Interesting Times - Chapter 25

December 14th, 2169

16:13 SET

Reach, Olympus-System

R'n'D Facility Vinci

"250.000 years?" I repeated, shocked at the number.

"That's correct," confirmed Barbara with a nod, and the look in her eyes told me that she understood my disbelief.

"As far as we know, it's the oldest structure ever found by one of the existing galactic civilizations," added Andrew, before a thoughtful expression crossed his face. "There are some rumors in intelligence circles that the Batarians found something that could be even older, but as I said, those are just rumors."

I shuddered, knowing what the Batarians found, The Leviathan of Dis, a destroyed Reaper. There had been a time when I thought I should send some of my men to look for it, but I discarded the plan the moment I thought of it. Not only did I not know on which planet the Reaper was on in the Dis system, but even if I did, the system was too close to the Batarian Hegemony's territory for any of my men to go unnoticed. Besides, I didn't want to mess with any Reaper or their tech without extensive preparations.

Like one Cerberus scientist said in Mass Effect 2: Even dead gods can dream.

"So, what did you find in those ruins?" I asked after I regained control of my emotions. "Neither Takahashi nor I would be here if you didn't need us for something. We may contribute to the Alliance massively, but that is no reason for us to know of such a secret. Especially since the better alternative than this," I pointed at the papers lying close to Andrew," to keep something secret is not telling."

I took a moment to look at the people sitting around the conference table, but I couldn't see anything in their stony expressions. And since nobody took my momentary silence to explain the reason, I continued to speak my thoughts out loud.

"Instead, you told Takahashi and me. While I can understand that you're telling me since, without sounding too arrogant, I can gather more funds for your endeavors than most of the Alliance, at least without anyone noticing, that's still no reason to take Takahashi into confidence too." I sent him a quick apologizing smile when I said this, but Takahashi just acknowledged it with a stiff nod, understanding the point I was trying to make.

"The only reason you would do this is that you need his expertise. And his main field of research is space travel with a focus on starship engineering. So, if I have to take a guess, you found an old starship in those ruins, and you need Takahashi's knowledge to understand its technology?"

After I finished, I didn't look to Andrew or James to confirm my guess but to Barbara. While all three were good at masking their emotions if they needed to, Andrew and James had a lot more practice in it. Not to say that Barbara was poor at it, but I knew what I had to look for to confirm my theory.

Annoyance.

Barbara would definitely be annoyed that they had to bring Takahashi in to help them understand the starship they found since it would implicate that neither she nor anyone of her handpicked team of scientists was able enough to uncover its secrets on their own.

And it didn't take me long to find the annoyance on her face. Really. It was written all over her face since she didn't see any reason to mask her feelings, unlike Andrew and James, whose faces showed nothing.

"And from your face, I can tell I'm right," I said toward Barbara and got a huff in response.

"If we got more time, I'm sure we would have deciphered its secrets on our own, but the people on top decided that they wanted results fast. So we called on the best resources available. Besides, I'm too busy with my own research to help out with the newly discovered spaceship," said Barbara, and to my ears, it sounded a lot like someone trying to defend themselves while also delivering a dig at Takahashi that, if she had been available he would have been unnecessary.

"Yes, we all know that you would have done it in time," said Takahashi annoyed, and then started to smirk. "Yet, they called for me nonetheless because they don't just want the research done in time but fast too. And that is something I'm more than willing to do."

While lacking Barbara's subtlety, Takahashi returned the potshot wonderfully, in my opinion. And if someone were to ask me, I would say that Takahashi was only speaking the truth. Barbara was a very accomplished scientist and probably more intelligent than Takahashi, but her field of interest was much broader than his.

Due to that, Takahashi would have an edge in his chosen field that Barbara couldn't match.

"Now, now," interjected Andrew before the two resident scientists could escalate their spat. "We are here to pool our resources together and not to quarrel. So, in our best interest, I think we should show you what we have found. We had scientists and engineers crawl over the whole ship -and yes, we found a starship in those ruins- and they found some things that we would like your opinion on, Dr. Hoshiyume."

I sent Takahashi a warning glance that he should back down, but it was completely unnecessary. When Andrew mentioned that they found something never seen before on the antique starship, Takahashi's attention was solely on Andrew and the pictures that appeared over the holoprojector.

My first impression was that it looked like a triangle. A second look didn't dissuade me from my opinion.

Its height was around five meters, and its length was just over a hundred. The width of the starship increased with every meter from the rounded tip, which probably was the cockpit. The lowest width was around two meters and grew until fifty meters at the end of the starship. Four round thrusters pointed out at the back, and my knowledge of starship engineering told me they were more than powerful enough to propel the small ship up to speeds that our own ships of similar length couldn't match.

