Title: The Koiverse Encyclopedia - Monitors and Sectors
Author: Koi Lungfish
Disclaimer: Based on characters and situations from The Transformers ((c) 1986 Hasbro, Ltd). Used without permission. Text (c) 2005-2006, Koi Lung Fish (Mark of Lung. All Rights Reserved.)
Subject: A dictionary of terms, places and things from the Koiverse. Some of these things are canon and have been given expanded definitions; most of them are my creations. The Monitors and relatde concepts were created by Wayward Insecticon, used with her permission. If you would like to use one of my terms, please ask first [or at least credit me]; if you're not sure if a term is canon or fan-created, feel free to ask.

Commune

The state of a mechanism who has attached himself to an active rig. Commune can very in depth from full to light. A mechanism in full commune is unaware of what is going on around him [unless he devotes processor time to digesting sensor-feed from the room he is in] and his brain module and subsidiary processors are joined to the rig as integrated components. A mechanism in light commune has feed running at a subconscious level, so that he can interact directly with those around him whilst being directly connected to the rig should something that requires his attention occur.

A mechanism in commune can select sensor-feed from anywhere the rig can reach, process it at vastly higher speeds than normal [due to the augmented processing power of the rig] and respond using any system the rig is connected to. This can range from a subtower gunner selecting surveillance-camera feed, processing it for target locks, and firing a precision barrage from the subtower's guns, up to a Sector Monitor swapping between sensor feeds from several difference cities, parallel processing multiple feeds and making decisions in serial.

Monitor

A Decepticon who is capable of entering commune using a full rig. Sector Monitor refers to the 14 members of the High Council who are cleared for access to and able to use a control rig. Overmonitor refers to Shockwave, who has access to the Darkmount metarig. Monitors tend towards having outsized body-shells in order to cram as much extra processing equipment in as possible. They tend to cultivate cool, detached demeanors or the ability to enter a detached state of mind, since commune is considerably easier if one's emotional feeds are not interfering with the processing. Not all Monitors are metrophiliacs, but all are territorial about their Sectors. Whilst the High Command and Air Wing are concerned with the number of troops they control, the High Council are concerned with the number of cities they control. The borders between Cybertron's Sectors are not precisely fixed, as Monitors who are the most congenial of allies will continually spat over individual cities on shared borders.

A Monitor in commune with a full rig can control an entire Sector. This is the subject of a multitude of misperceptions. A Monitor cannot:

• be in two places at once. The control rig provides a vast amount of extra processing power beyond the extra processors all Monitors install in their bodies. This means they can digest sensor feed, process variables, make decisions and issue commands and control at vastly accelerated rate. A Monitor can swap feed/command from one location to another at the speed of thought, which gives the illusion of the Monitor having his mind in two places at once. This is not true. The Monitor, even when receiving sensor feed from multiple sources, is only consciously aware of one feed at a time. The other feeds are being processed by the control rig, and are cued up waiting for the Monitor's mind to be available to consider them.
• do anything that a mechanism does not already exist for. It is often believed than Monitors can "go anywhere, see anything, touch anything". This is incorrect. Monitors can only see where there is a functional sensor-device connected to the MonitorWeb. They can only do what the mechanisms connected to the MonitorWeb can do. They can only touch where there is a mechanism for touching that they can control. The power of the Monitors lies in their speed of response and control, their range, and their ability to guide, protect and assist forces on the ground. A Monitor cannot, as many of their psychopatron cultists believe, send out waves of energy that will strike the enemy dead [unless they have built a machine for this purpose]. They can, however, observe a battle from a distance and send targeting data to their forces whilst controlling automatic guns behind the enemy, etc.
• extend their aura/EM signature beyond their own body. Monitors practice tweaking to ensure all mechanisms connected to their control rig will answer to them first and foremost. This causes very minor changes in a Sector's EM signature which is often confused with the Monitor being present in the area. A Monitor is not and cannot be present in any form outside their body; they receive sensor feed through the control rig they are connected to and respond by remote control. They do not, as many Decepticons believe, leave their bodies and "fly" through the MonitorWeb to the location they are feed/controlling. It is often believed that Monitors can "touch" another being with their EM signature simply by "flying" to the location where that being is. This is not possible. In commune, a Monitor's EM signature extends as far from their body as it would normally. Their EM signature is not replicated anywhere else unless they have built a device specifically to do this. Some Monitors chose to communicate with beings in their Sector using holographic devices which may contain EM signature replicators. They cannot suddenly fill a room with their EM signature, nor "touch" another being with it.
• control other beings. Monitors cannot control anything that is not connected to their control rig. If a mechanism is implanted with some remote control device that answers to the control rig, this is possible and has been done in the past. However, given that even an human-built computer such as TORQ-III can do the same thing, this is no great achievement.
• be in a place other than where their body is. A Monitor's body remains connected to their control rig. As their consciousness can be receiving sensor feed from a place thousands of miles away and manipulating machinery in the same place, it appears to all concerned - including the Monitor - that the Monitor is thousands of miles from his body. This is not true. If it were, destroying a Monitor's body would trap them in the MonitorWeb rather than killing them.
• 'merge' with a control rig. A Monitor will customize all aspects of his control rig to his tastes, including setting safety locks and cripplebars within the system that prevent anyone else from using the control rig at full potential. This is sometimes misunderstood as the rig being an extension of the Monitor, rather than a tool, although given the way Monitors will speak about being in commune it is easy to see where the confusion arises. When a Monitor dies, it is necessary to completely shut down and reboot the control rig in order for a new Monitor to take control. This is not, as some ignorant and superstitious Decepticons believe, to exorcise the Monitor's ghost from the system, but to wipe the cripplebars and unlock the safety locks.

