|
Post by Perceptor on Dec 27, 2010 19:56:28 GMT -5
Perceptor frowns and turns to one of the nearest monitors, keying in a sequence to scroll back through the last few hundred lines of code. "I said, 'what the deuce'," he replies, distractedly. The tools flick back into the open circuits he is examining, and he shifts, watching the screens closely with one optic, while the other traces through the delicate soldering of the circuit.
|
|
Ultra Magnus
Major
Disappointing Fellow Autobots Since the Age of Internment
Posts: 565
|
Post by Ultra Magnus on Jan 1, 2011 9:41:59 GMT -5
Not quite the explanation Magnus had expected. He endures a little more silence before he tries to pinch his nasal ridge only to stop himself. It probably isn't a good idea to disrupt those tools in his circuits with random movements. He settles for a sigh instead.
"Which means…?" he wonders, patient and resigned. Normally, he asks for a summary of the long ramble he's come to expect, not a ramble explaining the summary, but his curiosity is piqued.
|
|
|
Post by Perceptor on Jan 1, 2011 12:24:06 GMT -5
Someone is asking Perceptor to expand upon his commentary? If he weren't so distracted by what he is seeing withing Magnus' systems, he would be surprised into silence. No one ever asks him for more information.
"It means," he replies, his frown deepening even more, "that I have encountered something unexpected in your systems." He reaches over and keys another sequence into the terminal beside him and leans in to study the lines of code scrolling up and down the read-out.
"Something that was not part of your original factory settings."
|
|
Ultra Magnus
Major
Disappointing Fellow Autobots Since the Age of Internment
Posts: 565
|
Post by Ultra Magnus on Jan 3, 2011 16:08:48 GMT -5
The explanation this time is much clearer but does little to alleviate Magnus's mounting frustration. Especially now that Perceptor has at least revealed the type of anomaly if not the details.
"Perceptor," he begins quietly, hands tightening into fists again, "while it's probably the aggression inhibition coding we all were given, I'm going to say this. And I'm only going to say this once, so I want you to look at me." And try not to have a rapturous fit. Magnus will wait as long as it takes for Perceptor to comply and fix optics on him so the scientist can see how very sincere he is in his request.
"However many words it takes," he says with all the gravity he used in serving warrants, "I want you to be as precise as you can while explaining this to me because I have the urge to throttle you until you stop going halfway with it."
|
|
|
Post by Perceptor on Jan 3, 2011 22:07:17 GMT -5
It takes a moment for Perceptor to reach a point in his examination of the offending coding before he complies and turns his full attention to Ultra Magnus; his frown hasn't faded though, and is, in fact, even deeper.
At least until Magnus' next words penetrate, at which point, stark disbelief flashes across his face for a moment, only to be replaced with wary contemplation. He wishes that he could actually believe Magnus. He really does.
"No, you do not," he finally replies stiffly. "You wish for a complete explanation, which I will provide as soon as I have one, however, you do not want me to be as precise as I am able to be. No one ever does." Not even the other scientists. Not even Ratchet or Wheeljack ever tolerated more than a fraction of what he was capable of spouting, and the bitterness that wells up at that thought surprises even him.
"As for my current findings... I am well aware of the aggression inhibition coding which you claim to have been the recipient of. As such, finding that would not have been 'unexpected', as it was that coding which I was in the process of attempting to locate."
"I am not, however, finding such coding," he explains, forcing his tone back into something more neutral and calm. "What I find most troubling, though, is that I am finding coding that appears to be designed to alter your aggression levels." He frowns again and spools pack through the pages scrolling up and down on the screen, highlighting bits here and there, scattered about amidst larger portions of code.
"It is fragmented in a manner that appears to be an attempt to conceal its presence, portions placed quite deliberately within other completely unrelated coding." Turning back to meet Magnus' optics again, the frown returns. "And if I am compiling it correctly, it appears that this coding is not meant to inhibit your aggression, but to enhance or exacerbate your aggression."
|
|
Ultra Magnus
Major
Disappointing Fellow Autobots Since the Age of Internment
Posts: 565
|
Post by Ultra Magnus on Jan 8, 2011 0:23:02 GMT -5
The coding, Perceptor will find, is doing its job admirably as Magnus lurches up and makes a grab for his shoulder, scowling.
