Chapter 04 · PC Repair TechnicianFM 93-07

PC Repair Technician

You ran the fix-it counter at a strip-mall computer shop. You know which end of a screwdriver goes in a desktop, you can still get a dead machine talking, and you never did stop playing games on the shop floor.

A strip-mall computer shop counter with an open beige PC case and a screwdriver. — Plate III-B. — The fix-it counter. The screwdriver is the occupation.

Spec	Issued
Creation cost	0 (Doctor / Farmer tier)
Effective start	Computers 3 · Electricity 1 · Computer Hobbyist
Granted trait	Computer Hobbyist — terminals bore and tire you somewhat less. Half a Whiz. Spend the leftover points on the rest of the person.
Already known	Program Timer, Assemble Handheld Game, Build Opto Sensor
XP source	Computers crafting + the terminal loop. Same as Sysop; you just start lower and without Makeshift Computer in your pocket.

Who this is for

The computers life when you still want leftover points for the rest of the person — a combat trait, Fast Learner, or simply not spending six points on a beige box. You are a real programmer on day one — timers, a handheld game, an opto sensor — and you have a doctor’s worth of leftover points. You are not infrastructure yet. That is the honest start.

// FROM THE FILES — COUNTY SHOPS

Every strip mall from Ruckersville to Stanardsville had a counter like yours. The malls are dark. The screwdrivers are not. Bring one. The Sysop will still need someone who can sit the box when they are asleep.

How to play it

Spend the points. Cost 0 is the occupation’s secret weapon. Fit, hearing, a bag trait, a little Blade. The Sysop already spent those points on knowing the BBS recipe. You still have to be a Knox County animal.
The ungated floor is yours. Dismantle desktops. Cut blank disks from VHS. That is Computers XP with trash the world throws at you. Wipe Training Disk opens at 1; you spawn at 3, so the library starts immediately.
Craft what you already know. Timer, handheld game, opto sensor. These are gadgets people will buy off a stall and XP you can sit still for. A handheld game is also how a settlement stays sane.
Find a terminal, or make friends with a Sysop. Build Makeshift Computer is Computers 6 / Electricity 2 / a learned recipe you do not start with. SkillRequired alone will unlock it at 6 — there is no magazine — but Electricity 2 is one more level than you spawn with. Sit at someone else’s box until then. RuckNet speed is still your Computers skill; at 3 you are slower than a Sysop and still useful.
Climb toward the arcade and the Mk-tier sensors. Cabinets want Woodwork 4. Noise makers and proximity sensors are the PvE kit. You will get there; you will just loot and craft for it instead of walking out of creation with the whole tree.

Operator’s note — catching the Sysop The gap is one recipe and two skill levels, not a different game. If a Sysop plants the first terminal, your job is disks, copies, and sitting second shift. If there is no Sysop, you are the plan — budget a week of VHS and desktops, then Electricity 2, then the makeshift box. Do not found a settlement to justify a computer you cannot build yet. Found it when the box is ready, or join someone who already has walls.

First week

Live. Screwdriver. VHS. Desktops from offices and bedrooms, not a death-run into a mall. Craft timers for XP and for sale. Hit Computers 4–5 on disks and dismantles. Electricity 2 from wiring work or the boost you already have plus a little more. Then the same endgame as the Sysop, earned instead of issued.

Pair with Sysop as senior tech, Scrapper for parts if no recycler is around, and a Shopkeeper who will list the handheld games. Do not take Technophobe. That is a different person.