4053/Ways to Upgrade a Katze

Ways to Upgrade a Katze
Date of Scene:	26 April 2016
Location:	Neo Arcadia-00001
Synopsis:	Upgrading Katze to interface with Alden's D-Arc.
Cast of Characters:	276, 399, 930

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Kari Wolf (276) has posed:
    The lab is elevated, with a nice view. A number of things are laid out as well. Electronics and delicate soldering tools, magnifiers, robotic manipulators. Everything Zarenna and Taro need to install a tricky bit of electronics into a shinki. Good news is that Zarenna has already created something similar to what Alden and Katze are asking for; Kari's improved drone controller. Similarly, Zarenna will be installing the shinki-digivice interface into Katze's armor as well.
    Zarenna looks at Katze. "We're not putting you out for this; we need you to test things to make sure we didn't wire something in wrong." She says. "Basically we're talking about robot brain surgery, Katze, so if you are still alright with that then we can proceed."

Taro (399) has posed:
    If they somehow overlooked a tool or component in the original setup, no doubt whatever is needed will be in the shelves behind them. While this lab is in some ways for show, serious work does get performed here. Taro has also brought in a couple of rolling work-chairs for himself and Zarenna, along with a stool that should fit Alden well enough if he'd like to sit down.
     Since Zarenna is more knowledgable in shinki design and modifications, he's deferring to her expertise in this. There is always something to be learned, and practical experience is one of the better ways to do so. While she talks to Katze, he double-checks to make sure that everything needed is laid out, and the schematics called up on one of the nearby screens for wasy reference.

Alden (930) has posed:
For whatever reason, Alden seemed more nervous than Katze was, perhaps mostly due to the fact that Alden was slightly unsure about the 'they are machines, not alive' aspect of Shinkies!. He tried to comfort Katze, who was taking it rather well, if anything, she seemed excited to be unique, compared to other Shinki!. "I'll be ok really! I purrmise." she tries, smiling as she jumps out of Alden's arms and approaches Taro and Zarenna, "I understand!, I don't mind." she says happily. Alden nods a few times, "I wonder if in my more mechanical/robot forms I can interface with stuff like her drones." he says, mostly being idly curious than not. "Are you sure this will be ok?" he asks after a moment.

Kari Wolf (276) has posed:
    Fortunately Zarenna views shinki (and other robots) as being actual people. Which is why she's making sure Katze understands what's going on. Sure, there are certain precautions that aren't necessary with robots, but that's no reason to simply treat them as things.
    "First we're going to remove your CMS and put it into an interface cradle." She shows Katze the stand-like device that is meant to hook into a shinki's CMS. "Then we're going to hook the interface cradle up to your frame so you can control it. We do this to create a buffer in case something goes wrong; that way the part that is 'you' will remain intact even if something happens to your frame. Now, shinki CMSes are pretty durable, but I like to be careful." Part of the reason she's explaining the procedure is for Alden's benefit.
    "After we get everything hooked up, then we'll open up your armor to install the modifications. This will take a few hours."

Taro (399) has posed:
    Shinki not alive? Nonsense! That they are electronic life does not make them less alive. So sayeth the CyberGoddess...but Taro will spare them all the sermon. He prefers to teach by example anyway.
    Tool and component count complete, he moves over to Alden's side. He does a have a word or two for the nervous digimon, though he'll wait for a pause in Zarenna's explanations to say them. "She will be fine." No smile, but the tone is assuring. "If you'd rather stay and watch, you may, but there are chairs outside if you would rather not."

Alden (930) has posed:
Alden looks at hte devices being described rather curiously, tempted to ask either Taro or Zarenna to peek at the D-Arc, and his own code (they kidn of have to, even just to do the adapter for his d-Arc to work with the shinki, but well, he wonders on a deeper level). He nods a few times, looking more calm as he hears everything, "I understand." he says, smiling a bit before rubbing his chin, "Well, I figure I might stay, I am rather intrigued." he explains to Taro, offering him a one armed hug. "Thank you for helping me." he says, before saying the same to Zarenna, "I appreciate all this."

Kari Wolf (276) has posed:
    Zarenna smiles and hugs Alden back with one arm. "And maybe eventually we can figure out how to let Katze interface with your more machine-like forms. Though if you're really an entirely digital life-form, Alden, then theoretically she could use the interface to modify you directly at some point. Basically like what the D-Arc does now for you."
    Zarenna then turns to Katze. "So basically we'll be installing a modified version of your drone controller." She holds up an electronic gizmo with a headphone jack.
    "Then we'll synch this piece here up for use with your slipway." The roboticist holds up a small card-like device with a cord attached and what looks like a headphone jack plug. "This is the part that lets you transmit to the D-Arc. You stick this card in the slot and transmit the card you need to use. We haven't quite worked out the transmission protocols yet though. That'll take awhile."

