Chapter 259: The Key

Early Morning - Mid Summer : The Ancient Wreckage, Southwestern Holy Kingdom

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-Hm...- I tilted my head slightly as I followed the cable into two antimatter batteries that then led to an oblong torus-like space made of mana-strengthened tungsten and coated in a slightly magnetic alloy, with a large, ring-shaped magnet just outside of it. -Is that.. a reactor?- Although it was quite hard to confidently tell what it was, its interior somewhat resembled fusion reactors from Earth. -This must be what turns the antimatter into usable energy...-

Quickly looking further above the reactor, I found another thick cable leading into a small black box with countless smaller cables spreading from it.

My eyes lit up brighter the longer I looked at it. It was the key I had been so eagerly hoping to find. -The key to powering the laboratory again...-

Although it was true that the small reactor and junction box were far too low output to handle the entire laboratory, it was also true that it was a perfect template for me to make one that could. -Thankfully, everything looks like it will work...-

It was a truly lucky find, as even the deep sea containment center didn't have such a beautifully complex reactor. -The issue with the 'reactor' in the containment center was its scalability and the junction box connected to it. While I could have powered a section of the laboratory, I never would have gotten the AI online... But with this one...- My smile slowly widened. -This one has some scalability...-

In short, the reactor in the containment center made use of a low profile, low-input 'impact reactor', that worked similarly to a piston in an engine while also making use of the heat with water and steam like a traditional reactor from Earth. The reactor was great in that it didn't require hardly any antimatter to run while still producing enough energy to run the entire containment center with some energy to spare, but it was incredibly lacking when it came to increasing the output. -Making that kind of reactor big enough to run the lab is just asking to get blown up...-

But this reactor, on the other hand, looked to be a large-scale reactor that had been shrunken down. -For it to also not rely on water and steam, it either means the water has too many maintainability issues.. or using water and steam would limit its output...-

Either way, this reactor used knowledge and technology eons beyond what Earth could make, and I couldn't have been more excited about it.

-Now, how do I turn it on...-

At that point, the entire structure had been offline for eons, and because of that, I didn't dare put any antimatter into the battery to let it feed into the reactor. This meant I had to at least power the battery or manually fuel the reactor until the battery was charged. -Looking at the tubes feeding into the reactor, I think I can simulate it...-

Although I didn't know what the current or speed of the antimatter needed to be, at the very bottom of the reactor, there were two single-particle antimatter tubes and two slightly larger tubes for protons on the opposite side. -The proton tube is angled lower, so the collision must be proton on antimatter right about here...-

Finally creating several protons and some antimatter inside the reactor, I set them on the ends of the tubes and tossed them so they would all collide simultaneously.

*flash* In an instant, the two pairs of particles exploded, sending a blast of energy up into the top of the reactor, instantly forming a bright ring before promptly dissipating. -Hm...- It was a reaction I half expected. -The electromagnet tried to turn, but only for a moment... Is the motion of energy supposed to follow it?-

With the angle of the ring-shaped magnet being slightly tilted, it seemed to comply with what the flow of energy would look like if I didn't move the antimatter so fast. -Let's try that...-

*flash* As the ring of energy formed along the magnet, the magnet finally started to turn, and my attention was brought to the very top of the reactor, where a glowing pattern could be seen in the tungsten.

But the reaction stopped before I could get any sort of good look at it. -Was that a rune? It's not engraved on the surface, so...-

This time keeping my eyes on where the pattern was, I sent a short stream of antimatter and protons into the reactor once again. *flash-vvvVVVVMM* An audible hum could be heard as the magnet picked up speed and the patterns became visible.

-What the.. hell is this..?- I felt a mix of confusion and awe well up in me as I watched the mana-strengthened tungsten glow red hot in an incredibly controlled fashion. -But.. why?-

The tungsten continued to get so hot that I was nervous it would melt before I stopped the reaction.

*MMmmm* I fell into thought as the magnet spun down. -The parts that are heating up are way too defined to be caused by some sort of malfunction.. but why would that happen?-

The reactor, while already generating an immense amount of energy with the magnet, was simply letting the countless other forms of energy, like ionizing radiation and neutrinos, flow through the tungsten at the top of the reactor in an incredibly controlled fashion, but I simply couldn't understand why. -It just leads into the mythril connector between the reactor and the cable leading to the junction box... What is that supposed to achieve? Is the mythril supposed to act like a filter?-

But once I started looking closer at the connector, I noticed something. -What are these?-

The connector, which looked to be nothing more than a block of mythril, was actually composed of millions upon millions of layers of cubic carbon, so mana-strengthened that it looked akin to the shell of a mana core, with specific sections of atoms missing to form channels that differed between each layer. -Are these.. layered runes?-

There were millions of them, all stacked on top of one another before coming into contact with the incredibly pure alloy of titanium, copper, silver, and carbon that made up the inside of the cable, but they were so clogged with mana that I struggled to get my aura in beyond the first hundred layers.

