Max ignored the annoyed tapping of feet on the floor as the shuttle slowly circled around their location to move the sphere into place for the second test. They were still getting an increasing amount of data as the circuits came online, and currently the process was far too experimental to be subjected to a warp field.
It probably wouldn't hurt anything, but honestly, they just didn't know.
[The sphere is in position. Drone shield at maximum. Moving the assembly to the prime layer.] Nico reported.
The shuttle vanished, returning to their home layer of space, while the Cutter waited safely in this one to see what happened, with only a small portal open to provide them sensor data through a probe array.
As soon as the shuttle moved between layers, the lights on its exterior all came online, and the reported power production spiked to an astronomical level.
[Initial reports are in. Sustained fusion reaction output at the rate of 400 petajoules is verified by the Dyson Sphere.] Nico reported.
The researchers erupted into cheers at the news, overjoyed that the device was working, and that for now at least, the experiment seemed stable.
All that they had to do now was wait and make sure that there were no signs of stress fractures on the chassis of the Dyson Sphere, irregularities in the power output that would indicate instability inside the core, or failures in the components.
It all seemed stable for the moment, and Nico was working on an experiment to hook it up to the power source inside the shuttle. The Dyson Sphere alone wouldn't be suitable as a Warp Drive generator, so their new Mecha design was still going to need a traditional Warp Core, but for pure energy output that could be mounted on a Mecha and passed through a weapons system, it was far superior to anything else they had.
"Should we translate this for the laymen now that we have some hope that the reaction will remain stable?" One of the researchers asked.
"That's not a bad idea. They're not going to get it in a traditional sense. Just tell them that it will release a pure energy beam equivalent to a hundred megaton nuclear bomb every second, and gloss over the fact that pure explosive energy is far from the most destructive way to weaponize that energy." Max suggested.
"Oh, that's a good one. Everyone is familiar with bombs, and there are wonderful visuals online, as well as the opportunity to put them into any combat simulation that they want. I think that should be enough for those who don't understand to be mollified, while those who do understand will see the potential.
The raw energy conversion of the Antimatter Drive is horribly inefficient when we're not using it for Warp Fields, it's just the nature of our Crystal Reactors, but this will be much better for weapons.
Should we mention how much energy the orbital lance consumes?" She added.
"It's probably better if we don't. That will just start giving them ideas, and the world has enough obsessed weirdos now without doing the math for them."
"Should we see if we can start converting more of the energy from inside the sphere to output?" Nico asked hopefully.
"Not yet. Save it for when you want to overcharge a weapon during later testing, after we have verified that this thing is stable and safe for use. There's no point in jacking up the output if we end up with a sun on our backs.
All the circuitry here was made from ancient diagrams, and we haven't even had the opportunity to properly test most of it outside the theoretical.
We can verify that 400 petajoules is a safe output level, and there is no sign of thermal fluctuation within the circuitry, so let's keep it at this level and test it to the most rigorous of military standards." Max instructed.
"Got it. Starting the testing and stability of output now." The researchers replied in unison.
In this case, that meant that they were going to activate a high draw energy shield around the shuttle.
The layered barriers went up one after another, until they reached the full output of the Dyson Sphere, and Ranarth whistled in appreciation.
"You know, this demonstration has to be the most glorious waste of energy that I've ever seen. Not just because nothing is attacking, but has anyone ever told you that human shielding is horribly energy inefficient? Other species do it with more elegance, but their power systems are so comparatively puny that you just brute force your way through them like tissue paper.
Why don't we start on a more efficient energy barrier for your new toys before we get into determining how much of the energy output can be spared for weapons?" The ancient Darkling suggested.
Max noticed that as he moved, he was bringing one of the Android servers with him, training it to stand as a personal storage tray nearby so that he had somewhere to set his drink. To test a theory, Max handed him a few of his favourite snacks without saying anything, and the old man immediately put them on the tray, not even thinking about his autonomous piece of furniture, other than to verify that it was still where he put it.
His people were known to do that with living creatures as well, according to the legends of the species that they had interacted with, and Max wondered how much of it was actually malicious, and how much of it was that they simply didn't care about the other species enough to register that they had needs and desires as living creatures.
Now that he was on a topic he was knowledgeable in and enthusiastic about, very little else entered his mind, until he turned, and the table was no longer in position to get his drink for a moment.
He carefully repositioned the android, but didn't explain himself. The whole process was so smooth that Max almost missed it, and the Android had only been off by about ten centimetres, close enough that it visually appeared to be in position until Ranarth couldn't reach what he wanted.
"Alright, I need a data entry console. Let's teach that drone how to make a proper shield." He announced, stretching his fingers as if he were preparing to type the code manually.
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