Trace had managed to find dozens of regular capacitors among his parts. It was from one of the boxes of components he had grabbed from the gang building that he managed to get lucky. It was full of super-capacitors that ran the gamut in size and capacity.
Unfortunately, he still didn’t have enough.
There were four of them that had leaked out and two more that had bulges on the cap. The bulge signified that they were under pressure and about to leak.
The box, while a complete miracle find, was still something made to consist of a mix of everything. It only had three of the specific super-capacitors that he needed. He would need to buy three more, and a couple of extra, just in case there was hidden damage in the others.
Anything could happen when he powered it up for the first time.
Trace desoldered each of the leaking super-capacitors and then did the same for the bulging ones. With them removed, he decided to not install the new ones and to instead leave the spots blank for the moment.
From his box of parts, he had found a power cable that he could use to replace the one that had been destroyed by a claw. He placed that on the table next to the replacement super-capacitors and moved onto inspecting the burned controller-board.
It took him a couple of minutes to unscrew and unplug everything from the board in question. Lifting it out carefully, he could feel how brittle it had become. The green sandwich board was peeling apart as the heat had destroyed whatever held the layers together.
Hidden beneath it was the wireless energy-receiving unit that looked to be in perfect condition still. That was one less problem that he needed to worry about. Now that he knew where the controller-board had been placed, it was easy for him to figure out what had happened. When the power transfer cable had unexpectedly been cut, the energy had been partially dumped in the form of heat. The abnormal heat had then cooked the board, which meant he would need to take apart the opposite side of the weapon and check the controller-board on that side as well.
He was going to do it anyway, but now it had become an absolute need.
Holding the board up to the light, he looked it over as closely as possible to look for any other possible defects. While he was doing that, his eyes were scanning it and creating a 3D image of the controller-board along with all its connections and components.
This particular sandwich board was toast. It couldn’t be used anymore. Some of the components were still in decent condition, while others were completely melted.
He didn’t have the capability to repair something this far gone. Thankfully, with a complete 3D image, all the proper dimensions, and other information, it was possible to have other places make a new one for him. Which is what he planned to do in this case.
The worrying thing is that after examining the board more closely, he noticed that there was older charring around its edges. That meant while this event might have been what caused it to finally overheat and destroy it, the controller-board had already been suffering from fairly extreme heat problems even before that. It would have eventually failed regardless.
He could order a replacement board to be built along with as many components as possible. If he didn’t do something about the heat, the wireless energy-receiving unit was generating, then this would simply happen again in the future.
Carefully, he turned the rifle over and began removing all the pieces from that side. It was the same operation as he had done a little bit before, except this side had suffered a little less physical damage.
Once everything was revealed, he saw two bulging super-capacitors, and nothing else. The controller-board had also been fried, and he took a scan of this one as well, noting the differences between the two.
The two boards mirrored each other, and the differences matched that.
Deckard had finished printing the tube a few minutes earlier, and they were just waiting for it to cool down.
Trace would need to do some cleanup work on it, both inside and out, which he would need to be careful with. If he was overeager on any of it, then the fit would become an issue. The tube needed to be tight with the contact points for the super-capacitors in their proper place.
He had just begun to look up companies that could create the sandwich board and also install the components for him when Monroe knocked on the door.
“You alright with Monroe knowing about you?” He asked Deckard.
The man’s avatar took on a thinking pose and slowly shook his head in the negative. “Not yet. Possibly in the future, but I don’t think the trust between you two is quite strong enough just yet.”
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Trace would have argued against that point, considering what the man had already done for him. However, it wasn’t his decision to make. With a shrug, he stood, grabbed a couple of cold sodas, and walked out the door.
Monroe was half-laying on top of a clean section of table, with his feet on the ground. He was staring up at the now dark roof, his forehead dripping with sweat. The inside of the warehouse was fairly cool, but it was starting to heat up.
“It is boiling out there,” He gasped out, as his shirt peeled wetly off the table as he sat up.
Handing over the cold drink, Trace nodded. “I knew I was forgetting something. I need to get some air-conditioning and heat pumps installed in the apartment and this place. I might be fine with just a fan during the summer, but winter will be absolutely brutal if I don’t get something put in.”
The welder rolled the cold can along his head and neck a couple of times before popping the tab and taking a swig. “That’s true. The multiple layers of metal will keep this place pretty cool.” He downed the rest of the soda and crumpled the can, placing it on the table next to him with a contented sigh. “Alright, well, I’ve finished all the cleanup work, so let’s get this planning session underway. Can you give me the details on the job again?”