Taro (399) has posed:
    Taro is caught by surprise, and he stiffens at the unexpected hug from Alden. But while he does look down at him, he doesn't push him away or otherwise object. "You're welcome." Then, he glances from him to Zarenna and Katze, then back to Alden...or more precisely, Alden's D-Arc. "If you don't need me yet, I could go ahead and make a better scan of the D-Arc device."
    His offer to do all of this in his lab isn't completely altruistic. Today is intended to be a learning experience, but it might not be just about shinki modification...

Alden (930) has posed:
The digimon rumbles at the friendly hug, offering a friendly hug in return as he nods, "I considered that... heard that... happened, during an incident back at home." he says softly. "So it sounds doable." he begins, before letting her go and focusing on Taro. He seems to consider for a few moments, looking at the D-Arc, adn thinking of what someone told him recently, how all this might just be a trick to get... something from him, but he is too trusting to really believe those things!. He hands the device to Taro, "Be careful with it." is his only reply, tail giving a flick.

     Katze seems happy, even letting a soft purr as she nods and reaches to grab the device, inspecting it for a few moments, "Cool." she says with a grin, "Sounds good!, thank you." she says eagerly.

Kari Wolf (276) has posed:
    Zarenna takes a deep breath. "Alright Katze, if you're ready, summon your armor, put yourself into sleep mode, and then I'll pull your CMS out and put it in the interface. When your CMS is hooked up to the interface cradle, you'll be booted back up. You can talk through the cradle. Kari says it was weird for her when she was in it, so you might take a few moments to get adjusted." Of course, a moment is subjective for CPUs; it might mean a few milliseconds to Katze.

Taro (399) has posed:
    Taro takes the offered D-arc, cupping it in his hands. "I will." Assurance in those words.
    They really do need to examine the D-Arc as part of this project, so it's not as if he's doing this under completely false pretenses. That he retains a copy of whatever he finds is completely explainable - what if something should go wrong later and the information is needed for comparison? All completely justifiable should anyone even think to ask him.
    He carries the digivice over to a side bench between two of the tool cabinets and sets it down gently, then pulls open a drawer to rummage for a compatible connector cable. He's reasonably sure he has something that should fit..ah, yes, this greenone ought to work. If Alden follows him to supervise, he doesn't complain.

Alden (930) has posed:
Alden has no reason to suspect Taro really, so he hands the delicate handheld thing easily, smilign warmly, "Then, go ahead!." he says softly, his attention on the 'procedure' now, looking curiously. Katze streetches and seems to take a deep breath, her battle armor, gloves and such appearing, before she lays down, "See you later, time for a catnap!" she calls out, before her eyes close and she seems to snore. She 'wakes' up quickly enough when the transfer is done, "This is odd, Hey, Alden, cna you hear this?" she asks, which gets a "Yes." from the digimon.

Kari Wolf (276) has posed:
    Zarenna says "Oh good, the connection is strong. Thanks for testing it, Katze." She then plugs in the cable from the interface cradle to the CMS port on the shinki frame, which lets Katze control it as if her CMS was still in it. Albeit cabled to the cradle. "Okay Katze, I'm going to start opening up the armor. Let me know if anything seems wrong."
    With that, Zarenna carefully uses the robotic manipulators (which are far better suited to working on shinki than her huge human hands and fingers...) to undo the armor on Katze's back to access the drone controller. Once there, she carefully removes the existing drone controller.

Taro (399) has posed:
    Taro is paying some attention to the goings on behind him, or at least he makes a quiet amused sound at Katze. However, he has his own work to do and so continues with that. He gently snaps one end of the cable into the D-Arc's port, and then the other end into the port built into the bench's surface.
    Assuming that his computer network can figure out all of the necessary 'handshakes' to connect with the D-Arc, a small interface box pops up on the screen likewise built into the bench's worksurface. A few swishes of fingers, a few taps, and CyberGoddess willing (not that she really has any input in this), the program he's just started will convince it to start dumping the digivice's schematics information...

Alden (930) has posed:
Alden pokes closer, watching the procedure rather curiously, his tail giving a few flicks, trying to remain quiet, while Katze lets out a, "Ok!, I will!" in reply to the question. She is rather eager to test the changes!. The D-Arc is rather standard, nothing changed from last time, seems there is data, some of it hosted in the device, and other stuff that seems to be hosted elsewhere but linked to it otherwise. The schematics are simple enough to download as it gets scanned.

