Törmö of Parsek

A master machinist of clan Parsek during the First Bacterian War, Törmö of Parsek was influential in the design of the UOSF HemmoCruiser III alongside Arnasuk Baasegnar. Having ended up on the Refuge as a refugee, Törmö became the chief engineer of the vessel during its construction and the HemmoCruiser Incident.

As the ship was designed to travel very long distances with most of its passengers in hibernation, an emphasis was put on automation. To this end, a special computer protocol was hastily designed by chief engineer Törmö of Parsek that allowed various types of robots to communicate with each other and perform everyday ship functions such as repair and maintenance.

Ordinary household droids, maintbots, construction drones, etc. were reprogrammed with directives that made them into a kind of a "secondary crew" for the vessel. A conscious decision was made to not allow a central computer to run the fleet of robots; the possibility of computer failure could not be allowed to cripple the entire vessel.

This unique design aspect never had the chance to demonstrate its functionality as the vessel was destroyed before the great voyage could even begin. Some scientists argued the secondary crew represented a problem for the starship that might've caused the mission to inevitably fail; the hastily implemented protocols were simply not mature enough to take care of a vessel so complicated. Others believed it was a brilliant innovation born out of necessity. The debate is occasionally raised again by contemporary historians in "What If?" scenarios.