A smile hushed over my face before disappearing just as quickly as it had appeared.

Even if the technology of those thrusters were the only thing we would be able to glean from the ship, it would boost the prowess of our spaceships considerably. Yet, I knew this wasn't why they asked for Takahashi's and my presence. There had to be something more.

"Would it be possible to manipulate the picture?" asked Takahashi into the room, his eyes still focused on the projection.

"Of course," answered Andrew before Barbara, who had already opened her mouth to give a biting remark. "I transferred administrator rights to you, Dr. Hoshiyume. The projection is also a full scan of the ship, so you can change what you want to see to your heart's content."

Takahashi acknowledged Andrew's words with a nod and thrust his closed hand towards the projection before opening it wide.

The projected scan of the starship exploded into its components, and Takahashi's eyes flashed from one part to another before he started to put the ship back together with gestures of his hands.

He put the scan back together so fast that I had no chance to take a closer look at the components. Yet, sometimes he stopped for a second or two to observe some parts better, and even then, I had trouble following.

Still, I had no problem with Takahashi doing this since I knew what he was doing, especially when he started to color code some of the components.

He was comparing the parts of the ancient spaceship with those he knew and used in his own designs. Components used in our ships, too, were marked green, and he used yellow for parts that, while similar, showed some differences from ours.

Yet, there were also some he colored in red, and I knew those parts were the most interesting since even Takahashi didn't know their use without taking his time analyzing them.

When his hand suddenly froze in the air, I looked at him to see if something was wrong, but the only thing I could make out was a look of absolute concentration paired with fascination.

Interested in what he found so fascinating, I turned toward the projected scan, and my eyes widened at what I saw.

The scan showed most of the ship but focused on its eezo core.

I would never believe it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. The eezo core was much too small for a ship of this size! It wasn't even half as big as those in Salarian starships of this size, and the Salarians were centuries ahead of us in efficiency.

"How is that possible?" I asked the question flowing through my mind and looked at the other people in the room.

They weren't as shocked as I was since they had seen the scans beforehand, but from the expressions on their faces, I knew they had no answer as well.

"We don't know either," said James gruffly, "if we did, we wouldn't have called for you. If we find out how those aliens did it, it could become the game changer we need to stand up to the other galactic powers."

"When," said Takahashi quietly.

"What did you say?"

"When not if," repeated Takahashi louder this time. "This is not a matter of ifs but one of when. This isn't just a game changer. It's a game-breaker. When we master this technology, we will be able to turn the Ruler-Classes from more ideas to actual reality!"

A shocked silence went around the room at Takahashi's words.

Even I was shocked, but deep down, I could feel anticipation bubbling up.

The Ruler-Class starships were something that existed only as an idea and a few rough designs. They were nothing like any ship we or any other current galactic civilization built before.

The only ship in existence that would be comparable to them was the Destiny Ascension, and even then, it would be put into the shadows by a Ruler-Class ship.

Hell, I wasn't sure if even the Reapers would be able to compete with them.

At first, it had been nothing more than a fancy of Takahashi, a brainchild of his not long after humanity started to colonize star systems beyond their home relay. When we didn't know much about the mass effect technology, the Protheans left us, and imaginations were running wild that Takahashi showed me his first design of a starship of 5 kilometers in length that would double as an exploration ship and mobile base.

There was no engine powerful enough to move such a behemoth of a ship. Some would think that in space, the mass of a ship wouldn't matter, and they would be right, to some extent, at least. Yet, there would be situations the weight of a starship would matter since they would operate in places where they were exposed to the gravitational forces of stellar bodies, be it a star, a planet, or just an asteroid. And if the engine and thrusters of the ship weren't up to the task when it was inside the gravitational field, then the starship would inevitably crash.

Still, with the discovery of eezo, we thought it would be possible to circumvent the need for more powerful engines, but our hopes quickly disappeared when we learned how much eezo we would need to lighten a ship of this length. Even with our advances in eezo efficiency, the amount of eezo we needed was staggering, and the costs involved were double that of all dreadnoughts we possessed.

I've told that Takahashi often enough, and if he thought that perhaps with this technology, the Ruler-Class ships were a possibility, then the analysis of this antique ship was worth every damn credit I would be spending.

"Do you really think so?" asked James excitedly, and I could understand his enthusiasm. I would really like to see one of them, too. After all, Takahashi and I gave them the designation of Ruler-Class because they would stand above any other ship in the same area.

"If I'm seeing it correctly, then the size of this ship's eezo-core," Takahashi pointed towards the projection, "is only around 40% of those we placed in our ships. Even if the decrease isn't constant for bigger cores, it could reduce the necessary size of a Ruler-Class eezo-core to something we can manage. Furthermore, without further analyzing it, we can't say anything about its efficiency. It could be better than ours, or if we're lucky, worse."

