Distributed Processor
🔧 Module · First Signal · Level 40
Rules Text
Your Protocols cost 1 less. Draw a card when equipped.
Energy
4
ATK
0
DUR
3
TECH
6
CMD
3
SUP
3
Abilities
Specifications
"Offload the computation. Multiply the output."
Lore
The Distributed Processor is a modular computing array that links the wielder to a network of offsite processing cores. By distributing computational load across the relay network, it dramatically reduces the overhead required to execute protocols — making every command faster, cheaper, and more efficient.
Extended Lore
The Distributed Processor represents the logical endpoint of the Terran philosophy that individual units are nodes in a greater network. The device itself is a compact array of quantum processing cores, each no larger than a thumb drive, embedded in a mounting harness that integrates with any Terran chassis. What makes the Processor revolutionary is not its local computing power — which is modest — but its ability to offload computation to remote processing facilities through the relay network.
When a commander issues a protocol, the Distributed Processor intercepts the command before execution, breaks it into computational sub-tasks, and distributes those tasks across idle processing capacity throughout the relay network. Each sub-task is processed in parallel by a different node, and the results are aggregated and returned to the local unit faster than any single processor could complete the full computation. The net effect is a significant reduction in the energy and bandwidth required to execute each protocol — mechanically represented as a cost reduction.
The intelligence yield upon initial equipping reflects the diagnostic data generated during the Processor\'s network handshake. When first connected, the Processor performs a comprehensive survey of available network resources, mapping processing capacity, bandwidth allocation, and relay topology across the entire sector. This survey is compiled into a tactical briefing that provides the commander with immediate actionable intelligence — effectively drawing a card\'s worth of strategic information from the network itself.
The Distributed Processor\'s main vulnerability is network disruption. Because it depends on remote processing nodes, anything that degrades network quality — electromagnetic jamming, relay node destruction, or Caxion surge interference — directly impacts the Processor\'s effectiveness. In heavily contested electromagnetic environments, the cost reduction can degrade significantly as remote nodes become unreachable and the local cores are forced to handle computations they were never designed to process alone.