me?”
“Of course… please understand Nol, everything we speak of from here on out, should be considered classified, sharing this information with others is akin to sedition against the Earth.”
He nods again,
“ The cabinet has pooled together several top engineers from around the system to create prototype war mechs. Not only is the program designed to discover a suitable pilot, but to figure out the optimal mech platform for mass production.”
“Mass producti on?” Nol asks, “Isn’t that …illegal?”
“Nothing is illegal when the cabinet approves of it, however it is a matter of utmost secrecy, we must avoid signaling to the factions and planetaries that a Mech army is something to create.”
“But you are making an army, right?” he says
“Only potentially,” she back pedals, “We must have a platform, the materials, training protocols, and the production capacity in place should the worst happen. As you know, someone out there is already producing war mechs illegally.”
“ Yeah ,” He replies solemnly.
They talk about more trivial things next, leading into Nol’s own experiences with the disaster. This is emotionally charged, but after endless retellings in front of crowds, it has lost novelty to him. He relays the tragedy in an almost formulaic procedural process. It still seem to resonate heavily with Ophelia however, the story like a magic combination under her skin. Her eyes waver, although her alien beauty remains in total composure. After a period of silence,
“We should be arriving at the test base shortly,” She says, “The design team has decided to experiment with a revolutionary control system as a central part of all the prototypes. This design uses a nervous interface to…well its hard for someone like me to explain it. It’s designed to network your mind into a larger artificial nervous network.”
“Sounds cutting edge,” Nol agrees.
“Yes, so the first morning will be neuro-compatibility testing, please expect some discomfort.”
Nol smirks, “A bit more discomfort is like a drop in the bucket at this point Ophelia.”
She smiles back silently.
They arrive at a large military compound. It has several layers of concrete walls like a prison, which they must checkpoint through to penetrate. After redundant gate inspections they pass through. The interior is a series of barracks and warehouses, uniformed defense force members patrol in a complicated network of simultaneously executed responsibilities.
Near the back a giant silo looms high over everthing. The diameter of this circular behemoth was about half of a sports field. The van drove casually through the small base roads towards it.
“What is in there?” Nol asked,
“The world’s largest deep earth geo-thermal reactor.” Ophelia said,
“Why are we headed there then?” He pushed,
She smiled mischievously, “Well…that’s not all that’s in there. It’s the largest alright, but…appearances can be deceiving.”
They are dropped off outside the structure. The van kicks up a small dust cloud as it speeds off to its next task. They wait patiently with Nol’s stuff. They aren’t alone for long, soon a man in a white uniform comes walking from around the Silo’s large curve.
“Greetings Tomson Nol.” He shakes his hand aggressively, “Welcome to the reactor. Glad to have some one such as yourself here.”
“Sure thing,” Nol answers, “And you are?”
“I am EDF special projects general Kader Berkant . I came to escort you to your quarters personally.”
“Thank you general,” Nol nods permissively,
“Indeed, we appreciate the hospitality.” Ophelia adds.
“Of course cabinet liason ,” Kader answers, he points to the small cart of baggage, “This it?”
They both answer him, and he insists on dragging it himself. He leads them around proudly pulling the luggage one armed, as though it weighed nothing at all.
He led them into the silo, the interior was thick sheets of
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