"Do not," he mutters in barely restrained anger, "tell me what I do or don't want. I said I want you to be as precise as you can and that's what I damned well meant." He tries to lean in closer still and his voice drops an octave, rough with his own bitterness, with rage, and with the sting of a betrayal he saw coming on some level. Of course the code was spurious; Shockwave's intentions were a fraud, so why not everything else? "Explain," Magnus snaps. "Everything. Even if it's theoretical. I want to hear it and I'm not going anywhere."
He's spent vorns not knowing all the details. He's sick of it.
|
|
|
Post by Perceptor on Jan 8, 2011 22:30:18 GMT -5
Perhaps Magnus is expecting some measure of fear from Perceptor at his outburst. Or perhaps he is expecting instant obedience. He will receive neither.
With a witheringly cool look, Perceptor slowly turns his head to stare at the hand gripping his shoulder, and then, just as slowly turn his gaze back upon Ultra Magnus. "My armor is tank class," he replies evenly. "Additionally, I am prepared to defend myself."
"Now, unless it is your desire to remain the pawn of Shockwave's willful tampering, then I suggest that you release me, and I will provide the comprehensive explanation which you have requested."
And just remember, Magnus... you asked for it, this time.
|
|
Ultra Magnus
Major
Disappointing Fellow Autobots Since the Age of Internment
Posts: 565
|
Post by Ultra Magnus on Jan 10, 2011 12:51:44 GMT -5
Given that Magnus hadn't been thinking of intimidation when he snapped, Perceptor's reaction is sobering. He blinks and slowly relaxes his hold, though it's a struggle to stop himself from lashing out again when Perceptor has to keep needling.
"Don't call me that," he says tiredly; it takes very visible effort to force his hand back to the berth. "Don't even mention that name to me," he adds with more hatred than his frame should be able to handle. There's pain there, too – unexpected hurt that in spite of trying to make it right, anyone among the Autobots would call him Shockwave's pawn. Least of all that Perceptor would say it. Between the scientist and Mirage both jabbing at those old, sore wounds, he has to wonder if they want him to break.
|
|
|
Post by Perceptor on Jan 10, 2011 16:33:08 GMT -5
Perceptor nods to himself as Magnus forces himself to pull away, as if he had expected the visible effort it takes Magnus to do so. Rather, given the code he has already set a subroutine to collate, he had expected that, as well as Magnus' words, or something like them.
"Then cease acting like one," he replies. His voice is even and level, but there is a hint, a note of compassion, buried in his tone- if Magnus cares to listen for it. He cannot coddle Ultra Magnus right now, no matter how his core aches at seeing what Shockwave has done to the other Autobot, not without setting back any progress he intends to make in attempting to extract the code and fix Magnus. That assumes that Magnus would even accept sympathy, rather than reading it as nothing more than pity in his current state of pent up pain and rage.
"Our code is a template upon which our behavior is based; it is not the entirety of what we are, however. It is our very nature as sentient, sapient, emotive beings that allows us to surpass our code, to overcome what our programmers intended."
"As for Shockwave," he adds, watching sharply for any sudden moves on Magnus' part, ready to dodge or deflect, "and, yes, I will continue to speak his name, even to you Ultra Magnus. You cannot hide from him, his influence, or his very existence. Attempting to do so will only bottle the rage he has imposed upon you until you can no longer contain it, and its release will not come at a time of your choosing! Is that what you wish? To hide from reality, until you become his again? I will not allow that!"
The more the code compiles, its full implication becoming more and more clear to Perceptor, the angrier he becomes, as well. Bad enough to have turned a staid, solid mechanism such as Magnus into such a dangerous weapon, without his knowledge or permission, but to also have lied about that, to have claimed to have done the exact opposite, thus cementing Magnus' own doubts about himself... It's unconscionable!