***
After Monroe left to prepare for their mission, Trace took a moment to finish up the order for the new controller-boards and send them in. Then he set everything about the railgun to the side. He would need to finish it after they got back from the wastelands.
After that, he set about cleaning everything unneeded from the backseats of the truck. He had been using them as storage space for his most used guns and didn’t plan to change that. However, a lot of extra guns had crept in as well.
Eventually, he planned to put some proper storage chests and hangers back there to keep everything secure. It was at this point that he found out that the backseats could be pulled up to reveal some storage underneath the seats. Which he promptly stuffed full of ammo in various containers that kept all the magazines and loose ammo neat.
The minigun was placed on the backseat, with the small amount of ammunition he had for it. The assault rifle was placed on a couple of hangars where the rear window would have been on an older truck. The sniper rifle he had taken from Pushman was placed beneath it, and then his new shotgun hung beneath that.
His favored scout rifle would be attached to his courier bag, as usual. He would also be wearing both pistols in thigh-holsters as had become his habit. He still couldn’t dual-wield worth anything, but having them both close at hand was too useful not to do it. The tactical stiletto had been moved from the inside of his pants to a pocket on the outside tongue of his boots where it would stay until needed.
The latest addition was a sheathed vibro-blade laying length-wise strapped to his belt just above his rear. In that position, the hilt was in an easy position for him to grab.
He felt as though he was ready, weapon-wise at least. He just needed to fix up his armor and then get some food and drink for the trip. There was also the matter of letting Ko know that she needed to take care of Deckard while he was gone.
Was this what people used to feel like before the World Wars when they went on a trip and needed someone to look after a pet?
Getting his lightweight armor together was easy, as he had already collected it from the corpo agents. The only annoying thing was that it was entirely made up of separate pieces. It wasn’t a complete ballistic suit, something that hadn’t been possible with their cyberware.
With those placed to the side by his courier bag, he hopped in his truck and called Ko while heading to the store.
“Hey, did Monroe finish fixing that hole?” She asked as soon as she answered the call.
“Yup, he finished the roof, too. The warehouse should be leak-free now and mostly secure. I still need to have him fix the walkways, a few ladders, and everything that made up the upper-level. Anyway, I’m out shopping for supplies for the mission he and I are about to go on. I was wondering if you wanted to get some dinner?”
On the other side of the line, he heard Ko yawn. “Sure, can you come pick me up? We just finished an operation, and I could use some fresh air and a little pick me up.”
He agreed and a minute later was parking the truck in front of the mender’s clinic.
Inside, he saw that even Anna, the receptionist, looked worn down and tired. He had come to learn that while she was primarily the receptionist, at times she also acted as an assistant during their more intense operations. Whoever they had been working on must have truly been in bad condition if she had not only gotten involved, but also looked that worn out.
He waved to her, and in turn, she blinked slowly at him, the action looking as though it took all the processing power her tired brain had to spare at the moment.
Walking on past, he found Sevorah sprawled face-first across her desk. Meanwhile, Ko was on the floor in front of it with her feet propped in the air against its edge.
“Geez, all three of you look absolutely blasted. What did you have to do, replace all four limbs on someone?” He joked, trying to lighten the mood.
Sevorah awkwardly twisted one of her arms, so her hand was in the right position to flip him off.
On the floor, Ko opened her eyes and slowly shook her head. “Five gang victims were brought in. The gang is from the north end of the city and styles themselves as masters of the sword. These particular victims had been delimbed by plasma-edged swords. Due to the intense burns and cauterization, we had to remove even more from each of them.”
The previous joviality he had tried to bring to the room had fled in terror of her deadpan delivery.
His own expression grew solemn as he knelt onto the floor next to her. “How about you? Are you alright? I can’t imagine it was exactly nice seeing something like that or having to work on people while they were still conscious.”
She shuddered and closed her eyes tight. No matter how tightly she shut them, tears still began leaking out around the corners of her closed lids.
Two of the patients had suffered from a condition where they hyper-metabolized medications. Everything they gave them was either sped through their system in an inactivated state or only lasted for a few minutes at a time. That was a problem when the medication was supposed to last for a full day. They had no idea if it was safe to give them more. Just because it looked as though it was going through the system didn’t mean all of it was. Some of it might be left in their brain, and if they gave them more, then they could risk damaging their brain forever.
In the end, they had decided to go with a couple of local nerve blocks and keep them conscious. It sucked for everyone involved, but it was better than the alternative.