"Wouldn't it be better if their core is smaller than anything we field?" asked Andrew, giving voice to his thoughts.

"Not necessarily," answered Takahashi with a shake of his head. "I already have an idea how they managed to reduce the eezo-core's size so much, and it has nothing to do with its efficiency."

"Let's hear it," I urged him, not keen on drawing his thoughts out of his nose.

"Multiple cores," he said and used his hands to light up three different red points throughout the projection. "Instead of one big core, they used one primary core and several secondary cores to achieve the same result."

"You really think they managed it?" asked Barbara, who leaned forward in her seat.

"They managed it," confirmed Takahashi with a smile at her, one that had no bite to it. The two of them united in their enthusiasm and fascination with scientific achievements.

"What's so special about multiple cores? And why aren't we using them already, especially if you two seem to know about them?" asked James and Andrew nodded at his question, interested in the answer as well.

"The idea of multiple cores is floating around the scientific community for quite some time now, and we are not much closer to a working prototype than we were ten years ago," replied Barbara instead of Takahashi.

"The idea behind the multiple cores is this: Every eezo-core produces a bubble that either makes everything in it heavier or lighter, depending on the connected current," Takahashi started to explain. "A bigger core would lead to a bigger bubble, but for a bigger core you would need exponentially more eezo."

"So what would happen if you had more than one core and its corresponding bubble?" Barbara took over. "The idea is that the different bubbles created by smaller cores would unite into a single bubble that could fill out the same amount of space as the bubble of a larger core."

"So, what's keeping you from incorporating this idea into the ship designs?" I asked, and while I knew that the idea existed and didn't work out as hoped, I didn't know why.

"There would be no problem if all we did was travel in a solar system. The problems only appear when a ship goes into FTL, and don't get me started on what happens if one tries to use a mass relay," moaned Takahashi, and at a gesture from Andrew, Barbara started to explain what those problems were.

"When a ship goes into FTL, the synchronicity between the different cores starts to fray, and when a starship communicates with a relay, it gets shot straight to hell. The moment that happens, the bubble starts to fail."

"And what happens if the bubble fails?" asked Andrew, and I was curious about the answer, too.

"If the bubble would just pop like a soap bubble, then it wouldn't be so bad. We already have safety measures in place should something like this happen. The ship and its crew would be shaken around, but they would survive the outcome. Something that wouldn't happen if the synchro between the cores is off. Has anyone of you seen what happens when something is hit by the biotic ability called Warp?"

I shuddered when he said that, remembering the video I had seen of this ability being used on a living being. The extranet, like the internet during the 21st century, had some dark corners one should only enter when they're prepared to see some truly dark stuff, and the outcome of Warp definitely belonged there. It was nothing like it was portrayed in the video games. Instead, the target was shredded to bits in a very gruesome way by tiny, rapidly shifting mass effect fields.

"That bad?" asked James, whose face turned a bit pale at the thought of being shredded to bits when trying to go FTL.

"Sadly, yes," confirmed Takahashi. "The frequencies of the different eezo cores change so rapidly an effect that could be likened to Warp is generated, which would rip the ship and its crew to shreds in a matter of seconds. Moreover, if a relay is the cause for the disruption, then the only consolation is that it happens so fast that neither the people inside the ship nor those that observe it, know what's happening before it's already over."

"That's not comforting at all," said Andrew, and even he, the most steady person in the room, did look queasy at imagining the fate of the people caught in the phenomenon. "So, all this time you've been trying to figure out a way to prevent the desynchronization of the cores when going FTL?"

"We have, but not to much success," answered Barbara. "The only thing we managed so far is to reduce the difference between the frequencies when it happens, but they are still too far apart to be safe. So, if Taka's right with his assumption, we got the solution presented to us on a silver platter. It's a shame, really."

"A shame? I would think it's something good?" replied James.

"It's about a scientist's pride, James," I threw in, understanding why Barbara was a bit disappointed. "They wanted to be the ones finding the solution. Just being handed it is like being given a victory if you didn't do anything."

"Mr. Denebren is right," agreed Takahashi, once again forgetting that I told him to call me by my first name. "Yet, it's not impossible that we will still have to look for a solution ourselves. The ship could be a prototype, the aliens' attempt to figure out multi-core technology just like us. We will only know when we have analyzed the ship further and tested their technology. Yet, even if it's not working, their attempt will give us new insights into the field and hopefully help us to understand it enough to start using it."

"How long do you think it will take you to come up with one?" asked James, and everyone could hear the anticipation and eagerness in his voice.