"Your temper, your anger, is not your own doing. Not wholly," he finally begins to explain. "Regardless, you will control it while I detail what I am discovering, because I cannot, nor will not provide said explanation without referencing he who is responsible. Because, I can assure you, that this pernicious bit of manipulation has Shockwave's touch woven all throughout it." And how Perceptor would like to open that channel between he and the Decepticon right this moment and give him an audio full of his opinion about this horrid little surprise, but even Perceptor is quite conscious of what a security risk such an action would be. He's still seething inside, though.
"As you had explained previous, I had been expecting to find the behavioral modifications which you had stated were designed to inhibit aggression. There is, indeed, such a program easily located within your base personality matrix, however, under much more detailed scrutiny, it does not parse. Minute portions have been left out, or are simply incorrect, rendering the program unexecutable. In essence, the very subtle alterations have neutered the program, rendering it useless. This is only detectable, however, with a deep, thorough, byte by byte examination of that code."
"These alterations are comprehensive enough that it is very unlikely - to a percentage of 97.6% probability - that these changes are the result of simple corruption, but are intentionally placed errors designed to render that program inactive, but in such a manner as to disguise that fact. The alterations are so subtle, in fact, that it is only now, during this detailed analysis, that I am finding them, despite my earlier examination of your systems." As irritated as he is with himself, he'll have to wait to berate himself later over having missed that earlier; Magnus comes first.
He pulls out a data pad which he begins to transfer the compiled and still compiling code onto, and holds it for Magnus to see. "No matter how often we defragment our processors, there is and will always be random bits of data scattered here and there throughout our programming. Often times, these random sections are portions of larger executables that, by accident or design, find themselves fragmented throughout other portions of code. In other instances, they are merely bits of lost or corrupted data that remain until they are overwritten or assimilated by other coding. It is not often wise to attempt to remove these bits of unknown coding, even for an expert in the field of deep-scan-programming, simply because it is not always possible to determine if even a single random character in an otherwise organized line of code may be required to occupy exactly that place in our processors in order to maintain some vital function, or if it is merely extraneous, junk code."
"This provides, unfortunately, an excellent means for extremely clever mechanisms to hide pernicious programming that they wish to prevent from being discovered. The drawback is that, unless said mechanism is extremely skilled and clever at being able to also encode certain key triggers to prevent our own defragmentation processes from removing the fragmented programming during standard operations, it is incredibly easy for vital portions of any such programming thusly disarticulated and hidden to be 'accidentally' erased, rendering their work useless. Those keys to protect their hacking, however, are difficult to integrate without our own innate virus and infiltration protection protocols flagging them, thus alerting the victim, or, at the very least, the victim's medical caretaker, to their presence, and thus, revealing the infiltrated and disarticulated coding. This is why such tampering is very, very rare; it is incredibly difficult to achieve. I am fairly certain that, if I wished to do so, given enough time, I could create such a program... however, I know of no others that I would be able to say with any level of certainty that would be able to do so successfully."
"Or rather, I did not, until I found the errors that have rendered the obvious program inert, and began looking for those exact fragments amidst the rest of your coding. This is what I have found thus far," he explains, pointing at the datapad that is even now still adding short strings of characters to the end of the display. "Apparently, Shockwave, too, is capable of such code manipulation."
"What this does," he continues, pointing, again, to the datapad, "in short, is to enhance your aggressive tendencies, not curtail them. Through triggers such as manipulating your processing speed and core temperatures, adjusting certain chemical balances in the manner in which you process your fuel, tampering with your lubricant and coolant flows, enhancing or inhibiting your motor responses, and hundreds of other tiny, subtle system adjustments in addition to manipulating your base programming itself, this seems designed to exacerbate your negative emotional responses, aggression and anger in particular. I say 'seems to', because I have not yet completed compiling the entirety of the code. Given its fragmented nature, it may not be possible to compile the entirety of the complete program. What I have collated thus far, however, quite clearly is designed to cause your temper to flare more quickly, burn hotter, and maintain your anger for longer, than it would based upon your base programming. Unless there is a key buried in what has yet to be extracted from your primary programming that renders this code inert, that is what this hidden programming is intended to do. While finding such a key is incredibly unlikely, I cannot say with 100% certainty that such does not exist."
His tone of voice, alone, should be more than enough for Magnus to tell just how likely Perceptor really feels that such a key's existence really is. But, Perceptor is a scientist, and will not proclaim something with a certainty that he cannot guarantee.
