"In that case, I will join you for the tests today. I would like to see how the attempt to cloak an object the way the Hunters do is going." Max informed her.
"Perfect, I will bring snacks. We likely won't have much success today, but the feedback from the commenters on the streams is mostly from other Innu Tech Nerds, so it can be very useful to the process, and one of the Technicians monitors it in real-time and provides feedback so that we can try out interesting ideas while we are still streaming." Nico explained.
That sounded a lot like enlisting a small army of amateurs to attempt to make new military technology, but Cloaking didn't seem to be a new or exclusive feature to the Hunters, so the amateurs might actually have valuable insights on how the process might be accomplished without breaking any Alliance Patents.
The rigid structure, the generational patents, and the strict prohibition on interplanetary combat were a strange combination, but they made the Alliance the powerhouse it was, so who was Max to argue with a system that worked?
Even their trade group prohibited aggressive actions between planets, so the peaceful front might well be nothing more than a front that the Alliance put on, at least among many of the members, but the patent thing was strange.
Corporations didn't rule them, and the governing body was made up of interspecies panels, but somehow the notion that corporate IP needed to be protected for centuries still managed to embed itself into their rules.
"How about we hit up Dave's place for breakfast? I haven't seen him in a while, and I'm sure he's secretly worried about you after the battle, even though he knows you returned safely." Nico suggested.
"I messaged him last night, but you are right. Messages are easy to hide injuries behind. I will message him now to let him know we're coming."
Molly had a duster in her hands, double-checking the work of the automatic cleaning function when they arrived for breakfast while Dave was teaching Sasha and Sandy, Max's twin younger sisters, an early morning science lesson.
"If we get the first lesson in before we eat, then we have one less thing to learn during the day. They're both mentally developing quite quickly, faster than the low System Compatibility assessment that they were given suggested, so I don't want them to have to wait for the regular primary school schedule." Dave explained.
"Let me know if you need any teaching materials or assistance. I am sure we have more than a few qualified teachers aboard who would love to help."
Dave laughed at Max's offer. "Oh, I'm sure we do, and I have been quite careful to keep the girls away from bad influences, but the boys are a going concern. They're obsessed with physical training after passing by the gym while the Special Forces unit was there working out. They don't even care about school or Mecha, just training like the infantry."
That was a bit concerning, but here aboard Terminus, being infantry wasn't so much of a death sentence as a general-purpose position, with the members being more likely to be drafted as extra drone pilots than actually sent planetside.
That was how most Reaver ships operated since they trained everyone to at least fight in case of a large battle or an attempt to board their ship.
Terminus was too new still for training youngsters to be an ongoing concern. These were the only kids aboard the ship who were old enough for it to matter to them.
"So, what's for breakfast?" Dave asked as Molly finished her rapid check for any signs of dust, as if it might actually bother their guests.
"Today was scheduled to be new foods day." She reminded him.
"Oh, you'll like this one, Max. Remember how we used to pick random stuff from the convenience store to see how it tasted? It's the same thing, but with breakfast recipes from the replicator. Some of them have been added by, and for alien species, so you never know what you'll get when you pick a random entry from the breakfast category." Dave explained.
"Alright, let's do this. You ready, everyone?" Max asked the little ones.
"As long as it doesn't spit out the fried Durian again." Sasha agreed.
Molly hit the randomize button, and seven portions of breakfast appeared, four being downsized for the kids.
"Eggs Benedict? I think we can work with that." Dave nodded happily as the food appeared.
"Crocolisk flank bacon with egg benedict, to be precise. Added just two days ago by a member of the crew." Molly confirmed.
That had to be done by one of the teams who went to the surface with them on Canis for the hunt or one of the Canis workers. They were the only ones who could have had a reference sample with them to teach the replicators to make Crocolisk.
The kids were looking at it rather dubiously, but Max was excited to try it again but mixed with traditional breakfast.
"This is the same creature we hunted on Canis, and it is really good. A local specialty, in fact. The special forces who went on the hunt with us really loved it." Nico informed the kids.
That was enough to get the boys eating. They would try anything that their new heroes liked. The older pair held out for a few seconds until they saw everyone else eating before they tried it themselves.
"So what are you two studying to be? There are a lot of options here aboard the ship, so you can be nearly anything." Max asked his sisters.
"We want to work in environmental design for the cruise ship. The virtual reality rooms are really cool, and they can make anything that is programmed into them, and there are people who design specific places, like picnic spots and walking trails, and spots to watch the stars." Sandy informed him in a really excited voice.
"That there are. Not everyone wants to come up with their own spot, so making new great spots to stop is a very valuable job."
The girls nodded happily as they ate, getting deep into detail about the places they wanted to make, as well as the things that they were learning about the basic function of the Virtual Reality systems. Dave was preparing them for any related job as well as he could for their age, so he was teaching them all the extra science lessons they would need to work on the projectors in case they wanted to repair them and not just program them.
Max was sure that was stressful for the old soldier, since he didn't actually know anything about the topic before he had to start teaching it, but he had decades of experience on his side to help him keep ahead of his young charges.
"I think it's a great ambition. The technicians keep all the attractions running and make all the cool things we have aboard the ship. Plus, everyone loves a great entertainer, and the holograms are a big attraction among the guests. Have you seen the Idol shows that they do on the fifth floor in the afternoons?" Nico asked, setting off another excited tirade by the girls while the rest of the room rolled their eyes.
The Idols were most popular with female guests in their teenage years, as well as a small group of middle-aged men, not exactly the demographic for anyone in the room except the older twins.
"Perhaps you can convince one of these two to take you when you're done with your daily work? But we need to get to the lab and begin the day's tests. It was a pleasure seeing you again." Max excused himself, leaving Dave and Molly to deal with the fallout of the star-struck tirade Nico had initiated with her question.
This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