This is not to say that Monitors do not prefer people to believe misinformation about their capabilities, and some actively encourage the belief that they can go anywhere and do anything.

Of the ten Decepticons originally given Monitor-level processing capabilities by Shockwave, only four at still alive. The death rate amongst Monitors is very high, much higher than normal for a "desk job". It is reckoned that the older Monitors have survived better as they started communing with the first control rigs, whose power was not much greater than that of a current demi-rig, and have worked their way up to greater power from there, whilst newer Monitors often start on a control rig running under cripplebars and are much less prepared for the full data onslaught of full commune. Alongside and apart from the usual hazards of being a high-ranking Decepticons, Monitors are exposed to new and unusual risks to their lives, including:

• getting 'lost' in the MonitorWeb. If a Monitor makes a mess of the commands for the control-rig, they may end up receiving feed and sending control commands to completely the wrong locations. Quite apart from the ramifications of sending commands to the wrong location, the gulf between anticipated feed and received feed, especially if it is in the 'wrong' format, can cause a Monitor to short-circuit part of their sensory array, have a paradox error and shut down, or even burn out vital components all together. This is not uncommon in Monitors who have only recently started using a control rig at full power. Whilst not always fatal, it can be disabling to the point of needing several days of extended repair. This is considered a "self-loss" hazard like dissipation.
• "Cthulhu Syndrome". It is generally accepted on Cybertron that there is something vast and powerful living in the depths of the planet, be it Vector Sigma, Primus, a Light God, a demiurge, a demon or a Builder. A Monitor can tap into systems so deep in the planet that they run into this great force. This has the unpleasant effect of killing most of them dead on the spot and driving the rest screaming mad. Most successful Monitors have either a great fear or great respect for the deep systems and stay away from them except at direst need.
• forgetting they are not a city. If a Monitor engages in a full feed/control loop with a particular location, they may become so engaged in utilizing all the sensors in that location that they lose their sense of their actual body. Some cannot disengage; some do not want to. It is reckoned that a metrophiliac Monitor is at higher risk of becoming too entangled with his city than a non-metrophile, since his emotional attachment to this favourite buildings can lead him to commune with them simply for the experience of 'being' a favoured place. This is considered a "self-loss" hazard like dissipation.
• "dissipation". The most major hazard of commune. A Monitor can digest feed from dozens of observer devices at once and issue commands to an equally large number of systems. The more experienced a Monitor is, the better his control and the more efficient his processes become, which enables him to have an even wider feed/control range. Dissipation is what happens when a Monitor stretches his processors over too many input or output devices at once. If a Monitor is using too many devices they may burn out their sensory array, become overloaded and suffer a system shock, or simply be overwhelmed by the volume of data, stretch their processing capabilities too far and lose self-awareness. Just as with a mechanism who comes to identify too closely with his altform, a Monitor who loses his sense of self whilst in commune can become mentally "locked in form", unable to distinguish between himself and the system, unable to disengage, unable to form sentient thought. Self-loss hazards are perhaps the gravest danger to a Monitor as, even if they are retrieved, they may have been reduced to the level of a dribbling idiot, or have forgotten they are a robot, capable of speech and movement, rather than a building, mute and immobile. They are also the most common cause of Monitor incapacitation.
