Post by Sheng on Aug 3, 2023 22:51:08 GMT
"Blackout"
Vanguard | Potius Cras Research Facility | Restricted Province #G-12
13:22 AST
Cross stared down at the console with a tired expression, after having pushed the operation to Phase III a few days ago he had ordered the data to be scanned and sent back to Archon-1. Now they were ready to begin Phase IV; First Research Initiations. He had ordered for the research division to begin preliminary scans of the Old Invader probe itself a few hours ago and once that was completed they would deliberate before deciding upon the next move, that was what he was presently doing. His tail coiled around the bar that was holding the stool up idly whilst he just blankly stared down at the holo-screen beneath his snout. For someone dealing with one of the most dangerous materials in the entire galaxy, if not the universe, he was surprisingly calm about it. Especially regarding future plans that were entirely dependent on the success of this one, the main one was still in the channels but he had heard rumours of a hypothetical sequel endeavour to create a new apparatus for Reborn Frame creation; A hybrid Reborn created using materials and techniques derived from the knowledge gleaned from the captured Old Invader probe.
He wasn't even sure if such a thing was possible, feasible even. However Archon-1 had made it known to him that they at least wanted to try and explore the possibility and he had no choice but to incline his head and say it would be done, who was he to deny Archon-1? However, he was interrupted from his idling by a beep coming from the holo-screen and he snapped back into focus to read whatever he'd been sent and it was good news; The scans had come back and they were set to begin properly. One of the scientists working on the project, Tempest, would supposedly be up there momentarily to bring him the good news personally as well as help with the deliberations. Funnily enough, the second he has finished that line of thought he heard the door behind him quietly slide open accompanied by the sounds of footsteps coming in, looking up from his console he turned around to see Tempest standing there just a little way in from the doorway. He nodded to the researcher before gesturing to an empty seat next to him, which the scientist promptly moved towards before placing down a holo-tablet on the table next to it and sitting down.
Cross sat down and Tempest reached forward and the holo-tablet projected a loading screen before transitioning to various graphs, images and blocks of text. Tempest made a sound similar to clearing his throat before he began to speak "Now let's jump straight into it. Our preliminary investigation has been wildly successful and the probe has been entirely non-responsive allowing us no restriction of movement or study, thus we have documented the probe's initial composition and... it's odd. Once we had the first exterior hull plates removed and put under various microscopes it was revealed that the probe itself is actually constructed of a mix of nanites and micrites, these form the outer hull, engines, weaponry, and all that juicy stuff and they're made from an immense variety of composite materials. This confirms what we already know, the probes recreate through conversion with this probe likely having been some space rock or similar that found itself in the way of the Coronan Swarm." He waved a hand through the holographic projection which brought up images of said nanites under various microscopes as well as detailed reports on what they found, Cross nodded and motioned for the researcher to continue.
Tempest then swiped again and brought up another image as well as more reports before continuing "And this is what we call the 'core.' We believe that this is the mind, reactor or whatever you wish to call it of the probe itself. We have also documented that the core rapidly assimilates all introduced material to the core, way more than any of the other parts of the probe, so we believe that this object in particular is likely the premiere component for reproduction amongst the Old Invaders. The material the core is made up of... well we've never seen anything like it before. It's unnaturally strong, none of our methods of extracting a segment have worked, and the instruments either break, fail or get assimilated before anything even remotely noteworthy happens. Thus we have instead tabled the matter for now and instead have moved to take advanced sensor readouts to try and figure out exactly what the core is, we even attached probes to the core itself which should hopefully give us some data before they are assimilated. We've also sent the exterior plates and component parts to the laboratory for analysis, hopefully, we'll learn a little bit about how the nanites function or perhaps even if we can get a layout of their schematics or something."
Cross nodded and examined the reports for himself briefly, it was... insane. He'd never seen anything like what was documented here, and this was just the basics, the real investigation was only just starting to begin whilst they were both sitting there. He passed the holo-tablet back to Tempest before saying "And we're taking all necessary precautions to ensure containment? I'm hearing that a lot of material is being assimilated and the fact we're dealing with nanites only makes contamination all that much harder to detect." Tempest nodded before responding "The probe is entirely contained in a self-destructing material. Think of it as constantly rebuilding itself, struts extend forth from the apparatus every five minutes to gain a new grip placement on the probe, and the struts that were previously holding the probe in place are vaporized by miniature pulse turrets the second it's secured. This way it is impossible for the nanites to consume and reach the apparatus fast enough, the probe itself is also being held in a vacuum chamber which is being monitored by an absurd number of various sensor systems for any nanites that may be ejected from the probe."
Cross nodded, it seemed a bit excessive and it certainly had to be racking up quite the bill over time but it was certainly better than the alternative... But what about the materials extracted? Tempest seemed to know what he was thinking based on his expression and jumped to say "And the materials are under watch at all times, they are interacted with only remotely and all instruments used are vaporized the second the research is concluded as well as a full decontamination of the laboratory. The material is then returned to the Probe and the drones used to transport the material are vaporized after use. I will admit it is costing us significant amounts of SIGEC to continuously replenish the equipment but we are being extremely cautious about which tests we perform and how we perform them, our economic considerations in the investigations should in no way hamper the research obtained. We are being cost-efficient but also effective, though even then the bill is going to be quite substantial the longer this goes on I'm afraid. We're going to need to triple our budget within the immediate future."
Cross' eyes nearly popped out of his head. Triple?! There was no way that this amount of capital spending wouldn't be noticed... How was Archon-1 even going to justify it when it was discovered? Ah well, not exactly his problem now is it? He nodded to Tempest before raising a hand to dismiss him, the scientist nodded and picked up his holo-tablet before hastily making his exit. Cross then turned back to his console and pressed a button, a holographic image of Archon-1 appeared a few moments later and asked "How is it going?" Cross responded "Substantially well, I will have the preliminary data sent to you before the end of this standard cycle. However there is a... funding issue that I have just been made aware of, the complexity of our containment procedures is apparently biting out sizable chunks of our budget. We are going to need at least triple to capital if we are to continue without compromise." He could hear Archon-1 choke on air before clearing his throat and looking up at Cross, saying in a shocked tone "TRIPLE?! I can BARELY- Ugh, never mind... consider it done, the routing numbers will be sent to the financial department once I've secured the funds. Just don't put a swarm in the middle of one of my planets please and thank you, and get this shit done fast before I bankrupt the entire Citadel..."
Cross politely inclined his head whilst Archon-1 cut the feed, ending the conversation. Meanwhile, Cross reached up and rubbed the bridge of his mechanical snout with two fingers... this was certainly going to be one big headache of an assignment, wasn't it?