she was watching Drakfot open two
hatches and removing two boards. One of the boards had some condensers on it
whom almost all had melted into a giant pile on the board. The other one didn't
seem to have any visual damage.

"You can clean the smaller one if you want, its the gyro control board, it won't
move anywhere now." Drakfot said with a smile before getting back to the insides
of the ChimpBot.

"With what should I use?" Absinthia asked.

"Just a cloth will do, don't worry about that. These are sturdy things as I
said, just that some chemicals are like acid to the electrical parts." Drakfot
said with a concentrated look on the ChimpBot as she was cleaning the insides of
it. "Sent MMT an order for a new board so we just have to clean up this mess
until they arrive with the new one. Can't have a ChimpBot standing still too
long can we." She was smiling.

Absinthia was cleaning the board carefully as she didn't want to brake it or
anything. She hadn't done these things before so she was not sure how to handle
it. She was really focusing on doing a good job from the beginning so she kept
on staring at the board while cleaning it.
Suddenly something tried to grab her right leg, its was the frontal hand of the
ChimpBot.

"Gaaah!" She shouted as she jumped up on her feets.

"Gotcha" Drakfot said laughing. She was holding her portable device and with a
few presses on its screen the ChimpBot suddenly started to wave at Absinthia.
//Drakfot,
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I am but a crafter of words

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