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Philo doesn't answer
Bowdeccia right away. He busily probes and retests circuits and reads the
scanner, "Surprise; if I read the screen right, there seems to me that
two power feeds are circuited in to this fuse-relay."
Gammon raises an eyebrow and without looking back remarks,
"There was supposed to be a model-line of Cylons made to run on a hybird
power system that combined an onboard system, and a charged system so that
the excess power generated could be utilized for power."
"The vaunted-Cylon efficencies," Windham puts in.
Gammon goes on, "In the first models, the concept showed
promise, but then the Tin-pots went on a cheaper by degrees
crash-program."
"So the Adjutant is a leftover?" Bowdy asks as she
moves the amber-pyramid in.
"The materials look to be of rather recent make,
these circuit-board chips in particular," Philo speaks up, "Perhaps
the line is continued on a limited run."
"Say," Windham is startled when Philo touches a circut
on the otherside of the fuse-relay, and the Adjutant's shoulder gives the
slightest jerk.
"As I intended," Philo explains to the interns,
"I have the scan-tool connected to a power-feed,"
"You've clamped onto the charged-bundle," Windham
interrupts, "Wouldn't the on-board system provide more juice?"
Philo rolls his eyes slightly, "In his damaged condition,
the Adjutant's onboard powering levels are fluctuating, the charged-bundle is
steadier right now and I beleive I can test the wiring and circuts on the
output side of the fuse-relay to get a better idea of their function."
Bowdy looks to Windham hoping for a translation.
Windham shrugs, "Yeah, sort of like he's saying."
Philo is busy probing the circuts, some of which are rather
fine, "But the current does seem to be diminishing," he observes,
"I need to find the primary core system lead in short order."
"Then what?" Bowdy asks with some interest,
"Stick a sock in the levee?"
Windham nods and disappears to the back of the Hanger, to check
on the condition of the others, Bowdy figures.
Philo is testing circut-by circut. But he is spending increasing
attention to a particular bundle subset. Each probe is having a higher
percentage of hits and producing various tremors and twitches in the
Cylonian-carcess and components.
Finally Philo hestitates, thinks it over, and then presses the
probe into a circut-bundle.
"Hey there," Bowdy says sofly as she sees the
reaction.
"Fine, just fine," Philo says out loud as he looks up.
The red-scanner shows a slightly stronger shade of red as it
reciprocates slowly.
"Now to," Philo is diagnosing outloud, as he runs the
probe accross subcircuits. At last, though still weakened the reciprocating
scanner glows a steady red and sweeps on a regular cycle.
"Very good," Bowdy congratualtes the Colonial
hobbyist, "You've got him stabalized."
"Barely," Philo shows concern, shows Bowdeccia the
meter, "I had to go on the charged side to get a reliable level of
current, but as you can see, the Adjutant's charge levels are down low and
when they run out.."
Bowdy holds her hand up to her mouth for a moment, "He was
missing his recharge period, in order to stand gaurd over, us." she says
gently.
Just then there is a commotion, the Colonials turn to see
Windham lugging the camp-alternator awkwardly, "Make room for this,
quick, my arm's killing me!"
Bowdy quickly clears a next to the repair-project.
"When I heard Philo there talking about the charge-side, I
got to wonder why couldn't our little generator here might not supply our
craft-project with a little extra needed juice," Windham remarks.
"I don't know," Philo starts.
"You've surprised us all so far," Bowdy urges Philo,
"You can make it work."
Gammon says without looking, "You heard the lady, fix or
repair, manually."
So Philobuster begins to search his gizmos to find the right set
that will compensate for the oscillations in the Cylon current cycle.
"You know," Bowdy figures as she keeps the light where
Philo can see the project, "That generator is difficult enough to
turn."
"Yes," Philo as he continues to get set up, "That
concerns me, we may need to generate the supplemental current for an extended
period of time."
Windham smiles, "I had thought about that too, I beleive
I've figured out a way to hook the treddle-excerciser to it."
"And we keep it powered manually?" Bowdy asks somewhat
astonished.
Windham now grins, "Actually, that's how I have got
the tele-veiwer set up back at home, keeps the offspring busy."
While Windham is setting up the generator-station, Philo
examines the splinter, This will need to come out first," he says,
"Can't risk having it shifting position and knocking circuits off
alignment."
"What's stopping you?" Bowdeccia asks.
"I can set up an hydraulic extractor," Philo answers,
"But that is a time-sink."
"How long have you been doing handywork for your
hobby?" Bowdeccia asks pointedly.
Philo scratches his head, "For more yahrens than I care to
admit," Philo admits finally.
"You should have developed the right touch by now,"
Bowdy explains.
"Yes I should have," Philo agrees.
He frees up one hand, braces himself, and starts to get a grip
on the end of the splinter.
"Check the lenghth?" Gammon asks laconically, still
watching the outside.
"Wha-?" Bowdy starts to ask.
"He's right," Philo explains. he collects some of the
scattered composition-crate splinters and starts to comparing them to the
depth of the mechanoid's chest-cavity.
"How is he right?" Bowdy wants to know.
These splinters are long enough," Philo measures,
"Long enough to pass completely through the project's chest and out the
back. Pulling the splinter back through might draw unwanted grit and dirt
back inside the Adjutant where it could wreak havoc on his
microcircuits."
"No, we can't have any excess havoc or mayhem around
here," Bowdy comments.
Philo has not heard Bowdy, but by now has produced a long, thin
peice of metal that he slides beneath the fallen Adjutant, and works along
the length of the Adjutant's back.
Philobuster's sliding is interrupted, "Unnioon!" Philo
speaks up, "There is obstruction."
"What do we do now?" Bowdy asks, "Boot?"
Philo is already attaching another metal strip onto the
end of his test-strip, "Pull the test-strip on through," he directs
Bowdy.
She frowns, but does as Philo asks.
When the second blade starts going under the Adjutant, there is
some light resistance, "Careful there," Philo advises, "It's
serrated you know."
Gingerly, Bowdy takes her end of the blade, and carefully she
and Philobuster begin sawing lightly on the splinter of composite.
The blade readily cuts through the material.
"Easy now," Philo advises, "Don't want to cut
into the Adjutant now."
"Him?" Bowdy asks.
"He speaks the language," Gammon muses, as he watches
outwards.
"Yes, we have to keep our priorities straight," Bowdy
talks to herself as she tries to keep her fingers clear of the
industrial-grade serrated sawblade.
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