Transformers: Survival of Defective Products

Chapter 4 I Need to Connect to the Internet

After being lectured on the basics of rest for Cybertronians by the Celestial, the Graviton learned that even though Cybertronians are made of metal, they still need rest.

They need to relieve physical fatigue by recharging and hibernating, they need to maintain activity through energy blocks, and they also need regular maintenance and repair of their bodies.

When she lay down to rest, she did feel that the so-called metal fatigue began to really ease, even though she hadn't felt that way before when she ate energy bars.

-

After resting for an unknown amount of time, she sat up and felt noticeably lighter and less tired as she moved around.

With less friction between the metal joints, there was much less noise during the machine's movement. The optical lens provided a wider and clearer field of vision. As the optical lens tightened and loosened, she found that she could even adjust the focus like a professional camera, controlling the distance of the field of vision and the size of objects.

After getting used to the new atmosphere, she walked out of the room and looked around Zhen Tianzun's house.

The metal building was a bit bigger than she had originally thought; in addition to the first and second floors, there was even a basement.

The basement looked like a complete training and weapons maintenance area, while the first floor contained storage areas, the main activity area, and the small room she had just been in. There was even a facility that resembled a kitchen.

Even though she was stunned and speechless, she still knew what was important and didn't touch anything.

But Cybertronians cook too? How do they do it? That's amazing.

When she reached the second floor, she subconsciously made her steps even lighter.

Since Zhen Tianzun wasn't on the first two floors we checked, he must be on the second floor.

She didn't even approach the room that had the door closed and looked like Zhen Tianzun's bedroom; she simply walked around it.

Then I saw Zhen Tianzun standing in the next room, looking at some information in front of a high-end-looking projection device.

She stood silently at the door for a while, only catching a few words: parliament, energy allocation, arena.

As she pondered what these things were, she heard the other person speak.

"Have you seen enough?"

Realizing she had been discovered, she simply went into the study, approached the other person but kept a slight distance, and asked, "What's this?"

"Data," Zhen Tianzun replied, continuing to stare at the projection.

This is practically the same as not answering at all.

Despite thinking this way, Yin Xiang didn't ask any more questions and instead looked up and followed his rhythm.

Recent energy allocations, new parliamentary bills, news about gladiator rivals, and news about downtown developments.

She recognized the Cybertronian alphabet but only vaguely understood the content, guessing it was something political. And this world, like the human world, had a ruling class and different hierarchical levels.

"Can you understand it?" Zhen Tianzun asked abruptly, finally glancing at her.

"I can read the words, but I don't understand the content," Yin Xiang said truthfully, pointing to the word "parliament" and asking, "This appears very frequently; is it a pronoun for management?"

The Celestial finally looked down at her, his hands stopping. "Sort of. They set the rules, take up the most resources, and control Cybertron."

Just like the government leadership, I mentally draw parallels.

"What does energy allocation mean? Does it mean that different Cybertronians will be allocated different types of energy? Or is there a specific amount?" Vector continued to ask, his eyes never leaving the projection.

"Pretty much. Both quantity and purity are graded." Zhen Tianzun continued looking at the data, without offering much further explanation.

Vector didn't ask any further questions, but instead asked, "Can I use this device to look up information when I have time? Is this device connected to the internet? It should be something like a search engine, right?"

"This is the control panel, you can think of it that way." Zhen Tianzun paused again to look at her. "It's fine when I'm not using it. What do you need to check?"

"I'm also curious about some common sense or popular science, and that thing called parliament I just mentioned."

The vector looked at the object that the other person's hand was on, which resembled a control panel or keyboard.

"Could you teach me how to use it later? There are no guide characters on it, so I have to memorize it all?"

Zhen Tianzun looked at her and remained silent for a moment, perhaps shocked that she couldn't even type the most basic thing.

"...I'll send you the data on how to type blindly in a bit."

"transmission?"

"...I will send you some basic data."

I didn't fully understand vectors, but I nodded, knowing I'd find out what they were once I put them into practice.

After finishing what he was doing, Zhen Tianzun pressed her shoulder and helped her into a seat, asking first, "Do you know what a transmission interface is?"

"I don't know." Yin Xiang shook his head.

Zhen Tianzun glanced at her, as if even his central processing unit had choked on its own words, and then asked in a different tactic: "Have you ever seen the interface with the baffle on the chassis?"

"I don't know. I don't see any access points on my body." The vector gauge looked at its own body and only saw inferior metal.

Without another word, Zhen Tianzun reached out and searched her body. "Don't move."

She followed the instructions without knowing it herself, so it would have been better to let this guy, who clearly knew more about the structure of the machine, do it.