Kari Wolf (276) has posed:
    It takes Zarenna some time to disconnect the existing drone controller, then she asks Katze to run a diagnostic to make sure everything but the drone controller is still working.
    Assuming nothing went wrong, she begins putting in the new drone controller, equally as careful to install it as she was to uninstall the old one. This might be fairly boring to Alden and Katze.

Near the end of the procedure, Kari and Harriet enter the lab, riding a small remote-controlled cart with water, snacks, and some food. "We brought things for you to drink and eat, Master!" Kari says cheerfully. "Hi Alden! Did you want something to snack on too?"

Taro (399) has posed:
    The schematics are tucked away into a secure folder for later review and comparison to what he captured wth his handheld scanner the last time. Taro casts a glance behind him to check on how Zarenna and Katze are faring, but since it looks like all is well, he doesn't ask if they need his help.
    Another swish and a few taps, and he sets another program to the task of attempting to copy of the data stored on the D-Arc. Hopefully some of that is the device's firmware...
    He'll watch the monitor for signs of progress (or lack thereof) until it's complete or until it becomes obvious that this is a pointless exercise. Presumably this will take less time than it's taking Zarenna to install the new drone controller, in which case he'll move back over to the work table to observe in silence.
    That silence is broken when Kari and Harriet come in. "How thoughtful of you two. Hello Harriet, Kari."

Alden (930) has posed:
Katze is happy to comply, testing the new hardware and reading the results, "Well, I am not seeing any errors, it seems the new controller is plugged properly!" she says happily. Alden is distracted by the new arrival and smiles, "Thank you, I would not mind something to eat." he tells the happy Shinkies. He does move around to check on Taro as well, "How is it going?" he asks.

Kari Wolf (276) has posed:
    Kari points to the cooler in the cart's basket. "Sandwiches! And croissants! Some of them are both!" And also water bottles, since Kari knows that Zarenna prefers to drink water over other things.
    Zarenna finishes installing the new controller, and plugs in the false card to the jack before sticking the card into a card reader (which is hooked up to some kind of diagnostic display). "Alright Katze, see if you can make the display say 'Hello World'." Ah, the joys of diagnostics...

Taro (399) has posed:
    Better dull diagnostics now than catastrophic failure in the field later.
     "It's going well, I think," Taro answers Alden. There's a momentary pause before he ventures, "I did notice that after connecting it to to the local network, it was trying to sync up with something elsewhere..." A leading statement, one that he hopes the digimon will take up and start answering.

Alden (930) has posed:
Katze is patient! (not that she can do much anyway) and as soon as she is given the order, tries to display the message, and a 'meow' and a cat face emoticon. Alden meanwhile seems intrigued, he truly knows little about ocmputers, despite being born inside of one, so he rubs hsi chin, "Well, maybe it might be... me?" he asks softly, "I mean, I am data, and I am connected to it somehow." he says softly.

Kari Wolf (276) has posed:
    Zarenna scratches her head at the display. "I wonder if your pun settings are interfering, Katze." Could be. Zarenna starts checking the data from the interface cradle to see. "Keep trying while I watch the data, Katze."
    Meanwhile, Harriet stops Kari from putting a water bottle on the work table. "It could spill!"

Taro (399) has posed:
    Taro's brow furrows a bit in thought. "That's entirely possible," he agrees. Then he interrupts himself to look over at the diagnostic display and make this amused observation: "That would be how a cat would greet the world, wouldn't it?"
    Then, his gaze and attention shift back to Alden. "I'd simply wondered if your D-Arc was set up to 'call home' any time it's hooked up to a computer," he explains. "Not that it could reach anywhere from here, since I connected it to the closed network."

Alden (930) has posed:
Alden takes the offered snacks, a croissant and a sandwich!, hungry digimon!. He blinks when he hears about interference. Katze gets a bit nervous, "Sorry." she replies, before she tries to repeat the message again, no pun in it this time. The question from Taro gets a reply, "Ah, it might!, but not sur ehow it might work... I never examinated that, perhaps I should go home and ask..." he begins, then grumbles, "Well... if I get home, I can try to find the people that made me and ask them."

Kari Wolf (276) has posed:
    The sandwiches combine fresh lettuce with cuts of uncooked salmon or tuna, along with fresh tomatoes. Kari cheerfully explains to Alden that it's like a sandwich her Master ate as a kid. Only with bread instead of an unleavened flat bread.
    Zarenna tweaks the software a bit after the test to help deal with the pun filter. It takes a little bit, and some repeated tests between Katze and Zarenna, but they do get there! "Eventually you'll be able to just think of the card Alden needs and transmit it, but we're not there yet." Zarenna explains as she starts tuning the card thingy to Katze's slipway.

