IRIS supercomputer



The IRIS Supercomputer was the largest, ancient and most powerful supercomputer in the history of the Polaris Galaxy. It was a major factor regarding the storyline of the Future series as it aided Ratchet and Clank on their journey.

History
Built by an unknown race eons ago, the identity of IRIS' creators as well as its purpose had been long forgotten. IRIS once served as the ultimate search engine for the universe, but afterwards it resided deep in Pirate Territory, sealed off from the public. Its only master was the duplicitous Captain Romulus Slag who restricted use of the IRIS Supercomputer to educational purposes only; the crew were not allowed to download games, music or alternative cinema without Slag's approval or see IRIS without getting past the Pirate Rogue Shamus McSoggeybridges.

IRIS continued to be used as a form of intergalactic encyclopaedia and oracle. Some believed that the sheer computational power and massive storage of this supercomputer (this mysterious behemoth was said to have an IQ of three billion; the equivalent of 170 Terachnoid Sages or three Billion Holo-net Fanboys) gave it the eerie ability to predict future events. IRIS had a female personality, and spoke with an accent.

Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
Captain Qwark, in the course of his duties as a Double-Agent in Emperor Percival Tachyons' Imperial Army, found an Infobot containing an installment chapter of the Polaris Compendium of Historical Importantness, which explored the Galactic-Awesomeness that is IRIS, in Tachyon's underwear draw. Believing it to be a clue, Qwark summoned Ratchet and Clank to the Imperial Fight Festival, where he proceeded to show what it contained to them. Upon learning IRIS was on Kreeli Comet, Ratchet believed that, with such a large database, IRIS may have known where the Dimensionator could be located, or at the least had information about the destination of the other Lombaxes.

Upon their arrival, Ratchet & Clank found that Slag and his crew, having set up camp around the icy outskirts of the IRIS Supercomputer, had begun looting precious metals from IRIS circuitry. With the camp and pirate ships blocking their path, Ratchet & Clank sneaked and battled their way through, putting up a fight to reach the IRIS Supercomputer, which was deep in enemy territory.

Ratchet was able to make it to IRIS before Slag and his crew could completely destroy the ancient computer. Upon reaching the IRIS Entrance, the main interface room, sealed off from the outside also possessing many video monitors, displayed technical & theoretical readouts or video transmissions of past, present and even future events. The duo found that the pirates' looting had damaged IRIS and caused the supercomputer to lose power. Clank, as a result, had to enter and go inside IRIS' Inner Core, to try to repair the damage to the CPU. With the aid of the Zoni, Clank hunted down and killed all of the pirates who had made their way into the core, and then repaired a fractured vector shell. These brief repairs allowed IRIS' power cells to function at 8% capacity.

Upon reactivation, IRIS welcomed Ratchet, by name, and reveals she had been expecting him (by revealing her precognative ability was real). IRIS, when asked, revealed some interesting information about the Lombaxes, the Cragmites, the Great War, Tachyon's origins and intentions for the Dimensionator, as well as a more detailed explanation of how it worked and what it was used for, and where Max Apogee relocated it in an effort to hide it from space pirates. IRIS shut down before Ratchet could find out any other information.

Shortly after, IRIS then repaired herself properly; and then answered other important questions. The one question IRIS could not answer was "Where did the Lombaxes go?", to which IRIS apologized, as that data had been deleted from her memory banks. The cause of this would have most likely been the Cragmites.

Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty
Just as peace was restored to Polaris (due to the respective deaths of Tachyon and Slag at Ratchets' hands), Clank was kidnapped by the Zoni. Desperate to find him, Ratchet and Talwyn Apogee used IRIS to finally locate a clue - an old pirate captain who may possess the key to the Zoni dimension, named Captain Angstrom Darkwater, and his last known location in a pirate fleet in the Azorean Sea of Planet Merdegraw (an unregulated planet, where unwanted visitors had a bad habit of disappearing from here).

What IRIS did not mention was that Darkwater had since been killed, slain by Slag; at the time his cabin boy, so he could take over as captain. Despite this, Ratchet and Talwyn used a device left by Darkwater, the Obsidian Eye, to find Clank on the Zoni homeworld in the Breegus Nebula.

Knowledge
The IRIS had incredible knowledge, with an IQ of 3 billion. IRIS knew what the last number in Pi was, and was even able to locate the banished Cragmites which dwelled in a different dimension. It was thought that IRIS recorded every major action in the universe, as it led Ratchet to Jasindu.

Trivia

 * Because it was held in the Polaris Galaxy it may make an appearance in Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time.
 * Despite knowing where the Cragmites where (in a different dimension, aforementiondely), IRIS did not know where the Lombaxes went.

Behind the scenes
Rajia Baroudi who provided the voice for the Aphelion also voiced the IRIS.

The IRIS had a Slavic accent used by Rajia Baroudi.

Appearances

 * Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
 * Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty