OMCOM convinces Rei to go back to his quarters and that's the only time we see the electrical generation station for Skyler Base.
Entry 1-282: October 3, 2013
Wires
From the moment Rei awakens in Rome's Revolution, he discovers that the Vuduri have eliminated the concept of wires. Now this is not so impressive as you think. Our society is trying to get to the wireless age. Think about WiFi, MiFi, 4G modems, Bluetooth, IR remotes, wireless phones, cell phones and so on. However, what we have not conquered is wireless power transmission. (Note 1: actually, Nicola Tesla did demonstrate wireless power transmission. Note 2: What a great iPhone app! Dial in and charge your phone over the airwaves? You'd make a million bucks.)
In the 35th century world of the Vuduri, they use similar concepts. As previously mentioned, the flat panel displays are wireless as are the data input surfaces, similar to our keyboards. Also OMCOM (and MINIMCOM for that matter) is made up of self-contained memrons. Each memron is a nano-processor and communicates in the exahertz band of the electromagnetic spectrum with the central core. However, you will recall the total ban on any computer ever having access to Casimir Pumps so they need another source of power.
As mentioned yesterday, on Skyler Base, sitting on the moon of Dara, there is a central power plant. This power plant generates electricity and some of that electricity is actually conducted by power busses running underneath the station. But the memrons making up OMCOM's core cannot be connected to it. And they aren't allowed to have Casimir Pumps so what to do? The answer: each memron has a coil and thermocouple which collects microwave radiation and converts it into power. Rei was informed of this the first time he was in OMCOM's central core. The room was warm which was residual heat thrown off by the memrons.
Of course once OMCOM was unleashed and allowed to produce VIRUS units, they were self-powered and OMCOM was able to dispense with the central power generation. And as a starship made up solely of VIRUS (aka constructor) units, MINIMCOM has no need for power production for his airframe. He does use a regular PPT generator for larger electrical needs and eventually the null-fold drive.
In the upcoming novel, The Milk Run, you will learn about the Hyper-Null Fold Drive which has no upper limit on its speed. But that's a story for another day.
Entry 1-283: October 4, 2013
OMCOM's “infection”
When I originally wrote the long-form of Rome's Revolution, OMCOM was a bit more morally ambiguous than he is today. He still does have an amoral streak about which Rome took him to task toward the end of Rome's Revolution in both versions.
However, OMCOM had not one but two excuses for his behavior. First off, OMCOM literally reprogrammed himself. He actually create a "virtual" OMCOM, gave it a clone of his operating system and made strategic changes. He then had a conversation with this phantom version of himself. This story was also cut out of the current version however it will resurface when I publish The Vuduri Companion next year. The other excuse OMCOM has was that he was "infected" with rogue memron units.