Chapter #29: The Way to Cybrex Alpha
New
BlazingHyperion
Making the rounds.
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2024
- Messages
- 37
- Likes received
- 487
We were almost done with rederiving all of the equations — maybe two days away at most — when Elder James pulled me from the room. "We've found a Cybrex Facility."
I felt my eyes widen. "Already?! I was expecting it to take another few months!"
The Elder shrugged. "We got lucky. We're getting a team together. You have five hours before one of our ships arrives at a Stargate. You have until then to get yourself ready."
I nodded. "Yes, Elder."
I immediately returned to the room to inform the others that I would be leaving and rushed to my room to gather a few sets of extra clothes as well as anything else I might need. Then I rushed to the Stargate to find that I still had four hours before we would leave.
I reluctantly sat down to wait. During my break time, I continued other projects. Mostly, I was coding for the unfinished constructor. Removing the Analog Circuits had meant that I could do a lot more with the device than I had previously planned. It also meant that I had a LOT more coding to do.
The more I used the THOS Operating System, the more I liked it. It was responsive and easy to use. I remember a saying from my first life; "fast, good, or cheap; pick two." Well, the THOS system had clearly NOT been cheap, and I very much doubted that it had been made in a hurry. It had clearly been developed over the course of years, if not decades. The designers had gone all in on "good." I suppose that's what it takes to have an operating system that can last for centuries.
Over the following four hours, people started appearing near the Stargate until there were about fifty people in total. Finally, Elder James arrived. The gate began dialing as an incoming wormhole burst to life. Arktos walked through alongside a small cohort of a half dozen Jaffa.
The Wormhole shut down behind them and not even a few seconds later, the gate began dialing again. This time, the contingent was from Dendred. Along with them came Lady Isetri which I found rather surprising. I haven't seen her in several weeks now.
Arktos and Ma'chello approached Elder James. Arktos began. "The Al'kesh has landed and is awaiting our arrival."
Elder James activated his radio. "Dial the gate. We're heading out."
Immediately the Stargate jumped to life as the ring started spinning.
With a woosh the Gate dialed and we all passed through.
On the other side, I hurriedly walked over to the DHD to grab the partial blueprint from that as well.
Man… The stargates were some REALLY complex devices. The Goa'uld computers were almost a joke in comparison.
Next, I turned my attention to the nearby Al'kesh, the landing ramp was open and waiting for us to enter. I turned back to the gate as Elder James, Arktos, and Ma'chello passed through. The gate shutdown behind them.
All of us quickly made our way over to the Al'kesh. It was a bit of a tight fit, but the Al'kesh was designed to hold 50 Jaffa for longer missions, so we didn't have any issues all fitting on board.
Behind us, the boarding ramp closed and the vessel took off. Within a minute, we had entered Hyperspace. Now, I had a bit over two days before we would arrive at our final destination.
I plopped down near one of the walls and pulled out my compad once more to continue my work. Once I had the first constructor done, I could start really pumping the things out. While a single constructor wouldn't be able to fully assemble another one from scratch, it could produce all the parts needed for a second such device.
Once this was done, I'd have to start designing proper conveyor systems. Then miners and smelters. Though, I'd probably need to design a special device for smelting naquadah. Or maybe not; it was pretty similar to Satisfactory's Caterium. I might not need anything after all. that would be well in the future either way. .
One of the villagers approached me. "The Elder wants to talk with you."
I stood up and followed him to the bridge where a small 3d-projection was displayed in the center of the room, using a pretty basic Goa'uld projector. Yeah, that was definitely much more advanced than the Star League Holotable. Those things could barely manage a few individual colors.
Elder James nodded to me. "Arthur. This is the facility."
I examined the projection more closely. From the massive dish and the collection of other antennae I could make a good guess as to the nature of the facility. "This looks to be a listening post of some kind, no?"
Elder James nodded. "That is our current assumption. We have confirmed that there are a pair of what appear to be shuttlecraft of some sort as well."
I nodded. "Alright, what are we going to be doing with the facility?"
Elder James looked to Arktos. "We will be removing all technology we can. Once that has been completed, we will attempt to tow it through Hyperspace to Dendred where it can be further examined."
I raised an eyebrow. "And you can tow the thing?"
Arktos nodded. "The return trip will take a bit more than two weeks, but it can be done."
I nodded. "Alright, what do you need me for?"
Elder James continued. "You'll be handling the primary computer system here. Attempt to retrieve what information you can from it. From there you'll be responsible for disassembly."
"I can probably do that. Do you need anything else from me?"
They all responded in the negative, so I returned to the main cargo hold. Time for a new project while I waited. I had to make a translator for the Cybrex video and text formats.
Quick estimate, it would probably take me a few hours.