• processor lockup. The result of an exponential error somewhere in the control rig. An exponential error can be recognized and killed by the rig's in-built observer system. However, Monitors, being sentient machines, use different programming. Should the exponential error enter the Monitor's mind, it can cause sequential lock-up of all their on-board processors. This is a hazard of any mind/machine interface system. Most Monitors experience processor lockup once or twice a vorn; the trick to surviving it is to recognise ones processors are freezing and disengage all higher processing functions before it reaches core systems. It can be fatal, although most often the problem is solved by the Monitor's second-in-command hitting him over the head hard enough to force a processor reset.
• remote destruction. If a Monitor is engaged with feed/control from a particular location, if that building is attacked with sufficient destructive force, the system shock can kill the Monitor outright, even if the attack is occurring thousands of miles from their physical location. The trick of this is working out which building the Monitor is engaged with. Most Monitors have learned to swap feeds every breem or so to prevent becoming too engaged with a particular location, which reduces the risk of remote destruction.
• burn-in. Even the best Monitors can only stay in commune for two joors maximum, usually less, before their minds become inextricably linked to the control rig. If this happens, the processors must be shut down and restarted; this almost invariably kills the Monitor. Most Monitors who have survived for a significant length of time have learned to break up their communing by spending at most two cycles in full commune followed by three cycles of light commune. Doing this, they can extend their commune time up to four joors, even six in an emergency. This allows them to alternate in a "four joors in commune, two joors out of commune" pattern to allow them to be commune-ready at any time should emergency arise. During their time out, the control rig will be run by their second-in-command or another commune-capable member of staff, albeit at a reduced capacity.
• infection. The MonitorWeb is tied to the WorldNet, and the WorldNet is crawling with information warfare programs, rogue core-killers, memory leeches and other remnants of the datumplane aspect of the Great War. Although the firewalls between the Worldnet and the Monitorweb, and between the MonitorWeb and the Monitors, are some of the best on Cybertron, Monitors still fall prey to all sorts of virii at regular intervals. Most Decepticons will only scrub their data systems if they think they are infected - usually not more than once every four or five vorns. Monitors scrub their data systems on a daily basis. The Monitors are trying to purge the WorldNet and reclaim it for use by both sentients and subsentients, and have created some fearsomely-defended data enclaves inside their greater fortresses.

Because their abilities depend on their processing power and MonitorWeb interface, Monitors are voracious consumers of new hardware, software, lightware and ghostware. They are patient of long-term research and foster innovations that might give them an advantage with great care. They are territorial and possessive of their Sectors and much of their time is devoted to rebuilding damaged cities and constructing new strongholds. This makes them a sorely-needed force of regeneration and development in the Decepticon army. Although subject to many misperceptions, Monitors are regarded more often in a positive than a negative light: they provide good advantages in battle, they stay behind the scenes letting the battlefield troops grab the glory and the prizes, they build new fortresses and create WorldNet enclaves free of virii and best of all, unlike High Command and Air Wing grand officers, they spend most of their time in their watchtowers where the average Decepticon cannot see, be shouted at or hit by them.