"Hmm..." -I guess I should start cleaning it out...-

But while I thought about it casually, cleaning out the runes was no simple task. Before I knew it, nearly two days had passed.

"Phew..." -Am I finally done?- Pushing my aura through the huge system of runes one last time, I double-checked to make sure there was nothing I missed and finally looked back at the reactor. -Now.. let's see what all those runes do, shall we?-

*flash-vvvVVVVVMMMM* As the magnet ramped up, the patterns of heated tungsten started to appear, and a relatively small but steady flow of mana moved toward the connector.

*vwowowowoom* The mana around the connector rippled as it flowed into the countless runes, but a moment later, the result was born.

*tink-FLASH* Every light and electronic device I could see turned on in an instant as an unfathomable amount of electricity ripped through the cable and junction box.

It was a current, millions of times that which the magnet produced, and tens of millions of times what I theorized a fission nuclear reactor to be capable of.

But before I could shake off my awe, a faintly robotic voice met my ears. "Warning: Battery 7 Critically Low ; Warning: Battery 8 Critically Low ; Warning: Energy Leaks Detected: Attempting forced shutdown."

My whole body tensed instantly. "W-WAIT!" *CLANG* A deafening noise ripped through the ship as the magnet came to a stop so fast it blew itself apart.

I couldn't help but cringe as I looked at the damaged space around the core. -Sh*t... At least I learned what I needed to before it blew itself apart.. I guess...-

I was honestly incredibly disappointed, but I had already learned what I needed to. -All I need to do now is play around with upscaling it and figuring out how the transformer works...- It was essentially the final step before I could once again turn on the laboratory. -But that is a project that has to wait a bit...-

Quickly cutting a hole through the wall with mana, I disconnected the connector full of runes and cut it off the cable. *Click-clank*

As I pulled it out of the wall, I carefully surrounded it with a layer of woven carbon to protect it before eventually connecting it to my vest with several bands of cloth. -At least this didn't get damaged...-

While I had indeed memorized countless runes while cleaning out the connector, there was no way I could have memorized them all. -Right now, this thing is more valuable than anything...-

Finally making sure it was secure, I continued my search through the wreckage, and while I found a few offices, smaller laboratories, and what looked like surgery rooms, they were all totally gutted.

Just like several other rooms, it looked as if someone had come through and taken everything salvageable, whether it be equipment or information. -No bodies, no computer terminals, no tablets... There aren't even any personal items in all of these rooms... Did the Acardi come to rescue survivors and salvage what was left of the ship?-

Everything considered, that was definitely the most likely case, but I couldn't help but feel like the way things were salvaged was odd. -If they wanted to salvage it.. why wouldn't they take the whole ship?-

But I tried not to think about it too much as I ran through the rest of the ship and eventually made my way back outside. -Well, it's a shame the ship didn't answer any of the questions I wanted it to, but I can't complain about the result...- The reactor and transformer alone were essentially the keys to a massive library of information that most definitely had some answers in it, so while I was definitely unhappy with the lack of information about the ship itself, I couldn't be mad. -Plus, I still have that place in the mountains to check out...-

*flash-vwoom* As I changed back to my dragon form and put the connector in a safe spot behind my wing, I let Ilios back up onto my back and took to the skies once more. -Holcyon said it was 'a few dozen kilometers north of the wreckage'... Assuming that means under a hundred kilometers, that leaves a good section of the mountain range to search...-

Compared to searching the mountain Hera was on, it made me want to laugh. -But I shouldn't lollygag after spending so long in the wreckage...- *pshh-crackle-FWOOOOOSH*

Hurtling along the mountainside, I expected to find some sort of obvious structure quite quickly, but even after multiple passes over both sides of the mountain, looking through the clouds and trees, I found nothing. -What the hell? Did he lie to me?-

Not believing that what he said could be a lie, I expanded my search area by several hundred kilometers but still saw nothing out of the ordinary until I spotted a lone dragon flying nearly straight over the ancient wreckage. -What is a dragon doing all the way out here?-

Deciding to hide and watch them, I concealed myself with light magic and made my way over to get a better look.

However, just a moment later, they landed at the entrance of a tiny cave and promptly changed to their humanoid form.

It was an elder, and a pretty large one at that, but I was far more concerned that they walked into one of the hundreds of tiny caves without any hesitation. 

Almost as if they were familiar with it.

-Myles definitely would have sent a team of people... So who could this be?-