Taro (399) has posed:
    Taro will find something else to look at while Alden is eating, such as his digivice. "Then it is a question whose answer we will have to find later." No discouragement in his voice, merely acceptance. "Even if we don't know where your exact world is, there seem to be enough similiar ones about. Perhaps answers could be found there...?"
    With the same care he's shown before, he picks up the still-connected D-Arc, turning it over in his hands. "Mm. Zarenna, are you using the same frequency as what's standard for shinki drone control?"

Alden (930) has posed:
The digimon looks back at Taro, "I know where my world is... do you remember what happened back at the valley, with those... things?" he asks, both to Kari, and Taro, "Those things are keeping me from going through my digital world and back to the human world, to my tamer and perhaps finding said people." he explains, "I need to get stronger and try to help push it back, until I can clear a way to the upper levels, and make my way back to the humans there." he explains. Katze seems content testing the screen, sending little messages, "I see, that sounds useful." she says, sounding cheerful at the idea.

Kari Wolf (276) has posed:
    Eventually Zarenna and Katze get the link-up working 100 percent. "Now until we get the protocols for the D-Arc and upgrade the firmware, you don't want to use this with the D-Arc." Zarenna cautions the shinki. "The card attachment should also be storable in your slipway, Katze."
    Kari nods to Alden. "Yeah, they were pretty bad!"
    Harriet scowls a bit at the mention of the d-reapers. "It is good that we had allies to help that day." she intones.

Alden (930) has posed:
Alden smiles a bit at Harriet, "We got lucky they were just a couple, and that the sovereigns apparently blocked them... but I can't help feeling that they... allowed the reaper to reach the portal for some reason." he muses, before smiling to Zarenna, "That sounds like an amazing idea, I do hope we get it to work... perhaps we should analize the information on the cards... to see what the device reads?" he offers.

Taro (399) has posed:
    While Zarenna continues working on the shinki half of the equation, Taro works on the D-Arc half. The D-Arc itself is still sitting on the workbench, but thanks to the schematics he downloaded, he's created a virtual model with which to tinker. Though that in turn is set aside so that he can examine the firmware...he's keeping half of an ear to the conversation, but the code is taking most of his attention.

Kari Wolf (276) has posed:
    Zarenna smiles. "That is what we would do next, Alden. I think all the time you've spent with Taro and I has started rubbing off on you." She turns to Taro. "Do you have the tools to scan the cards and how the D-Arc reacts when they're swiped?"

Alden (930) has posed:
Alden chuckles a bit, "Well, I just figured... there mnust be something in the cards!" he says softly, rubbing his chin a bit as he pets Kari, watching curiously as the procedures seem to get to the final parts. "I am glad it was a good idea." he says with a rumble, tail twitching. He holds his card box in one hand.

Taro (399) has posed:
    Taro turns from the screen that's been holding his attention. "The D-arc is still connected to the lab network, and the archivist program is still running." His gaze shifts to Alden and his box of cards for a moment, before settling on his shinki friend. "If you could connect with the network as well, Katze, in theory we could go ahead with testing the D-Arc acceptance of the card data from your scanner."

Alden (930) has posed:
Alden nods and moves closer, "I didn't know that." he says, looking back at Katze for a few moments, "That is quite handy." he says softly, before Katze agrees, "Sure, let me log in." she mumbles, "What is the password?" she asks after a moment.

Kari Wolf (276) has posed:
    Zarenna helps Katze log in, providing the password to the wifi she was given awhile ago. It's a seemingly nonsense string of numbers, letters, and symbols, but there's probably some kind of joke in binary. Zarenna certainly doesn't know. "Ready for testing!" She says cheerfully as she slides over to the cooler and grabs a sandwich and water bottle, since software and signal analysis is not her strong point.

Taro (399) has posed:
    Or the passcode may be a subtle dig at the quasi-religious nature of the work that normally goes on here. Someone likely finds it amusing, regardless.
    Taro turns back to the screen at which he'd been working long enough flick through a menu or two and tap in a few instructions, then moves over to sit down in one of the chairs. "I'm going to observe from inside the network," he explains, before his eys sliphalf-closed. "All is set...if there is such a thing as a 'simple' card in your collection, I would suggest that you start with that."

Alden (930) has posed:
Alden joins with the snacking, sitting down a bit and reaching for one of his cards, he does not have much on the simple way, he thinks they all work the same!. But, he tries sliding one that involves a defense bonus, "Here we go." he says. As he slides the card, there is a burst of information from teh reader, and it sends a signal to the digimon!, he glows brightly as the effect activates. "It's working." he says softly, smiling as he lets the others work. The information seems simple, more akin to 'card number, card effect, special code that proves to be a valid card' or something similar.