This, of course, assumes that Ultra Magnus has not either waved Perceptor off to silence or punched him through a wall long before this point, though.
|
|
Ultra Magnus
Major
Disappointing Fellow Autobots Since the Age of Internment
Posts: 565
|
Post by Ultra Magnus on Jan 12, 2011 13:31:36 GMT -5
Perceptor may be surprised to realise that, despite the way Magnus's fists tighten every time the cyclops's name is repeated, despite the twanging and pinging coming from over-stressed tensor cables and servo-motors, Magnus does not lash out. In spite of the building rage, he holds still – as ordered. He is a soldier and he falls back on that instinctive response to follow orders such as Perceptor's decree to control himself.
Perceptor may also be surprised to realise that Magnus has listened throughout the verbose explanation. He understands some of the concepts on a base level and he is by no means unintelligent, but much of the programming and coding technicalities are far outside his field of expertise. He focuses primarily on the parts that he can comprehend.
The short version, he determines, is that Shockwave tricked and poisoned him in more ways than one, and that there may not be a way to nullify the malicious programming.
"…I see," he says hoarsely, staring at the ceiling. "Thank you, Perceptor."
|
|
|
Post by Perceptor on Jan 12, 2011 18:41:05 GMT -5
To be honest, Perceptor had been assuming that Magnus' attention was being feigned, and that he would have to actually give Magnus a poke when he had finished his explanation. To find that Magnus had not been pretending, and had, apparently, been following along...
Perceptor stumbles back against the table behind him, reaching back for support, genuinely surprised. "What?"
|
|
Ultra Magnus
Major
Disappointing Fellow Autobots Since the Age of Internment
Posts: 565
|
Post by Ultra Magnus on Jan 14, 2011 21:36:36 GMT -5
"I said thank you," Magnus says with a sigh. He doesn't dignify the theatrics with a response. "For the explanation I requested." He cycles his visual cluster in an effort to calm down before he adds, "Just how fragmented is this code?"
|
|
|
Post by Perceptor on Jan 15, 2011 0:16:09 GMT -5
Perceptor isn't intending his actions to be "theatrics"; he's genuinely startled by 1) someone actually having listened, and most especially 2) that someone being Ultra Magnus.
"You mean that you actually listened?" he blurts out before his internal editor - yes, he does actually have one that he uses sometimes - manages to catch himself. "I mean..." If Magnus is asking that, then clearly he did listen, and not just pretend, which....
"Umm, that is..." It would feel rather nice, if it weren't such an unexpected surprise. But he needs to gather his composure, and fast, before he provokes the normal reaction he gets, or worse.
"My apologies. Ah, very. Fragmented, that is," he manages, schooling his features by main force of will. "To be honest, if it were not for such an abhorrent purpose, I would not hesitate to call it a masterful bit of programing. It is... pervasive; I am still attempting to compile the entirety of it."
|
|
Ultra Magnus
Major
Disappointing Fellow Autobots Since the Age of Internment
Posts: 565
|
Post by Ultra Magnus on Jan 21, 2011 11:50:20 GMT -5
"Yes," Magnus confirms in that same tired voice, though there's a hint of dry humour there, "I listened. I promise it won't happen again." This is probably the wrong thing to do; his own Perceptor was usually far too prosaic for such jibes. But this Perceptor has his differences. Magnus can hope, at least.
He feels considerably less optimism regarding the code issue
"I see," he repeats, then falls silent to wait.
|
|
|
Post by Perceptor on Jan 21, 2011 21:06:33 GMT -5
"That isn't what I mean..." Perceptor trails off with an embarrassed little cough. "Oh, umm.. eheh. I see." Yes, that's a bashful, stupid little half-smile he's wearing as he rubs the back of his helm.
Humor aside, he still has important, serious work to perform. And the urge to open a radio channel and have words with Shockwave is rising.
"I promise you, Ultra Magnus, that I will ferret out the entirety of the code and find a means to disable and remove it. I cannot promise you that it will be a swift process, but I promise you that I will succeed." Such a hollow promise, though. Perceptor feels like there should be more than he could do right now.
|
|