Cogitator

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Activating Tactical Cogitators!

— Imperial Navy Officer[13]


Cogitator is the Imperial term for any type of digital computer,[1a][15] and they are sometimes referred to as Cogitator Banks[3] or Data-engines.[1b]

Description

A cogitator

Produced by the Adeptus Mechanicus, it is said that Cogitators have a highly intelligent Machine Spirit but it does not approach that of true Artificial Intelligence.[1a] They are mostly large and largely mechanical, though can also include organic components. Cogitators are incorporated into buildings or spaceships, but smaller, portable examples do exist. These smaller ones are used by the Inquisition to hold and process information while on the move.[2] Miniaturised Cogitators can even be wrist-mounted.[6] Most Cogitators use datacore technology, having replaced obsolete digital technology after its rediscovery.[1b] The inside of a cogitator incorporates crystalline circuitry.[5] Cogitators can be become glitchy or even possessed by malign spirits if proper rites and rituals are not conducted properly.[4]

Emplaced Cogitators process vast quantities of data and can output through Auto Quill printout or Holo-Projection while portable units can interface with Data-slates or similar sources.[4] Data crystals can be inserted into a cogitator's download port to download data to be taken elsewhere.[9]

An old fashioned way of activating a cogitator prodecedes an invocation of the Litany of Activation, burning of the sacred incense, and the administration of the ritual blow to its side, to appease the machine-spirit.[9]

Known patterns

Core Cogitator

The Core Cogitator functions as the central 'brain' of an Imperial starship.[8]

Fluid-core Autonomous Cogitator

The latest generation in the line of Fluid-core Autonomous Cogitators is more technical sophisticated than a Warlord Titan.[10]

'Parcae' Inorganic Cogitator

The 'Parcae' Inorganic Cogitator was designed for integration into the logistical and analytical engines used by the quartermasters of the now-defunct Logistica Corpus during the Time of Deliverance, drawing on a number of ideas first theorised by Magos Wilhelm Gaytes. The Parcae can contemplate almost fifty kilobrains of information at one time thanks to its massive capacity. This allows it to analyse current trends and rationales and predict logistical dispositions over a twenty-circuits period.[7]

The 'Parcae' can be connected to any of the Series-d Electroracles, providing a powerful yet accessible cogitator that excels in logistical ratiocination, as long as the correct translators and mechasophical interpreters, as seen on the purple-bordered EXgr-76 Requisition/Trade Docket, are followed.[7]

Space Marine Kill Team Cogitator

Space Marine Kill Team Units use powerful versions of Cogitators that are able to conduct countless calculations on the foes they face. This is based off of information entered into the machines which, after analyzing, can provide a foe's likely response times to different kinds of attack, their patrol patterns and identify weaknesses in the foe's defenses.[3]

Tactical Cogitator

Ship commanders are able to consult the Tactical Cogitators of a ship, allowing the ship's machine-spirit to guide them in making tactical decisions in battle.[13][See Trivia]

Targeting Cogitator

Protect those Targeting Cogitators! The turrets could go haywire if a cogitator is destroyed. - Anonymous Traitor Guardsman[12]

Targeting Cogitators could automate the targeting of certain weapons platforms, such as Tarantulas. However if they were destroyed, the weapons targeting identification could falter and even turn upon their handlers and seemingly join their enemies.[12] Ships also possessed naval targeting cogitators, and power from the ship's reactor could be diverted to them in order to boost the accuracy of their ship weaponry.[13]

Bio-scryer Cogitator

Bio-scryer Cogitators are used by Knight Houses, such as House Cadmus, to hunt elusive prey.[11]

Related Articles

Trivia

The Targeting Cogitator model from Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - Retribution appears to be visually based on the Forge World (Company) Power Generator

Sources

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