Finally, Zhen Tianzun found a hidden panel on the right side of her neck and on the inside of her arm.

"Try to control the machine and open it."

She followed the same steps as the vector guide. The feeling was somewhat similar to when she opened the fire seed pod before. Her consciousness pressed down along a certain line on the machine, and she quickly grasped the knack.

The metal panel slides open, revealing the tightly packed data interfaces inside.

"Which one do you want to pick up?" the vector asked.

Zhen Tianzun paused, his pale blue optical glasses hovering over her face for half a second before correcting her, "Use the word 'transmission'."

I didn't understand the difference between the two words "vector" and "vector", but I nodded honestly.

Zhen Tianzun then pulled out the transmission cable built into his own body and connected it to the data port on the inside of her arm.

Almost instantly upon connection, the vector felt a surge of information rushing in, with a large number of unfamiliar but complete concepts being forcibly crammed into its mind.

How to use the projector, how to adjust the data board, Shanics are the circulating currency, every Cybertronian has an internal communication band, connecting is roughly equivalent to "adding a communication link"...

After the transmission ended, she remained silent for two nanoseconds, as if she was still processing the information.

"Now you know?" Zhen Tianzun put away the transmission cable and looked at her.

"Got it." The vector's eyes lit up. "So I have my own transmission line too?"

She subconsciously started touching her own body.

Zhen Tianzun pointed to the area near the data interface on the side of her neck, "It's usually right next to it."

Following the direction of the vector, he pulled out a dark blue transmission line, exclaimed "Oh!" in surprise, and quickly stuffed it back in.

"I learned."

Zhen Tianzun nodded, stood up, and pointed to the control panel. "Use it. But if you dare to break it, I'll dismantle it and make you fix the control panel."

"Okay, I'm not that clumsy."

Yin Vector responded, his attention now entirely focused on the projector and control panel. Zhen Tianzun's subsequent words mostly came in from the left and out from the right of her audio receiver.

Zhen Tianzun stared at her for a few nanoseconds, then turned and went downstairs, seemingly busy with something.

She first looked up "parliament".

The first definition that pops up is written in a grand and respectable style, mentioning things like legislation, resource allocation, maintenance of social order, and coordination of public operations.

Yin Vector initially thought it sounded like some kind of management organization that was good at holding meetings, until she saw that the definition did not include "one of".

She stared at those three words for two more seconds.

none of them.

In other words, this place is not a place with multiple powers operating in parallel, but a place with absolute centralized power.

She continued scrolling down, reading many short articles written by unofficial sources or by other Cybertronians themselves, as well as forum-like content.

They control the city's hierarchical management, labor and production targets, and even the division of authority among different types of Cybertronians.

She then checked the energy distribution and the arena.

Energy distribution is based on "payment according to work".

The words "earning according to one's work" are written quite beautifully.

As she looked further down, she saw layers of purity, quota, permissions, and levels, and immediately realized that this was not simply a matter of "whoever does the work gets the food."

To put it bluntly, it depends on who you are first, and then on how much you deserve.

Later, when she saw the sentence "Non-registered entities are not eligible for parliamentary quota allocation," she scratched her head, realizing that she would probably have to earn her own Shanks if she wanted to eat.

Now let's look at the arena.

Overall, she felt that this place was almost the same as the Roman Colosseum.

Trading one's life for Shanks, and energy for fame, is a major form of entertainment that many Cybertronians enjoy watching.

She can even see the betting odds on the official website.

After a moment's thought, she searched for Zhen Tianzun's name to check his official public information.

Title: Zhen Tianzun

Identity: Calon Gladiator

Record: 86 consecutive wins

Other factors include odds, audience engagement, and event reviews.

The vector was stunned for a moment.

Eighty-six?

But he clearly said forty-eight games.

She stared at the string of numbers for two seconds, then suddenly realized that the "forty-eight matches" the other party mentioned probably did not refer to all the gladiatorial combats recorded in public.

She read through several competition reviews and audience comments, and quickly understood why Zhen Tianzun had such terrifying popularity.

He didn't simply win more.

The victory was too decisive and ruthless, making the gap between the player and the opponent too clear to the audience.

That violence even carried a certain performative precision.

Simply put, it's so powerful that it gets people hooked.

The odds are terrifying.

Hey, should she place a bet too? Maybe she can earn some extra cash or something.

She first dismissed the idea and then learned about it here.

Because suddenly she heard a cooking noise downstairs, along with an energizing smell that she could already call "the aroma of food".

The vector immediately put down the console.

She wanted to see how the Cybertronians actually cooked.