Infinitesimal Mega-Hydraulic Drive Apparatus
The history of this device has been classified, due entirely to the fact that the lab it came from was destroyed. Then I recieved reports that it was in use in Alpha Complex, by Err-U-DYT-9, and that it was placed in the entirely wrong type of chassis, in some strange sort of machine that I have yet to recieve paperwork for. Clearly, something has gone wrong. The basics of the apparatus are simple: A Hydraulic piston. Fired at high speed, with the recoil used to restore the energy for the next firing. It was supposed to be used for high speed form transmission across Sectors. Now I find it has been used for some other experiment, that caused massive damage. I also find it on the list of things on the Sector_Decontamination_Request_429-79 that need to be decontaminated. There was even a request for it, after proper payload modification, to use it to prevent unwarranted Vat_Incidents.
Refs: Sector_Decontamination_Request_429-79, Vat_Incident
-- Screwz-U-BAD-3
Interesting. Those responsible for the documentation I used in preparing my report on the Easter_Bunny_Device were quite clear in claiming that the Infinitesimal Mega-Hydraulic Drive Apparatus was developed in direct response to that project's needs. Let me go look into that.
--Err-U-DYT-9
Do you think this has anything to do with the reports of it "raining bots & clones" in Sector POR? Or the rumors of citizens being killed by bottles of BBB from above? I'm just glad it was used for something less destructive. Imagine if they scaled up to autocars.
I have no data on that, Drake-U.
I have, however, discovered that the fundamentals behind the Infinitesimal Mega-Hydraulic Drive Apparatus were apparently conceived of in an R&D Joint Sector Brainstorming session some time ago. The basic concepts were then independently expanded upon and developed by several different labs - by one for use in high-speed form transmission; by another to solve the propulsion issues of the Easter_Bunny_Device; by a third to assist in Transbot acceleration; by a fourth to prevent Vat_Incidents.
They ought to have been given different names, or some form of distinguishing nomenclature, but each lab apparently thought that it was the first one following up on that particular notion, and so didn't bother checking the appropriate paperwork. Surviving individuals have been fined, and the offense noted on their records.
--Err-U
Is it possible that the labs working on high-speed form transmission and/or Transbot acceleration overstepped their design goals and applied the technology to an Alternative_Troubleshooter_Team_Insertion_Conduit_(ATTIC) instead? Specifically, could the Transbot conduit through RON Sector have been (unknown to the usual operators) powered by a deployed IMHDA prototype? In fact, if both the form-transmission team and the Transbot-acceleration team applied their IMHDA prototypes to the same conduit without realizing it, the operational pressure would have exceeded even Tech Service's normal margin of safety by an order of magnitude-- more than enough force to have sent the Toothpasty_Supplement_#5 Transbot through the normally-impregnable containment wall of Nuclear Facility RON-372/A, leading directly to the Four_Reactor_Foam_Flood.
-- Knok-U-OUT-6
All right, that only solves three problems. BAD Sector R&D IMHDA was a loss. Two others are accounted for, one also destroyed. I did find the last one on KriegsList, but no buyer was listed. More than likely Halle-B-RTN-4 still has it, or has used it elsewhere. My paperwork has been re-checked for authenticity, as well as accuracy, so it appears that only BAD Sector's IMHDA was the "primary" test version. From what I have gathered from the other projects' paperwork, (what hadn't been shredded for Security Reasons) several key elements had either been lost or removed from the other three prototypes. I noticed, after a second go around with KriegsList, that half of the "missing" items were listed. This can only mean that the R&D techs working on the other 3 projects were selling off parts from their own labs to make extra credits. For shame. I have already mounted a ... Task Force (IntSec Powered!) to deal with the set-up of "buying" and termination.
-- Screwz-U-BAD-3
Screwz-U: As is mentioned above, the four labs developed the IMHDA completely indepently - I don't know who was using the extra BAD Sector prototypes, but it wasn't the other three labs. Each of them had their own prototypes, and two of the labs (the Transbot Acceleration project and the Easter_Bunny_Device) made it beyond the prototype stage to Limited Production.
Knok-U: The BAD Sector (Form Distribution) IMHDA seems to have had a limited number of prototypes, which are accounted for as mentioned in Screwz-U's comment, so I don't know that it could have been involved in the Four_Reactor_Foam_Flood. However, the paper trail reveals that the Transbot Acceleration Infinitesimal Mega-Hydraulic Drive Apparatus did do some testing on ATTIC, including the area near Nuclear Facility RON-372/A, so it's eminently possible that that could have played a role. It's unclear, however, whether that role would have been simple miscalibration / incompetence on the part of the researchers, or interaction with some other factor.
Excellent cross-correlation!
-- Err-U