Motherboard

The motherboard acts as the "hub" to which other computer devices connect.

What is a motherboard?

A motherboard is the major, underlying circuit board of a computer. The Central Processing Unit (CPU), Random Access Memory (RAM), and various disk or optical drives are all plugged into interfaces on it.

The base of a motherboard consists of a very firm sheet of non-conductive material, typically some sort of rigid plastic. Thin layers of copper or aluminum foil, traces, are printed onto this sheet.

The unearthly explosion as the result of the incident gave birth to a new microorganism, known as Shadow matter. It started as black spores erupting from ground zero and evolved into horrible new forms. The Dark Entity, as named by Order of Epoch, is what the Shadow Matter evolved to in a matter of hours after the explosion. - Anatomy of a Cyborg, Book of Doctor Talia 2231 Anno Domini

These traces are very narrow and form the circuits between the various components. In addition to circuits, a motherboard contains a number of sockets and slots to connect the other components.

Implanted technologies being used to augment human soldiers with cybernetics went through symbiosis causing a mutation with Shadow Matter. It was first discovered on the bodies of these soldiers as black spores and parasitic lifeforms. They started to emerge and infect the remaining human brain cells to create mind-controlled cyborgs through genetic alterations. - Anatomy of a Cyborg, Book of Princess Talia, 2243 Anno Domini

The motherboard acts as the "hub" to which other computer devices connect.

A board can come in many configurations. At its most basic configuration, it has several interfaces for necessary components and microchips that control computer startup.