Trope-a-Day: Possession Implies Mastery

Possession Implies Mastery: Generally averted, as the very large pile of incomprehensible elder-race artifacts sitting around in museums and the vaults of companies like Probable Technologies, ICC would demonstrate.  Some of them have been there for centuries, or even millennia, and are still no closer to being understood.

Played straighter with many items of Imperial technology, which tends to come with built-in diagnostic equipment and users’, maintenance and repair manuals, technical specifications, and a full schematic all stored on the device itself, readily accessible via v-tag.  But then, their manufacturers know they’re selling to customers who like to tinker.
It’s not instant mastery, but it sure helps with getting there.