Rig

The apparatus used by Monitors to enter commune and interface with the systems of a Sector. The first rig was constructed from the brain of Oblivicus. Shockwave developed the technology from there; it has ever since retained a form roughly analogous to a vastly enlarged Cybertronian brain [for example, the centimeter-wide 'cooling pills' of a Cybertronian brain are enlarged to football-pitch-width 'cooling drums']. Each Sector installation larger than an Outpost has a rig. Rigs are subdivided into the following categories by power and access range:

• Cripple-rig - installed in subtowers and used by Subcaptains or their staff to run the base defences. A cripple-rig is the most basic and most common type of rig. It can only control a few systems of an installation at a time, and has a limited range, usually little more than the range of the bases' guns. 85% of Decepticons are capable of using a cripple-rig, and almost all war-build and/or space-going Autobots can as well. A cripple-rig is not tied to the WorldNet or MonitorWeb.
• Demi-rig - installed in watchtowers and used by Guard Captains or their staff to run the entire small-city-sized installation. A demi-rig is a cut-down version of a full rig, and most major watchtowers in fact have a full rig that has been access-crippled, so that the Sector Monitor can use it at full power without fear of the Guard Captain using it at full power or being destroyed by it. A demi-rig has an input range up to the surveillance limit of the watchtower's sensors, but an output range only as far as the watchtower's curtain-wall. This means the Guard Captain can see an enemy coming from considerable distance but can only use the demi-rig offensively once the enemy actually attacks the watchtower.
• Control rig, aka full rig - installed in a limited number of watchtowers and other major installations, used by Sector Monitors and a limited number of subordinates to control the entire Sector. A control rig is quite huge and can only be constructed inside a building of considerable size; thus the number of full rigs in a Sector is usually kept to single figures. Most Monitors have a handful of full rigs installed in various strongholds other than their own watchtower.
• Metarig - the control rig at Darkmount. A unique system used by Overmonitor Shockwave. The metarig is an integrated part of the MonitorWeb control hub and cannot be disconnected from it. The metarig is more powerful than a control rig and can tap into any other Sector system. The metarig contains hardware "shotguns" designed to disable any other Sector's rigs. However, hardware upgrades and the practice of tweaking means that the ability of these mechanisms is in doubt.

Sector

• Sector 0 - Polyhex

  Sector 0 contains the Golden Age city-states of Vos and Tarn, part of Lower Zhenetox and a section of the Transboreal Gulf System. Its capital is Helex, the capital city of the Decepticon Empire; major subcities are Vos, Tarn, Colderon, Ugotyragox and Btarkahex. The watchtower is Darkmount in Helex; the Monitor is Shockwave. The Darkmount system is far more powerful than those of other watchtowers, allowing Shockwave to maintain command of the planet as Overmonitor.

• Sector 1 - Novacron

  Sector 1 contains the Golden Age city-states of Nova Cronum, Khalkon and Albiacon, and part of Iacon. Its capital is Murdosicrum ["towers of 1000 mansions"]. The watchtower is Helixmount in Albiacon; the Monitor is Crescendo.

• Sector 2 - Atalex

  Sector 2 contains the western part of Hermeun and the state of Deltacron. It is the smallest of the Sectors. The capital is Atalan, originally one of the isles of the Mercury Sea. The watchtower is Hermount in Lantumnun ["house of giants"]; the Monitor is Halftone.

• Sector 3 - Yarraron

  Sector 3 contains most of Aurunum, Yarraron, Kolkulkar and part of Kaon, plus some fragments of Boltax and Vilnacron. The capital is Kolkullis; major subcities include Zendrezheum, Aphtha and Yarrabtaaum. The watchtower is Solumount in Unyohe Aphan ["noonday burning"]. More than three-quarters of Yarraron is the Great Desert, a barren, uninhabitable equatorial expanse.

• Sector 4 - Tesseplex

  Sector 4 contains the south parts of Quintesseplex and the Neutral Territories. The capital is Annihilon; major subcities include Batatasson, Vakhel, Padahex and Btnapaxus. The watchtower is Belosmount in Re'oi; the Monitor is Vapourblade.

• Sector 5 - Valvolux

  Sector 5 contains Lower Valvolux, the central part of the Neutral Territories, the north part of Quintesseplex, what remains of Dizeon and the easternmost fragment of Hermeun. The capital is Dyspa Laucun; major subcities include Valvolux City, Dessalium, Jnarenum, Ketterex and Teshrehex. The watchtower is Nyxmount in Safix; the Monitor is Eidolon.