That was finished pretty quick, and then I returned to working on my constructor code. Like that, two days passed and we approached our destination. About fifteen minutes out, I got changed into my vacuum suit. I quickly rushed up to the bridge once I was changed and watched as we exited hyperspace only a few kilometers from the facility.
Elder James grabbed his radio and spoke. "This is Elder James and the Investigation party. You are clear to decloak."
Moments later, the reply. "Understood. Decloaking."
A Tel'tak came into view out the front view port. Elder James continued. "We'll be examining this facility first. Then we'll move on to the other Object."
I raised an eyebrow. "Other object?"
Elder James nodded. "They apparently found a ship floating in space near one of the system's dwarf planets."
I raised an eyebrow but said no more. Our vessel approached the Asteroid and pulled up right alongside it. I felt the extension of the ship's port airlock extend towards the asteroid and catch onto it.
The pilot turned towards us slightly. "We're connected. You're clear to enter."
Elder James nodded. "Good. Arthur, you're with me. We're going first."
I quickly followed behind the Elder. I made sure to put on my helmet and seal it then followed Elder James into the airlock. The air was cycled out and the external door opened to reveal a rather dark set of corridors. The moment my hand touched the wall so I could stabilize myself, my perk dumped knowledge into my head.
I raised an eyebrow. So this was the facility from Stellaris, or maybe one of many such facilities. In the game, you could happen across a Cybrex Listening Post where the AI had been abandoned for 50,000 years before it fried itself.
Well, there was a pretty easy way to check whether that was the case or not. I took the lead from the Elder and made my way to the room filled with stacks upon stacks of computers.
I nodded as I looked over at a particular section. "Elder, the AI for this station is out of commission. It looks like it probably fried itself."
The Elder raised an eyebrow. "Fried itself?"
I pointed towards the collection of computers that showed signs of singeing. "Entirely too much current was shoved through those. They fried themselves, and the rest of the room isn't receiving any power at all. If I was to assume, I'd say that the AI probably redirected all the current to its central processing."
The Elder nodded. "Well, get to work. I'll have one of the other teams in here to assist you in a moment."
I nodded and began searching the room. I quickly found the power control station and redirected the power away from the AI and towards the other systems. Unfortunately, this was also when I found out that I was working with a newer version of the Cybrex video format. I would have to make some modifications before I could properly start decoding the information stored in this facility.
As the lights came on, my assistants… hehe, I had my own assistants… entered the room. I nodded to them and gestured to the now fried computational core. "We're starting over here. I'm going to have to make some modifications before we can start accessing the facility's memory."
I quickly showed them how to disassemble one of the computing shelves and while they got to work, I started making modifications to the program. Luckily making the necessary changes only took a little more than half an hour.
Stretching, I saw that the team was a little more than halfway done with the first of the cores. These shelves had been made to be highly modular. That meant that taking them apart was pretty easy. Unfortunately there were a lot of them. Nonetheless, they were going faster than I had expected, so I left them to it.
Next, I plugged my compad into the first of several thousand memory storage blocks. This first one contained nothing but astronomical data. Much of it was raw, but there were also a lot of pointers towards data stored in other blocks.
Looking through the data, it seemed that it was generally organized by what portion of the sky it was aiming at. The most data was gathered between a period approximately 600,000 years ago to 550,000 years ago. After that point the amount of data gathered was significantly decreased.
As I stared through the data, I froze. Could it really be this easy?
I had originally discounted the probability of finding Cybrex Alpha through the stars that appeared in the video. Assuming the system was a similar distance from the galactic core as Sol, that would have meant that the system had moved a distance of 440 Light Years since the video was taken. Such a significant amount of Stellar Drift would have made the pattern of stars useless.
That changed with this data. This was a tracking record of every star within visual range of this outpost. Assuming we could parse the data accurately, we could search through these records to identify which stars were in the sky surrounding Cybrex Alpha. Once we had that, we had the system we were looking for.
I stared incredulously at the compad. "No way… it can't be this easy."
High-volume data processing; this was the task that the Cobalt-Eye was designed for. Hook up these servers to the ship, and she could start running through them.
I took a deep breath. Not yet. I still had a lot of these to search for, and it's always possible that none of these line up with the stars found in the recording of Cybrex Alpha.
There was a lot of data here too. Hundreds of millenia of near constant recording. It'd probably make anyone who studied astronomy weep with joy. It was all highly organized, but I had no question that trying to match the star patterns would take a considerable period of time.
I took a deep breath. I needed to go speak with the Elder.
- - -
Author's Note:
Cough: so I accidentally gave the MC a way to find Cybrex Alpha. I planned to have them spend a few more chapters searching, but this works out too.