"I will take as long as it will take. Otherwise, we will be risking the death of hundreds of people. Furthermore, every time we tried to use multi-cores, we did it with the mindset that mass effect technology was the only thing present. We have no data available on how they're going to act when exposed to the forces of the Dimensional Rift. So, it will probably take a few years until it is deemed safe enough to be implemented into our starships," snapped Takahashi back, not liking the fact that there was already some pressure to create a prototype as fast as possible. While he relished a challenge, he wasn't someone one could pressure into bringing something out that was not up to his standards.

"Take as much time as you need," I said, and my tone brokered that there would be no objection. "Analyze the ship, try out your ideas on smaller vessels, and if you got the time, start going over the designs for the Ruler-Classes. And every time you make progress redesign them again and again. The first ship we built of this class isn't going to be a testbed of any kind. It will be a fully functional ship that will be able to do its job to the best of its ability. No matter what, those ships will need vast quantities of resources and money to be built. So, am I understood?"

After confirming Takahashi understood, I turned my eyes toward Barbara and stared at her until she nodded, indicating that she understood too. Both would be needed to create the best design possible before the construction started, and I wasn't going to use any but the best people available to do it.

"Speaking of funds, it will be hard to procure enough of them to keep the majority of the Alliance and the Citadel in the dark," Andrew pointed out. "The construction of a Ruler-Class starship isn't something we want the whole galaxy to know until we're ready to reveal it in a moment where we can spin the narrative to our favor. Else, the Council is going to force us to stop construction or, in the worst-case scenario, to hand it over. Besides, we should take great care that the knowledge of those ruins and our research into multi-core technology doesn't fall into the wrong hands."

Andrew was right. If knowledge about our research or findings got out too early, the Council races would pressure us to reveal everything, and I mean everything, and not just what we got from the ruins. Theoretically, we were protected by the law that stated that Prothean ruins had to be shared with the Council but didn't say anything about the ruins of other extinct civilizations. Yet, without enough power to stand up against them politically, economically, or militarily, nothing would protect us from their greed to take what wasn't theirs, and while I had prepared a counter for the Asari, the other two Council races would be more of a problem. Thus, secrecy would be essential to shield us until we were strong enough.

"With the need for secrecy, how will we gather enough funds?" asked James.

"I have some ideas," I stated and gathered the attention of all present. "I got some leads on some prospective investments on Illium. My people got some information to me about a group of people. This group apparently has a lot of influence and wealth distributed amongst them, and I plan to find this group and its members and then integrate myself with this group to gain access to their network. At least, this is the first phase, the second one will take some time to plan out, but I will need resources I don't have access to."

"And you think it will be enough to fund the construction of a Ruler-Class?" asked Andrew, and when I answered his question with a nod, he said without reservation: "What do you need?"

"People trained for various tasks. Observation, espionage, and more. Perhaps I even need a wet works team. I'm sure there will be some people that will get in my way, and I don't need resistance to my plans. Can you get those people for me?"

"If I change your status to Essential Asset within the AIS, you will be able to requisition everything you need. I'll get to it as soon as I return to Arcturus," responded Andrew without hesitation.

"Do you really think you will need a wet work team?" asked James cautiously.

I shrugged and answered: "I don't know, but I'm going to Illium. It's better to be prepared on this planet than not."

"When do you think you will be able to begin?" asked Andrew, leaning back in his chair.

"I want to finish some of my ongoing projects, and it will take some time to prepare a temporary headquarter on Illium. Furthermore, the opening ceremony of the university I built on Terra Nova is at the beginning of the coming year. After that, I should be ready to travel to Illium.

"Very well," said James, "but do you have another plan in case you're unsuccessful? I'm worried we won't be able to go through with our plans otherwise."

"I understand your worry, but you do not need to be concerned. My dealings with this group are only to reduce the time needed to gather enough funds and to prepare for future Ruler-Class ships. The actual materials and funds will come from my usual businesses."

"If that's so then why do you need to go to Illium at all?"

At his question, I shot James an annoyed look. But before I could answer him, Andrew beat me to it.

"Oscar is already thinking of the future. We all know the construction of a Ruler-Class will devour millions upon millions of credits. And he can't just pour everything he has into this project without arousing suspicion. Besides, he still needs funds for his business and usual ventures."

"Furthermore," I continued, "Illium is a planet of opportunities. It's a place that embodies the phrase of high risk, high return, and I plan on getting my high return. And secondly, it will be a lot easier to hide the funds I'm sending towards this project among my transaction on Illium than on any other planet. The only alternative would be Omega, but I don't think I will ever set a foot in this shit hole of a space station."

"Sounds reasonable to me," said James, and I could see that every doubt he previously held disappeared.

A grin started to appear on my face.

"I think we all got something to do. So, shall we get started?"