• Sector 6 - Kalis

  Sector 6 contains the westermost part of the Neutral Territories, Kalis, the eastern parts of the Sea of Rust including several minor islands and the Outer and Inner Coasts, the Subtagonic Ridge, and the central part of the Sonic Canyons. The capital is Oo'oi, the fourth largest Decepticon city on and sixth largest city overall on Cybertron; major subcities include Crebelerangon, Oo'os, Hydrunarox and Zendralbron. The watchtower is Amnimount in Kalis; the Monitor is Dreadmoon. The city of Kalis lies inside one of the thrusters of Cybertron's non-functional planetery jets and is powered a geothermal generator suburb named Windshafts.

• Sector 7 - Tantun

  Sector 7 contains the easternmost part of the Sonic Canyons, the eastern half of Kaon, Stanix and a part of Aurunum. The capital is Vertecraxis; major subcities include Zetringon ["flee the terrible sound"] and Uzunom ["tower on the left side"]. The watchtower is Caluemount in Aurknan ["howling ravine"].

• Sector 8 - Khelekrax

  Sector 3 contains Khelekarum, the southern part of Proxxon, the western part of Krystagon and fragments of Vilnacron and Kaon. The capital is Krysandrum; major subcities include Ugolrygnarum and Betacron. The watchtower is Percumount in Khelekraxis; the Monitor is Brasswing.

• Sector 9 - Kaon

  Sector 9 contains the western half of Kaon, the majority of Vilnacron and most of Boltax. The capital is Kaocrum ["towers of wild flux"]; major subcities include Vilnacron City and Btnarsafron. The watchtower is Exmount in Kusuderon.

• Sector 10 - Zhenetox

  Sector 10 contains Upper Zhenetox, most of Lower Zhenetox, and the majority of Proxxon. The capital is Arkuhlehuon; major subcities include Zhenerene and Proxxoxis. The watchtower is Torvumount in Metirion.

• Sector 11 - Praxihex

  Sector 11 contains Praxis and Protihex. The capital is Tripraxis; major subcities includ Protix, Hybokrae, Outhurihex and Protihex City. The watchtower is Pagosmount in Onath; the monitor is Frostalon.

• Sector 12 - Tyrest

  Sector 12 contains Tyrest, the western half of the Sea of Rust, the western part of the Sonic Canyons and a fragment of Krystagon. The capital is Tyrest City; major subcities include Krystax, Lantamnaron, Hydrax City, and the Isle of Shatters. The watchtower is Tingmount in Phenen ["bright red blizzard"].

• Sector 13 - Querecrum

  Sector 13 contains Uraya, Upper Valvolux, part of Iacon and a fragment of the Neutral Territories. The capital is Aorodan; major subcities include Hesprox and Mudo. The watchtower is Stupramount in Kayakettis ["smoke of civilians burning"]. The Monitor of Sector 13 is Monsoon.

• Sector 14 - The Rift

  Sector 14 covers the area which used to be western Hermeun, part of Quintesseplex and the westermost border of Praxis. The state of Argenex was completely consumed in its creation. The Rift is empty except for a light scattering of neutrals; the Decepticons treat it like a game preserve. Sector 14 is a void; responsibility for its edges is divided between Sectors 11, 5, 4 and 3. The Monitor of Sector 14 is a spurious rank of many mocking jibes.

• Sector 15 - Lumeun

  Sector 15 contains the Sea of Light and part of Iacon. The capital is Yicrum ["the small towers"]; major subcities include Dizeron and Resplex. The watchtower is Luxmount in Vyldaumun ["house of lightning"]; the Monitor is Lightray.

• Sector 16 - Altigon

  Sector 16 contains Tagon and Altihex, and a part of the Transboreal Gulf System. The capital is Heliron; major subcities include Perihelon and Altihex City. The watchtower is Rapaxamount in Ygran Iunnan ["jets live on high here"].

Tweaking [Decepticon]

Author's notes & addenda:
Feedback always welcomed.

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