Discord: [ LINK: https://discord.com/invite/dbVKfqYw5T ]
I felt my eyes widen. "Already?! I was expecting it to take another few months!"
The Elder shrugged. "We got lucky. We're getting a team together. You have five hours before one of our ships arrives at a Stargate. You have until then to get yourself ready."
I nodded. "Yes, Elder."
I immediately returned to the room to inform the others that I would be leaving and rushed to my room to gather a few sets of extra clothes as well as anything else I might need. Then I rushed to the Stargate to find that I still had four hours before we would leave.
I reluctantly sat down to wait. During my break time, I continued other projects. Mostly, I was coding for the unfinished constructor. Removing the Analog Circuits had meant that I could do a lot more with the device than I had previously planned. It also meant that I had a LOT more coding to do.
The more I used the THOS Operating System, the more I liked it. It was responsive and easy to use. I remember a saying from my first life; "fast, good, or cheap; pick two." Well, the THOS system had clearly NOT been cheap, and I very much doubted that it had been made in a hurry. It had clearly been developed over the course of years, if not decades. The designers had gone all in on "good." I suppose that's what it takes to have an operating system that can last for centuries.
Over the following four hours, people started appearing near the Stargate until there were about fifty people in total. Finally, Elder James arrived. The gate began dialing as an incoming wormhole burst to life. Arktos walked through alongside a small cohort of a half dozen Jaffa.
The Wormhole shut down behind them and not even a few seconds later, the gate began dialing again. This time, the contingent was from Dendred. Along with them came Lady Isetri which I found rather surprising. I haven't seen her in several weeks now.
Arktos and Ma'chello approached Elder James. Arktos began. "The Al'kesh has landed and is awaiting our arrival."
Elder James activated his radio. "Dial the gate. We're heading out."
Immediately the Stargate jumped to life as the ring started spinning.
With a woosh the Gate dialed and we all passed through.
First Perk Activated. Partial Blueprint Acquired: Astria Porta (Stargate)
|
On the other side, I hurriedly walked over to the DHD to grab the partial blueprint from that as well.
First Perk Activated. Partial Blueprint Acquired: Clavis (DHD)
|
Man… The stargates were some REALLY complex devices. The Goa'uld computers were almost a joke in comparison.
Next, I turned my attention to the nearby Al'kesh, the landing ramp was open and waiting for us to enter. I turned back to the gate as Elder James, Arktos, and Ma'chello passed through. The gate shutdown behind them.
All of us quickly made our way over to the Al'kesh. It was a bit of a tight fit, but the Al'kesh was designed to hold 50 Jaffa for longer missions, so we didn't have any issues all fitting on board.
Behind us, the boarding ramp closed and the vessel took off. Within a minute, we had entered Hyperspace. Now, I had a bit over two days before we would arrive at our final destination.
I plopped down near one of the walls and pulled out my compad once more to continue my work. Once I had the first constructor done, I could start really pumping the things out. While a single constructor wouldn't be able to fully assemble another one from scratch, it could produce all the parts needed for a second such device.
Once this was done, I'd have to start designing proper conveyor systems. Then miners and smelters. Though, I'd probably need to design a special device for smelting naquadah. Or maybe not; it was pretty similar to Satisfactory's Caterium. I might not need anything after all. that would be well in the future either way. .
One of the villagers approached me. "The Elder wants to talk with you."
I stood up and followed him to the bridge where a small 3d-projection was displayed in the center of the room, using a pretty basic Goa'uld projector. Yeah, that was definitely much more advanced than the Star League Holotable. Those things could barely manage a few individual colors.
Elder James nodded to me. "Arthur. This is the facility."
I examined the projection more closely. From the massive dish and the collection of other antennae I could make a good guess as to the nature of the facility. "This looks to be a listening post of some kind, no?"
Elder James nodded. "That is our current assumption. We have confirmed that there are a pair of what appear to be shuttlecraft of some sort as well."
I nodded. "Alright, what are we going to be doing with the facility?"
Elder James looked to Arktos. "We will be removing all technology we can. Once that has been completed, we will attempt to tow it through Hyperspace to Dendred where it can be further examined."
I raised an eyebrow. "And you can tow the thing?"
Arktos nodded. "The return trip will take a bit more than two weeks, but it can be done."
I nodded. "Alright, what do you need me for?"
Elder James continued. "You'll be handling the primary computer system here. Attempt to retrieve what information you can from it. From there you'll be responsible for disassembly."
"I can probably do that. Do you need anything else from me?"
They all responded in the negative, so I returned to the main cargo hold. Time for a new project while I waited. I had to make a translator for the Cybrex video and text formats.
Quick estimate, it would probably take me a few hours.
That was finished pretty quick, and then I returned to working on my constructor code. Like that, two days passed and we approached our destination. About fifteen minutes out, I got changed into my vacuum suit. I quickly rushed up to the bridge once I was changed and watched as we exited hyperspace only a few kilometers from the facility.
Elder James grabbed his radio and spoke. "This is Elder James and the Investigation party. You are clear to decloak."
Moments later, the reply. "Understood. Decloaking."
A Tel'tak came into view out the front view port. Elder James continued. "We'll be examining this facility first. Then we'll move on to the other Object."
I raised an eyebrow. "Other object?"
Elder James nodded. "They apparently found a ship floating in space near one of the system's dwarf planets."
I raised an eyebrow but said no more. Our vessel approached the Asteroid and pulled up right alongside it. I felt the extension of the ship's port airlock extend towards the asteroid and catch onto it.
The pilot turned towards us slightly. "We're connected. You're clear to enter."
Elder James nodded. "Good. Arthur, you're with me. We're going first."
I quickly followed behind the Elder. I made sure to put on my helmet and seal it then followed Elder James into the airlock. The air was cycled out and the external door opened to reveal a rather dark set of corridors. The moment my hand touched the wall so I could stabilize myself, my perk dumped knowledge into my head.
First Perk Activated. Partial Blueprint Acquired: Cybrex Listening Post
|
I raised an eyebrow. So this was the facility from Stellaris, or maybe one of many such facilities. In the game, you could happen across a Cybrex Listening Post where the AI had been abandoned for 50,000 years before it fried itself.
Well, there was a pretty easy way to check whether that was the case or not. I took the lead from the Elder and made my way to the room filled with stacks upon stacks of computers.
I nodded as I looked over at a particular section. "Elder, the AI for this station is out of commission. It looks like it probably fried itself."
The Elder raised an eyebrow. "Fried itself?"
I pointed towards the collection of computers that showed signs of singeing. "Entirely too much current was shoved through those. They fried themselves, and the rest of the room isn't receiving any power at all. If I was to assume, I'd say that the AI probably redirected all the current to its central processing."
The Elder nodded. "Well, get to work. I'll have one of the other teams in here to assist you in a moment."
I nodded and began searching the room. I quickly found the power control station and redirected the power away from the AI and towards the other systems. Unfortunately, this was also when I found out that I was working with a newer version of the Cybrex video format. I would have to make some modifications before I could properly start decoding the information stored in this facility.
As the lights came on, my assistants… hehe, I had my own assistants… entered the room. I nodded to them and gestured to the now fried computational core. "We're starting over here. I'm going to have to make some modifications before we can start accessing the facility's memory."
I quickly showed them how to disassemble one of the computing shelves and while they got to work, I started making modifications to the program. Luckily making the necessary changes only took a little more than half an hour.
Stretching, I saw that the team was a little more than halfway done with the first of the cores. These shelves had been made to be highly modular. That meant that taking them apart was pretty easy. Unfortunately there were a lot of them. Nonetheless, they were going faster than I had expected, so I left them to it.
Next, I plugged my compad into the first of several thousand memory storage blocks. This first one contained nothing but astronomical data. Much of it was raw, but there were also a lot of pointers towards data stored in other blocks.
Looking through the data, it seemed that it was generally organized by what portion of the sky it was aiming at. The most data was gathered between a period approximately 600,000 years ago to 550,000 years ago. After that point the amount of data gathered was significantly decreased.
As I stared through the data, I froze. Could it really be this easy?
I had originally discounted the probability of finding Cybrex Alpha through the stars that appeared in the video. Assuming the system was a similar distance from the galactic core as Sol, that would have meant that the system had moved a distance of 440 Light Years since the video was taken. Such a significant amount of Stellar Drift would have made the pattern of stars useless.
That changed with this data. This was a tracking record of every star within visual range of this outpost. Assuming we could parse the data accurately, we could search through these records to identify which stars were in the sky surrounding Cybrex Alpha. Once we had that, we had the system we were looking for.
I stared incredulously at the compad. "No way… it can't be this easy."
High-volume data processing; this was the task that the Cobalt-Eye was designed for. Hook up these servers to the ship, and she could start running through them.
I took a deep breath. Not yet. I still had a lot of these to search for, and it's always possible that none of these line up with the stars found in the recording of Cybrex Alpha.
There was a lot of data here too. Hundreds of millenia of near constant recording. It'd probably make anyone who studied astronomy weep with joy. It was all highly organized, but I had no question that trying to match the star patterns would take a considerable period of time.
I took a deep breath. I needed to go speak with the Elder.
- - -
Author's Note:
Cough: so I accidentally gave the MC a way to find Cybrex Alpha. I planned to have them spend a few more chapters searching, but this works out too.
Discord: [ LINK: https://discord.com/invite/dbVKfqYw5T ]